China of the Past

[日]竹内康浩New Star Press2022

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Chapters
12
Series
Youlin Series
ISBN
9787513346849

Tags

History History Books Everyday LifeSocial LifeSocial HistoryClan SystemEmperors and GeneralsRepresentative WorksAncient Chinese HistoryChinese HistoryJapanese SinologyOrdinary People

Summary

What did it mean to be an ordinary person in premodern China? In this representative work by the Japanese historian of China Yasuhiro Takeuchi, the focus shifts away from emperors, generals, and ministers to the everyday lives of common people, taking “family” and “lineage” as the point of entry to explore how individuals situated themselves within the family order and how they related to the state and its official bureaucracy. Beginning with Mozi’s concept of “universal love” and Mencius’s critique of it, the author traces the formation of the ideas of family and lineage in old China, together with such concrete practices as the transmission of qi, cohabitation and shared property, and multi-generational households. He then shows how the mourning system institutionalized kinship, with the five grades of mourning attire—zhan cui, zi cui, da gong, xiao gong, and si ma—mapping the proximity of kin relations, and how “unfilial conduct,” one of the Ten Abominations, came to be classified by the state as a grave crime. Beyond the family, the book examines the dimension of the official: why officials existed, why people sought office, why salaries were meager, and in what forms extra income appeared, together with the realities of officialdom behind the saying “three years as a clean prefect, a hundred thousand taels of silver,” and it considers the path of the civil examinations alongside the choice of those who refused office. The author seeks to connect historical causes and effects scattered across different times and places into a single map, showing how the private and the public interwove to form the basic framework of Chinese life over two thousand years, and offering a reference for contemporary reflection on how to live.

Editor's review

写中国历史的书很多，但大多围着皇帝、名臣与战争打转。《从前的中国》难得地把镜头压低，对准那些没有留下姓名的普通人：他们怎样在家族里排行、服丧、分家，怎样被「孝」评价，又怎样一辈子仰望着「官」。 作者竹内康浩是日本北海道教育大学教授，在东京大学完成东洋史博士课程，这本书是他多年研究沉淀后的通俗之作，日文原书名直译是「生活方式的中国史」，可见其用心不在考据细节，而在回答一个更大的问题：古代中国人凭什么这样活着。书中谈服丧的五个等级，谈「十恶」里为什么要单列不孝，谈官员俸禄为何低得离谱、灰色收入又如何补上，这些看似冷门的话题，读下去都与今天的家庭关系、人情往来隐隐相通。 译者宋刚任教于北京外国语大学日语学院，长期从事中日口译与文学翻译，译文干净顺畅，没有学术腔。全书精装242页，篇幅克制，通勤路上几天就能读完，却足够让人对「中国人何以成为中国人」多一层体认。

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Reading tips

  1. 可先读前言与终章，抓住「私」与「公」两条线索，再回头逐章细读
  2. 读家族与孝道部分时，可对照自家的亲属称谓与丧葬礼俗，体会制度与生活的距离
  3. 读「官」的三章不妨结合明清科举、俸禄史料，理解制度设计的困境
  4. 与费孝通《乡土中国》对照阅读，一个从田野出发，一个从正史出发，互为印证

About the publisher

New Star Press China · Founded in 1989

New Star Press focuses on classic works, mystery and detective fiction, science fiction, history, foreign literature and art, and its 602 titles in the library show a balance between popular reading and humanistic depth. Representative books include The Complete Works of Shakespeare: Illustrated Collector's Edition, And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, The Player of Games, Local Government in Qing China, A Good Man Is Hard to Find and A Collection of Fine Ukiyo-e Prints, spanning classic literature, detective fiction, science fiction, local history and visual art. Its authors and contributors include William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie and Iain M. Banks, as well as translators such as Zhu Shenghao and Su Fuzhong and illustrators such as John Gilbert and George Cruikshank. Known for the detective series Midnight Library and for social-science and humanities titles, the press emphasizes edition design and reading experience; public information is limited, so this profile highlights the publishing features reflected in the library's books.

Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Chapter One: Portrait of a Family
  3. Chapter Two: The Institutional Forms of the Family
  4. Chapter Three: The Many Shapes of Filial and Unfilial Conduct
  5. Chapter Four: Heaven Gives Birth to the People
  6. Chapter Five: The Incomprehensible Chinese Official
  7. Chapter Six: The Allure of the "Official"
  8. Chapter Seven: Yearning for and Loathing the "Official"
  9. Chapter Eight: The Theory of How the World Came to Be
  10. Final Chapter: Born of Family, Born of Society
  11. Afterword
  12. References

FAQ

这本书是讲朝代更替的通史吗？ 不是。它不以王朝兴亡为主线，而是以家族、孝道与官制为切口，讨论古代普通中国人的生活逻辑与社会运行方式，属于社会史、生活史类型的著作。
日文原版是什么时候出的？ 本书译自日文著作《「生き方」の中国史：中華の民の生存原理》，原版于2005年出版；中文译本由新星出版社于2022年1月推出，属「有邻」丛书。
没有历史专业基础能读吗？ 可以。作者用通俗语言讨论服丧制度、孝道、科举与官场收入等话题，引证以正史为主，不做繁复考据，入门读者也能跟上，只是专有名词需要稍加留意。
「有邻」丛书是什么？ 这是中国主题图书出版联盟策划的丛书，宗旨是「发现不同视角下的中国」，收录海外学者观察中国的研究著作，《从前的中国》即为其中一种。

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About the author

[日]竹内康浩 Author · Japanese

Takeuchi Yasuhiro is a Japanese author whose work currently available to Chinese-language readers is limited to a single title, China in the Past, and reliable public information about him is scarce. According to the available records, he writes in the field of history books, and this work is classified accordingly. The title suggests that the book turns its attention to China's past, focusing on everyday life, social conditions, or cultural details rather than grand narratives, which is close to the common approach of Japanese scholars who write history for general readers. Since no reliable records of his birth and death dates, education, or professional career are available, no speculation is offered here. For readers, it is better to first learn about his choice of material and way of telling stories through this work than to focus on the author's titles, and then judge its readability. At present, Takeuchi Yasuhiro can only be understood through this one work; should further translations appear, his profile as a writer may become clearer.