Library

The trajectory of Chinese history - history has gone through this way: one chaos and one governance cycle. After a long period of time, they must be divided, and if they are divided for a long time, they must be united. This is the traditional way of telling Chinese history.

Mr. Lu Simian is a famous historian in our country with a wealth of works. His historical research spanned all eras and looked into all fields. He made unique contributions to China's general history, chronological history and various specialized history fields, leaving a valuable wealth for future generations to study and research. The famous historian Mr. Yan Gengwang once said, "Those who have broad theoretical fields, rich narratives, and can write deeply, I always recommend Mr. Lu Simiancheng, Mr. Chen Yuan'an, Mr. Chen Yinke and Mr. Qian Mubin as the four predecessors of history." This book is a high school history textbook that Mr. Yan was invited to compile in the 1930s. When it was written, paper was very expensive in Luoyang, and people around the world rushed to circulate it. This book uses concise and smooth words to describe China's historical trends, institutional evolution, and cultural development from ancient times to the 1930s. The final chapter is based on the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is not only clear and accurate, but also embodies the author's unique research methods and comprehensive or specific insights. It is still an excellent popular reading on the general history of China. However, this book was produced in the 1930s. Due to the underdevelopment of science and technology and the imperfect collection of personal information, there are inevitably some errors in the book. Especially the chronology of historical events, some of which are inconsistent with modern chronology, we have corrected according to the modern chronology; we have retained the chronology involved in historical periodization, because different periods represent different views on history. This is a matter of benevolence and wisdom. More opinions and opinions are also beneficial to the development of history.

"A Brief History of China" written by French historian and sinologist Grusset is one of the classic works for Westerners to study Chinese history. In the book, the author uses major historical events and historical figures as points to connect the history of China for thousands of years. Based on these points, the author unfolds the picture and intercepts unique visual aspects one by one, from the origin of China to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, the author does not write about Chinese history in isolation, but puts it into the overall context of world history. Through horizontal and vertical comparisons, he looks at Chinese history and civilization more objectively from another perspective, and shows us a Chinese history that is different from previous perspectives.

China and Japan are separated by a narrow strip of water and have close relations. The friendly exchanges between the two countries can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. In ancient times, China, as Japan's largest neighbor, had many influences on Japanese culture, economy, and all aspects of life. It can be said that before the 19th century, China and Japan were equal and friendly neighbors. However, this friendly relationship quickly changed with the intervention of Western powers. Japan showed a valuable spirit of tolerance and absorption of foreign cultures in the face of foreign humiliation, launched a series of domestic reforms, and opened the way for the development of capitalism in Japan. Since then, China and Japan have embarked on completely different development paths. As its national power grew stronger, Japan's ambition to invade other countries also expanded step by step, and eventually joined the ranks of foreign powers invading China. This began a 70-year history of aggression against China.

Deng Zhicheng began to write "General History of China" for teaching needs. In 1934, the Commercial Press included it in the "University Series" and renamed it "Two Thousand Years of History of China". Twenty years later, the author continued to compile the Ming and Qing Dynasty parts, and the whole book was completed, with 2.7 Million words. It is unique among similar historical works. From the unification of Qin to the fall of the Qing Dynasty in the Revolution of 1911, it describes the Three Kingdoms, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, Jin, Xia and Yuan, etc. It is finally completed in 5 volumes and 9 volumes. It is truly a magnificent masterpiece. The book combines several genres such as chronicle style, chronological style, biographical style, and chapter style. The chronicle style is the backbone of the book, compiling historical facts, institutions, academics, literature, customs, religions, etc. Of each dynasty, supplemented by charts, using simplicity to control complexity, with clear entries and rich content.

This book is based on official history and collects the research results of historical scholars over the years. It records the prosperity and decline, peace and turmoil, civilization and loss of the Tang Dynasty in the past three hundred years. The language of the book is vivid, interesting and readable.

Read comics for half an hour and learn about 5,000 years of history. Use comics to interpret history and start a new reading trend! "Half-Hour Comic History of China 2" is the second part of the "Half-Hour Comic History of China" series. The climax of the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms era where heroes competed for power, and the unrestrained style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties all shine in this book! "Half-hour Comic History of China 2" is actually a rigorous and minimalist history of China! The author has been highly recommended by Zhang Quanling, former CCTV host and mentor of the popular online TV series "Qi Pa Shuo"! Read comics for half an hour and learn about five thousand years of history. Use comics to interpret history and start a new reading trend. Just through hand-drawings and jokes, Erhuizi has drawn out a clear historical context: the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period are like a class, the Great Qin Dynasty is like a class, the Great Qin Dynasty is just too addictive, the Three Kingdoms have three major battles, the Wei and Jin Dynasties are full of weird things, the Southern and Northern Dynasties are rich in prodigal sons, the Tang Dynasty has a cool national style... Uncovering the complicated historical surface, omitting the insignificant details, every page There are historical jokes that will make you laugh every three seconds, while the emperors and generals hand-drawn by the idiots are cheap and silly: Emperor Qin, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Zong of Tang, Emperor Song, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan are all just like you and me, with strengths and weaknesses, friends and enemies, and their amazing energy bursting out at key points in history has created three thousand years of wonderful Chinese history. And while you are laughing out your abs, you have unknowingly understood the history.

