Sina.com Bestsellers of May

Sina.com Bestsellers of May

Zhang Ming

The Northern Warlords and the May 4th Movement

China s largest online news portal sina.com published its bestsellers list of May, showing that the Chinese readers were most interested in the following books:

1. 1Q84, Murakamiharuki(Japan), Nanhai Publishing House ( )

Sold 1.2 million copies in China and almost took up the entire month (in the words of list editor Xie Xizhang, ), this book was lauded as finally attempting to expose the social origin of the depressive and melancholy mood of Murakamiharuki (in the words of book critic, Liang Wendao, ).

2. Thirty Years by the East Side of the River: A Survey of China s Economic Reform ( ), Yang Jisheng ( ), Wuhan Publishing House ( )

A quite honest (if not so academic) and empirical (with ample explanation of basic principles of economics for the general public) study of China s economic and political structural change and challenges in the last 30 years, stressing the importance of higher democracy, more rational capital flow and better social policies (while exposing many pitfalls and backlashes). The title stems from the Chinese proverb: thirty years by the east side of the river, thirty years by the west side of the river, or, put simply, time changes.

3. Soccer in Sun and Shadow Eduardo Galeano (Uraguay), Guangxi Normal University Press ( )

Thanks to the world cup fad, many readers pick up this book to go through the memorable history of Uraguay soccer, along with the critical perception of the writer.
4. Mutluluk / Bliss, Zulfu Livaneli (Turkey), Beijing Yanshan Publishing House ( )

In a very good publicity campaign, the famous writer himself gave lectures in Shanghai and Beijing and attracted a lot of fans.

5. Send You A Bullet , Liu Yu ( alias Drunk Piano), Shanghai Sanlian Publishing House (

A Ph.D candidate in the Columbia University who became famous via internet, Liu Yu s essays best portray an intellectual woman musing on the cultural differences of the world, while demystifying the western academics from a common people point of view. Liu Yu s blog is at: http://www.drunkpiano-liuyu.net/

6. Here Comes the Inflation Economy , Zhao Xiao and Chen Guanglei , Phoenix Press

Zhao Xiao is a devout Christian who wrote Market Economies with or without Churches ( ), and a quite controversial economist for saying buying property now equals loving the country in 2008. This time his main points are: governments across the world are now having greater intervention in economy and consumption is what China definitely encourages for better economic performance, it s therefore advisable for people to not save money in the bank but spend it or make investments, otherwise, they may have to suffer inflation as a penalty.
7. Old Stories, Newly Told ( ), Zong Pu ( ), New Star Press ( )

Zong Pu, a noted writer in her own right, is the daughter of one of the most erudite and pioneering modern philosphy professors Feng Youlan ( ) who got his Ph. D. from Columbia and wrote the first history of Chinese philosphy from a western philosophical point of view. During the Japanese invaders bombing of China in 1930s and 1940s, Feng kept teaching western philosphy in the Southwest Associated University in Kunming and fostered a large number of students who became pillars of philosophical studies in modern China. This book, an account of professor Feng s daily life, can be read together with Feng s own oral recollection Three Pine House Preface ( ) which had an honest reflection on Feng s experience in the Cultural Revolution.

8. The Northern Warlords and the May 4th Movement( ) Zhang Ming ( ), Guangxi Normal University Press ( )

So many words have been said about the May 4th Movement that when Zhang Ming, a famously sharp-minded and outspoken historian of politics with Renmin University, wrote this resolutely refreshing book to explore the extremely intricate political scenario at its time, it caused quite a stir nationwide. Without sleeping on the textbook conclusion that the students movement on May 4th heralded in a new cultural era of China seeking democracy and science in 1919, prof. Zhang analyzed the different positions of warlords and other political players at that time so as to explain how this movement gained such big support from the general public.
9. Anecdotes of the Old Dorm 8 ( ), 1978 alumni of the Department of Chinese Literature, Wuhan University, Yangtze River Culture and Arts Publishing House ( )

College students of 1978 were treasures of Chinese history. It is they who first gained approval to pursue higher education after the end of the ideologically fanatic and scientifically ignorant Cultural Revolution. And it is they who, burning with a desparate sense of urgency for catching up , laid the premises for the economic boom of contemporary China through self-effacing hard work and intellectual open-mindedness. Now at their 60s or so, they have turned to internet communities and alumni parties to share their memories and anecdotes. One can still smell that extraordinary era from their recollections.
10. I Love Running Bookstores ( ), Xu Zhiming and Gao Zhihong ( ), CITIC Press ( ).

Based on his rich experiences of running small and medium-sized bookstores even in a time of mega-markets and online shops, Xu Zhiming provides many useful good survival guides for his peers. For those who happen to notice the emergence of many foreign bookstores in 798, or bookbooths at the exit of subway leading to the blonde-studded Silk Market in Beijing, the popularity of this book could be a good sign.

• Tags: bestseller, Books, Eduardo Galeano, feng youlan, History, Murakamiharuki, Sina, zhang ming, zhao xiao, zong pu, Zulfu Livaneli