The China Reader: The Reform Era [Paperback]

Orville Schell (Editor), David Shambaugh (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 29, 1998

Current Affairs/Asian Studies

Perhaps no nation in recent history has undergone as total a transformation as China has in the past twenty-five years. For Chinese leaders, the death of Mao Zedong, the rise of Deng Xiaoping, and unprecedented economic growth have spawned new complexities. For the country's 1.3 billion citizens, changes have been equally dramatic, from skyrocketing sales in automobiles and satellite dishes to an explosion in violent crime and drug trafficking.

The China Reader: The Reform Era is a fascinating compilation by two astute China watchers of the most important documents, articles, and statements on China from 1972 to the present. Here are the voices of the experts, from Chinese analyses of the fall of Soviet Communism to Western exposés of an ecological crisis that threatens global weather patterns into the next millennium. Here, too, are the artifacts of an era, from regulations to control Chinese cyberspace to a Party member's Orwellian justification of the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Authoritative and comprehensive, The China Reader is a timely guide to understanding a nation in the throes of change--a historic moment with profound implications for policy makers and markets from the Pacific Rim to Wall Street.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Few editors are better equipped to gather key documents and reportage on the past 25 years of Chinese history than Schell, dean of graduate studies in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and Shambaugh, former editor of The China Quarterly and political science and international affairs professor at George Washington University. After a brief introduction, they open with politics within the Communist Party and outside it, capturing the voices of party leaders and reformers, as well as commentary from China scholars. An education, media, and culture section includes both internal and external analysis of how those key societal institutions are changing; sections on the economy, society, and security and foreign relations offer the same mix of positive and negative assessments of China's recent history from both within and outside China's borders. Casting a net wide enough to include both the World Bank and the Dalai Lama and issues as diverse as rural poverty and "The Battle for Cyberspace," the editors have produced a valuable library resource. Mary Carroll

From the Inside Flap

Current Affairs/Asian Studies

Perhaps no nation in recent history has undergone as total a transformation as China has in the past twenty-five years. For Chinese leaders, the death of Mao Zedong, the rise of Deng Xiaoping, and unprecedented economic growth have spawned new complexities. For the country's 1.3 billion citizens, changes have been equally dramatic, from skyrocketing sales in automobiles and satellite dishes to an explosion in violent crime and drug trafficking.

The China Reader: The Reform Era is a fascinating compilation by two astute China watchers of the most important documents, articles, and statements on China from 1972 to the present. Here are the voices of the experts, from Chinese analyses of the fall of Soviet Communism to Western exposés of an ecological crisis that threatens global weather patterns into the next millennium. Here, too, are the artifacts of an era, from regulations to control Chinese cyberspace to a Party member's Orwellian justification of the military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Authoritative and comprehensive, The China Reader is a timely guide to understanding a nation in the throes of change--a historic moment with profound implications for policy makers and markets from the Pacific Rim to Wall Street.

Product Details

• Paperback: 553 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1 edition (December 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679763872
• ISBN-13: 978-0679763871
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and Informative!, September 28, 2000

By 

Chad Bagley "Chad" (Shanghai China/Provo, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The China Reader: The Reform Era (Paperback)

'The China Reader'offers a good selections of reading on Chinese culture, politics, education, media, economy and foreign relations in the post Mao era. Though some of the articles should prove useful in the long run, many of them will be hopelessly dated in a very short time (the fate of any book dealing with contemporary Chinese issues).

Nevertheless, I found the book to be very interesting and useful in augmenting my understanding of current affairs in China. I particularly liked the articles in the chapter entitled `Society' that dealt with crime, the environment, and poverty and population issues.

Schell and Shambaugh are `old China hands' and know their material well- so this book won't be disappointing for serious China watchers. I recommend it.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource on China, July 27, 2000

By 

Shogun Len "tokieyasu" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The China Reader: The Reform Era (Paperback)

In 1998 I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the People's Republic of China for One Month with the American Forum for Global Education. I participated on this trip as a representative of a New York City High School in the Bronx.

As part of the preperation for this trip of a lifetime we did a series of intensive workshops on Chinese history, culture, politics, society etc. During one of these workshops we were told the following which I feel describes this wondeful collection of primary and secondary sources on modern China. We were told that if you visit China for a week you can write a book on China. If you visit China for a month you can write a magazine article on China. And if you visit China for a year you could barely write an article. In short, the less of China you see the more you think you know and the more of China you see the less you think you know.

And I know from from more than just reading how true this is. But this collection illustrates this fact very well. This is a great collection of primary sources from Chinese and world leaders as well as some great secondary source articles by many of the China experts.

I especially enjoyed reading the contributions of editor Orville Schell. I think of all the China experts he is most on the money and I found his comments the most interesting. I encourage anyone interested in China to look at his book Mandate of Heaven.

China is a complex issue. The legacy of Mao, their attempts at capitalism without democracy, relations with Taiwan, the occupation of Tibet, and of course trade and human rights. Again, I feel the more we know about China the less we know.

But regardless of your stance on any of these issues: trade, Taiwan, Human Rights, Tibet anyone looking at this collection should walk away understanding why we need to have as much contact with China as possible. We have many issues with China and many disagreements but a nation of 1.2 billion people can not be ignored or punished by isolation.

This is a great book but as with anything involving China more information often means more questions and less answers.

I also highly recommend the recent "A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China", Mark Salzman's classic "Iron and Silk", Simon Winchester's "River at the Center of the World", and the recent novel "The Peking Letter" to anyone interested in China.