Genghis Khan built a formidable land empire, but he never crossed the sea. Yet by the time his grandson Kublai Khan had defeated the last vestiges of the Song empire and established the Yuan dynasty in 1279, the Mongols controlled the most powerful navy in the world. How did a nomad come to conquer China and master the sea? Based on ten years of research and a lifetime of immersion in Mongol culture and tradition, Emperor of the Seas brings this little-known story vibrantly to life.
Kublai Khan is one of history’s most fascinating characters. He brought Islamic mathematicians to his court, where they invented modern cartography and celestial measurement. He transformed the world’s largest land mass into a unified, diverse and economically progressive empire, introducing paper money. And, after bitter early setbacks, he transformed China into an outward looking sea-faring empire.
By the end of his reign, the Chinese were building and supplying remarkable ships to transport men, grain, and weapons over vast distances, of a size and dexterity that would be inconceivable in Europe for hundreds of years. Khan had come to a brilliant realization: control the sea, and you control everything.
A master storyteller with an unparalleled grasp of Mongol sources, Jack Weatherford shows how Chinese naval hegemony changed the world forever – revolutionizing world commerce and transforming tastes as far away as England and France.
Chinese male idols continue to be incredible economic engines- my final China-Britain Business Council Focus magazine author Q&A of the year with Amanda Sikarskie, one of the authors (along with Peng Liu & Lan Lan) of Male Idols & Branding in Chinese Luxury(Bloomsbury)….click here…
A lovely copy of Peking-Paris im Automobile by Italian journalist Luigi Barzini & Prince Scipione Borghese (who owned the car!) about their adventures on the Peking-Paris car race of 1907 (for more see Kassia St Clair’s Race to the Future, John Murray, 2023)
Aube Rey Lescure’s River East, River West(Duckworth) comes highly praised and is set in 2007 Shanghai and 1985 Qingdao…
Shanghai, 2007: feeling betrayed by her American mother’s engagement to their rich landlord Lu Fang, fourteen-year-old Alva begins plotting her escape. But the exclusive American School – a potential ticket out – is not what she imagined.
Qingdao, 1985: newlywed Lu Fang works as a lowly shipping clerk. Though he aspires to a bright future, he is one of many casualties of harsh political reforms. Then China opens up to foreigners and capital, and Lu Fang meets a woman who makes him question what he should settle for…
A mesmerising reversal of the east–west immigrant narrative set against China’s economic boom, River East, River West is a deeply moving exploration of race, identity and family, of capitalism’s false promise and private dreams
Lin Yutang’s 1948 The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo (William Heinemann)….
From the Poetry Foundation website:
Su Tung-Po (1037–1101) was a Chinese poet, writer, artist, and statesman during China’s Song era. Born to a family of literati in the present-day Sichuan province, he is also known as Po Su Shi, Su Shih, and Su Dongpo. He published under the pseudonym Dongpo Jushi.
Su Tung-Po spent most of his life employed in various governmental positions. His poetry and prose often put him at odds with ruling factions, and he was twice banished from different provinces. These banishments and the small stipends allotted to government officials encouraged him to take up Buddhist meditation. His poetry is infused with Buddhist philosophy, as well as with Confucianism.
Today, Su Tung-Po’s oeuvre is valuable for the quality of its poems, its contributions to 11th-century Chinese travel literature, and its details about the Chinese iron industry.
