The central question of The Pivot: China Over 3,000 Years is: What exactly is China?
In this book, Shi Zhan takes a question-driven approach that transcends the limits of any single discipline. Drawing on geography, history, philosophy, economics, public finance, currency, military affairs, demography, sociology, law, international politics, and more, he offers a unified framework for interpreting China’s complex history over several thousand years, as well as its successes and failures over the past century.
In his account of ancient history, Shi Zhan breaks away from both the familiar Central Plains-centered view and the steppe-centered view. By examining how the Central Plains, the steppe, the Western Regions, the plateau, and the seas interacted, depended on one another, and shaped one another, he identifies a unified historical process that transcends each subregion, restoring Chinese history as the evolution of an interconnected system.
Resisting value judgments in any particular direction, Shi Zhan uses China’s immense scale as a thread to explain coherently why China was able to maintain a unified empire, why it fell behind in modern times, and how this perspective lends new meaning to the great Chinese revolution of the twentieth century.
As China encountered the West, some of the forces latent within Chinese history were awakened. Against this backdrop, China’s economic growth and its profound influence on the world order are explored in depth through a new framework. On this basis, the author also develops a series of highly constructive reflections on the future.
This book is really interesting! It is not as boring as ordinary history books, but uses a very novel perspective to explain Chinese history. I especially like the description of the interaction between various sub-regions in the book, which gave me a deeper understanding of Chinese history. But I kind of hate those characters who only know how to fight for power. They are really selfish. As the book says, "History is a complex system, not a simple linear process." This book gave me a lot to think about, and I recommend you read it too!
It is extremely difficult for a cultural empire to maintain efficiency, flexibility, and stability in an environment full of variables. A civilization, especially a civilization with a long history, will inevitably have the instinct to reproduce and continue like the animals in Darwin's theory of evolution, which will eventually lead to a cultural empire that is constantly changing and reorganizing.
This book is not about Chinese history, but about showing readers a Western perspective through Chinese history. The core point here is: China cannot develop without Western intervention and help.
A lot of the information accumulated is useful. The argument is rather idealistic, empty-handed, and not convincing enough. Some arguments, such as that China is a maritime and land hub and a nation in world history, are enlightening, but the conclusions and proposed response methods are wrong, especially the views on technological innovation, new technological revolution, and the U. S. Trade war with China, and many of them have been proven wrong by practice. The mind is in a semi-liberated state, and there are many legacy of rigid ideas from the last century. In short, there are still merits.
It is enlightening and worthy of our study.
By reading this book, readers can gain profound insights into the logic of China's historical evolution, the reasons for the persistence of China's miracle, and China's role in the world.
The logic of historical evolution. (What happened in the Six Dynasties, it was just a private plan)
A very structured and nutritious book, worth recommending
Big world view, big historical view, big pattern view
Deconstructing ancient Chinese history with a novel perspective and a grand pattern.