All Under Heaven: A Complete History of ChinaA one-volume narrative history of China, from the earliest inhabitants to the twentieth century, for a popular readership China is a country with an ancient and highly sophisticated civilization of which the Chinese have been justly proud.When the countries of Europe were struggling to move beyond mud huts and stone tools the Chinese already had a highly complex society and were creating works of great beauty. Yet, although it has for many years been a source of great fascination to the West, the history of China remains a mystery to the layman. In this highly accessible narrative written for the general reader, Rayne Kruger produces a synthesis of Chinese history for the non-specialist reader. Rayne Kruger was born in South Africa and began his working life in a Johannesburg goldmine before becoming in succession a lawyer, broadcaster and actor. He emigrated to England in 1947 where he joined the BBC. He wrote a number of successful novels, followed by a history of South Africa (1959) Goodbye Dolly Gray, which has remained in print ever since. An astute business man, he then founded a property group. He subsequently went into partnership with his wife, the successful restauranteur and cookery school entrepreneur Prue Leith (business woman of the year 1990). He died on 21 December 2002. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 53
... Civil Office , Finance , Rites , Army , Justice and Public Works ; other important offices included the Censorate , Inspectorate General of Water Works , and nine ' courts ' - Court of Imperial Sacrifices , Court of Imperial Banquets ...
... civil service ) , the expense of their relatives was huge . All male and female descendants of the founding Emperor , that is , all bearing the surname Chu , were considered royal and entitled to stipends from the state , upon whose ...
... civil service . At no time , ' a leading authority has observed , ' was a government more dominated by civil servants recruited and promoted on merit than in Ming times . That recruitment was pre - eminently through attainment of an ...
Contents
The Western Chou ?1027771 | 27 |
The Eastern Chou 771476 BC I | 37 |
From Confucius to Empire I | 60 |
Copyright | |
16 other sections not shown