"National Memorial (Part 7): A Record of the Kuomintang's Frontal Battlefield Naval Resistance" is a tragic naval history in which the Republic of China Navy fought to the death with Japan's powerful enemy and died heroically for the country. For hundreds of years, maritime troubles have never subsided, and the ancestral maritime territory has been repeatedly invaded and intensified. In the first Sino-Japanese War in the 19th century, the Beiyang Fleet, which seemed to be the largest in East Asia, was completely wiped out; in the second Sino-Japanese War in the 20th century, the weak Republic of China Navy bravely showed its sword and died for its country in the face of a powerful enemy.

"National Memorial (Part 3): A Record of the Kuomintang's Frontal Battlefield Anti-Japanese War" relies on the archives of the Second Historical Archives and the archives from the Kuomintang Air Force Command in Taiwan, and includes articles by General Zhang Guangming, the only living general who personally participated in the August 14th air battle in the United States. The author of this book also interviewed some of the survivors and descendants of the Kuomintang Air Force. In addition, there is a special chapter describing the heroic deeds of the former Soviet Air Force Volunteers and the U. S. Air Force Volunteers who supported the Anti-Japanese War. It panoramically displays the entire process of the Chinese Air Force's heroic resistance, and introduces the historical events of the Chinese Air Force's heroic resistance during the Anti-Japanese War.

Seven or eight hundred years ago, on the west bank of the vast and fertile Bohai Bay, near the mouth of the Sancha River at the intersection of the world-famous Grand Canal and Haihe River, a small settlement was born. She is the second largest city in modern China, the largest coastal open city in northern China today, and a majestic and magnificent historical and cultural city - Tianjin. Among the many cities in my country, Tianjin can be said to be both old and young. It is said to be ancient because the urban embryo of Tianjin has appeared as early as the Jin Dynasty in the early 12th century and has a history of nearly 700 years. As for the development of Tianjin, it can be traced back to the Warring States Period two to three thousand years ago. She is said to be young because it has only been over a hundred years since Tianjin got rid of the body of a traditional city and began to move towards the ranks of modern big cities. How did Tianjin grow up in ancient times? How did it develop rapidly in modern times? How did the people of Tianjin finally gain liberation after nearly a hundred years of unrelenting struggle? What is the historical status of Tianjin in modern China? If you want to know all this, look for the answers in this book.

China is a great country with a long history of civilization and one of the earliest countries with developed culture in the world. As far as science and technology are concerned, in addition to the four great inventions known to the world, there have also been amazing achievements in many aspects such as agriculture, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, earth science, and engineering technology. For more than a thousand years from the Qin and Han dynasties to the early Ming Dynasty, China's science and technology has always been in a leading position in the world. However, by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the development of science and technology in China began to stagnate. Although science and technology once showed a revival due to the emergence of capitalism, it still continued to hesitantly move forward on the traditional road. Science and technology in the modern sense were not able to take the lead in the land of China. At the same time, with the rise of capitalism in the West in the 16th century, a scientific revolution occurred, a group of outstanding scientists emerged, and modern science and technology emerged. Since then, the technological gap between China and the West has widened.

China has been a multi-ethnic country since ancient times, and its culture has been diverse since ancient times. Confucius inherited the traditional culture of Xia, Shang and Zhou, compiled the Six Classics, and founded Confucianism. Later, Confucianism was first promoted by Mencius, a Confucian master in the mid-Warring States Period, and then highly praised by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. It then experienced a relative decline during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and then experienced a great rise in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It gradually formed the characteristics of being compatible with various thoughts such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, but with Confucianism as the mainstay, thus showing considerable vitality. Judging from the development of Confucianism in ancient China and its impact on ancient and modern China, we should see the development of Confucianism itself and view Confucianism in a more objective manner. We should give full play to its strengths and remove its dross to promote its better development in the new era.

