From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History

"Only powerful people have liberty." Sun Yat-sen

History of China
1. Geography and Archaeology
2. The First Dynasties
3. The Zhou Conquest
4. Fragmentation and Social Change
5. Confucianism and Daoism
6. The Hundred Schools
7. The Early Han Dynasty
8. Later Han and the Three Kingdoms
9. Buddhism
10. Northern and Southern Dynasties
11. Sui Reunification and the Rise of the Tang
12. The Early Tang Dynasty
13. Han Yu and the Late Tang
14. Five Dynasties and the Song Founding
15. Intellectual Ferment in the 11th Century
16. Art and the Way
17. Conquest States in the North
18. Economy and Society in Southern Song
19. Zhu Xi and Neo-Confucianism
20. The Rise of the Mongols
21. The Yuan Dynasty
22. The Rise of the Ming
23. The Ming Golden Age
24. Gridlock and Crisis
25. The Rise of the Manchus
26. Kangxi to Qianlong
27. The Coming of the West
28. Threats from Within and Without
29. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
30. Efforts at Reform
31. The Fall of the Empire
32. The New Culture Movement and May 4th
33. The Chinese Communists, 1921-1937
34. War and Revolution
35. China Under Mao
36. China and the World in a New Century

“In the construction of a country, it is not the practical workers but the idealists and planners that are difficult to find.” Sun Yat-sen

I really enjoyed this Great Course. Professor Kenneth J. Hammond from New Mexico State makes this 5,000 year history of China come alive.

It helped me to begin to understand the difference in cultures between the western world and the east. It also helped me to see that because I was brought up in a democracy/republic that all nations may not want that kind of government.

I was surprised to learn that under Communism women had more rights than they had previously and as capitalism grabs hold of China, women’s rights are disappearing. I also found it interesting to learn why the students were protesting in Tiananmen Square and the eventual outcome of that protest.

I also found intriguing the family dynasties that ruled China over the years and the Mongols taking control under the Khans when Marco Polo visited. I was disgusted to find Great Britain as the biggest drug cartel in history and how they pushed opium on the Chinese people in order to have an advantage in trading in silver with them.

In America we learn little of Chinese history and these classes are about thirty minutes in length which is perfect for a little at a time. This took me a long time to finish but I feel I have a better understanding of the Chinese people and history thanks to Prof. Hammond.

27 of 28 people found this review helpful

Good broad brush information

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The professors speach candence was too slow for me. I had to play the entire thing on 2x speed for it to be tolerable.

Any additional comments?

Great information overall with some solid broad brush coverage of the subject. I would have liked to have gotten more details in a number of places, but that would have made it too long.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Informative but dry and incomplete

The teacher belongs to the "one damn thing after another" school of history--lots of facts, very little effort to hold them together with theories or draw any interesting lessons out of them. Few comparisons with other cultures, little discussion of competing interpretations of events, etc. If I hadn't done outside reading, for instance, I'd have no idea that the existence of the Xia dynasty is still controversial--the teacher presents it as established fact.

Once Communism enters the scene, the story gets deceptively rosy. The Cultural Revolution is presented as mostly an internal party fight--the millions of casualties aren't mentioned. Casualties from the collectivization famine are mentioned, but they're presented as, "Collectivization led to increased food production, but they thought they had even more food than they really had, so they stopped rationing and--it was the darndest thing!--ten million people starved to death. Totally by accident. Nobody responsible here."

He presents China's accomplishments since Tiananmen in glowing terms, then says, "But they've come at a cost." My ears perk up, hoping for honest analysis. He continues, "Teachers' salaries haven't kept up with the rising standard of living, and health care is kind of expensive." Everything else, I guess, is peachy. He mentions government population control efforts, but he can't even bring himself to say the words "one-child policy," to say nothing of "forced abortions and sterilizations."

I get there are things it's dangerous to say if you're a scholar who wants to keep working in China. But if you can't talk about post-1960s China without becoming a party shill, it's best to say nothing at all.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

A good listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes because it is a great crash course to Chinese history and seems to cover all of the main events.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Professor Kenneth J. Hammond?

That depends on the subject. He wasn't a particularly great story teller and didn't really make the subject come to life. I was interested in most of the lectures so I could pay attention, but occasionally he would dwell on some less interesting topics and I would lose interest.

Any additional comments?

I certainly enjoyed the audiobook but it was not one I could listen to for hours at a time because the Professor was not very energized. I was also disappointed that he did not talk about the building of the Great Wall at all. However, it was a great introduction/overview of Chinese History.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Rich in Content and Substance

China is one of the most interesting and long-running civilizations in the world. This course covers the history of the Kingdoms before the Chinese unification, and move us through a rich history with colorful characters all the way to the twentieth century. I strongly recommend it for interesting presentation and thoroughness.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

A great overview of Chinese History

Any additional comments?

This was a very thorough and enjoyable overview of Chinese history. The professor does a great job touching on many important subjects and nuances in Chinese history, including even an overview of Chinese geography, which I think is essential for understanding the history of any country. Like all history it can become a little dry or hard to remember or distinguish all the different peoples and dynasties at some points. I would highly recommend these lectures to anyone looking for a good, thorough overview of Chinese history from the earliest times to the near present.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

It's ok

This included a lot of information and introduced me to Chinese history, but it was very short on details and in many cases provided summaries that were too vague. It was more detailed once it reached Communist China. I feel like this book is an introductory introduction and there is a better option available on Audible from the Great Courses.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

An Insightful History

Where does From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the "enjoyed very very much" category.

What did you like best about this story?

It provides insight into why the current Chinese government acts as it does – and why its efforts to only slowly open its society to outside influences, and to put the brakes on at least some personal liberties that it believes could result in uncontrollable political disruptions, make sense from a Chinese historical perspective.

Have you listened to any of Professor Kenneth J. Hammond’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The tragic, opium-driven destruction of Chinese government and culture by the 19th Century British narco-state.

Any additional comments?

The lectures give lie to the commonly-held Western myth of China being a relatively continuous political state for several thousand years. There probably have been greater cultural continuities than can be found elsewhere, but politically the region has been, like most parts of the world, subject to repeated fracturing, re-assembling, foreign conquest, assimilation, and dis-assimilation.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Broad Overview of China's history

For someone living and working in China, this course was interesting and informative. It gives only a broad overview of China's history and is really a starting point for those interested in China's history. The professor presented the lectures well, and held my attention.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Very informative course about China

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, definitely, China being important on world stage, it is important to know where they come from and this book does a very good job explaining it. For instance why Chinese dislike foreigners because they were abused many times by them particularly the neighbors and the western powers. At least according to the book.

What did you like best about this story?

The chronological length: 5000 years of history in 18h. It is genial to capture the most important events. It was good for me to know that chairman Mao had a lot of challenges to get thing under control. We have been told that he could do what he wished that sound not to be the case.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There was not much to laugh about but a lot to cry about.

Any additional comments?

The Professor is a great story teller but did not like the long pause he did sometime. At the beginning I thought something was wrong with my system. I then realized that they are just part of the audio. I would love to listen to any other audio book he has. Great job.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful