Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Ancient China Simplified

Ancient China Simplified

Parker, Edward Harper

Paperback

Chinese History

ISBN10: 1975754328
ISBN13: 9781975754327
Publisher: Createspace
Published: Aug 29 2017
Pages: 298
Weight: 0.88
Height: 0.62 Width: 5.98 Depth: 9.02
Language: English
Boswell once remarked to Dr. Johnson that the history of England is so strange that, if it were not well vouched as it is, it would be hardly credible. To which Johnson replied in his usual style: Sir, if it were told as shortly, and with as little preparation for introducing the different events, as the history of the Jewish kings, it would be equally liable to objections of improbability. Dr. Johnson went on to illustrate what he meant, by specific allusion to the concessions to Parliament made by Charles I. If, he said, these had been related nakedly, without any detail of the circumstances which generally led to them, they would not have been believed. This is exactly the position of ancient Chinese history, which may be roughly said to coincide in time with the history of the Jewish kings. The Chinese Annals are mere diaries of events, isolated facts being tumbled together in order of date, without any regard for proportion. Epoch-making invasions, defeats, and cessions of territory are laconically noted down on a level with the prince's indiscretion in weeping for a concubine as he would weep for a wife; or the Emperor's bounty in sending a dish of sacrificial meat to a vassal power by express messenger. In one way there is a distinct advantage in this method, for, the historian being seldom tempted to obtrude his own opinion or comments, we are left a clear course for the formation of our own judgments upon the facts given.

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