History is the record of the inheritance of human civilization. Studying history not only enables us to know the present by looking at the past but also heightens our understanding of and concern for humanistic activities. The education system in Hong Kong separates Chinese history and World history into two unrelated subjects. However, no country in the world is totally isolated whose history could be impervious to the influence of other nations. We must comprehensively take into full account these relationships and their process of development.

A matrix is used in this book to present the rather complicated historical materials of human history, with the vertical axis representing the Chinese civilization and the horizontal axis those of other nations, in an attempt to reconstruct a comparatively complete picture so as to present to the reader the origin of our ancestors and the progress of humankind. The history encompassed is vast and comprehensive, from prehistory to that of Modern times, from China to the world, from the origin of human civilization to the rise and fall of dynasties. This is, in scope, a world history for the general reader.

The book is especially suitable for secondary school and university students as well as people interested in Chinese and world history.

Translated by: Mary M. Y. Fung