Foundations of Chinese Civilization

April 11, 2016
This breezy and generally triumphalist thumbnail guide to everything that’s happened in China up until the third century C.E. promises to explain “5,000 years at a glance.” That means volume two, covering only the next seven centuries, should be able to take a more leisurely pace. This volume is serviceable a short, middle-grade survey course. Liu leaps from the basics of the Chinese dynastic cycle and geography to cataloguing the dense, interlocking layers of Confucian social hierarchies and depicting the many civil wars that have burnt across the countryside for millennia. Liu comes from an academic and business background, which may account for the bullet-point approach to covering one massive upheaval after, another, and his sometimes juvenile drawings don’t mesh well with the epic events at hand. The cheerful characters make an uncomfortable juxtaposition with just-the-facts writing such as “after the deaths of five million people during the violent 16-year transition from the Qin to the Han...”

May 15, 2016

In 1907, an American missionary in China named Arthur Smith lamented that "Chinese history is remote, it is monotonous, obscure and worse than all there is far too much of it." Fortunately, today the graphic nonfiction format provides an accessible way to introduce and explain unfamiliar material, a goal ably met here by Liu (managing director, Moli Design). First self-published in 2011, then revised and expanded in 2014, this retitled mass-market edition is the first volume of Liu's four-book series. Augmenting simple and effective black-and-white cartoons with maps and charts, the work provides an overview of the rise and fall of China's early dynasties from the perspectives of both the rulers and the ruled, including the origins of the Great Wall and the Silk Road trading route. Along with his accounts of political, military, and economic conflicts, Liu concisely explains various schools of Chinese philosophical thought and incorporates occasional personal narratives, including the lives of Confucius and of Cai Lun, the inventor of paper. VERDICT This direct, appealing introduction to the foundations of one of the world's oldest civilizations is recommended for teens and adults.--SR

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016

Gr 5 Up-This new, revised edition will help bring this award-winning series, which was originally independently published, to a much wider audience. After an introduction, which covers the major dynasties, how they rose and fell, and geography, the author provides a brief overview of the Yellow Emperor and Xia Dynasty before launching into an exploration of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1050 BCE). Liu then examines the Zhou (1046-256 BCE), Qin (221-206 BCE), and Han (202 BCE-220 CE) dynasties. The uncluttered black-and-white cartoon drawings, coupled with clear and concise explanations, are an excellent primer to early Chinese history. Focusing on broad trends, political philosophy, and the causes of each dynasty's rise and fall, this broad work is easy to understand but never oversimplified. Interested readers have a great jumping-off point for exploring more in-depth materials. Liu especially excels at clarifying the often-confusing transitional periods between dynasties. VERDICT An excellent introduction to the large trends of early Chinese history; ideal for those new to the subject.-Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2016
This is book one of four outlining China's 5,000-year history. First laying down the basic stats 17,434 disasters, 3,791 wars, 663 emperors, and 95 dynasties and the world's largest national population and economy most of the last 2,000 yearsLiu launches the narrative continuum with the myth that brother and sister flood survivors generated the people and the proposition of the first-century BCE Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) that civilization began with the Yellow Emperor (26972597 BCE) and the subsequent Xia dynasty. Verifiable history arrives 1,000 years later with the Zhou dynasty. By the end of this volume's coverage, writing, land ownership, law, ritual, music, the military, agriculture, coinage, and philosophy are hoary; the Great Wall is complete; the six great schools of thought permeate; four dynasties have passed; and Cai Lun (63121) has invented paper. Confining detail to backdrops rendered in a palette of grays, Liu foregrounds cursive, cartoony, outlined, or silhouetted figures in black and white. The lucid, economical text makes one eager for the successive volumes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)