Book Description
Once a sleeping giant, China today is the world's fastest growing economy--the leading manufacturer of cell phones, laptop computers, and digital cameras--a dramatic turn-around that alarms many Westerners. But in China: The Fragile Superpower, Susan L. Shirk opens up the black box of Chinese politics and finds that the real danger lies elsewhere--not in China's astonishing growth, but in the deep insecurity of its leaders. China's leaders face a troubling paradox: the more developed and prosperous the country becomes, the more insecure and threatened they feel. Shirk, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for China, knows many of today's Chinese rulers personally and has studied them for three decades. She offers invaluable insight into how they think--and what they fear. In this revealing book, readers see the world through the eyes of men like President Hu Jintao and former President Jiang Zemin. We discover a fragile communist regime desperate to survive in a society turned upside down by miraculous economic growth and a stunning new openness to the greater world. Indeed, ever since the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square and the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, Chinese leaders have been haunted by the fear that their days in power are numbered. Theirs is a regime afraid of its own citizens, and this fear motivates many of their decisions when dealing with the U.S. and other foreign nations. In particular, the fervent nationalism of the Chinese people, combined with their passionate resentment of Japan and attachment to Taiwan, have made relations with these two regions a minefield. It is here, Shirk concludes, in the tangled interactions between Japan, Taiwan, China, and the United States, that the greatest danger lies. Shirk argues that rising powers such as China tend to provoke wars in large part because other countries mishandle them. Unless we understand China's brittle internal politics and the fears that motivate its leaders, we face the very real possibility of avoidable conflict with China. This book provides that understanding.
Customer Reviews:
China's fragility lies elsewhere.......2007-09-09
Honestly, China - Fragile Superpower caught my attention as well as curiosity. How fragile is China? This is my very first question before reading the book. The poor rural peasants, increasing laid-off workers, the rise of civil and democratic consciousness among Chinese citizens, the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)...? I have thought about various reasons for a fragile China.
Unexpectedly, a "fragile China" is not the comment or viewpoint from the west, but from the Chinese president Hu Jintao, "although China looks like a powerhouse from the outside, to its leaders it looks fragile, poor and overwhelmed by internal problems". Indeed, everyone knows that the Chinese leaders are facing numerous internal problems, apart from dealing with poor peasants and laid-off workers, environmental degradation, the Chinese product safety, the gap between the rich and the poor as well as the income gap between coastal and inland are also the imminent challenges to the rise of China.
Susan L. Shirk is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in managing US-China relations. She has another perspective towards a "fragile China" - the rise of internet and mass media. The whole threatening mechanism begins with the young "netizens". The "netizens" search the foreign website in getting the uncensored international news and post it to the local forums. Other "netizens" start to discuss the issue and post some radical responses like protesting the Japanese prime minister's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. Shirk also studies the similar cases such as the US bombardment on Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, the clash of aircraft between China and the US near South China Sea in 2001 and the provocative issue such as Taiwan. Since the Chinese leaders seek to get the collective consensus (to avoid personal responsibility) before formally reacting to international crisis, their replies always come late. In the meantime, the Chinese leaders cannot control the spreading news, especially those from the internet. In order to remain the legitimacy of the government, the Chinese leaders are forced to address according to the public opinion. This is the reason why China reacts toughly towards Japan, the United States and Taiwan even though the Chinese leaders treasure the economic interdependences between China, Japan and the United States as well as the positive image of mainland China among Taiwanese.
Besides, by interviewing some Chinese military generals, Shirk finds that the Chinese leaders have compromised to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) for regime security. Some PLA generals heavily criticized Jiang Zemin's leadership in dealing with foreign countries. For example, Jiang is regarded as too pro-American, too soft on Japan while too optimistic towards the unification of Taiwan. To pacify the discontents among the PLA generals, Jiang enlarged the PLA's budget with an increase of double digit percentage annually. Not surprisingly, the west believes that the rise of Chinese military power is a potential threat to the Asia-Pacific region, not because of the modernization of the PLA, but for the growing influence of the Chinese military generals who are not accountable to the civilian government.
Therefore, according to Shirk, China is a fragile superpower because there are too many constrains on the Chinese leaders in making both their domestic and foreign policy. Even worse, as Shirk writes, "The CCP's ability to control the information that reaches the public is declining at the same time as the country's military capabilities are improving. And these two trends combine dangerously to intensify the pressure to use force to defend China's honor".
Though Shirk develops a model in explaining the dilemmas of the Chinese leaders in facing the demands of public opinion and the belligerence of military generals, it seems that the role of the internet in China is a bit exaggerated. In fact, many foreign websites are blocked in China. Even though there are limited occasional cases which the "netizens" posted uncensored news on local website, these news were removed within hours. There is a doubt whether a concrete public opinion can be formed within a few hours via internet. Shirk also admits that the huge Chinese demonstration against the US for the bombardment of Belgrade in 1999 and the clash of Chinese and American aircrafts in 2001 were acquiesced if not encouraged by the Chinese government. The Chinese government kept the demonstrations under control in order to get better bargaining position over the US. However, Shirk should also take into account that there was a call up of anti-Japanese demonstration in April 2005 on the internet for the Japanese prime minister Kozumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. But this time, the Chinese government firmly prohibited the demonstration since the previous anti-Japanese demonstrations went radically by attacking the Japanese stores. Also, the Chinese leaders want to send a signal to Japan that China is willing to restore their bilateral relations. The point here is that no demonstration can be appeared without the consent of the Chinese government, no matter the demonstration is called up through the internet or not. Besides, Shirk believes that the CCP will stand firm towards Japan, Taiwan and the US because the Qing and the Kuomintang government lost their regime for failing to expel foreign aggressions. It is indeed too early to justify whether the ordinary Chinese will overthrow the CCP only because of its soft stance towards Japan, Taiwan and the US, given that the situation is not the same for the CCP now when compare the previous regimes.
China is a fragile rising power, but its fragility lies on the peasants who have no land to farm and the laid-off workers who have no social security net to rely on rather than the public opinion on the internet.
Understanding China.......2007-08-02
Few fields of academic endeavor are as determinedly pc as the study of communist China. China academics and intelligence analysts over the years have strived with some success to portray the communist regime in a more benign light than probably is warranted.
Fortunately Susan Shirk''s book--the best work yet to appear on contemporary China-- provides a balanced and thoughtful perspective on the contradictory impulses driving Chinese leadership behavior.As Shirk ably documents, pressures of rapid economic transformatiion, fraying political controls and rabid nationalist sentiment pose difficult challenges for the regime, increasing the potential for conflict with the United States. Shirk pleads for a U.S. China policy based on a better understanding of these constraints, both to lower the risk of war and to improve prospects of Sino-U,S, collaboration on issues of global concern.
This is a perfectly good argument as far as it goes and is relevant not just to China. Russia --economically emergent and increasingly nationalistic-- represents a comparable problem for U.S. policy.The U.S. penchant for Russia-bashing needlessly provokes Russian leaders and publics, heightening East-West tensions and clouding the outlook for peace and security in Europe.
