I am Professor of History and Anthropology at Beloit College, and have spent my career researching Chinese intellectual and cultural history (more to follow).
tion of her personal experiences of love, sexuality, marriage, and two divorces became a new and ... more tion of her personal experiences of love, sexuality, marriage, and two divorces became a new and unique voice of the personal but also an object of state censorship and public scandal. Her fate reflects tensions within the early post-Mao state between allowing the personal mode of writing to become an alternative public space and at the same time keeping its role as the ultimate authority over morality. Chapter five gives excellent insights into Chinese cultural production in the 1990s in the context of the market economy and consumerism. The “privacy fever” (yinsire) of the late 1990s is interpreted as a reflection both of a relaxation of political control, allowing previously taboo subjects to appear in the public, and of consumption emerging as the major force and site of selfcreation. According to the author, well-known women writers such as Chen Ran, Lin Bai, and Wang Anyi on the one hand respond to a market demand for stories on private matters. On the other hand, their narratives of desire, sexuality, hedonistic pursuits, and emotional introspection resist the logic of total consumption because by linking women’s private experiences to China’s problematic past these stories cannot easily be consumed. Private Matters is a carefully researched and written book that displays profound knowledge of and original insights into the cultural history of modern China. It provides portraits of individual women that together testify to the significance of the contest over the private as a common theme in modern Chinese history. N I C O L A S PA KO W S K I , History, International University Bremen, Germany
disagreeable China. Yet the reality has been that since the acquisition of the American F-16, the... more disagreeable China. Yet the reality has been that since the acquisition of the American F-16, the French Mirage 2000 and the Taiwanese F-CK-1 IDF jet fighters in the mid-1990s, Taiwan’s military has not made significant strides both in terms of a clear strategic plan nor in terms of planning for the next generation of jet fighters, warships, and other military hardware. Worse, while the democratic polity within Taiwan is vibrant and institutionalized, a clear domestic consensus on future military plans has not emerged between the major political parties, or between the civilian leadership and the military. These chasms can be seen in the recent debates over the purchase of the Kidd Class destroyers, the possibility of a professional nonconscripted military, and the feasibility of missile defense for Taiwan. What the contributors to this volume have made clear is that the security situation Taiwan faces is dire, that time is running out, but that it is not too late to refocus and reverse the tide. While many of the questions will no doubt involve basic issues of budget and availability (what weapons the USA is willing sell, what the Taiwanese can produce), what the leadership in Taiwan must do is to find a new way to introduce national security issues — traditionally the exclusive province of the military — into the national political dialogue. Important security issues facing Taiwan were addressed in this book, such as whether to invest in the costly national missile defense system, whether Taiwan should adopt offensive capabilities, whether the Taiwanese Army should continue to play a disproportionately dominant role in the nation’s military policies, and how best to consolidate civilian leadership over the military. The lively discussions and forward-looking analysis found in this volume is in sharp contrast to the noticeable lack of vibrant public interest, debates, and analysis within the Taiwanese polity. The most vital contribution made by this volume, then, is to serve as a model for Taiwan’s emerging democracy for constructive civilianmilitary, bipartisan discussion on vital national security issues. L I A N G H O N G M I N G , Independent historian, USA
This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. A senior schol... more This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. A senior scholar of this epoch, F. W. Mote highlights the personal characteristics of the rulers and dynasties and probes the cultural theme of Chinese adaptations to recurrent alien rule. No other work provides a similar synthesis: generational events, personalities, and the spirit of the age combine to yield a comprehensive history of the civilization, not isolated but shaped by its relation to outsiders.This vast panorama of the civilization of the largest society in human history reveals much about Chinese high and low culture, and the influential role of Confucian philosophical and social ideals. Throughout the Liao Empire, the world of the Song, the Mongol rule, and the early Qing through the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, culture, ideas, and personalities are richly woven into the fabric of the political order and institutions. This is a monumental work that will stand among the classic accounts of the nature and vibrancy of Chinese civilization before the modern period.
