This newer romanization, while perhaps a more accurate representation of actual pronunciation for at least Mandarin as opposed to the systems in use at the time, is anachronistic.

At the start of the book, he notes that he uses pinyin romanization in most instances apart from the words Canton and Peking, which, he states, people would have used in conversation back then. And the Han Chinese … were scarcely better.Ĭhina: The Novel, Edward Rutherfurd (Doubleday, Hodder & Stoughton, May 2021) He had only contempt for the Manchu emperor now. It had been one thing as a boy, to resent the distant Manchu rulers in Beijing but it had still been a shock to discover that China’s mighty empire could be humiliated by a handful of barbarians. As a Hakka, Nio has complicated feelings about China’s rulers, which show the complexity of the politics of the time. For instance, the character Nio is named by his relative Mei-Ling, who combines the Mandarin “Niu” and his village dialect “Nyok” to come up with Nio. Paul on the top of Macao’s central hill, to proclaim the Catholic faith’s renewed might, even in Asia.īesides place, Rutherfurd also has thoroughly researched the many complexities of Chinese culture. Peter in Rome was completed, the Jesuits had built the magnificent stone church of St. Two and a half centuries ago, in the shining days of the Ming dynasty, before even the great basilica of St. Tiny antique forts, more picturesque than threatening, dotted its modest hills. The Portuguese island in the China Sea had a Mediterranean air. Rutherfurd’s thorough research shows again here in his descriptions of China and other places in Asia like Hong Kong and Macao. Many of these characters and their children intersect over the years as the historical events in the storyline allow. There are also Manchu warriors in supporting roles.

A eunuch named Lacquered Nail becomes close to the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Trader’s estranged cousin, Cecil Whiteparish, is a missionary who has second thoughts about the British in Asia. There’s a Hakka pirate-turned-British informant named Nio and his relative Mei-Ling, a sister-like figure. Trader is kicked out of Canton with the rest of them in 1839 and finds refuge in Macao. He works alongside the real life characters of William Jardine, James Matheson and Charles Elliot. The novel begins with a fictional English character named John Trader, down on his luck and massively in debt, who connects with opium dealers. His latest is titled China and spans the last seventy years of the Qing Dynasty: which covers the Opium Wars, Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, and Pu Yi’s ascension to the throne as the last emperor. They dig deeply into a specific place and he focuses on a certain period. Edward Rutherfurd is known for massive historical novels usually set in cities like New York, Paris and London.

London edward rutherfurd summary