This book "Music History" mainly tells a brief history of the development of modern Chinese music in the more than 100 years from the Opium War in 1840 to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The long history of Chinese music entered an extremely difficult, tortuous and slow period after the Opium War. In the 60 years from 1840 to the end of the 19th century, imperialist aggression and the decay of the feudal system caused serious damage to Chinese traditional music and folk music. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that, due to the national awakening and the influence of the New Culture Movement, Chinese music was injected with new sources, produced new changes, and gradually made great waves.

After the Opium War, Chinese society underwent rapid changes. Chinese literature entered a period of transition from classical to modern, and drama was no exception. After the long-closed borders of the Qing Dynasty were forcibly opened by foreign powers by force, exchanges between the East and the West became increasingly frequent. When "new voices from Europe and the West arrived from the Pacific," China's traditional drama stage inevitably received a strong impact. Since then, a new form of drama that can better express people's lives has appeared on the Chinese drama stage and has gradually become popular with the audience.

From March 10, 1912, when Yuan Shikai was sworn in as the provisional president in Beijing to June 3, 1928, when Zhang Zuolin withdrew from Beijing, the Beijing regime of the Republic of China was often called the Beiyang Government. From a phenomenological point of view, the main characteristics of the Beiyang government's rule can be described and summarized in four words: "constant turmoil." It took only 16 years and three months from its establishment to its completion, but the head of state was changed eight times, and the prime minister was changed as many as 58 times. It's really "noisy, you just finish singing and I will come on stage". Moreover, the above-mentioned changes in national and government leaders are not normal personnel changes, but are the result of overt and covert struggles among various political forces, mainly warlords of major factions, and even military confrontations on the battlefield. This book tells about several aspects of the Beiyang government, but it is enough to see the corruption and incompetence of the Beiyang government, as well as the situation where the country has no peace and the people have no livelihood under its rule.

This year, we will dedicate a new series of books to our readers: the Book and People Series. We hope that you can gain profound insights from relatively easy reading. The book introduced here is "Between Virtuality and Reality" by Hu Baoguo (the other three books published at the same time are "Portraits of Qin and Han Wenren" by Wang Zijin, "East Wind and West Wind" by Ge Xiaojia and Luo Zhitian, and "Walking through the Forest of Books" by Ge Zhaoguang). The texts included in this book can be roughly divided into two categories, "one category is related to history, and the other category has nothing to do with history." The former is mainly a few book reviews, from small to large, from recent to far, which not only loses the depth of historians, but also takes into account the interests of readers. The latter belongs to the author's hobby, including memoirs and realistic works, as well as purely fictitious "literary" sketches. The author has excellent performance in the field of medieval history, and these "not related to history" texts are very "interesting". Everyone loves to read interesting articles, and in addition to being interesting, you can also appreciate the author's rich emotions, profound insights and wise thinking.

Refugees not only exist in contemporary times, but are also commonplace in ancient and modern times. This small book presented to readers describes the refugee problem in modern China. This book starts with the emergence of refugees, and discusses the reasons for the formation of the refugee phenomenon, the flow of refugees and their impact on society, as well as how the refugee problem was solved in modern times. Through the author's intelligent and logical discussion, we feel that the refugee problem in modern times is not only closely related to modern China's backward economy, but also closely related to modern corrupt politics. The real solution to the refugee problem can only rely on industrialization and the complete transformation of the rural labor force, which is also of reference significance for contemporary modernization construction.

At the turn of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the early 17th century, a serious social crisis occurred in feudal society. The germination of the capitalist mode of production has opened a gap in the dam of feudal production relations, and the people's resistance struggle is shaking the edifice of feudal rule. Under such historical conditions, early Enlightenment thinkers represented by Li Zhi, Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi, Dai Zhen, etc. Emerged. However, China's early Enlightenment thought was far less fortunate than Western Enlightenment thought. After the Qing Dynasty established its rule across the country, feudal despotism was unprecedentedly strengthened. For the needs of their own rule, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty adopted cruel cultural authoritarian policies. The authority of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties was restored under the situation of "imperial compilation" and "imperial approval"; cultural exchanges between China and the West were also interrupted due to the seclusion policy; what followed was the death of Enlightenment thought. This book takes this as a clue to briefly outline the development of the early Enlightenment trends in China's modern history from its germination to its demise.

