What Makes China China

List of Tables

Table 2.1.Large and small settlement clusters in the Central Plains

Preface

‘What makes China China’ was the title of the last section of my previous book –The Earliest China (Xu Hong 2009b). It gives an open ending to conclude this small book in the form of a question:

‘In exploration of the question ‘What makes China China’, its unique environment and culture are no doubt two major topics worth pondering over. Related thoughts with long-term observation may be able to shed light on how China shaped up to be a unified multi-ethnic country, and to help us understand further how the earliest China emerged.’

The topic –‘What makes China China’ is an inquiry into the cause, so the answer to it is supposed to be on a more reflective and philosophical level. The current book, however, is based on a narrative of a process – the story of the birth of the earliest ‘China’. Of course, such a topic cannot be fully answered by a narrative, but comparing with other approaches, a narrative may be able to provide us with a clearer picture of the answer, and that is what this little book attempts to do.