发表于2024-12-29
The City of Heavenly Tranquility 2024 pdf epub mobi 电子书
图书标签: 海外中国研究 历史 北京 history 北京史 英文 中国 上图
When the world descends on Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, it will find the results of a helter skelter rush for modernization and wealth. In the course of a thousand years, temples and shrines, palaces, and gardens had filled the walls of old Peking. Its narrow, twisting streets held the collective memories of five dynasties and turbulent events of the 20th century. It has now all been swept away to make way for a new city filled with dull, boxy high rises, rows of shopping malls, office towers blocks, and residential housing developments marching down uniform streets. The City of Heavenly Tranquility explores how and why the Chinese buried their history and destroyed one of the world's most fabled cities, virtually extinguishing the culture of one of the greatest and oldest civilizations within the span of a single lifetime.
In a tour de force by a long time resident, British journalist Jasper Becker brings to life the strange and exotic lives of the emperors, eunuchs, courtesans, and warriors who for centuries ruled from behind the red walls of the Forbidden City. Becker mixes his own experiences with poignant stories from those who were destroyed in the tornado of destruction as they tried to rescue something from the past. Writing vividly and with passion, Becker shows how ruthless officials and a fiercely nationalistic government set itself the monumental mission to change the fabric of a nation - and succeeded. He also explains how those currently in power, Mao's former Red Guards, remain determined to modernize China by jettisoning the past and clearing space for the future, evicting over three million residents in Beijing alone.
在Bristol的小书店用2镑价格买到的,和王军的《城记》有一比。
评分#还在读,很有意思的一本书,外国人眼中的晚清。不是学术性的论文,可以算是本轻松读物。圆明园,义和拳以及晚清的中国外交在中国的历史读本里涉及甚浅,往往为一笔带过或总扯上民族大义,成为爱国主义的范本,这本书的作者搜集了许多当时在京外国人的记述修补了这段模糊的历史,也算是提供了一个新的角度来重看清朝的覆灭。且作者走访了不少北京的老街老巷,一些现已不复存在,读起来还是蛮心酸的==
评分北京有千年城史,自明成祖迁都后的600年是一个相对稳定的时期,也是北京城市文化特点形成的时期。千年积淀和六百年稳定之后,1949年成为了历史的分水岭。1949入城的新主人,对于国家、社会和城市应该是什么样子的,自有一番见解和蓝图。掌握了绝对权力的新王朝,在整个民族期盼现代化、期盼甩掉贫穷落后帽子的焦虑情绪中,快刀斩乱麻地拆旧立新。作者当然是个对于历史和过去,对于老北京曾有的那种独特气质深有感情的外国人。他的这种感情,在中国人看来也许会觉得有点一厢情愿和饱汉不知饿汉饥:凭啥我们要保留这种有点原始和落后的城市面貌和生活方式,为你们这些外国人留一个活标本呢?这本书记录了北京的历史,又花了更多时间揭露某党的统治手段如何蛮不讲理,总有点动机不纯的感觉。
评分囊括了北京的近代史,书里面既有史料记载的参照,也有作者胡同走访的结果,印象很深的就是作者去探望北京最后一个太监和北京最后一位满族"玩主"的故事,当然,可惜的是现在他们都去世了。北京发展的背后,尤其是08年奥运前夕发生的大规模拆迁,作者都给出了自己的解释和看法。很难说作者没有偏见,但是他的阐释中有很大一部分合理和叫人信服的判断。#替男友读书
评分北京有千年城史,自明成祖迁都后的600年是一个相对稳定的时期,也是北京城市文化特点形成的时期。千年积淀和六百年稳定之后,1949年成为了历史的分水岭。1949入城的新主人,对于国家、社会和城市应该是什么样子的,自有一番见解和蓝图。掌握了绝对权力的新王朝,在整个民族期盼现代化、期盼甩掉贫穷落后帽子的焦虑情绪中,快刀斩乱麻地拆旧立新。作者当然是个对于历史和过去,对于老北京曾有的那种独特气质深有感情的外国人。他的这种感情,在中国人看来也许会觉得有点一厢情愿和饱汉不知饿汉饥:凭啥我们要保留这种有点原始和落后的城市面貌和生活方式,为你们这些外国人留一个活标本呢?这本书记录了北京的历史,又花了更多时间揭露某党的统治手段如何蛮不讲理,总有点动机不纯的感觉。
The City of Heavenly Tranquility 2024 pdf epub mobi 电子书