Background
Nourse was born to Edwin Henry and Harriett Augusta Beaman Nourse of Lockport, New York on March 11, 1880.
(To the average American the history of China is difficult...)
To the average American the history of China is difficult, dull, and befogged with meaningless names and wearying details. This book answers a real need: a short, clear, comprehensive, and above all, accurate account of China's history. China is not only important but fascinating. Her civilization persisted while Western nations rose and fell. Her customs, her art, and her literature are distinctive and unusual. She has had picturesque scoundrels and evil rulers as well as men of broad vision and exemplary lives. Her history is full of variety and contrast. Here is the whole story of China as it should be told, from the mythical beginnings, the legendary heroes and the findings of archaeology. It is not a dreary compilation of names, dates, wars, and politics strung in endless chronology, but the biography of a nation, with persons and events sketched in high relief against a background of economic and social life, religion, literature, and philosophy.
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(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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(Small tears to head of spine else a very good copy. Later...)
Small tears to head of spine else a very good copy. Later printing. Cloth. 8vo. 350 pp. Illus. with b/w 27 photos and maps.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IPX9UU/?tag=2022091-20
Nourse was born to Edwin Henry and Harriett Augusta Beaman Nourse of Lockport, New York on March 11, 1880.
Nourse attended Shimer College, which at the time was located in Mount Carroll, Illinois and served as a women"s preparatory school for the University of Chicago. She graduated from Shimer in 1899 and continued to the University of Chicago, receiving her Bachelor of Philosophy in 1905.
The best-known of her several books was her first, a popular history of China titled The Four Hundred Million. She was the sister of novelist Alice Tisdale Hobart and economist Edwin Nourse. The family later moved to Downers Grove, Illinois, in the suburbs of Chicago.
After completing her college education, Nourse briefly taught high school in Rensselaer, Indiana.
Soon thereafter, however, she traveled to China to work as an educator and Baptist missionary. She taught for a number of years at Wayland Academy in Hangzhou, where she also served for a time as principal.
Nourse has traditionally been considered one of the founders of Jinling College, a women"s school in Nanjing, based on her having been one of the signatories of a petition circulated in 1911-1912 calling for a women"s college in the Yangtze River valley. Nourse was also among the school"s six-member faculty when it opened on September 17, 1915, teaching psychology and history to an entering class of 11 students.
Women"s education had been encouraged by an imperial decree in 1907, but Jinling was the first women"s college to open in China.
Of the 11 women in Jinling"s 1915 entering class, 5 graduated, becoming the first women in China to receive a baccalaureate degree. Among these first graduates was Wu Yi-Fang, who later became president of the college. Under Doctor Fang"s leadership, the school served as a refuge during the Nanking Massacre in 1937-1938.
Nourse taught history and psychology at Jinling College until 1918.
She left on furlough, but did not return, instead continuing her education in the United States. She enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, where she completed her master"s degree in 1919.
Her thesis was on the historical development of "Open Door" diplomacy in China. After completing her master"s degree, Nourse wrote widely on Far Eastern history.
Her first book, The Four Hundred Million, ran to several editions in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and was translated into French, German, Polish, and Hebrew.
Reviewing the book in Foreign Affairs, historian William L. Langer called it "a well-written and illustrated survey of Chinese history." She authored a similar popular history of Japan, titled Kodo: The Way of the Emperor, which was published in 1940. Other works included China, Country of Contrasts (1944) and Ferment in the Far East (1949). Nourse taught history at Pine Manor Junior College in 1933-1934, and subsequently for many years at Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington, District of Columbia. She continued to write magazine articles on topics related to East Asia into the 1960s.
Nourse served in the Society of Woman Geographers, including a term as president
Nourse died in Washington, District of Columbia, in October 1971, at the age of 91.
(To the average American the history of China is difficult...)
(Hardback book (no dust jacket) titled FERMENT IN THE FAR ...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
(Small tears to head of spine else a very good copy. Later...)
(1942, 3rd Edition. Dust jacket is missing. Light edge wea...)