Divided into two volumes, China in View—From Tradition to Contemporary has  “Traditional Culture” in Volume I and “Contemporary Society” in the other, with a total of eight units out of 25 chapters—each unit includes three chapters in addition to “A Brief  Introduction to China”. Each chapter, with abundant illustrations, provides an outline and keywords in both English and Chinese, and has a variety of interesting exercises and challenging questions for discussion. From the perspective of Western readers, this book covers the essentials of Chinese culture in its depth and breadth, and from the past to the present, while striving to be concise and to the point. This book can not only be used as a textbook for courses on world culture in universities and high schools, it can also be used as a reading material to explore Chinese culture.

Dr. Xiaojun Wang is a professor and the director of Chinese program at Western Michigan University, USA where he served as the Chair of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages from 1999 to 2003.  He also served as a visiting professor at BLCU. Dr. Wang taught at Beijing Language and Culture University and the University of Arizona before moving to WMU in 1997. He earned his doctoral degree in applied linguistics from the University of Arizona, and authored or chief-authored 8 volume books or textbooks, and co-authored more than 12 vol. textbooks. He also translated and published a book on linguistics from English to Chinese.

I anticipate that China in View—From Tradition to Contemporary will find a very favorable audience at other institutions, not only in the United States but also in all English-speaking countries, and that it will thus be helpful to the profession at large. It provides the necessary background and perspectives for students to understand and appreciate the history and complexity of Chinese culture, and both students and professors will benefit from the book’s clear organization and presentation of information. The book is also carefully designed with excellent pedagogical supports, such as exercises to check student comprehension and to stimulate class discussion.

—Dr. Molly Lynde-Recchia, Professor and Chair of World Languages & Literatures at WMU