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Japanese/Chinese History Books (in English)
Hi, /his/,
Long story short, I like history but throughout my shitty American education none of my professors have even touched on Eastern history pre-WWII (besides "Marco Polo sucked China's dick").
I'd like to start by reading about either Japanese or Chinese history. Can anyone recommend to me a good place to start? Just the names of a few books is all I'm looking for.
Thanks i know you'll come through.
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Start with China: A New History by John King Fairbank. Its an amazing introduction into ancient / classical China that explains things like Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and Chinese Buddhism really well. My biggest annoyance with it is that it goes through the classical era really fast in favor for the later eras (13th century and up). You won't be reading about the warring states or the three kingdoms.
After you read that book, read A History of Japan by R. H. P. Mason. I personally think learning about China before you read about Japan is essential, especially since you learn how Zen Buddhism develops in China and moves to Japan.
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Both China: A History by John Keay and China: A New History by John King Fairbank are good places to start. The former proportionally spends more focus towards covering the pre-Republic period while the latter proportionally spends more focus towards covering the Republic and beyond, but they both give a decent overview of China's history from the neolithic period until now.
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