Blood and History in China invites readers into a personal encounter with history. The introduction draws a parallel between the protests of 1989 and their brutal suppression and the events of the brief reign of the Tianqi emperor (r.1620–27), who “purged and destroyed the Donglin movement in one of the most gruesome repressions perpetrated” (p. 1) in history. Such a comparison across time periods runs the risk of essentializing the Chinese order or reading ethical principles back into history. Instead, it opens a calibrated inquiry into why and how Donglin sympathizers pressed a seemingly hopeless case for reform. Dardess looks to the heart of the matter, investigating not only the displays of emotion and behind-the-scenes faction building but also how the dissemination of news and gossip influenced the course of events. At the same time, his study highlights the questions of why and how one reads history.
The book borrows...