Perfect understanding, of course is not a sure-fire recipe for conflict- avoidance. Washington can "lavish respect on China's leaders" (in the author's words) but there is a host of contentious issues on which it must pursue its own priorities: trade imbalances, contaminated food exports, software piracy, China's military build-up, Taiwan security, massive Chinese espionage operations in the United States, human rights violations and more. Hostilities with China, while obviously not desirable , could break out nonetheless. Following Shirk's line of analysis, should China emerge the clear loser, the regime would suffer loss of legitimacy and possibly collapse altogether. Whether anything better would emerge in its place, though, is an open question.
Notes by an insider.......2007-07-22
The main point about this book is that it's by someone who personally participated in many of the events that she describes. Many of her sources are Chinese with whom she interacted personally, as opposed to books by other Westerneres, although she does mention these, specifically Minxin Pei's Trapped Transition. She has a very readable style. People may differ with her conclusions but she came to them through her own experience.
China at Times Its Own Worst Enemy.......2007-07-09
Susan Shirk gives her readers some useful tools to better assess the future behavior of a fast-resurging China after being "humiliated" for a century and a half (pp. 153 - 55, 185 - 87). Shirk clearly explains that Chinese communist power has two faces. China wants to be seen as behaving responsibly to foster economic growth and social stability (pp. 105 - 139). Shirk correctly states that actions rather than words will make it more credible. Establishing this reputation requires China to accommodate its neighbors, to be a team player in multinational organizations, and to use economic ties to make friends (pp. 109, 199, 223, 257 - 61).
In case of a major crisis, especially one involving Taiwan, Japan or the United States, China could show its other face by acting irresponsibly due to the absence of effective checks and balances of the Chinese system. Party leaders could recklessly play the nationalistic card again as they did with Taiwan in 1996 or with Japan in 2005 if they need to look strong domestically with other leaders, the mass public, and the military (pp. 10 -12, 43, 63, 69, 77, 139, 151, 173, 179 - 80, 186 - 90, 197, 205, 219).
The Communist Party has bet on jingoism since the 1990s because communism in China is a dying ideology in which almost no Chinese believes (pp. 11, 63 - 64, 145, 148, 164 - 70, 186). The Party implausibly claims that ordinary Chinese are unworthy of Western democracy because their country, unlike India, does not have religion to manage them responsibly (p. 53). Chinese leaders know that Chinese nationalists can turn against the Party if they appear too weak to deal with foreign pressures (pp. 61, 66, 173, 180).
Economic interdependence has had a somewhat moderating effect on the relationship of China with the outside world, including Taiwan, Japan, and the U.S. (pp. 24, 96, 145 - 46, 190, 195, 233, 241, 247). Due to their fear of widespread instability and their lack of political legitimacy, Party leaders, however, have not displayed much courage in taking unpopular measures such as enforcing intellectual property rights or stopping currency manipulation in trading abroad (pp. 26 - 27, 53 - 54, 60, 73 - 74). Chinese leaders are well aware that the increased protectionism in the U.S. against the fast-growing trade deficit with China and the rampant piracy of U.S. products in China are not politically sustainable, especially in case of a majority change in Washington in 2009 (pp. 25 - 26, 248). At the same time, Shirk correctly points out that the ongoing fiscal profligacy of the U.S. is weakening the country at the profit of China (pp. 26, 249).
Of all China's challenges, the need for "social stability" overrules all other considerations, even it means sacrificing long-term diplomatic objectives for short-term domestic political gains (pp. 38, 52 - 54, 109, 148, 183 - 87, 197, 224, 234, 254 - 55). For the Chinese communist leaders and their families, losing power could result in the loss of their possessions or even their death (pp. 7 - 9). To keep its authoritarian grip on power, the Communist Party has articulated a three-pronged policy (p. 39):
1) Avoid public leadership splits
Shirk gives a useful overview of the "selectorate," the group of Party members who have the power to choose the leaders, and the modus operandi of the Party (pp. 39 - 52). The Communist Party is not known for its openness in framing domestic and foreign policies (pp. 43 - 44). Patronage is essential for keeping the Party in power, which feeds an endemic corruption from which many communist bigwigs enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary Chinese (pp. 60, 68 - 69). Party leaders learn from the Tiananmen fiasco that destabilizing internal dissent can undermine the Party's grip on power (pp. 48, 53, 162). Keeping elite contests for power hidden from the public is increasingly difficult as the audience-driven media are testing the limits on what can be reported (pp. 39, 50, 52, 55, 78, 183). Although China is a still a long way from having free mass media, resourceful Chinese increasingly give the Communist Party a hard time for censoring "undesirable news (pp. 82 - 83)."
2) Prevent large-scale social unrest
Shirk demonstrates with conviction that Communist China's obsession with internal stability paradoxically makes the Party very sensitive to public opinion due to the lack of any democratic institution to allow ordinary Chinese to express themselves peacefully (pp. 52 - 53, 66). Shirk overviews with mastery the multiple possible threats to one-party-rule and which means the Party uses to either neutralize or reduce these threats (pp. 52 - 69). Paradoxically, the more developed and rich China becomes, the more insecure and threatened Communist Party leaders feel (p. 5).
3) Keep the People's Liberation Army on the side of the Party
Unlike their predecessors, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, Communist Party leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are less politically secure and have a greater need to keep the military satisfied to safeguard them from domestic rebellion (pp. 46, 73, 77, 158 - 60, 202). Communist Party leaders seem to have a harder time saying no to the military demands for weaponry buildups and aggressive policies (pp. 70, 75 - 76, 222 - 23). The senior leadership of the PLA uses the Taiwan issue as the paramount factor for getting more "toys" approved (p. 74). By covering foreign policy, audience-driven media are making it harder for Communist Party leaders not to treat foreign policy as domestic politics (pp. 78 - 104, 140 - 254). Furthermore, history is not on the side of China because rising powers are likely to provoke war (pp. 4, 9 - 10, 210 - 11, 219, 243 - 45, 261 - 69). All of these factors undermine the credibility of the "peaceful rise" that Jintao - Wen Jiabao have promoted since 2002 (pp. 108 - 09, 252).
To summarize, China's behavior cannot be correctly understood without a proper grasp of the tectonic forces that have molded the country's history, geography, and culture.
Easily 5 Stars!.......2007-07-05
It's a beautifully written book by Ms. Susan Shirk. Her credentials as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State during the Clinton administration responsible for relations with China speak for themselves. Her understanding of the interrelation between domestic and international principles is well highlighted.
This book captures the fickleness of the Chinese government in their need to suppress public distraught, and how their desire to raise nationalist views has been counterproductive to their international mission of keeping foreign partners from viewing them as a dangerously rising power.
She gives you the facts of China's past and current state of development and reviews the United States' and other countries' positions on the rising power, and allows you to determine for yourself whether China will be a real danger or a humble superpower willing to lend a hand for the betterment of the international sector.
This is an absolutely wonderful book that simply has to be read more than once.