In modern world history, foreign debt is not only the main method of international capital flows and international economic exchanges, but also an important means in international diplomatic struggles and international political activities. In modern China, especially after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the issue of foreign debt became a major issue affecting China's finance, economy, politics, diplomacy and many other aspects. To conduct a more in-depth investigation of this period of Chinese history, it is necessary to understand China's foreign debt in modern times. In modern times, many knowledgeable people have expounded on the harmful effects of foreign debt, but there are also some Chinese people who know that it is a pit of fire, but insist on jumping into it. Some government dignitaries and some entrepreneurs in old China regarded foreign debt as a life-saving straw and coveted it, while others were afraid to avoid it. Therefore, the author believes that it is necessary to understand modern China's foreign debt from different angles and aspects, but it cannot be divorced from the historical conditions of modern Chinese society and the historical facts of the time should be fully respected. These are the premise for the narrative of this booklet.

Some people say that China is a conservative country, and its long history and glorious cultural heritage have become a heavy burden, making it increasingly difficult for it to move forward. However, in Chinese history, there is no shortage of people who dare to break through the laws of the previous kings and try to carry out reforms that make profits and losses according to the times. A century ago, the bourgeois reformists represented by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao were the best among them. The reform movement launched and led by them can be said to be a massive reform movement in Chinese history. Although it failed irreparably, there is no doubt that it effectively promoted the development of modern Chinese history and left precious experience, lessons and enlightenment to future generations.

In the 1930s, Japanese imperialism made further progress in its aggression against China. After the "September 18" invasion of the three eastern provinces, Shanhaiguan and Rehe were occupied in early 1933. After that, its aggressive claws further extended to North China, and the whole of China gradually fell into the danger of national subjugation and annihilation. At this time, the Kuomintang authorities headed by Chiang Kai-shek ignored the safety of the whole of China and still adhered to the policy of "pacifying the country before fighting foreign forces" and launched an encirclement and suppression campaign against the Red Army led by the Communist Party of China. This non-resistance policy against Japan aroused the dissatisfaction of all patriots. Against this background, the world-famous Xi'an Incident broke out on December 12, 1936. Patriotic generals represented by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng took control of Chiang Kai-shek at his residence in Huaqingchi, Lintong, and conducted "military remonstrances" against him, hoping to force Chiang Kai-shek to cooperate with the CCP in the fight against Japan. After the active efforts of many parties, the Xi'an Incident was finally peacefully resolved, which promoted the realization of the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and also ushered in a great situation in which the people of the whole country united to resist Japan.

The Revolution of 1911 refers to a nationwide revolution that took place in the year of Xinhai in the Chinese lunar calendar (the third year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty), that is, from 1911 to early 1912, and aimed to overthrow the Qing autocratic imperial dynasty and establish a republican system of government. As a democratic revolution, the Revolution of 1911 successfully overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty, ended China's imperial system, ushered in a new era of democratic republic, and made the concept of republic deeply rooted in the minds of the middle and upper classes of society. As a national revolution, the success of the Revolution of 1911 also had an important impact on ethnic relations in China and the national liberation movements in other Asian countries at the same time. A series of events before and after the Revolution of 1911 not only ended the previous efforts of the constitutionalists to implement a constitutional monarchy, but also had a key impact on the subsequent development of China's constitutional government and rule of law, central and local politics, and the relationship between the central and local governments.

Modern times for China are not only a politically troubled historical period, but also a historical period in which various natural disasters occur frequently and cover a wide area, and natural and man-made disasters overlap with each other. Frequent famines during this period had an impact in one way or another on various fields such as politics, economy, military and culture in modern Chinese society. To fully and accurately understand the modern history of China, famine is obviously an aspect that should not be avoided. This book reviews and introduces the natural disasters that occurred between 1840 and 1949 and some related historical events. This will deepen our understanding of modern Chinese history, deepen our understanding of the national conditions, and thus provide reference for contemporary times.

In the 19th century, China was under the rule of the Qing Dynasty and was mainly an agricultural country based on farming. But at that time, Western countries had entered the industrial age as early as the 18th century, although the Industrial Revolution had not yet developed vigorously. Beginning in the 19th century, with the invasion of Western powers, some Western industrial products also poured into China along with powerful ships and cannons. While plundering the Chinese people economically, they also brought convenience to the people's lives. This book provides a relatively comprehensive introduction to the introduction of Western artifacts into China. The content mainly includes daily consumer goods, urban transportation, long-distance transportation, communication equipment, cultural and entertainment supplies, weapons, electrical appliances, etc.

