Win  2d ago

I'm about to tear up man, I cannot believe I just found Republican Era (1912-1949) Chinese Literature (Lu Xun & Liang Qichao) and "Remembering Shanghai" (Shanghai of the 1930s) at Kinokuniya Singapore Main Store (Takashimaya Shopping Centre) 🥹🥹🥹

I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR REPUBLICAN ERA LITERATURE IN PRINT FOR SOOOOOOO LONG AND I FINALLY FOUND THEM.

I AM ABOUT TO PASS OUT MANNNN
#literature

Show threadWin  1d ago

For those who are interested in which bookstore I went to, I went to this one: "Books Kinokuniya Singapore Main Store" (https://maps.app.goo.gl/hAZFrbakUqKWNvBX8)

According to the Google Maps information, it has an area of 38,000 sq. ft. or in sensible terms, ~3,530 sq. meters, which is ABSOLUTELY HUGE AF.

I managed to explore around half of the store's area, specifically, the non-fiction (history, sociology, political science, etc), religion, and literature sections. Sadly, I did not have that much time to explore so I could only go through like 30% of the store. 😭

This store apparently also has Chinese and Japanese books, which I couldn't find since I didn't go in fully. Though, I was impressed with the fact that the "Asia" History section, specifically the Chinese history section, there were TONS of books on Imperial, Republican, and Communist-Era history. There were also books on India, Bhutan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and others.

Aside from Asian books, there were also books on West Asia / Middle East, the Americas, Medieval History and they, FOR SOME MAGICAL REASON, had the CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE book which covers the entirety of the history of the Byzantine Empire - something you can rarely (practically never) in Thai Kinokuniya bookstores.

Lastly, the thing that impressed me is the self-checkout section. This is not a thing in any of the Thai Kinokuniya branches and OMG, they are AWESOME!

Unfortunately, I could not get all the Chinese Republican-Era books that I wanted because they were so expensive in my local currency so I had to remove some of from my purchase list 😭

#books #bookstore #kinokuniya #singapore

Show threadWin  
More pictures from the store! So AWESOME!
Apr 11 at 4:30pmWeb
Show threadWin  1d ago

What books did I buy? Well, since I am an aspiring Sinologist (lolz, if I could ever be one.), I would love to get some Republican Era literature / history books!

Here are the books I got.

  • Thoughts from the Ice Drinker's studio: Essays on China and the World - Liang Qi-chao
  • The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun
  • Remembering Shanghai: A Memoir of Socialites, Scholars and Scoundrels - Isabel Sun Chao & Claire Chao

Since I am more interested in the cultural aspects of Republican China, rather than the military / warlord / civil war history (not saying that it is not interesting; reading Dr. Sun's Three Principles are really good), I selected ones from recommended reading lists from r/ChineseHistory* that are biographies, literature or writings from intellectuals or people in the said era.

For example...

  • Liang Qi-chao's writings are pretty prevalent during the Republican Era (Remember Five Races Under One Union? Yeah, that's where it culminated from)
  • Lu Xun's writings from the New Culture Movement (displays modernization of Republican China, satirical fiction portraying aspects of Chinese societies and a criticism of Confucian values).
  • "Remembering Shanghai" on the culture that of 1930s Shanghai all the way up to the establishment of the PRC.

Though, I wished I could have gotten

  • "The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution" by Harold R. Isaacs
  • "Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China" by Jung Chang, but hey, no money eh?

In summary, I LOVE THIS BOOKSTORE AND I LOVE REPUBLICAN CHINA! And I will always forever be grateful for this bookstore for having these books - you guys are so underrated and maybe one day, you will be appreciated by others just like how I appreciate you all. (I'm talking to a bunch of books, what the f)

*specifically this list: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseHistory/comments/10t7hat/republic_of_china_19121949_book_recommendations/