Books like Return to dragon mountain by Jonathan D. Spence
Zhang Dai, born in 1597 into a prosperous family at the height of the Ming dynasty’s cultural flourishing, is celebrated as one of China’s finest historians and essayists. His works capture a period marked by reformist Buddhist schools, widespread philanthropy, female education, and vigorous artistic and scientific inquiry. The Manchu conquest of 1644 devastated his family’s fortunes, prompting Zhang to retreat to the countryside. There, over his last forty years, he composed mature reflections that preserved his experiences and conveyed a legacy to his descendants. Renowned scholar Jonathan Spence has meticulously studied Zhang’s manuscripts, rendering vivid the ethos of seventeenth‑century China and illuminating how the era’s transformations continue to shape the nation’s contemporary identity.
First publish date: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography/Biography
Authors: Jonathan D. Spence
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