Russia, today's Russian Federation, is China's largest neighbor. The exchanges between China and Russia began in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Russia sent the Petlin delegation to visit China and met with the Chinese emperor. However, this exchange did not make any substantial development in the relations between the two countries. What had a major impact on the relations between China and Russia were several groups of Russian "visitors" who set out from Yakutsk. They continued to use force to harass and invade China's northern border. However, their armed aggression was finally vigorously counterattacked by the Qing government. In the end, the two sides signed the first equality treaty between China and Russia, the "Treaty of Nerchinsk", which laid the foundation for the normalization of relations between the two countries. However, the equal exchanges between the two countries did not last long. As the Qing government's rule became increasingly corrupt, its finances became increasingly stretched, and its military became increasingly tired, the Russian Empire took another step to invade China. The signing of Sino-Russian treaties such as the "Brensky", "Treaty of Kyakhta", and "Treaty on the Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary" enabled Tsarist Russia to gradually occupy most of the northern and western parts of China. It also took advantage of the situation and signed the "Aihun Treaty" and "Beijing Treaty" with the Qing government to further seize its interests in China, and even forcibly rented Luda, and attempted to reduce Northeast China to its exclusive sphere of influence. It was not until the victory of the October Revolution in 1917 and the overthrow of Tsarist Russia that the relationship between China and Russia ended.

In 1840, under the bombardment of the British Empire's powerful ships and artillery, the closed door of the Qing Dynasty was opened by Western visitors. From then on, China began to become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society step by step. The equal trade relationship between China and Britain before that was also rewritten. The British Empire gradually increased the pace of its invasion of China. Starting from the signing of the Treaty of Tianjin and the Treaty of Beijing, the British not only got involved in the Yunnan-Myanmar border issue, attempted to invade Tibet, and then plotted Tibetan independence, but also forcibly leased Hong Kong and forced Hong Kong away from the embrace of the motherland for a century. This booklet introduces to you the relationship between China and Britain in the history of aggression and aggression in modern history. I believe you will gain something after reading it.

Secret societies are various groups of lower-class members that exist outside the normal social organization system. They are "heretics" of the orthodox social order. In China's long history, they have always existed, grown, and developed as a collection of lower-class people. After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, it became popular up and down the river, north and south of the Yangtze River. During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, there were nearly a thousand names and tens of millions of followers. It played a very important role in modern Chinese history and became a huge social force, affecting all aspects of society, politics, economy, and life. This booklet introduces you to some important secret social organizations in modern Chinese history in more detail, such as the Tiandihui, the Green Lotus Sect, the Ge Laohui, the Qinghong Gang and their main activities.

The history of overseas Chinese labor in modern China is essentially a history of the coolie trade, which is a criminal product of colonialism. Looking at its history, it first started before the Opium War with the trafficking of "piglets" Chinese workers to "Nanyang". After the Opium War, China became a semi-colonial country and its sovereignty was seriously violated. The colonialists used the treaty ports designated by unequal treaties as bases and strongholds to wildly set off a vicious tide of trafficking in Chinese laborers. They not only trafficked Chinese laborers to Southeast Asia on a large scale, but also expanded their scope to Latin America, North America and other regions. A large number of Chinese workers were trafficked overseas and lived a life of hard labor that was worse than pigs and dogs. After the end of World War I, the trafficking of Chinese laborers abroad still did not disappear, and even experienced a resurgence. By the 1930s, the situation of Chinese workers being trafficked overseas as coolies ended.

Due to the large differences in cultural traditions and historical backgrounds between the East and the West, Christianity has been rejected by Chinese people since it was introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty due to its conflict with Chinese political and religious etiquette. This is an unavoidable phenomenon in the process of exchanges and collisions between Chinese and Western cultures. However, after the Opium War, the spread of Christianity in China no longer fell within the scope of normal cultural exchanges. Instead, it relied on unequal treaties and the protection of foreign guns and artillery to force its way in. From the beginning, it was closely linked to the colonial expansion activities of the great powers in China. The large number of conclusive historical facts recorded in this booklet reveal to people exactly how Western missionaries closely cooperated with the "gunboat policy" of their own governments and followed suit, thus pushing China step by step into the abyss of semi-colonialism.

This book is prefaced by chronology, and introduces 46 representative and influential military strategists in various periods such as the Pre-Qin, Qin and Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. They have left us a very rich legacy. This legacy belongs not only to soldiers, but also to all walks of life; not only to China, but also to the whole world. Sun Wu's military theories such as "Know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger", "Show your capabilities and show them your inability, use them and show them your inability", etc. Have been fully utilized by the business circles of various countries. The principles of military construction and management by Sun Wu, Zeng Guofan and others have been applied in operations or management by many enterprises and institutions. The military application of Wang Shouren's theory of "unity of knowledge and action" is also admired by many Western Sinologists. This is the example of wisdom that this book will bring you.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, the seeds of capitalism appeared and slowly developed, and the resulting financial institutions also began to develop gradually. However, the foreign invasion after 1840 disrupted the development trajectory of China's financial industry, which combined China's old financial institutions with foreign financial capital institutions and continued to develop, becoming the main force controlling modern China's finance. They have caused China's financial chaos in the past century, the private financial industry has gradually declined, and China has become a paradise for bureaucratic finance and foreign financial industries to find gold. It was not until the founding of New China that China's financial system gradually became stable.

