Speaking of China: A Complex, Ever-Changing Community (2024 Edition)

How did China become China? Is its identity rooted in blood ties, borders, or culture? Swords drew the borders, while food and clothing crossed them; Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism blended; ethnic groups came together… How did these originally diverse and complex cultures gradually converge and shape a country called “China/Huaxia”? And in the future, can this community continue to attract the descendants of its original members, so they will still see it as their spiritual and physical home?

The renowned historian Xu Zhuoyun starts in the Neolithic Age and takes us up to the eve of the Qing dynasty’s end, recounting how the complex community known as “Huaxia/China” continually evolved.

The book avoids minute details and cumbersome arguments. Taking a broad historical view, it selects the key political, economic, social, and cultural features of each era to sketch its character.

In an age of globalization, examining the principles behind our ethnic identity can keep us from being swept up in narrow-minded ethnic arrogance and losing our way.