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Indlæser... New Emperors: China... (1992)af Harrison E. Salisbury
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. Salisbury presents a pretty definitive (for its time) argument that the leaders of China's Communist Party don't really differ that much from the leaders of China's imperial dynasties. They even still live in the same place! And come to think of it, not much has changed in the 20 years since this book was written, except that leadership changes hands a little more frequently than it usually did with emperors. It is also important to understand how the "mandate of heaven" now falls upon the Communist Party. Fascinating stuff if you are interested in China. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
Explores the lives of Mao Zedong, Teng Hsiao-Ping, and other Chinese government officials whose lavish lifestyles and intrigue rivaled the emperors they overthrew. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)951.05History and Geography Asia China and region History 1949- (People's Republic, 20th century)LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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Harrison from the outset establishes how Mao’s decision to make Beijing the capital of the People’s Republic and his use of the Forbidden City as his residence along with that of his inner circle setting the new Communist regime in the mold of previous dynasties established by peasants. In fact, Mao’s study of the court histories of previous dynasties appeared to influence his governance more than Karl Marx, especially his admiration of Qin Shi Huang the first Emperor of the first dynasty of Imperial China. This admiration would result in his callous disregard of the lives of Chinese peasants during the Great Leap Forward and later the Cultural Revolution that stunted the entire nation for a decade as well as taking out numerous potential rivals for power, including the multiple demotions of Deng who persevered until Marshal Ye installed him in leadership through a military coup. Instead of following Deng’s reign leading up to Tiananmen Square, Harrison looked back from 1991 to how then-current China had developed under Deng before 1989 protests that momentarily undermined Deng’s control in the Party as well as the leadership not understanding the power of television when the Western nations began sanctioning them.
With three decades since the publishing of this book might have aged Salisbury’s thoughts on how China’s leadership would move towards 2000 poorly, however the historical content about Mao overall and the role the Cultural Revolution played into the response to Tiananmen are top notch. How Mao and later the Party have structured their hold on power by combining the Mandate of Heaven and Communist thought was interesting and provided context in understanding how events unfolded. Salisbury’s analysis of how the leadership that survived the beatings and tortures of the student Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution viewed the student protests of 1989 in that vein and wanted to suppress it at all costs. However, it is sobering to realized that the students of the Cultural Revolution are the leaders of China right now.
The New Emperors reveals that even as some regimes say they are a break from the past, they heavily rely upon it. Harrison E. Salisbury book might be 30 years, however it’s history of the rise of Mao and how Deng “saved” the Revolution is important to understanding the course of 21st Chinese history. ( )