The emergence of railways in the ancient land of China is the product of "European winds and beautiful rains rushing eastwards". The First Opium War in 1840 brought the isolated Chinese Empire into the world capitalist system. As a result, the Western powers began to transform China in their own image, and they especially worked hard on material technology such as telegraphs and railways. The first commercial railway laid in China was the Wusong Railway built by British businessmen in Shanghai in 1876. It marked that ancient China also began to enter the "railway age" with difficulty. Counting from this year to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, China's modern railways went through 73 years of ups and downs from scratch, from few to many.

China and France, one in East Asia and the other in Western Europe, are both big countries with splendid cultures. The first contact between China and France took place in the mid-13th century. After that, the two countries began close exchanges in culture and other fields. This friendly relationship lasted until the 19th century. With the development of French capitalism in the 19th century, this beneficial cultural exchange relationship between China and France was replaced by the relationship between aggression and being invaded. From participating in the robbery of the Old Summer Palace and forcing the Qing government to sign the "Beijing Treaty" to coveting the southwest border, to the war between China and France, and then to the Before the Revolution of 1911, and even the outbreak of the Laoxi Kai Incident and the Golden Franc Case, France gradually extended its claws of aggression to China and expanded its rights in China step by step. It was not until the founding of the People's Republic of China in October 1949 that Sino-French relations opened a new page.

Today's postal system across the country and even the world not only provides great convenience to our lives, but also profoundly affects our lives. The postal system that is so efficient and convenient today was developed on the basis of modern postal services. This book takes modern China Post as the basis and introduces in detail the relationship between modern postal services and ancient postal stations, the emergence of modern postal services, the organization of postal institutions, the management of postal personnel, and the operation of postal services. This book allows readers to understand the overview of China Postal Service and feel the difficult development process of modern Chinese Postal Service.

On February 22, 1784, in the busy and noisy New York Harbor, the "Queen of China" set sail, thus kicking off the development of Sino-US relations. Initially, China and the United States only had commercial and trade relations and no political relations. However, as the commercial and trade relations between the two countries continued to develop and foreign powers invaded one after another, the United States gradually got involved in China's politics and diplomacy and continued to seize interests in China. Since the signing of a series of unequal treaties such as the Treaty of Wangxia, the Treaty of Tianjin, and the Treaty of Prussia, the relationship between China and the United States has undergone fundamental changes, and the United States has entered an era of comprehensive interference in China's internal affairs and diplomacy.

In 1865, the establishment of the Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Administration, the predecessor of Jiangnan Shipyard, unveiled the history of China's modern national industry. From then on, national industrial enterprises officially entered the stage of Chinese history. From the establishment of a number of modern national industrial enterprises that emerged during the Westernization Movement, such as Fuzhou Shipping Bureau and Tianjin Machinery Bureau, to the development and growth of a number of modern well-known enterprises such as Dasheng Cotton Mill, to the vigorous development of national industries in the past seven years from 1914 to 1920, China's modern national industries have grown from small to large, from weak to strong, and have gradually become an important force in my country's economic development. However, the good times did not last long. The turbulent eight years of the Anti-Japanese War destroyed China's modern national industries with its great destructive power. National industrial enterprises in various industries were struggling on the line of life and death. It was not until the founding of New China in 1949 that they were able to survive.

Before the mid-19th century, Chinese farmers usually farmed using old methods passed down from their ancestors. Although it is not as scientific as Western farming methods, traditional agricultural farming methods have been accumulated through long-term production practice, so they are basically consistent with scientific principles. In the late 19th century, Chinese people of insight began to point out that some aspects of the agricultural technology of Western countries were more reasonable than our traditional agricultural technology, so we should follow their example and apply their advanced agricultural scientific knowledge to our agricultural production. So since then, our country has begun to imitate the West in agricultural production. This book focuses on the improvements in food crop varieties, cash crops, forestry, agricultural tools, etc. In China's modern history.

In 1904, China's first chamber of commerce, the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, was established. Subsequently, chambers of commerce were established throughout China. By 1918, the total number of chambers of commerce across the country had increased to nearly 1,500, and the number continued to increase thereafter. They began to occupy an important position in China's modern economic activities and became a relatively mature industrial and commercial group organization. As their power grew, they intervened in the "constitutional" movement, got involved in the "Revolution of 1911", resisted the "Twenty-One Movement", and supported the "May 4th" movement. They influenced modern China's politics, economy and diplomacy, and occupied an indelible position in modern Chinese history.

