Reading Critiques of The Genesis of East Asia - Book Report/Review Example

Reading Critiques of “The Genesis of East Asia” Thesis Statement The paper is intended to be a critique of the book titled “The Genesis of East Asia 221 B.C.-A.D. 907” written by Charles Holcombe. As can be apparently observed from the title of the book, it focuses on the time frame of 221 B.C.-A.D. 907 which was a revolutionary period witnessed by the East Asian countries. Thus, it becomes quite natural that the real worth of the book proliferates amid the students interested in mythology and history. In this critique paper, the author’s bias, the methodology used, the theoretical presentation and other similar factors will also be taken into consideration with the potentiality to influence the documentation as well as the technicality of the book. Critique of “The Genesis of East Asia 221 B.C.-A.D. 907” Author’s biasness is considered to have a substantial impact over the details presented and the manner in which those are presented in the thesis. In this regard, the author of “The Genesis of East Asia 221 B.C. – A. D. 907”, i.e. Charles Holcombe has long-term experience as the faculty in the Department of History at University of Northern Iowa. He also possesses a degree of Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He has been long associated with researches concerning the historic bibliography of East Asian countries, especially China and Japan. Possessing such intense knowledge and experience, it is quite likely that special focus has been provided towards his biasness affecting the contents. For instance, the author tends to rationalize each and every fact regarding the subject with due reference to the prior literatures and other authenticated sources. The author also ensures a proper acknowledgement to the parties involved in the entire process of this research. Through a comprehensive preface, the book also expresses to be peer reviewed which in turn depicts that there was minimal effect of author’s biasness in this writing. The book begins with the demonstration of the ancient East Asian maps, apparently distinguishing the region from the other world. The introduction of the book was again focused on defining what actually East Asian region constitutes of arguing against the perplexities regarding the understanding of the concept. Notably, this was a similar methodology exhibited in his writing, “A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century”. In his later discussions, Charles Holcombe tends to focus on every particular country included in this region, namely China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The discussion begins with the birth of China which later expanded to Korea and Japan along with Vietnam due to the chronological impact of power wars and invasions. This methodology can be regarded to be appropriate in this context as it proves to be of great assistance in documenting the series of happenings that took place in creating the today’s East Asian region. The methodology through which the paper has been presented also supported the intention of the author to develop a proper synoptic for the writing widening the scope for appropriate theoretical propositions. For instance, he names the second chapter as “E Pluribus Sericum” (Holcombe, C., “The Genesis of east Asia 221 B.C. – A. D. 907”: 8) meaning ‘from many, silk’ which depicts the notion focused on in the later discussion describing China to be the first and foremost country to emerge and become the initiator of the East Asian region. With the enclosure of additional theoretical propositions, the writing effectively and interestingly reveals many facts that directly contribute to the ‘revisionist’ perspective of the author. The revisionist notion of the author can be well observed with reference to this excerpt below, “Even this Central Plain core itself also had multiple origins, how-ever. It has been speculated that what we may call the ancestral Chinese language was originally spoken only toward the western end of the Central Plain, where writing and the earliest East Asian uses of metal also first appeared...” (Holcombe, C. “The Genesis of east Asia 221 B.C. – A. D. 907”: 11). The above illustrated lines apparently depict that the author intended to re-vision the presumed perceptions perceived by people regarding the rise and the diplomacy of the true East Asian countries. This certain feature in the writing purposefully depicts that the author intended to introduce a new and revolutionary point of view regarding East Asia raising various facts which either have been neglected or undervalued in the prior informational studies. Other than the author’s characteristics and his mindset, the effectiveness and the success of the writing also depend on the extent to which the documentation or presentation of the information has affected the audiences. Hereby, the presentation of the writing was primarily focused on the students but also regarded the interests of non-scholar audiences which can be apparently observed throughout the book. To be mentioned, the book presents its narrative in a formal and informative, yet interesting and well comprehensible manner that widens the scope of understanding of non-scholarly audiences along with creating an unambiguous understanding amid the students. Other books or writing performed in a similar subject area of interest such as the “Asia: A Concise History” by Milton Walter Meyer and the “East Asia at the Center: Four Thousand Years of Engagement with the World” by that of Warren I. Cohen emphasized on the chronological instances that took place in the development of the East Asian region rather than focusing on the impact that these events had on the various dimensions of the then China and other related countries that contributed to the formation of this region. In addition, the documentation of these writings also exhibited higher level of diplomacy that requires a certain extent of intellectual skill to be perceived by its audiences. Certainly, the writings did not denote any notion to regard the non-scholarly audiences, neither through the theoretical propositions, nor through its methodological configurations which was very much unlike the writing of Charles Holcombe. The main objective of the study was nothing but to express the true and imperative history of East Asia indicating its identification in the world history. With this in the mind, it can be stated that there exists a strong relationship between the purpose of the study and its final documentation. As the author in his last few lines state, “The view from Nara....., everything else faded imperceptibly into barbarism at the edges” (Holcombe, C. “The Genesis of east Asia 221 B.C. – A. D. 907”: 228). Thus, until the conclusion, the author emphasized on the facts that led East Asian identity to be mysterious to the world which certainly denotes the relevance of objective-oriented arguments of Charles Holcombe. Other than the above mentioned factors, the writing efficiently documents endnotes and bibliographical notes along with glossary maintaining the technicality of the study. Various strong factors have been raised in this study with appropriate citations not only relative to the political developments of the region, but also focusing on the literatures of ancient East Asia. Thus, from an overall point of view, as an academic study, the book can be regarded as truly valuable and unique in its nature. Work Cited Holcombe, Charles. The Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.-A.D. 907 University of Hawaii Press, 2001. Bibliography Cohen, Warren I. East Asia At The Center: Four Thousand Years Of Engagement With The World Columbia University Press, 2000. Meyer, Milton Walter. Asia: A Concise History Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. Read More