In "God's Chinese Son," the author, Jonathan Spence, a book that is about the Taiping Rebellion that occurred at the time in the country of China. The author Spence goes into the Quing dynasty and the rulers within it and the impacts the rulership had on the overall dynasty strength in general. The beginning of the book mainly chapter one gave the reader the background on the area on how there were a lot of issues with the infrastructure and how poverty was very common for many families and individuals this gives us insight into how many people day to day lives were. Reading we learned that language was a big deal at the time “ [a] language known as "Canton Jargon" or "Pidgin English." This serves to keep the differing communities in touch, …show more content…
I would have liked to see more information on the influence that the rebellion had on the people and the impact it had on all the generations. Spence is writing from a Western perspective which can be limiting since as much as an author can try not to sound biased it is nearly impossible to be completely clear from biases. When we read in the early chapters about one of the main characters in the book whose name is Hong and the history and more background on himself and the place he lived along with the customs at the time. Along with giving an in-depth analysis of his family line. We learn a lot about Hong’s belief system and how it impacted him as a leader and how it also impacted the people he ruled. I think it was great for Spence to write about the religious beliefs that were had at the time. We also learned how history repeats itself constantly with people thinking they have the correct interpretation of …show more content…
I also think this book would not be suited for someone that hasn’t read a lot of historical books mainly since as a reader you have to the information sorted in your head as you read. Spence was also coming from a Western perspective and while I think he was able to articulate his main points and the information without sounding too biased in his writing there will always be in some form. I would recommend this book if someone would like to further their knowledge of the Chinese Taiping Rebellion and has an existing knowledge of Chinese