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Foundations of Chinese Civilization: The Yellow Emperor to the Han Dynasty (2697 BCE - 220 CE) (Understanding China Through Comics, 1) Paperback – May 31, 2016

by Jing Liu (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 117 ratings
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Who founded China? Are Chinese people religious? What is Chinese culture and how has it changed over time? The accessible and fun Understanding China Through Comics series answers those questions and more.

For all ages, Foundations of Chinese Civilization covers China's early history in comic form, introducing philosophies like Confucianism and Daoism, the story of the Silk Road, famous emperors like Han Wudi, and the process of China's unification.

Includes a handy timeline. This is volume one of the Understanding China Through Comics series.

Jing Liu is a Beijing native now living in Davis, California. A successful designer and entrepreneur who helped brands tell their stories, Jing currently uses his artistry to tell the story of China.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Part of Series
    Understanding China Through Comics
  2. Print length
    168 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Stone Bridge Press
  5. Publication date
    May 31, 2016
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1611720273
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1611720273
  9. Lexile measure
    GN890L
  10. See all details
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From the Publisher

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

Graphic novel history of china for kids and adults and teens and YA

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

The fun and easy way to learn about China's history from ancient to modern, for children and adults

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

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

Review

"A great way to learn about China's vast history!" 

—Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club 

 "Excels at clarifying the often-confusing transitional periods between dynasties… An excellent introduction to the large trends of early Chinese history.”

 —School Library Journal 

 "Combines breezy style with historical rigor to strike just the right gong-tone for a middle school audience approaching the vast scope of Chinese history."

 —Education About Asia 

 5/5 Stars "An invaluable source... Chinese history is a vast subject, but Jing Liu has a skillful ability to condense it all into an interesting and manageable narrative." 

—Kids' Book Buzz 

 "The combination of silhouettes—often threatening, martial ones—with open-faced, expressively individualized figures of many social classes adds dramatic tension while neatly balancing the big-picture narrative. There's a lot to absorb even in this abbreviated form, but the visual approach lightens the load considerably." 

—Kirkus Reviews 

TEACHER AND PROFESSOR TESTIMONIALS

 "This book is “The Magic School Bus” for those starting to explore Chinese culture." 

—Dan Cao, Instructor at Confucius Institute at UC Davis 

 "An excellent history that clearly explains the great (and ordinary) people who have made China what it is and the conflicts and debates that have shaped Chinese history. There is nothing else like it in English or Chinese." 

—Alan Baumler, Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania 

 "No more burying yourself in text-heavy history books to learn about China, this comic-style book manages to be rich in information and bring Chinese history to readers in a more clear, fun, and accessible way than it’s ever been done before. Easily integrated into a social studies or Chinese culture curriculum, I can’t wait to get a copy for my class." 

—Grace Zeng, Chinese Teacher and Middle School Chinese Curriculum Area Leader at International School of Beijing 

"Since the 1990s, Jing Liu has been entertaining and informing foreigners about China with his cartoons. His new series of comic books is a fun, easy, accessible way to gain a basic understanding of Chinese history and culture." 

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Founder of Danwei 

 "This comic series is fantastic to use in the classroom. My students are drawn to this book - not only do they enjoy this graphic-novel style, it also helps them understand difficult historical concepts. What a fun supplement to the regular textbook!" 

—Leslie Burgoine, Middle School History Teacher, Portland, Oregon 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stone Bridge Press (May 31, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 168 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1611720273
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1611720273
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ GN890L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 117 ratings

About the author

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Jing Liu

Jing Liu

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Understanding China through Comics won the 2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY) Bronze Medal for Graphic Novel (Drama/Documentary), and ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards (BOTYA) 2012 Finalist in Graphic Novels (Adult Nonfiction).

Jing Liu was born and raised in the era of opening-up Beijing. He is a successful Chinese artist and entrepreneur who works regularly with international clients and has made many friends through his work and travels inside and outside his native country. Liu graduated from Beijing University of Technology with degrees in industrial design and engineering, and Master's in international economics and trade.

