Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why China will never be what we'd like it to be, July 22, 2000
Jenner speaks as one who knows China, cares deeply about it, and has come to understand how it is handicapped by its culture. These handicaps affect it at all levels: family and local community as well as the highest levels of government. His verdict: don't expect a free, democratic, flexible society to develop there anytime soon. Western values (even the best of them) have had and will continue to have trouble being accepted in this land of Confucian conservatism. This book is probably not for those with little knowledge of Chinese culture and history. The impact of what Jenner says comes from knowing enough already to grasp the truth of what he says.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sad but well informed report on China's reality, November 30, 1999
The virtue that this book has for me is that it had helped me a lot in better understanding the Chinese culture and traditions and, at the same time, the book offers a wide and valorative review of different aspects of Chinese life. The tirany of History is not just a title for a book. It seems to be too a permanent experience for millions of Chinese and other related peoples, who seem to be caught in a circular history. In particular, this book is a denunciation of some aspects of traditional Chinese culture and history that deny individuals their rights, freedoms and vital possibilities. It is an explanation of why China seem now to be so much opened to the world and how simplistic are assumptions that the Chinese leadership have realized the virtues of market economy and that the economic reforms carried out in the People's Republic are conducive automatically to a democratic regime in the future by the very evolution of society.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lot of food for thought, December 5, 2005
Professor of Chinese and head of the China Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra, Dr. W.J.F. Jenner believes that China is in a crisis which it will find itself impossible to extricate itself from. First of all, China is in the grip of a tyranny of history, in which the Chinese culture can only look back towards traditional solutions to modern and unprecedented challenges. Secondly, Chinese history was written by a bureaucracy that subtly changed that history to conform to a certain worldview, a worldview that espoused a hierarchical and autocratic view of society and human relationships.
Now, I must admit that the summary above distills Dr. Jenner's marvelous analysis down to a simplistic sounding thesis. The book is complex, and in it the author shows off his deep understanding of Chinese culture, and makes a persuasive case.
But, a lot has changed since when this book came out in 1992. China is a leading exporter of goods and is acquiring greater and farther-reaching influence, so how can it be said to be in crisis? I do believe that Dr. Jenner has made his point that to function in the modern world, China must overcome some of the autocratic and authoritarian tendencies in its culture, and that it is ill-equipped to do so.
So, first off let me apologize for this review, which is really quite inadequate when discussing such a deep and fascinating book. This is a great book, one that will give anyone interested in the future of China, and indeed of the whole world, a lot of food for thought. If you wish to understand where China came from, and where it is going, then this is the book to get. I give it my highest recommendations!
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