Yuwu Song

I've read this most of the way through the C's and I have to say I've found it interesting. This is kind of an almanac of big names in China over the last 100 years. It gives a biography of each person and some of them I've found to be fascinating. The write ups are very well done and at first blush very unbiased. However, with many things Chinese what is not said is just as important as what is said. There is a very interesting under current and a quiet censure of the totalitarian Communist party in China through the book. I'll continue reading though it as time goes on. I was reading this while I was listening to a thriller that takes place almost entirely in China and I found them to be very complimentary books.… (meer)

This substantial volume contains biographical outlines of 588 individuals that played important roles in the development of modern China, which is to say from 1949 to the present. Unlike many such works, which give the reader only a thumbnail sketch of a person’s life and work, the entries here are ample, providing rich detail of who did what and why. Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the architect of the “cultural revolution,” for example, receives a full page and a half of text. Emphasis is on political figures, although artists, actors, athletes and other professionals receive representation within these pages. As noted in the editor’s Preface, the entries follow a standard format: “Following a chronological and objective description of the person’s life, providing facts and dates when possible, an analysis of the subject is provided, identifying contributions and importance” (page 1). Entries are signed by the contributor responsible and conclude with cross-references (where applicable) and a short bibliography.
Editor Yuwu Song is well suited for such a work as this. Currently employed as a Chinese studies librarian at the Library of Congress, he holds at PhD in history from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and an MA in library and information science from the University of Texas at Austin. Among Song’s previous publications is Encyclopedia of Chinese-American Relations (2006, McFarland). He has assembled a very competent list of contributors, most of whom hold advanced degrees and are affiliated with institutions of higher learning.
Overall, this is an excellent resource that provides well-documented backgrounds on the movers and shakers of modern day China. The one jarring note is the overly laudatory tone of most of the articles. Seemingly, every actress is beautiful and talented, every politician is a visionary leader, every…well, it will suffice to say that a truly balanced work would contain more warts and fewer halos. That said, this title would be an appropriate purchase for all public and academic libraries and anyone wishing to know more about those who brought the China of today into being.… (meer)

The entries in this biographical dictionary are well structured, starting out with a one-sentence description of the "claim to fame" of the person in question, and moving on to a short, chronological bio. Information directly regarding the particular achievement or position of the given person are included as well as personal information regarding upbringing, marriages and so forth.

At the end of each entry you find source information and cross links to other people in the book, making this book a valuable tool for research.

After the actual entries, a list of contributors to this book is given (about an equal number of Chinese and non-Chinese names, with very short bios added) and an index of persons which might help finding people quicker (although the dictionary is already structured in alphabetical order).… (meer)