Speaking to History

The Story of King Goujian in Twentieth-Century China

By: Paul A. Cohen, John Gillis (Foreword by)

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Paperback | 11 May 2010 | Edition Number 1

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384 Pages

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23.32 x 16.71 x 2.86

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The ancient story of King Goujian, a psychologically complex fifth-century BCE monarch, spoke powerfully to the Chinese during China's turbulent twentieth century. Yet most Americans--even students and specialists of this era--have never heard of Goujian. In Speaking to History, Paul A. Cohen opens this previously missing (to the West) chapter of China's recent history. He connects the story to each of the major traumas of the last century, tracing its versatility as a source of inspiration and hope and elegantly exploring, on a more general level, why such stories often remain sealed up within a culture, unknown to outsiders. Labeling this phenomenon "insider cultural knowledge," Cohen investigates the relationship between past story and present reality. He inquires why at certain moments in their collective lives peoples are especially drawn to narratives from the distant past that resonate strongly with their current circumstances, and why the Chinese have returned over and over to a story from twenty-five centuries ago. In this imaginative stitching of story to history, Cohen reveals how the shared narratives of a community help to define its culture and illuminate its history.

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"[Cohen] has not disappointed." -- Colin Mackerras The China Review

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Non-Fiction History Regional & National History Asian History Earliest Times to Present Day Ancient History to the Year 500 20th Century History from 1900 to 2000

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Preface	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxiii
The Goujian Story in Antiquity	p. 1
The Burden of National Humiliation: Late Qing and Republican Years	p. 36
The Plight of Chiang Kai-shek's Taiwan	p. 87
Crisis and Response: The Woxin changdan Fever of the Early 1960s	p. 136
Political Allegory in the 1980s: Xiao Jun and Bai Hua	p. 177
The Goujian Story in a Privatizing China	p. 203
Conclusion: Cross-Cultural Perspectives	p. 228
Notes	p. 241
Character List	p. 289
Bibliography	p. 303
Index	p. 339
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Speaking to History

The Story of King Goujian in Twentieth-Century China

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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