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Four Sisters of Hofei: A History Paperback – January 20, 2004

by Annping Chin (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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The true story of four sisters born between 1907 and 1914 in China, Four Sisters of Hofei is an intimate encounter with history. The Chang sisters lived through a period of astounding change and into the twenty-first century. Unusual opportunities and an extraordinary family education launched them into varied worlds -- those of the theater, modern literature, classical studies, and calligraphy -- but their collective experience offers a cohesive portrait of a land in transition.
With the benefit of letters, diaries, poetry, and interviews, writer and historian Annping Chin shapes the Chang sisters' stories into a composite history steeped in China's artistic tradition and intertwined with the political unrest and social revolutions of the twentieth century.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    January 20, 2004
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0743244664
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0743244664
  7. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Carolyn See The Washington Post Extraordinary...The four sisters live, sustained by family, music, love of learning...an amazing story.

The New York Times Book Review Chin's style is fluent without verbosity, poetic without ostentation....This is, above all, a story of private lives, sometimes quite alien, sometimes disturbingly familiar. Chin is...to be commended for...re-creating a world that would otherwise have been lost to us.

The Washington Times This is a charming book, full of quiet scholarship and illuminating insights, and offers the Western reader a good introduction to the long tragedy of 20th-century China.

The Sunday Telegraph (London) Remarkable....It is not often that you read something so powerfully understated. One hesitates to throw the word `uplifting' around, yet it is appropriate here.

About the Author

Annping Chin studied mathematics at Michigan State University and received her PhD in Chinese thought from Columbia University. She was on the faculty at Wesleyan University and currently teaches in the history department at Yale University, where her fields of study include Confucianism, Taoism, and the Chinese intellectual tradition. She is the author of three previous books: Children of China: Voices from Recent Years, Tai Chen on Mencius, and Four Sisters of Hofei. She has also coauthored, with Jonathan Spence, The Chinese Century: A Photographic History of the Last Hundred Years.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner (January 20, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743244664
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743244664
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

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Ann-ping Chin

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Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Arleen Law
1.0 out of 5 stars Hard to follow
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2016
Verified Purchase
My 80 year old aunt recommended this book when I visited her. Perhaps she read the book in the Chinese version, but this American version is very hard to follow.
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SL
2.0 out of 5 stars A disappoitment
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2005
Annping Chin narrates the tale of a family of 4 daughters in this book and each chapter is devoted to a part of the life of a member of the family. There is very little dialogue and lots of dry narration. It could do with more photos and perhaps structured in such a way that it is an interview session between the author and the various characters. The only interesting part is the story of the marriage of the 3rd daughter to Shen Congwen, a well-known Chinese author. It provided some valuable and unknown insights into the minds of Shen.

I have just seen a Chinese translation of the work in a bookshop a few days ago. I wonder whether Chinese readers will find this take too superficial.
4 people found this helpful
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E. Wood
2.0 out of 5 stars Long on fact and short on story-telling
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2003
This would be a great book for someone interested in qualitative information about life in old china. It was well-written and not so uninteresting - but it is not a novel or a story. There was no dialouge and only a little plot, and so it's best for a history person as opposed to someone who likes Pearl Buck or Amy Tan.
14 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Emma
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book - but the font size is too small
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2011
Verified Purchase
Received the book promptly.

Overall it is a good book. I have read half of the book within a week.
I wish I bought the hardcover version, the font size for the paperback is so small.
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