With this illustrated guide in English to Chinese history, Jing Liu hopes to put China into its historical context: for his newborn son, his friends both near and far, and for anyone who has ever had an even passing interest in understanding China and from whence it came.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
117 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Brian Connors
5.0 out of 5 stars We don't really know that much in the US about China, do we?
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2016
Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )Verified Purchase
I confess, I'm no expert in Chinese history. Not even remotely. I'm not even that into comics, and this is clearly a product of the world-wide manga era. However, what I am a fan of is Larry Gonick's work; I even used his  Cartoon History of the Universe  as a reference for a paper in college. Therefore, I fully approve of what Jing Liu's doing here, and Liu certainly does the tradition justice.

What do you need to know about the origins of? There's a decent treatment of Chinese philosophy -- Confucianism, Taoism, The Art of War, and a number of others. The origins of the Han Chinese as a culture are of course given the bulk of the attention here, describing how they coalesced from independent groups into one of the world's early super powers. (And there's quite a lot of family drama among rulers -- some of it makes Egyptian history look calm and orderly.) Even food figures into it, fittingly as the Chinese are justifiably proud of their cuisines and their international reach.

This looks to be an excellent series overall and China in general is a subject we in the west should understand much more completely. Grab this one and get started.
3 people found this helpful
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mwwg
5.0 out of 5 stars Not much of a comic, but a solid introductory history
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2017
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Seemed a bit dry to me, but my comic-obsessed 9-year-old absolutely inhaled this series. As someone who has no background, it seemed like a very thorough introductory book; I particularly liked the side topics into non-government/non-war subjects on things like important philosophical movements and arts. But as I had been familiar with Larry Gonick's history series (to say nothing of the Crash Course series), I had been expecting at least a little humor, of which there is little.

On the other hand though, there was a lot of contextualization of numbers and data, which was super helpful and interesting.

So, as a comic I think it fails, but as an introductory history, it succeeds. And it def. reached it's target audience, a history-obsessed 9-year-old. He made sure I pre-ordered the next in the series.. like, a couple of times.
4 people found this helpful
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Christopher Tang
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent intro to the basics of ancient Chinese history
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2017
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An excellent intro to the basics of ancient Chinese history. For anyone who wants a basic outline for themselves with visuals this makes a great first read and is excellent for introducing kids to what can be a dense subject. For graphics though expect more along the lines of individual characters saying things rather than a more traditional paneled comic. This is more like heavily illustrated history book for kids than it is a true comic but it achieves it's goal of making what could be a dry subject to children much more palatable.
One person found this helpful
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Nate
4.0 out of 5 stars Cool reference, fun read.
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2017
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I purchased this book for reading at work when it gets slow. It rarely gets slow enough at work for a more comprehensive history text to be practical to use, but this is broken down in to easy to digest chunks.

It is great for an adult to use as casual/light reading, but I would imagine it even better a tool for someone in their early teens to understand Chinese history. The illustrations are cute and fun, the text and information is not too dense or inaccessible and it is easy to just pick up and put down as needed.
2 people found this helpful
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Mason
5.0 out of 5 stars Neat Intro to Chinese History
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2021
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I like this book because I can't read. The pictures help explain the history of China in an easy to understand format though, so I get the idea even despite my illiteracy.
2 people found this helpful
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Julia
5.0 out of 5 stars Great summary
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2019
Verified Purchase
A quick and picturesque scan of the history of China. I like it.
One person found this helpful
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Christopher
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and informative
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017
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The history of early China in broad strokes, done in easy to read manner. My only grouse was that was too short.
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William
5.0 out of 5 stars history comes into life
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2017
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illustrious and illuminating and, most importantly, accurate. Jing Liu has done a great job introducing ancient Chinese history to the western public.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Dorothea Simon
5.0 out of 5 stars Buch war in gutem Zustand
Reviewed in Germany on November 23, 2019
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Genau wie erwartet
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