Prologue
Part One
Exploring China: Past and Present
1. Chinas Grand Canal: A Very Short Introduction
2. The Grand Canal Veterans
3. The Journey to the People"s Republic of China
4. Xixi Lu: A Walk through Hangzhou
Part Two
Postcards from the Grand Canal
5. Luoyang and the "Start" of the Grand Canal
6. Wuxi and the Aesthetics of the Grand Canal
7. Suzhou and the Endurance of Culture
8. Yangzhou and Wuzhen: A Mix of Tradition and Modernization
9. Lu Xun, Driverless Cars, and Transport on the Grand Canal
10. Tea and Globalization (One)
11. Tea and Globalization (Two)
Part Three
The Globalizers along the Grand Canal
12. Lu Zhigang: Entrepreneur, Scientist and the Restorer of the Grand Canal
13. Joanne Du: STEM Educator and Innovator
14. Yu Wanlun: Crafter and Umbrellas Maker
15. Xu Qi: An Innovator in Maps
16. Elena Gladkaya: A Russian Who Globalizes China
17. Barking Dear and Pine Bakery: "I Gotta Be Me"
18. Lin Fan: Community Organizer
19. Sun Minyan: Photographer of the Grand Canal
Part Four
Literature, China, and Globalization
20. Understanding Ba Jin, Understanding the (Symbolic) Grand Canal
21. Ch"oe Pu the Korean: "My Journey along the Grand Canal in 1488"
22. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
?
David
Pickus has written a rich, idiosyncratic meditation on the importance of the
Grand Canal for understanding medieval and contemporary China.?
?
Stephen R.
MacKinnon?????????????????????? Professor of History, Arizona State University
?
In
a series of historical and contemporary meditations, David Pickus travels along
China’s Grand Canal and takes the reader on a journey through time and space.
With the acumen of a historian who can draw on years of experience living
abroad, Pickus offers nuanced and personal reflections on globalization,
transnationalism, and indeed what it means to live in a global village. Welcome
to the journey!
?
Michael Wutz? Brady
Presidential Distinguished Professor, Weber State University
?
This
book paints an objective portrait of China’s Grand Canal, and foregrounds the
perspective of the author, an American visitor to China, who, in the words of
Henry James, is “someone on whom nothing is lost.” David Pickus’s sensibility
is a marvel of philosophical curiosity. Highly recommended!
?
Stanley A.
Corngold? Professor
Emeritus of Comparative Literature, Princeton University
?
David
Pickus has written a fascinating encounter with the Grand Canal—its
past and what it meant, the cities along it, and how it looks and feels now. An
enthralling account of a highly educated American"s reaction to his perception
of China, yesterday and today!
?
William Baker ?Distinguished
University Professor Emeritus, Northern Illinois University
?
Postcards from
China
offers the reader a penetrating account of contemporary China through the
ancient remains of the Grand Canal. Combining the erudition of a scholar, eye
of a poet, and the fresh perspective of a non-native,
Pickus takes the reader through a luxurious journey in which time slows down
for thoughtful observation and rumination.
?
Donni Wang? Postdoctoral
Fellow, Shanghai University
?
中国大运河是中国古代南北交通的大动脉，是一处超大规模的线性文化遗产，她促进了古代经济文化发展和社会进步，对中国的统一和完整、对中华民族的发展具有不可替代的重要作用，而运河文化也是中华文化的重要组成部分。另一方面，外国读者，甚至中国读者，对于大运河的重要性却不甚了了。通过对大运河（以及其沿岸城市、城镇）的考察、对与大运河息息相关的相关人物的访谈，作者将向读者讲述讲述大运河的历史文化变迁、介绍这些地方的历史、文化、艺术、人情风俗，并试图将整个叙事置于中国政治、经济以及文化和历史的大背景之下，分析大运河的实际以及象征意义，与此同时，作者也会着重讲述自己沿途的见闻，并借此想读者展示整个中国在化背景下的快速变化和发展。
大运河之于昨日的中国，就是化之于今日的中国，而当今大运河区域的发展象征着这种新旧结合的力量。正如历的中国如果没有像大运河这样可行的交通运输系统就无法运作，没有可行的化，当代中国就无法繁荣。正如大运河有时会泛滥、淤积导致无法通航，除非我们努力保持化的活力，互惠互利，它也会瓦解。
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