China in Textbooks

光明日报摄影美术部Guangxi Normal University Press · ChinaMay 2023

Rating 3.0
Word count
74K words
Chapters
36
ISBN
9787559847195

Tags

Culture Human GeographyPatriotismIllustrated GuidePopular ExplanationEclectic ReadingYouth Reading

Summary

Rooted in culture and mapped by geography, China in Textbooks takes the 34 provincial-level administrative regions as its points of departure, ingeniously weaving together, organizing, and systematically analyzing the poems, essays, and artworks found in primary and secondary school Chinese language textbooks. Each chapter presents one province or region, focusing on its geographical environment, history and culture, and contemporary character, approached through "red" (revolutionary cultural tradition), "green" (ecological civilization), and "ancient" (fine traditional culture) dimensions. While closely describing the content of the textbook selections, the book also "thinks across a thousand years and sees ten thousand miles," connecting to the spirit and achievements of socialist construction in the new era and uncovering the enterprising spirit embodied by each region.

This book presents the distinctive landscapes and spiritual culture of China's regions in an entirely new form, highlighting the depth and breadth of Chinese culture and sketching the grandeur of the land. It is a geographical record of the new era and a hymn to its spirit, reawakening shared cultural memory and stirring deep, heartfelt love for the motherland—an excellent way to tap the treasures of traditional culture through human geography.

Editor's review

China in Textbooks is a book of national memory woven from images and words, meticulously compiled by the Photography and Fine Arts Department of Guangming Daily and published by Guangxi Normal University Press. Rather than a simple collection of pictures, it draws on classic texts and illustrations from primary and secondary school Chinese, history, and geography textbooks since the founding of New China, reinterpreting and visually recreating them from a contemporary perspective to construct a unique "visual history of a nation's growth." The hundreds of photographs gathered here include rare historical archives as well as documentary images of the new era, together sketching a sweeping portrait of seven decades of social change, natural landscapes, and humanistic spirit in China.

From a professional standpoint, the book's core value lies in its skillful fusion of "dual narratives." The first is the explicit narrative of textbook content, awakening the collective learning memories of several generations; the second is the implicit narrative of social development, using photographic contrast and extension to reveal the real, three-dimensional, developing China behind the texts. A lesson about the Yangtze River Bridge, for instance, is paired with images of the bridge from different eras, giving readers a direct sense of the pulse of national construction. This editorial approach elevates the book beyond an ordinary picture album into a profound work of sociological and educational significance.

Reading this book is like an immersive journey through time and space. It satisfies the need for nostalgia, letting readers find points of resonance between personal growth and the times in familiar textbook scenes; it also offers new knowledge and reflection, deepening understanding of the texts' meaning and historical context through the evidentiary power of images. For readers seeking to understand the inner texture and emotional structure of China's modern journey, this book offers an intimate yet profound path. Its binding design and print quality are also excellent, ensuring perfect reproduction of image details and enhancing its value for reading and collecting.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read by theme or in chronological order, or begin with chapters whose texts you know well, enjoying the interplay between image and text
  2. Pay attention to when and where each photo was taken and to its caption, and consider how the story the image tells supplements or extends the text
  3. Treat the book as a starting point: when a place, event, or person sparks your interest, look up further materials and read more deeply

About the publisher

Guangxi Normal University Press China · Founded in 1986

Guangxi Normal University Press is a publisher known for literature, foreign literature and history titles. Its 1,175 books in the database show a solid accumulation in classics and prose collections, including foreign literary works such as Les Fleurs du mal: Annotated Poems of Baudelaire, Snow Country, Dubliners and The Wild Palms, as well as modern prose compilations like The Complete Prose of Zhou Zuoren. History and philosophy also hold a notable share, with titles such as Running Dogs: Clerks and Runners in Qing County Yamen and The History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reflecting attention to Qing local administration and modern history. In art literature there is the 16-volume Ten Bamboo Studio Painting and Calligraphy Manual. Its author resources include foreign writers Charles Baudelaire and Yasunari Kawabata, translators and annotators Liu Nanqi and Zou Bo, and scholars such as Zhong Shuhe, Bradly W. Reed and You Chenjun. As public information is limited, this characterization is based only on the books in the database, which together present a profile balancing Chinese and foreign literary classics with academic works in the humanities and social sciences.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 前言
  3. 课本里的北京
  4. 课本里的天津
  5. 课本里的河北
  6. 课本里的山西
  7. 课本里的内蒙古
  8. 课本里的辽宁
  9. 课本里的吉林
  10. 课本里的黑龙江
  11. 课本里的上海
  12. 课本里的江苏
  13. 课本里的浙江
  14. 课本里的安徽
  15. 课本里的福建
  16. 课本里的江西
  17. 课本里的山东
  18. 课本里的河南
  19. 课本里的湖北
  20. 课本里的湖南
  21. 课本里的广东
  22. 课本里的广西
  23. 课本里的海南
  24. 课本里的重庆
  25. 课本里的四川
  26. 课本里的贵州
  27. 课本里的云南
  28. 课本里的西藏
  29. 课本里的陕西
  30. 课本里的甘肃
  31. 课本里的青海
  32. 课本里的宁夏
  33. 课本里的新疆
  34. 课本里的香港
  35. 课本里的澳门
  36. 课本里的台湾

FAQ

How is this book different from an ordinary collection of textbooks or old photographs? The key difference is its systematic editorial concept. Rather than simply listing texts or old photos, it uses classic textbook content as a thread and employs professional photography for visual interpretation and temporal extension, building a narrative logic that moves from "China in textbooks" to "China in development." It combines nostalgia, aesthetics, and intellectual substance.
What period do the images span? Does it include recent photographs? The images span several decades, including rare archival photographs capturing historical moments as well as a large number of recent documentary works showing the new era. This contrast between old and new is a defining feature of the book, vividly reflecting change and development.
Is this book suitable as a gift? Very much so. Its subject resonates widely across generations, and it is beautifully designed with uplifting content. It can rekindle memories for older readers and help younger ones understand the past—an excellent gift for relatives and friends, especially families with members of different generations.

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About the author

光明日报摄影美术部 Author

The Photography and Fine Arts Department of Guangming Daily is a professional photography and fine arts unit under the newspaper, participating in book compilation and publication under a collective byline. Public information is limited, and the individual members' composition and backgrounds are not disclosed in the available sources, so this entry is based mainly on its signed work. The department's book China in Textbooks is a cultural title whose name suggests its editorial direction: taking textbooks as the vehicle and weaving narratives around the Chinese landscapes, cultural sites, and history they contain, presented through the professional lens of photography and fine arts. The book appears aimed at general readers interested in education and culture, seeking to connect familiar textbook passages with tangible geographical and cultural threads. Since only one work by this department is held in the collection, its overall editorial style and publishing trajectory cannot yet be fully outlined, and this introduction can only offer a limited account of the thematic orientation reflected in that single title, with further details awaiting public sources.