The Taiping Rebellion was a peasant war of unprecedented scale in modern Chinese history. It took more than ten years from 1851 when the God Worshipers Association led by Hong Xiuquan announced an uprising in Jintian and founded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the failure of the Taiping Revolution. In this short period of more than ten years, the Taiping Revolution established many brilliant achievements. They established their capital in Tianjing and established a revolutionary regime that was opposed to the Qing government; they issued a series of political and economic policies such as the "Chinese Land Acquisition System" to encourage the development of agriculture and commerce; they sent troops to the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition to fight against the Hunan Army led by Zeng Guofan, and so on. These are things that we cannot ignore when facing this peasant regime. But the Taiping Revolution was a peasant revolution after all, and it undeniably had limitations of the times and classes. The Tianjing Incident was the most prominent manifestation of these limitations. So from this perspective, the Taiping Rebellion could not escape the fate of failure.

China is a big country in the East and Germany is a powerful country in Europe. Although the two countries are separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, the earliest exchanges between the two nations can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, more and more German missionaries set foot on Chinese soil. While conducting ideological and cultural exchanges, trade exchanges between the two countries also began. However, this equal and friendly trade relationship was soon interrupted by the artillery fire of the Opium War. Germany followed the footsteps of Britain, France and other invading countries and began to plunder and invade China crazily. From forcing the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Commerce, to demanding the concessions of Hankou and Tianjin, to seizing Jiaozhou Bay and interfering in China's internal affairs, Germany expanded its rights and interests in China step by step, even using force to consolidate its vested interests. In this way, the relationship between China and Germany will eventually deteriorate and even develop to the point of breaking off diplomatic relations. It was not until the founding of New China that China and Germany established equal and friendly diplomatic relations.

The Opium War in 1840 knocked on China's door. Since then, some major capitalist countries have extended their aggressive claws to China and began to frantically plunder China's mineral resources. In this context, in order to safeguard the country's sovereignty, some far-sighted people in the Qing government also began to build some state-owned coal and gold mines, such as Kaiping Coal Mine, Ma'anshan Coal Mine, Mohe Gold Mine, etc. However, their development was short-lived and could not withstand the invasion of foreign powers. From the difficult establishment of the Kaiping Coal Mine to the loss of sovereignty of the Kailuan Coal Mine, from the arbitrary investment and mining of mineral resources in China by foreign powers to the people's movement to regain sovereignty, the Chinese people finally regained the country's sovereignty and their own rights and interests through difficult and unyielding struggles step by step.

When reading the history of the Song Dynasty, what you will read is the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, the civilization of the Song Dynasty, the comfort of the Song Dynasty, and the magnanimity of the Song Dynasty. The history of the Song Dynasty is the most fortunate chapter of Chinese civilization, leaving the world with infinite yearning and contemplation.

Political thought has existed since ancient times. If ancient Chinese political thought only focused on how to consolidate and strengthen feudal imperial rule and constantly improve its governing philosophy, change its governing methods, and adjust its governing policies, then the main part of modern Chinese political thought is based on thinking about changes in the political system and the state system. In response to this content, various classes, factions, political parties, and figures have put forward a variety of different ideas and plans, forming one political trend after another. The ebb and flow of these ideological trends constitutes the process from changing laws and eliminating abuses to reforming revolution, and from pursuing republican democracy to establishing a people's democratic country. This book takes this as a clue to show us the evolution of modern Chinese political thought in various periods.

