Charles Benn

An Arab merchant in the late Tang did not think much of Chinese cleanliness, observing that they did not wash their hands after using the privy, but merely wiped themselves with paper. Clearly, the people that he encountered were not among the most sophisticated.

The choice of such a vulgar epigraph was deliberate. This book teems with such observations, most are culled from Chinese classics and bereft of any attribution. Benn utilizes such as if the excerpt was anthropological data. There is a distinct lack of rigor on display. Benn offers little of statistics or comparison. This is the Age of Anecdote.

I found the sections on Tang legal issues, including punishment and clemency, rather compelling as were their ideas on health and mortality. That said, I do want to read more about Empress Wu but feel left in the dark otherwise.
… (mais)

This is a really good idea for a book, but it doesn't make for a very good read. Benn has assembled much that is known about the cultural life in the Tang dynasty and then sorted it together by topics such as music, food and clothing. Then he summarizes the data, often quoting from original sources. So there is a tremendous amount of helpful information on any particular topic, but it just reads like lists and lists of things. This would be extremely useful for anyone wanting to set historical fiction in Tang China.… (mais)