revolution and modernization, it does not go much into the tension between the two. The question ... more revolution and modernization, it does not go much into the tension between the two. The question is whether modernization can be achieved by revolution in the first place. In this context, it is meaningful that Deng Xiaoping gradually shifted the priority from "revolution" to modernization. It would have been interesting to see an analysis of the circumstances under which this policy change took place. Also, the volume lacks an analysis of why elites in modem China had different visions of modernization an important point since elites have played a key role in the Chinese revolution. Some of the sections in the book rely overmuch on the English-language literature; a greater use of Chinese-language sources would have added more depth. Also, more use should have been made of tables to illustrate the data on economic growth, and the book as a whole would have benefitted from a concluding chapter pulling the findings of the various authors together and pointing out areas for further research. In sum, this book is a fine addition to the existing list of high-quality undergraduate textbooks on the history of modem China. As it is relatively short, it will provide students with a good starting point. (He Li, Merririiack College, USA)
tion of her personal experiences of love, sexuality, marriage, and two divorces became a new and ... more tion of her personal experiences of love, sexuality, marriage, and two divorces became a new and unique voice of the personal but also an object of state censorship and public scandal. Her fate reflects tensions within the early post-Mao state between allowing the personal mode of writing to become an alternative public space and at the same time keeping its role as the ultimate authority over morality. Chapter five gives excellent insights into Chinese cultural production in the 1990s in the context of the market economy and consumerism. The “privacy fever” (yinsire) of the late 1990s is interpreted as a reflection both of a relaxation of political control, allowing previously taboo subjects to appear in the public, and of consumption emerging as the major force and site of selfcreation. According to the author, well-known women writers such as Chen Ran, Lin Bai, and Wang Anyi on the one hand respond to a market demand for stories on private matters. On the other hand, their narratives of desire, sexuality, hedonistic pursuits, and emotional introspection resist the logic of total consumption because by linking women’s private experiences to China’s problematic past these stories cannot easily be consumed. Private Matters is a carefully researched and written book that displays profound knowledge of and original insights into the cultural history of modern China. It provides portraits of individual women that together testify to the significance of the contest over the private as a common theme in modern Chinese history. N I C O L A S PA KO W S K I , History, International University Bremen, Germany
disagreeable China. Yet the reality has been that since the acquisition of the American F-16, the... more disagreeable China. Yet the reality has been that since the acquisition of the American F-16, the French Mirage 2000 and the Taiwanese F-CK-1 IDF jet fighters in the mid-1990s, Taiwan’s military has not made significant strides both in terms of a clear strategic plan nor in terms of planning for the next generation of jet fighters, warships, and other military hardware. Worse, while the democratic polity within Taiwan is vibrant and institutionalized, a clear domestic consensus on future military plans has not emerged between the major political parties, or between the civilian leadership and the military. These chasms can be seen in the recent debates over the purchase of the Kidd Class destroyers, the possibility of a professional nonconscripted military, and the feasibility of missile defense for Taiwan. What the contributors to this volume have made clear is that the security situation Taiwan faces is dire, that time is running out, but that it is not too late to refocus and reverse the tide. While many of the questions will no doubt involve basic issues of budget and availability (what weapons the USA is willing sell, what the Taiwanese can produce), what the leadership in Taiwan must do is to find a new way to introduce national security issues — traditionally the exclusive province of the military — into the national political dialogue. Important security issues facing Taiwan were addressed in this book, such as whether to invest in the costly national missile defense system, whether Taiwan should adopt offensive capabilities, whether the Taiwanese Army should continue to play a disproportionately dominant role in the nation’s military policies, and how best to consolidate civilian leadership over the military. The lively discussions and forward-looking analysis found in this volume is in sharp contrast to the noticeable lack of vibrant public interest, debates, and analysis within the Taiwanese polity. The most vital contribution made by this volume, then, is to serve as a model for Taiwan’s emerging democracy for constructive civilianmilitary, bipartisan discussion on vital national security issues. L I A N G H O N G M I N G , Independent historian, USA
This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. A senior schol... more This is a history of China for the 900-year time span of the late imperial period. A senior scholar of this epoch, F. W. Mote highlights the personal characteristics of the rulers and dynasties and probes the cultural theme of Chinese adaptations to recurrent alien rule. No other work provides a similar synthesis: generational events, personalities, and the spirit of the age combine to yield a comprehensive history of the civilization, not isolated but shaped by its relation to outsiders.This vast panorama of the civilization of the largest society in human history reveals much about Chinese high and low culture, and the influential role of Confucian philosophical and social ideals. Throughout the Liao Empire, the world of the Song, the Mongol rule, and the early Qing through the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns, culture, ideas, and personalities are richly woven into the fabric of the political order and institutions. This is a monumental work that will stand among the classic accounts of the nature and vibrancy of Chinese civilization before the modern period.
revolution and modernization, it does not go much into the tension between the two. The question ... more revolution and modernization, it does not go much into the tension between the two. The question is whether modernization can be achieved by revolution in the first place. In this context, it is meaningful that Deng Xiaoping gradually shifted the priority from "revolution" to modernization. It would have been interesting to see an analysis of the circumstances under which this policy change took place. Also, the volume lacks an analysis of why elites in modem China had different visions of modernization an important point since elites have played a key role in the Chinese revolution. Some of the sections in the book rely overmuch on the English-language literature; a greater use of Chinese-language sources would have added more depth. Also, more use should have been made of tables to illustrate the data on economic growth, and the book as a whole would have benefitted from a concluding chapter pulling the findings of the various authors together and pointing out areas for further research. In sum, this book is a fine addition to the existing list of high-quality undergraduate textbooks on the history of modem China. As it is relatively short, it will provide students with a good starting point. (He Li, Merririiack College, USA)
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