Timothy Brook - China and Pandemics: A historically-informed discussion

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2020Mar 30

Professor Timothy Brook, UBC Moderated by Louise Doucet- Filmed Friday, March 27th, 2020 Produced by Cameron Byers Timothy Brook is a Professor of History at the University of British Columbia and one of the West’s foremost scholars of the social and cultural history of China, with a particular focus on the Ming dynasty and Japan’s occupation of China from 1937-1945. He is also an award-winning author, including of the critically acclaimed ‘Vermeer’s Hat’. Professor Brook’s latest book has just been published by HarperCollins. ‘Great State: China and the World’ traces China’s relationship with the outside world from the beginning of the Yuan dynasty in 1279 to the present. It recounts the stories of ordinary and extraordinary people who inhabited the spaces where China rubbed shoulders with the rest of the world, and those who continue to do so. The New Statesman describes the book as ‘A dizzying and exhilarating journey’. Kirkus Reviews calls it ‘An ingenious look at an often misunderstood country’. China has a long history of pandemics, and of being blamed for them—even if the virus (such as H1N1) originated elsewhere. One of the largest such pandemics was The Third Plague, which was a major bubonic plague pandemic originating in Yunnan in 1855. It resulted in 2 million deaths in China and a further 10 million deaths in India. The Third Plague spread around the globe for more than a century. China’s history related to pandemics supports Professor Brook’s contention that China has always been closely linked to the rest of the world, despite an image of being inward-looking and highly protective of its independence and culture. Indeed, China was ruled by outsiders for the majority of the eight centuries covered in his book. China has also benefitted from its ability to assimilate qualities and practices from its conquerors. Most recently, it has used a hard-edged but ‘Peaceful Rise’ to grow into global economic powerhouse. China’s apparent recovery from the worst of COVID-19, just as Europe and the United States begin to seriously suffer, raises the possibility that China’s global power and influence will now grow even further.