China is the birthplace of the sericulture and silk industry and the motherland of silk. In ancient times, China was called the "Silk Country" by the West. The Chinese nation has many major inventions, and planting mulberry, raising silkworms, and reeling and weaving silk are among the earliest and greatest inventions. Silk and satin not only enriched people's clothing materials and beautified people's lives, but also served as civilized messengers in China's early exchanges with neighboring countries and Western countries. The unique "Silk Road" was the ancient transportation artery between China and the West across the Eurasian continent. Silk trade had a profound impact on ancient commerce, transportation and cultural exchanges, and even on the economic, political and cultural development of ancient Chinese and Western countries. This book succinctly describes the origin and development process of China's sericulture and silk industry from ancient times to modern times, focusing on the relevant situations of ancient mulberry planting, sericulture, silk reeling, silk weaving, scouring and bleaching, and printing and dyeing production, including production relations, management methods, production area distribution, production technology and technology development and changes, as well as the development and changes of silk trade and sericulture and silk weaving technology, and the external dissemination of silk trade and sericulture and silk weaving technology. From this we can not only feel the wisdom of our ancestors, but also feel glorious and proud of the ancient civilization of the Chinese nation.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the glory of the Tang Dynasty was gone forever. "The Tang Empire on the Blade" starts from this period of history and describes a Tang Empire that walked on the blade with a precarious destiny. Although Emperor Daizong Li Yu did not have the courage to turn the tide, nor the ability to determine the fate of the world, he was a competent and successful ruler. His son Dezong Li Shi accidentally opened "Pandora's Box" due to his impulsiveness. For a while, the demons danced wildly and the sun and moon were dimmed. Between the vassal towns, armies fought for territory; within the vassal towns, tragedies of soldiers betraying Jiedu and establishing new lords were staged in turn. In "The Tang Empire on the Blade", there are both secret wrestling and head-on confrontation; there are both smoke-filled wars and bloodless battles! When the prosperity came to an end, who saw the sadness and desolation in the second half of the Tang Dynasty?

Since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty built the Great Wall for self-defense more than 2,000 years ago, the Qin, Han, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, Sui, Jin, and Ming dynasties all built the Great Wall, covering all northern provinces and regions. The Great Wall was built mainly to resist invading nomads and protect the agricultural economy of the Central Plains. The Great Wall has had a huge and far-reaching impact on China's historical process, and has also triggered many moving and evocative historical events. Based on the archaeological materials of the Great Wall and combined with historical documents, this book attempts to give a more comprehensive and systematic description of the great Great Wall, hoping to get some of the essence of the Great Wall for the enjoyment of readers.

Before the Opium War, China's customs power was in the hands of customs supervisors directly dispatched by the emperor. After the Opium War, China's customs became a "colony" of imperialists. Among them, Hurd was a figure that cannot be ignored. He "served" the Qing government for 52 years and held the power of China's customs for half a century. From his correspondence with Jin Dengqian, we see the ambition of imperialist aggression and the weakness of the Qing government, as well as the fact that the keys to China's treasury are always in the hands of foreigners, and this situation continued until the rule of the National Government. In 1949, the Chinese people achieved a great victory in the New Democratic Revolution and overthrew the reactionary rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism. The old Chinese customs, which had been controlled by imperialism and the National Government for a long time, collapsed accordingly.

The imperial examination was a unique system in ancient Chinese history for selecting talents and appointing officials. Its emergence adapted to the needs of social and political development at that time and played an important role in maintaining feudal rule; it also aroused people's enthusiasm for reading and provided conditions for the ruling class to select talented people to enrich its own team. Although many candidates and examiners cheated due to improper examination content and methods, which prevented the imperial examination system from playing its original role, it had a significant impact on the politics, economy, education system and the style of study of intellectuals during this long period of feudal society. Its status and role in Chinese history cannot be underestimated. What is the origin of China's imperial examination system? What is the development context? What position should it occupy in the history of Chinese feudal society? What about its role and impact? These are the questions this booklet seeks to answer.

There was a saying in Beijing in the old days: "We don't distinguish between Manchus and Han people, but we ask the banner people." In the Qing Dynasty, banner people and common people were the basic divisions between social members. Minren are people who belong to the provinces, prefectures and counties, while bannermen are people who are incorporated into the Eight Banners organization. Banner people are also called "people under banners" and "those under banners." They are different from the common people in terms of administrative affiliation, political status, rights and obligations, economic resources, lifestyle, and even cultural customs, and they became a very unique group in Qing Dynasty society. This book captures these characteristics of the banner people, and selects several aspects about the banner people's culture, political life, etc., And describes them in more detail, aiming to show readers the general outline of the rise and fall of the banner people's honor and disgrace in the Qing Dynasty.

From the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century, world capitalism entered a period of rapid rise. The new economy, which was market-oriented and aimed at capital proliferation, drove Western capitalists to use China, a country with a large population and weak national power, as a sales market for their industrial products. However, faced with the barriers of China's self-sufficient natural economy, it was difficult for Western industrial products to find a market and suffered repeated losses. As a result, British businessmen began to use opium, a special commodity, as an important means to open the door to China. The proliferation of opium brought serious disasters to Chinese society. Lin Zexu was ordered to launch a resolute and powerful anti-smoking campaign. Britain used this as an excuse to launch a war of aggression against China, forcing the Qing government to sign the first unequal treaty in Chinese history - the Treaty of Nanjing. After the Opium War, China's social nature began to undergo fundamental changes, gradually becoming a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.