Amazon.com
China has the world's most rapidly changing large economy, and according to Ted Fishman, it is forcing the world to change along with it. "No country has ever before made a better run at climbing every step of economic development all at once," he writes, in China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World. China is currently the largest maker of toys, clothing, and consumer electronics, and is swiftly moving up the ladder in car production, computer manufacturing, biotechnology, aerospace, telecommunications, and other sectors thanks to low-cost, high-tech factories. China is also where the world is investing. In 2004, for instance, the city of Shanghai alone attracted over $12 billion in direct foreign investment, roughly the same amount as all of Indonesia and Mexico received. In tracing China's ascendancy over the past 30 years (with annual growth of an astonishing 9.5 percent), Fishman presents a flood of facts, figures, forecasts, and anecdotes and examines the implications of this unprecedented growth for China, the U.S., and the rest of the world.
Calling China's huge population "arguably the greatest natural resource on the planet," Fishman details how hundreds of millions of peasants have migrated from rural to urban areas to find manufacturing jobs, providing an unlimited, low-wage workforce to power China's economy. In the process, this shift has changed both Chinese culture and the global business climate in significant ways. Simply put, American companies can't compete with wages as low as 25 cents an hour and lack of regulation and oversight, so are forced to move their operations to China or completely change the focus of their business. And it's not just a problem for the U.S.--even Mexico is outsourcing to China. Though it remains to be seen whether this will truly be the "Chinese Century" as Fishman asserts, China, Inc. is a brisk and informative look at why so many American corporations, and American jobs, are heading to China. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
China today is visible everywhere -- in the news, in the economic pressures battering the globe, in our workplaces, and in every trip to the store. Provocative, timely, and essential -- and updated with new statistics and information -- this dramatic account of China's growing dominance as an industrial superpower by journalist Ted C. Fishman explains how the profound shift in the world economic order has occurred -- and why it already affects us all.
How has an enormous country once hobbled by poverty and Communist ideology come to be the supercharged center of global capitalism? What does it mean that China now grows three times faster than the United States? Why do nearly all of the world's biggest companies have large operations in China? What does the corporate march into China mean for workers left behind in America, Europe, and the rest of the world?
Meanwhile, what makes China's emerging corporations so dangerously competitive? What will happen when China manufactures nearly everything -- computers, cars, jumbo jets, and pharmaceuticals -- that the United States and Europe can, at perhaps half the cost? How do these developments reach around the world and straight into all of our lives?
These are ground-shaking questions, and China, Inc. provides answers.
Veteran journalist Ted C. Fishman shows how China will force all of us to make big changes in how we think about ourselves as consumers, workers, citizens, and even as parents. The result is a richly engaging work of penetrating, up-to-the-minute reportage and brilliant analysis that will forever change how readers think about America's future.
Download Description
"China today is visible everywhere -- in the news, in the economic pressures battering america, in the workplace, and in every trip to the store. provocative, timely, and essential, this dramatic account of china's growing dominance as an industrial super-power by journalist Ted C. Fishman explains how the profound shift in the global economic order has occurred -- and why it already affects us all. How has an enormous country once hobbled by poverty and Communist ideology come to be the supercharged center of global capitalism? What does it mean that China now grows three times faster than the United States? That China uses 40 percent of the world's concrete and 25 percent of its steel? What is the global impact of 300 million rural Chinese walking off their farms and heading to the cities in the greatest migration in human history? Why do nearly all of the world's biggest companies now have large-scale operations in China? What does the corporate march into China mean for workers left behind in America, Europe, and the rest of the world? Meanwhile, what makes China's emerging corporations so dangerously competitive? What could happen when China will be able to manufacture nearly everything -- computers, cars, jumbo jets, and pharmaceuticals -- that the United States and Europe can, at perhaps half the cost? How do these developments reach around the world and straight into the lives of all Americans? These are ground-shaking questions, and China, Inc. provides answers.Veteran journalist and former commodities trader Ted C. Fishman paints a vivid picture of the megatrends radiating out of China. Fishman's account begins with the burgeoning output of China's vast low-cost factories and the swelling appetite of its 1.3 billion consumers, both of which are being driven by historically unprecedented infusions of foreign capital and technological know-how. Traveling through China's frenetic landscape of growth, Fishman visits the factories, markets, streets, stores, towns, and cities where the story of Chinese capitalism is being lived by one-fifth of all humanity. Fishman also draws on interviews with Chinese, American, and European workers, managers, and executives to show how China will force all of us to make big changes in how we think about ourselves as consumers, workers, citizens, and even as parents. The result is a richly engaging work of penetrating, up-to-the-minute reportage and brilliant analysis that will forever change how readers think about America's future. "
Customer Reviews:
Lacks critical analysis, nothing more than a collection of (incomplete) stories .......2007-09-04
Half of the book is like a PR campaign for Shanghai, saying how fascinating the city is without really critically examining its glories. It seems like the author has not ventured far away from Shanghai (even Zhejiang Province is bordering Shanghai) and to really delve into the rest of China. It is just like reading a book on U.S. economy while all it talks about is New York. Projecting New York for the rest of the U.S. is laughable, so is thinking Shanghai epitomizes the entire China.
Shanghai's success, at least in the past, critically relied on the extremely favorable national policies steered by Jiang Ze-ming, the former mayor of Shanghai who became the president after 1989 Tiananmen. Such biased national policies are highly questionable, and its impact on Shanghai long-term economic sustainability is also open for debate.
It's also weird for a book on China's economic transition to exclude meaningful discussion of the economic reforms in the Pearl River Delta area where all of the initial economic reforms started, and which is still one of the most important economic regions in China. Also, China's attempts to balance economic development between the coastal region and the inland region are largely ignored in the book (except some very light discussions here and there).
The second half of the book is not very organized and it is not clear what message the author was trying to get across. Overall, the book is nothing more than a collection of stories you can easily find in Economist. A better book for a quick intro and analysis of China's rise is The World is Flat, side by side is an analysis of India as a bonus...
Could have been at least 100 pages shorter.......2007-07-15
A lot of insights from the book but at the same time a lot of non-insights.
The book covers the movement of Chinese people from the farms to the cities and the attitude towards rapid modernization including piracy. However, you cannot FEEL it from first person point of view. You feel very detached reading the book.
It could have been more straight to the point and a lot of pages bored me.
The Tom Wolfe of China.......2007-05-24
This a kaleidoscopic view of the most dynamic country today on the planet. Sit down, strap up, and read the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test of the 21st Century. For a harder analytical edge, read my own volume The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won
Please blame everything on China, is this a new trend to cover up American "disastrous" foreign policy? .......2007-05-11
So with all due respect:
1) If China is so bad, don't do business there, no one is forcing you
2) All American CEO who deals with China are unpatriotic Americans
3) All American CEO who outsource to China and India are immoral capitalist
4) All American CEO who deal with China should pay a fine or go to Jail. -But they are not! And as matter of facts, they are getting big bonuses.
5) Don't blame the Chinese, they are providing a service (cheap) but American consumers and executives are the ones knocking on their doors.
