Daily Life In China By Jacques Gernet Summary

French author Jacques Gernet’s goal when he was writing Daily Life in China was simply to provide the reader an insight to how everyday Chinese civilians lived and the traditions and rituals they performed, while supplying background information on the political system, city, and social organization. His focus was “...owning to the vastness of the Chinese world, its regional diversity and ceasing historical development, some more precise delimitation of the field of study was found to be necessary.” This book gives an observation and awareness to what life was like for the Chinese prior to the Mongol invasion in 1276.
The book was written in 1959, eventually translated from French. The book was considered revolutionary due to the fact that it was the first of its kind from when published, especially when it was introducing a period very little people in Europe had thoroughly studied. The book focuses on Southern China, do to the fact that China was economically and culturally flourishing on the eve of their invasion. One of the main reasons as to why Gernet chose the city of Hangchow was because it was not as affected in the invasion of the Mongols, so it was more ethnically and culturally Chinese.
When focusing on the sources provided by Gernet, he explains in his introduction, he states that his primary source for his information is by the Venetian explorer, Marco Polo. His book is called The Book of Marco Polo, easily enough. Marco Polo is his main source in his description of the city of Hangchow. “The choice of this city...Marco Polo stayed there for a considerable length of time during the years of 1276-1292.” In his stay in Hangchow, he wrote journal entries and memoirs of his time in the city. His meticulous detail on the city-life gives for an excellent