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The Death of Woman Wang
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The Death of Woman Wang Paperback - 1998

by Jonathan D. Spence


Summary

“Spence shows himself at once historian, detective, and artist. . . . He makes history howl.” (The New Republic)
 
Award-winning author Jonathan D. Spence paints a vivid picture of an obscure place and time: provincial China in the seventeenth century. Life in the northeastern county of T’an-ch’eng emerges here as an endless cycle of floods, plagues, crop failures, banditry, and heavy taxation. Against this turbulent background a tenacious tax collector, an irascible farmer, and an unhappy wife act out a poignant drama at whose climax the wife, having run away from her husband, returns to him, only to die at his hands. Magnificently evoking the China of long ago, The Death of Woman Wang also deepens our understanding of the China we know today.

From the publisher

"Spence shows himself at once historian, detective, and artist. . . . He makes history howl." (The New Republic) Award-winning author Jonathan D. Spence paints a vivid picture of an obscure place and time: provincial China in the seventeenth century. Life in the northeastern county of T'an-ch'eng emerges here as an endless cycle of floods, plagues, crop failures, banditry, and heavy taxation. Against this turbulent background a tenacious tax collector, an irascible farmer, and an unhappy wife act out a poignant drama at whose climax the wife, having run away from her husband, returns to him, only to die at his hands. Magnificently evoking the China of long ago, The Death of Woman Wang also deepens our understanding of the China we know today.

Details

  • Title The Death of Woman Wang
  • Author Jonathan D. Spence
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: Repri
  • Pages 192
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Date September 3, 1998
  • ISBN 9780140051216 / 014005121X
  • Weight 0.29 lbs (0.13 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.77 x 5.06 x 0.39 in (19.74 x 12.85 x 0.99 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 17th Century
    • Cultural Region: Asian - Chinese
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
    • Topical: Women's Interest
  • Library of Congress subjects Women - China - History, Runaway wives - China
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 78026465
  • Dewey Decimal Code 951

Media reviews

Praise for The Death of Woman Wang:
 
“Whether judged as fiction or as historical reconstruction, [this] is a masterpiece of style and narration.”
—Harold Bloom
 
“An unforgettable book of historical re-creation.”
The New Republic

About the author

Jonathan Spence (1936-2021): Was the author of more than a dozen well-regarded books "which illuminate China's vast history through details that illuminated bigger pictures and themes. (The New York Times)" including The Gate of Heavenly Peace, Treason by the Book, and The Death of Woman Wang. His awards include a Guggenheim and a MacArthur Fellowship. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008.
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The Death of Woman Wang
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The Death of Woman Wang
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The Death of Woman Wang

by Spence, Jonathan D

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ISBN 13
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ISBN 10
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The Death of Woman Wang
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The Death of Woman Wang

by Spence, Jonathan D

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Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780140051216
ISBN 10
014005121x
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