6) You can't have both ways; you can't try to use cheap labor in 3rd world countries and then turn around and point fingers at the people you are doing business with.
7) Stop bringing up the WWII theory on some of these comments, just because the USA fought and won WWI -which is GREAT! It does not mean the USA is correct FOREVER...common sense.
Excellent reference background............2007-04-11
My team at work does a lot of business with China and after one of the engineers read the book, we ordered about 15 copies for the entire department to read, we felt it was so worthwhile!
Average customer rating:
- MY BOY LOVES READING
- Day of the dragon kings
- Jack & Annie in China
- the burning of the books
- The Trip to China
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Day Of The Dragon-King (Magic Tree House 14, paper)
Mary Pope Osborne
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
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ASIN: 0679890513
Release Date: 1998-04-20 |
Book Description
Jack and Annie set off to find an original copy of an ancient Chinese myth. Armed only with their magic library cards, they must take on a book-burning emperor. But with the help of a scholar and a silk weaver, they triumph again.
Customer Reviews:
MY BOY LOVES READING.......2007-01-07
My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!
Day of the dragon kings.......2006-11-17
this book Its great because anyone liked cartoon this book would like him
Jack & Annie in China.......2006-04-25
When Jack and Annie found out that they were going to China, they went straight to the treehouse. They met Morgan there, and she told them that they had to save a library in China. The dragon king was going to burn all the books, because he didn't like them. Jack and Annie saw a huge map of the castle where the emporer lived and they used it to help them find the library. In the end, Jack and Annie saved the library and were heroes again.
I liked this book because of the Terra Cotta soldiers (we have one of these at home !), the Chinese hats that Jack and Annie wore, and the dragon kings clothes. And I think I'm a good judge of Chinese things, since I was born in China !
the burning of the books.......2006-02-02
I hate the way the Dragen King wanted to burn all the books in China. But I am glad that Jack and Annie saved one. They escaped eveything.
The Trip to China.......2005-04-13
This story take place on China in the 1970, the boy and the girl were ready to go to China and they go in to get the bamboo book that is on the city, and they find two Chinese people. They take them to the city and they see people selling fish, the boy told them if they can take them to the library to find the bamboo book that has all the secrets of China.
This book is mostly about two kids that go to China to look for the bamboo book that is in the city of China. They went to the library with the secret library card and finally they found the bamboo book.
In my opinion, I think its a very good book because, the trip to China and the Great Wall and the Dragon King's tomb.
Book Description
In this widely acclaimed history of modern China, Jonathan Spence achieves a fine blend of narrative richness and efficiency. Praised as "a miracle of readability and scholarly authority," (Jonathan Mirsky) The Search for Modern China offers a matchless introduction to China's history.
Customer Reviews:
Just a great resource on China.......2007-09-19
I've read over twenty books on China, and this is one of the best resources out there. At first I was caught off guard that Spence started in the 16th or 17th century, however, it provides a lot of insight into China's development and goes into detail about China's interactions with the West and their reactions. I especially found the opium trade quite interesting and also the fact that new dynasties had to constantly reconquer parts of China. One truly begins to appreciate the difficulty in governing a country so large and diverse as China.
An Unponderous History.......2007-05-24
To truly know China, it is essential to have a grasp of its rich history. But that history is so vast and dense, it is easy to get lost. This book is an admirable guide. For a review of contempory issues, see my own book: The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won
Great book.......2007-05-16
This is probably my favorite Chinese history book that I've read. Its easily quotable, well written, and intriguing. I found it to be clear cut and concise, but not bogged down by elevated language, or too simplistic. Its a shame books like this one are not used more in Universities.
A nice introduction.......2007-03-23
The book makes a good impression. It is an eloquently written, absorbing narrative, attentive to detail and yet broad in scope. The book nicely integrates discussion of political history with discourse on society and culture of modern China.
It is ostensibly weaker towards the end - barely a fraction of the book deals with post-1949 China. The PRC's foreign policy during the Cold War unfortunately receives scant attention; the Cultural Revolution is addressed as if in passing. Sino-US rapprochement is barely mentioned (with a questionable assertion that it was mainly a product of pressure on the part of the Chinese oil lobby).
The part on the democratic movement in China was an interesting read, but it overshadowed other important issues in the last 20-30 years of China's political and economic development.
Overall, excellent book, certainly one of the best introductions to modern history of China out there, highly recommended for new students of Chinese history as a starting point.
timely and important work.......2006-11-12
The scale of this book is vast, and the scholarly undertaking is impressive. In the modern world with Chinese influence growing all the time an understanding of Chinese history is increasingly important. A must-read!
Ian Ruxton, editor of the Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Envoy in Peking 1900-06, available on amazon.com
Book Description
The Cultural Revolution was a watershed event in the history of the People's Republic of China, the defining decade of half a century of communist rule. Before 1966, China was a typical communist state, with a command economy and a powerful party able to keep the population under control. But during the Cultural Revolution, in a move unprecedented in any communist country, Mao unleashed the Red Guards against the party. Tens of thousands of officials were humiliated, tortured, and even killed. Order had to be restored by the military, whose methods were often equally brutal.
In a masterly book, Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals explain why Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, and show his Machiavellian role in masterminding it (which Chinese publications conceal). In often horrifying detail, they document the Hobbesian state that ensued. The movement veered out of control and terror paralyzed the country. Power struggles raged among Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Qing--Mao's wife and leader of the Gang of Four--while Mao often played one against the other.
After Mao's death, in reaction to the killing and the chaos, Deng Xiaoping led China into a reform era in which capitalism flourishes and the party has lost its former authority. In its invaluable critical analysis of Chairman Mao and its brilliant portrait of a culture in turmoil, Mao's Last Revolution offers the most authoritative and compelling account to date of this seminal event in the history of China.
Customer Reviews:
Very Good.......2007-09-08
This fine book is a narrative and analysis of the disastrous Cultural Revolution. The authors are recognized experts on modern Chinese history and this book synthesizes their own primary research and a large volume of secondary research, drawing on both Western and Chinese sources. A major focus is the complex politics at the apex of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Macfarquhar and Schoenhals do a good job of integrating information about provincial politics and the general social impact of the Cultural Revolution. More detail about the social consequences of the Cultural Revolution would have been helpful but this is probably limited by sources.
The central figure of this book, not surprisingly, is Mao Zedong and his central role is a part of the reason much of the book focuses on the higher politics of the Cultural Revolution. Though the Cultural Revolution unleashed latent, destructive forces within China, Mao set the Cultural Revolution in motion and sustained it for years. The authors describe Mao accurately as one of the great tyrants of the 20th century and the text shows his incredible egoism very clearly. Mao clearly set out to produce a state of chaos in China. Why? Mao definitely believed in some idea of a perpetual revolution and mass mobilization. More important, however, seems to have been his insecurity about his paramount position. In the aftermath of the catastrophic Great Leap Forward and seeing the example of the deposition of Krushchev in the Soviet Union, Mao was concerned that there was a risk of no longer being the Supreme leader. Mao initiated the Cultural Revolution by destroying important centers of independent leadership within the CCP and decapitating the military leadership. These moves were followed by mass mobilizations that essentially destroyed the existing formal governmental structures and party discipline. In this chaos, Mao's position and authority as the central arbiter were enhanced greatly. Stalin used similar tactics in the great Purges of the 30s. Recurrent purges and contrived crises produced states of virtual civil war in many parts of China, enormous economic disruption, and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The Cultural Revolution ended only with Mao's death and the re-emergence of more pragmatic leadership. The authors are very good at depicting many of the major actors. The charismatic Zhou Enlai emerges as a profoundly ambiguous figure. A pragmatic leader who tried hard to govern China in the Cultural Revolution, he also displayed slavish devotion to Mao. This book is written well and authors display a nice eye for telling detail. Who would have thought that On The Road was popular among the Red Guards or that Mao's ruthless henchman Kang Sheng was known for the elegance of his calligraphy. Most revealing of all, Mao enjoyed being compared with Qin Shi Huangdi, the tyrannical first emperor of China.
This is also an unusually well produced book. There are some thoughtful features that enhance readability. The authors provide a nice list of the many acronyms describing important organizations in China and a glossary of important figures during the Cultural Revolution.
When China Went Mad.......2007-08-08
An excellent history of the period when the world's most populous nation went insane under the orders and behest of Mao Zedong.
This excellent volume distills Roderick MacFarquhar's three-volume "The Origins of the Cultural Revolution," and Michael Schoenhal's "China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969: Not a Dinner Party (East Gate Reader)."
Eminently readable, carefully footnoted, this volume serves as an excellent resource for familiarizing oneself with an event that continues to cast a shadow over modern-day China. Many of China's current leaders grew up in the midst of this chaos. China's industry and technical establishments remain relatively backward because of the ten-year interruption imposed by the Cultural Revolution. And Chinese of that generation fear instability due, in no small part, to the disruptions that the Revolution engendered in their lives.
At last the truth .......2007-04-11
At the time the Cultural Revolution(GPCR) was thought to have resulted from Mao being moved out of power. It was his attempt to destroy the existing elite and to take back the reigns. However now the judgment is in. Mao was never out of power the GPCR was simply an act of pure insanity which resulted in countless deaths, the loss of a years production and the destruction of countless archeological treasures. The aim was some notion in the mind of Mao that China might drift into revisionism. For that reason it was necessary to create a situation of civil war in which students closed the universities and large cities drifted into orchestrated civil wars.
In the end the result was that the GPCR and Great Leap forward were such acts of lunacy that communism was totally discredited as an ideology or a value system in China. Whilst the Communist Party continues to hold power it is totally pragmatic in its approach to economics and China has evolved into a dynamic market economy. Not only is China a market economy but the years of disruption have led to a morality of total materialism. The end result is that the "cultural revolution" led to the discrediting for ever of the ideas that Mao held sacred.
The book is a bit chaotic as it charges a chaotic event. Yet one sees for the first time the reality and enormity of Mao's appalling policies and misrule. Even recent biographies perhaps over rationalize a man who was not only ruthless but clearly deluded.
Mao Zedong: master Machiavellian, mad Marxian.......2007-02-18
Mao Zedong, a utopian Marxist philosopher, who was Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, was appalled at Khrushchev's post-Stalinist "revisionism". But he was furthermore alarmed when the Soviet central party apparatus deposed Khrushchev. Feeling threatened, Mao reacted against his own strong centralized party.
Unlike Stalin who in the 1930's merely purged the old Bolsheviks from the upper ranks of the Soviet Communist Party, Mao set out to destroy the Chinese central party apparatus itself with his "great disorder under heaven", as he called his Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution. Mao fully expected that a new party would spontaneously emerge from the induced violent social chaos.
But the chaos was so great that officers of the People's Liberation Army under Lin Biao ended up taking most of the positions in the emergent party apparatus. This controlling role of the army also alarmed Mao.
When Mao signaled that Lin would soon be purged, Lin Liguo, Lin Biao's son and senior army officer, hatched a conspiracy to assassinate Mao. The attempt was never carried out, but the conspiracy was discovered. Lin Liguo wrote the following description of Mao contained in a document later uncovered:
"Today he uses this force to attack that force; tomorrow he uses that force to attack this force. Today he uses sweet words and honeyed talk to those whom he entices, and tomorrow he puts them to death for some fabricated crimes. Those who are his guests today will be his prisoners tomorrow.
"Looking back at the history of the past few decades, [do you see] anyone whom he has supported initially who has not finally been handed a political death sentence?
"Is there a single political force which has been able to work with him from beginning to end? His former secretaries have either committed suicide or been arrested. His few close comrades-in-arms or trusted aids have also been sent to prison by him....
"He is a paranoid and a sadist. His philosophy of liquidating people is either don't do it, or do it thoroughly. Every time he liquidates someone, he will put them to death before he desists; once he hurts you, he will hurt you all the way, and puts the blame for all bad things on others." (P. 334)
Chairman Mao's Great Revolution was more damaging to China than Chairman Mellon's Great Depression was to America. Both produced reversing reactions from their respective extremes: The reaction to the Cultural Revolution was less intervention in the Chinese economy - the revisionist "capitalist road". The reaction to the Great Depression was more intervention in the American economy - Keynesian fiscal policy.
This book is probably one of the best chronologies of the Cultural Revolution period in China, until the Chinese Communist Party archives are opened, as occurred after the fall of the party in Russia.
Thomas J. Hickey
very readable.......2007-02-12
Written in an "academic" style, but not dry or dense, at all. Some of the stories told are even funny, in a grotesque sort of way (such as the poor soul not being allowed into the stadium for his own "self criticism" because he didn't have a ticket).
Also, in at least one place the authors guess when there is no need to (they state that Washington "seemed" to have missed the implication of Edgar Snow's picture with Mao in the 'People's Daily' when, in fact, Kissinger states up front in 'White House Years' that there was no "seeming" about it--Kissinger admits they "missed the point" completely).
The book should be read in conjunction with the recent Chang-Halliday bio, 'Mao, the Unknown Story'. Both are worthwhile, but both go about their tasks a bit differently, and come to some different, but some similar conclusions. I gave it 4 stars, but it might be 5. You will not regret the purchase, probably.
Book Description
C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, Nicholas R. Lardy and Derek Mitchell are the principal authors of this investigative analysis, full of new information and perspectives on China, the result of a year-long task force jointly sponsored by CSIS and IIE, to which distinguished China experts have contributed. It is accessible, narrative-driven, filled with facts, but written for the general reader. The expert judgments presented in China: The Balance Sheet will inform policymakers in Washington, scholars and the business community for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Little, No Credibility!.......2007-01-11
Pg. 4: "China's average wage is one-thirtieth of the U.S. and its average productivity level is equally lower (and wages, in any event account for only 20% of the cost of producing textiles and 5% of the cost of producing semiconductors)." If so, manufacturers that offshore in China would be stupid; alternatively, "China: The Balance Sheet" has a serious credibility problem. I go with the latter.
Nonetheless, this is still some value to the book for its statistics. For example, the authors believe China's foreign exchange reserves reached $1 trillion in '06, far more than any other country's, and probably more than enough to make serious improvement in its pollution and poverty problems. By 2050, China's economy is projected to be the world's largest; foreign investment only accounts for 5% of its capital growth - the Chinese savings rate of about 33% is more than enough to handle China's growth with money left over.
As for social services, "The Balance Sheet" asserts a mid-90's adult literacy rate of about 80% (vs. 50% in India) and graduates 800,000 scientists and engineers/year, while spending only 2.8% of GDP on education. Healthcare accounts for about 6% - far less than the U.S.' 16%.
Only 16% of China's land is arable, and most of its population lives on it. China's leaders are pressured to improve employment to absorb those leaving rural China, as well as those 40% released from state-jobs (including 80% from state-owned manufacturers).
Bergsten et al are most concerned about the possibility of conflict between the U.S. and China re Taiwan, and they point out that China uses its political (U.N. Security Council membership) and economic muscle to "encourage" others to support it re Taiwan.
China Background.......2006-12-19
I haven't read this book but have read several others by Nick Lardy and studied with him at Yale. I disagee with several reviewers who characterize Nick and his colleagues as ignorant about China and are simply imposing a western view. Nick was studying China and the economy (in Chinese) long before it was a popular subject and is intimately familiar with the country's economy. In a country where data is often obscured by politics, he has done an excellent job of piecing together disparate facts to achieve a coherent whole. He may be skeptical, but he's often correct.
A book for politicians!.......2006-11-05
I find this book extremely dull because it is mainly made up of statements. But then I realise that, written by government think tanks, this book is for politicians.
If you are a general reader and want to understand how China is affecting the world, I recommend China Shakes the World or China Inc. And if are interested in the recent history of China (pre-1978), read Wild Swans.
If you are a business person and want to understand how to do business in China, I recommend The China Executive by Dr Wei Wang.
Another American type of arrogance.......2006-10-27
I can't agree with . Shih "M.Smith"'s review even more. I just can't stand the arrogance tone shown in this book. I got a feeling that the authors simply don't like the progress in China. It seems like the authors are simply trying to minimizing the progress China made and relishing the problems China has.
I seriously doubt the authors ever read any Chinese sources or talk to any Chinese scholar. The authors seem to imply that if the Chinese to follow the American way, then they will never succeed. True, China has a tons of problems. But the Chinese leaders and Chinese people are trying their best to solve them. What annoys me is that some of these authors seem to relish over the fact that China has so many problems
You won't get that much new info about China in this book. Yea, China has tons of problems. Who doesn't know. The authors are trying to answer the most complex questions of China with simplistic answers.
Typical American bias.......2006-10-26
Well, what can I say about this book? With a due respect to the authors, it's the same usual American bias toward developing countries. As an American living and working in China for the past 2 years:
1)It's hard for Americans/Westerners to understand how business is done in China? Well, my answer it's because China is NOT in the West and Chinese people are not westerners. Try learning the language first, be respectful, and don't be so obnoxious.
2)This is the same background noise that I hear from overeducated ideologues: If a country is not like the US, then it must be wrong. I guess the Chinese should have a 4th world healthcare system like the US?
3)I personally feel that some authors wish China to stay poor so Madonna can have a concert there and pretend that the rich countries care. Well, maybe Africa, but not China.
4)Just because you watch CNN, FOX, and NBC, it does not make you an expert.
5)Just because you went to an Ivy League school, it does not make you a genius about other countries and cultures. As matter of fact, it does not make you a genius (period)
6)US should comment less on China and worry about the pointless war in Iraq, the death of our soldiers for a pointless cause, broken US healthcare, outsourcing of the American jobs, broken borders, broken education system, children killing each other at schools...and the list goes on.
7)China has many societal problems; please tell me something I don't know. China is working on it, it takes time, and they are not magicians.
8)If China is so awful please don't do business there nor go visit there. For the fact that there are SO many foreign investments there, makes all business executives and companies from the West idiots.
Book Description
Advance Praise for Beyond the Stone Arches
"Now the world can share the life of this great man. In its intimate detail, this is a fascinating story that serves as a valuable introduction to the people of a country so important to us today."-Walter Cronkite
"A fascinating look at China from the point of view of an American medical missionary, this absorbing life of a quiet hero rings with authenticity and sheds light on the turbulent years from the late 1800s to 1932 that will be a revelation for most Western readers."-Adeline Yen Mah, author of Falling Leaves
"This is a proud man's story of a father who lived a life of a medical missionary in China for forty years-a life of service, sacrifice, joy, and fulfillment. The pages turn easily and quickly with humor, care, and love. It's a jewel of a book that will remain with you forever."-Jim Lehrer, The News Hour
"A small gem. Edward Bliss embarked, against great odds, on a remarkable range of activities aimed at improving the livelihood of common people. He was a veritable one-man Peace Corps. His is an inspiring story that warms the heart and enriches the soul."-H. T. Huang, author of Science and Civilization in China
"It took three years for Edward Bliss, M.D., to ascend the Min River in a convoy of three river junks in 1893, averaging fourteen miles a day. This was his first trip to Shaowu, which became his home for forty-two years, a tumultuous and dangerous time and place. His son tells the story of his father's life and work in fascinating detail, drawing on a trove of letters and extensive interviews with his father."-Donald MacInnis, former Methodist missionary and China Program Director, National Council of Churches/USA
Download Description
An historical treasure. -Bob Edwards, host of National Public Radio's Morning Edition.The inspiring story of a true American hero: In 1892 Edward Bliss packed up his family and embarked on a journey that took him to a remote outpost in feudal China, wherehe served as a medical missionary until the early days of Mao Zedong. Bliss battled malaria, plague, floods, and encroaching communist armies to help make the world a better place. He healed the sick, worked as a farmer, delivered babies, and bred cattle-all for the "glory of God and dignity of man." This remarkable biography, written by Bliss's son, is a luminous portrait of an exemplary figure, a man whose remarkable life story offers readers inspiration to face adversity in their own time. Beyond the Stone Arches also delivers a sharply etched portrait of one of the great social movements in recent history-the outpouring of missionaries to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Customer Reviews:
beautifully realized.......2003-06-28
This is a wonderfully written account of a missionary's life in early 20th century China. Both educational and entertaining. Well worth the reader's time. Ed Bliss does the subject exquisite justice.
Great Gift Idea for Father's Day!!.......2001-06-01
From what I've read of reviews and from what I know of the content of this beautifully written biography of a father by his son.
A pioneer missionary doctor in China: a true adventure tale.......2001-01-27
"Beyond the Stone Arches" is the gripping story of a pioneer missionary doctor who served for four decades in a mission station deep in the interior of Fujian province. Each chapter could stand alone, for the scene changes from Imperial China to the shaky, new Republic in 1911, to civil wars, banditry, floods, plague and cholera epidemics - but through it all, Edward Bliss, Jr. tells the story of his father's daily work, his love for China and its people, his ventures such as raising milk cows so children could have milk, and his courage in the face of danger from Communist guerrillas, bandit gangs and rampant warlords. The book reads like an autobiography, for the author draws heavily on his own extensive interviews with his father and his father's letters, plus the author's own memories of childhood in pre-modern China. This is not a stereotype "missionary book!"
Book Description
A fascinating study of this amazing archaeological discovery.
Amazon.com
China has endured much hardship in its history, as Iris Chang shows in her ably researched The Rape of Nanking, a book that recounts the horrible events in that eastern Chinese city under Japanese occupation in the late 1930s. Nanking, she writes, served as a kind of laboratory in which Japanese soldiers were taught to slaughter unarmed, unresisting civilians, as they would later do throughout Asia. Likening their victims to insects and animals, the Japanese commanders orchestrated a campaign in which several hundred thousand--no one is sure just how many--Chinese soldiers and noncombatants alike were killed. Chang turns up an unlikely hero in German businessman John Rabe, a devoted member of the Nazi party who importuned Adolf Hitler to intervene and stop the slaughter, and who personally saved the lives of countless residents of Nanking. She also suggests that the Japanese government pay reparations and apologize for its army's horrific acts of 60 years ago.
Book Description
In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written what will surely be the definitive history of this horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an unlikely hero whom Chang calls the "Oskar Schindler of China" and who worked tirelessly to protect the innocent and publicize the horror. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of silence, that persists to this day, as "a second rape."
Customer Reviews:
The veneer of civilization is exceedingly thin.......2007-08-21
The bestial massacre of Nanking is by any standards one of the worst evil deeds in the history of mankind. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, children and babies were brutally slaughtered in a few weeks. For those who will (or can) not read this book only one example: babies were impaled on bayonets and thrown in boiling water. Even the dead didn't receive a human treatment. Their bodies were thrown to the dogs as food.
How (was) is it possible that part of mankind sank bank into such unlimited barbarism?
The author sees different reasons:
Religion: the emperor was a god and `next to the emperor all individual life was valueless.'
Politics: Japan was an unchequed authoritarian regime dominated by the military.
Racism: the Japanese considered themselves as a master-race, with a virulent contempt for the Chinese.
Education (military) and indoctrination: teenagers were molded into killing machines.'
As one soldier put is: `In Nanking everyone became a demon within three months.'
What happened in Nanking was received jubilantly by the jingoist Japanese press. Newspapers even published the outcome of a decapitation contest. The events were also covered internationally, but it was `frightening to see how easily mankind can accept genocides.'
In sharp contrast with the unmoved international community, a courageous group of foreigners created a safety zone saving thousands of Chinese lives.
Japan has a moral obligation to present at least an official apology for what happened during the war. `Nanking was only a fraction of the totality of the atrocities committed.'
The culprits received pensions and benefits, while the victims who survived continue to suffer shame, poverty and chronic physical and mental pains.
This book is a truly exceptional illustration (also graphically) of how the thin veneer of civilization can be broken.
Highly recommended, but only for those with a strong stomach.
As disturbing as it is shocking.......2007-07-02
Iris Chang has close personal ties to the Nanking Massacre - her parents narrowly escaped the orgy of violence that ensued in 1938 - 1939. This raises questions of objectivity, which Chang clearly struggles with, hence the four stars. However, the book is well-researched and credible sources are cited - a necessary point given the accusations made.
Chang begins with a brief history of modern (since the Meji restoration) Japanese history, seeking to provide some explaination for the barbarity that happened in China during the Japanese occupation. This provides some critical background information before the catalogue of atrocities are presented in gruesome detail: gang rapes, the desecration of corpses, torture - the savagery and brutality of which appalled me. The primary sources used in researching this are irrefutable to the serious historian.
Chang then goes on to talk about the aftermath of the "Rape of Nanking" begining with the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (the "Asian Nuremburg" trial) concluding with an excellent analysis of why so few were punished and what the long-term consequences of not addressing the larger issue of Japanese war crimes are, especially in light of her claim that what happened in Nanking was deliberate Japanese policy; in fact, she goes on to write that the Nanking massacre was "a metaphor for Japanese behaviour during the war." The book concludes exploring why the Holocaust in Europe is much more familar than the atrocities committed in Asia.
To some Japanese, Chang's claims are exaggerations or fabrications. (See Tanaka Maasaki's "What Really Happened in Nanking" for this perspective.) The historical record, however, clearly supports Chang's account. What struck me most deeply, however, was the similarity between the accounts of 1938 China and Yugoslavia in the 1990's, particularly the contest over whose story is told (and which history is written) and who is punished. There are lessons to be learned here larger than a single event. Recommended reading for armchair historians.
Powerful Account of a Very Tragic Wartime Catastrophe.......2007-06-25
Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking" is a horrifying and gruesome account of the infamous "Rape of Nanjing" where in less than a two month span from 1937-1938, an estimated 200,000-450,000 captured Chinese civilians and unarmed, surrendering solders were massacred and/or raped in cold blood by the Japanese Military during World War II. It is also about the aftermath of the massacre in a historical sense, and the toll it has had on the victims, historians, and the world, especially Sino-Japanese relations.
Chang's writing is intense, emotional, detailed, and thought provoking. Given that her grandparents were from Nanjing and narrowly escaped their own fate from the hell of what happened there, we must read this with an understanding that Chang is inherently biased in her accounts and at times comes off as extremely emotional in her contempt of the Japanese in certain passages.
Despite her bias, she desperately tries to stay objective in her accounts, though not always successfully (the passage, even despite the cited references, on Japanese being cannibals of murdered chinese male's genitalia seemed highly questionable and speculative).
Chang makes strides in her discussion of historiology by pointing out the cancer of how history is manipulated by politics, government intervention, propaganda, radical Conservatism/Liberalism, diplomacy and political events. Because of the "Cold War", "Sino-Japanese relations", WWII itself" and "US-Japanese allegiances", the events of Nanjing have been eerily and perhaps permanently distorted at the expense of 100's of thousands of innocent victims.
The book is well organized and informative although I question her premise which nearly implies that American society and that even Japanese society is ignorant of the events that occurred in Nanjing in 1937-1938. In her premise for writing the book, she attempts to imply that there was nearly no literary English reference to the Rape of Nanjing and provided only two literary accounts in English (both written 50 years after the "Rape") of this massacre. However, she failed to site the well documented account of this Massacre in the famous military television documentary seen by millions of Americans and Europeans in the 1970s, "The World at War" where Sir Laurence Olivier made a very clear historical historical reference while footage was shown of the massacre including General Matsui's march on horse through the streets of Nanjing and footage of tied Chinese captives murdered execution style while on their knees and hands tied behind their backs:
"It was here that Nanking in December 1937 that the Japanese perpetrated what was until then, one of the worst atrocities of this century when their troops massacred more than 200,000 Chinese in cold blood.
There is also a minor question statistic she references with respect to the number of Americans killed in the Korean ar which she noted 34,000. In Washington DC, the memorial noted over 54,000 Americans dead. But, to Chang's credit, as I've learned in this book, accounting for the number of dead is never an absolute accuracy. For example, is a person dying of a disease or out of accident during war considered having been killed in a war? That's highly subjective. An American bias would count that death as a casualty of war whereby Pro Chinese or North Korean source might not accounts for that death. Both have case to include or exclude that number from the number of casualties.
The most interesting passages relate to Chang's discussion of the acts of humanity during this catastrophe, specifically of the spectacular irony of how John Rabe, an educated German who even held a stron Nazi fervor (the Nazi's were allies of Japan during the war) was responsible for saving the lives of over 300,000 Chinese by setting up a miniscule 2.5 square mile safety zone within proximity of where the Rape and Massacre happened.
My favorite passage in this entire book was on her research of what happened to John Rabe after he left Nanjing. It was beautifully written and had me reading copiously to find her resolution on what happened to thsi "Schindler of Nanjing."
Poignant also was her research on the outcomes of other European and Americans who were in Nanjing during the siege and how politics ostracized these heros whose humanitarian efforts went unnoticed.
In her introduction, Iris Chang mused that her "greatest hope is that this book will inspire other authors and historians to investigate the stories of Nanjing" and that it will "stir the conscience of Japan to accept responsibility for this incident.
This book should really inspire the world to skeptically evaluate their own histories with a fine tooth comb given the Japanese Government's attempt to undermine what happened in Nanking.
On a side note, this book also inspires me to read more of the Jewish communities who fled Nazi Persecution Europe to live in Shangahi, which had been coincidentally the starting point of Japanese occupation prior to the capture of Nanjing. This book also inspires me to research the horror of the Bataan Death March and of the mass burials that occurred in Hong Kong, other areas of China, the Phillipines and other areas that had been seized by the Imperialist Japanese forces during WWII.
Disturbing, enlightening, and thoughtful.......2007-06-07
The Rape of Nanking is an amazingly easy read considering the dark subject that it addresses. Chang did an outstanding job of compiling absolutely airtight, irrefutable information about the atrocities committed by the Japanese military in 1937, but this book is far more than simply an endless recitation of that evidence. When I first picked up this book I feared that it would simply be 200+ pages of stories about atrocities. But as Chang herself noted early in the book, doing so would simply be monotonous and would eventually numb the reader. Instead, she discusses several different and important aspects about the Rape of Nanking, beginning with an historical overview of the roots of imperial Japan and the culture that allowed an entire generation of young men to become cruel, inhumane butchers. She goes on to inform the reader about the conflict between Japan and China, and eventually of course relates specific facts about the savagery committed against so many hundreds of thousands of Chinese in Nanking. But the book does not stop there. Chang goes to great lengths to describe the heroic efforts of a handful of westerners who were able to save hundreds of thousands of Chinese from certain torture and death. She concludes by discussing the aftermath of the Rape of Nanking and how it remains an incredibly sensitive topic for so many people. This is an absolutely outstanding work of nonfiction that everyone should read. The reviewers here who have disparaged Chang and her effort to ensure that the world never forgets about the evil that occurred in Nanking should be ashamed of themselves. People like that only illustrate how important it is to keep the memory of Nanking alive and never surrender to those who would bury the truth because they are too cowardly to face it.
Important, necessary, courageous and seminal book........2007-05-27
Chang's account has inspired a 2007 expensive and carefully-marketed documentary film of the same title, and that is the book's chief value--as an awareness-raising event that exposes our frequently "selective" focus on incidents of man's inhumanity to man (Rwanda being one such incident of selective amnesia). The book is an essential artifact, and Chang should be applauded for her conscientiousness, diligence, and courage in producing what has already proven to be a seminal work, producing ground-shaking tremors throughout the international community.
For many, if not most, readers, the Introduction and Epilogue will most likely prove sufficient to convey the author's intended purpose and effect. Those who take pleasure in marking the historical circumstances of war and its aftermath, along with reading graphic descriptions of sensational, specific incidents of torture, etc.), will no doubt wish to read the entire account. For others the aforementioned two sections, an account such as the one on Wikipedia, and the two-part video on Youtube, "The Rape of Nanking" (ignore the transparently weak rebuttals), should be sufficient.
Some readers will appreciate Chang's simplification of the atrocity and the reasons for it. She issues a disclaimer in the Introduction that "Japan bashing" is the farthest thing from her mind, but the ensuing account is one that paints the Japanese--from the ancient Samurai/Bushido code to the 20th-century expansionist mentality to the deification of the emperor to the robotic school system to the cruel and inhuman training of its own military youth to the enforced slavery of "comfort women" to Japan's continual and continuing denial of the past--in broad, culturally incriminating, stereotyping strokes. A reader, therefore, needs to exercise some counterbalancing skepticism--for example, toward the account of the Samurai, who represented an ideal, much like the knights of Camelot or the radical individualists of the American frontier, from which modern Japan deviated rather than suffered. Also, it has been shown that the "comfort women" were also supplied, following World War II, to thousands of American troops, and with the cooperation of the American post-War military command.
In answering the all-important question of "why," Chang is quite convincing with her limited, though largely undeveloped, list of reasons--ranging from "transference of oppression" (what we might refer to as the "wife-battering syndrome") to the herd mentality of losers suddenly cast in the role of conquerors to an entire culture's utter conviction of following a divine imperative in the best interests of China as well as Japan. Chang hits hardest on the genocide that occurs because nations who should know better (the U.S., for example) are content to remain disengaged from whatever doesn't affect them directly. But her most compelling reason, to my mind, is cultural-racial pride, a theme that during the American Civil War produced suffering and death exceeding by far anything that occurred at Nanking.
Chang even suggests that because the Japanese and Chinese were so similar in skin color and physical appearance, the racial antagonism was intensified. Not possessing the verifiable demarcation of lighter or darker skin color, the Japanese were all the more zealous to proclaim their superiority. So again and again we're brought back to the deadliest sin of all--from Greek tragedy to Biblical writings to Faulkner's accounts of the tragic fall of the Old South: hubris, arrogance, or just plain pride, which unfortunately is exclusive to no individual human being or nation.
By now, you'd think we'd begin to get the message. And it's not about the Japanese.
Book Description
This first book-length study of gender relations in the Lower Yangzi region during the High Qing era (c. 1683-1839) challenges enduring late-nineteenth-century perspectives that emphasized the oppression and subjugation of Chinese women. Placing women at the center of the High Qing era shows how gender relations shaped the economic, political, social, and cultural changes of the age, and gives us a sense of what women felt and believed, and what they actually did, during this period.
Most analyses of gender in High Qing times have focused on literature and on the writings of the elite; this book broadens the scope of inquiry to include women's work in the farm household, courtesan entertainment, and women’s participation in ritual observances and religion. In dealing with literature, it shows how women's poetry can serve the historian as well as the literary critic, drawing on one of the first anthologies of women's writing compiled by a woman to examine not only literary sensibilities and intimate emotions, but also political judgments, moral values, and social relations.
After an introductory chapter that evaluates the historiography of Chinese women, the book surveys High Qing history, charts
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