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Henry Kissinger

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On China Paperback – April 24, 2012

by Henry Kissinger (Author)

1,944 ratings

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“Fascinating, shrewd . . . The book deftly traces the rhythms and patterns of Chinese history.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“No one can lay claim to so much influence on the shaping of foreign policy over the past 50 years as Henry Kissinger.” —The Financial Times

In this sweeping and insightful history, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book length to a country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. On China illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such pivotal events as the initial encounters between China and tight line modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, and Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing. With a new final chapter on the emerging superpower’s twenty-first-century role in global politics and economics, On China provides historical perspective on Chinese foreign affairs from one of the premier statesmen of our time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Fascinating, shrewd . . . [The book’s] portrait of China is informed by Mr. Kissinger’s intimate firsthand knowledge of several generations of Chinese leaders. The book deftly traces the rhythms and patterns in Chinese history . . . even as it explicates the philosophical differences that separate it from the United States.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Nobody living can claim greater credit than Mr. Kissinger for America's 1971 opening to Beijing, after more than two decades of estrangement, and for China's subsequent opening to the world. So it's fitting that Mr. Kissinger has now written On China, a fluent, fascinating . . . book that is part history, part memoir and above all an examination of the premises, methods and aims of Chinese foreign policy.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Fascinating . . . In On China, statesman Henry Kissinger draws on historical records and 40 years of direct interaction with four generations of Chinese leaders to analyze the link between China’s ancient past and its present day trajectory. In doing so, the man who helped shape modern East-West relations presents an often unsettling, occasionally hopeful and always compelling accounting of what we’re up against.” —The Chicago Sun-Times

“Fascinating . . . No living American has played a more important role than Henry Kissinger, the former national security adviser and secretary of state, in bringing about the historic rapprochement between the United States and China. . . . [Kissinger] draw[s] deep insights into China's traumatic encounter with much stronger Western powers.” —The San Francisco Chronicle

“On China, Kissinger's 13th book, blends an incisive strategic analysis of the moves and countermoves of China, the United States and the former Soviet Union with telling vignettes about his meetings with Chinese Communist Party leaders . . . entertaining.” —The Los Angeles Times

“No one can lay claim to so much influence on the shaping of foreign policy over the past 50 years as Henry Kissinger.” —The Financial Times

“From the eminent elder statesman, an astute appraisal on Chinese diplomacy from ancient times to the fraught present “strategic trust” with the United States. Former Secretary of State Kissinger brings his considerable scholarly knowledge and professional expertise to this chronicle of the complicated evolution and precarious future of Chinese diplomacy with the West. . . . Sage words and critical perspective lent by a significant participant in historical events.” —Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Henry Kissinger served in the US Army during the Second World War and subsequently held teaching posts in history and government at Harvard University for twenty years. He served as national security advisor and secretary of state under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and advised many other American presidents on foreign policy. He received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty, among other awards. He was the author of numerous books and articles on foreign policy and diplomacy, including most recently Leadership, On China, and World Order. He served as chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm. He died in 2023.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

The Singularity of China

SOCIETIES AND NATIONS tend to think of themselves as eternal. They also cherish a tale of their origin. A special feature of Chinese civilization is that it seems to have no beginning. It appears in history less as a conventional nation-state than a permanent natural phenomenon. In the tale of the Yellow Emperor, revered by many Chinese as the legendary founding ruler, China seems already to exist. When the Yellow Emperor appears in myth, Chinese civilization has fallen into chaos. Competing princes harass each other and the people, yet an enfeebled ruler fails to maintain order. Levying an army, the new hero pacifies the realm and is acclaimed as emperor.1
The Yellow Emperor has gone down in history as a founding hero; yet in the founding myth, he is reestablishing, not creating, an empire. China predated him; it strides into the historical consciousness as an established state requiring only restoration, not creation. This paradox of Chinese history recurs with the ancient sage Confucius: again, he is seen as the “founder” of a culture although he stressed that he had invented nothing, that he was merely trying to reinvigorate the principles of harmony which had once existed in the golden age but had been lost in Confucius’s own era of political chaos.

Reflecting on the paradox of China’s origins, the nineteenth-century missionary and traveler, the Abbé Régis-Evariste Huc, observed:

Chinese civilization originates in an antiquity so remote that we vainly endeavor to discover its commencement. There are no traces of the state of infancy among this people. This is a very peculiar fact respecting China. We are accustomed in the history of nations to find some well-defined point of departure, and the historic documents, traditions, and monuments that remain to us generally permit us to follow, almost step by step, the progress of civilization, to be present at its birth, to watch its development, its onward march, and in many cases, its subsequent decay and fall. But it is not thus with the Chinese. They seem to have been always living in the same stage of advancement as in the present day; and the data of antiquity are such as to confirm that opinion.

When Chinese written characters first evolved, during the Shang Dynasty in the second millennium B.C., ancient Egypt was at the height of its glory. The great city-states of classical Greece had not yet emerged, and Rome was millennia away. Yet the direct descendant of the Shang writing system is still used by well over a billion people today. Chinese today can understand inscriptions written in the age of Confucius; contemporary Chinese books and conversations are enriched by centuries-old aphorisms citing ancient battles and court intrigues.
At the same time, Chinese history featured many periods of civil war, interregnum, and chaos. After each collapse, the Chinese state reconstituted itself as if by some immutable law of nature. At each stage, a new uniting figure emerged, following essentially the precedent of the Yellow Emperor, to subdue his rivals and reunify China (and sometimes enlarge its bounds). The famous opening of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a fourteenth-century epic novel treasured by centuries of Chinese (including Mao, who is said to have pored over it almost obsessively in his youth), evokes this continuous rhythm: “The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.” Each period of disunity was viewed as an aberration. Each new dynasty reached back to the previous dynasty’s principles of governance in order to reestablish continuity. The fundamental precepts of Chinese culture endured, tested by the strain of periodic calamity.

Before the seminal event of Chinese unification in 221 B.C., there had been a millennium of dynastic rule that gradually disintegrated as the feudal subdivisions evolved from autonomy to independence. The culmination was two and a half centuries of turmoil recorded in history as the Warring States period (475–221 B.C.). Its European equivalent would be the interregnum between the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 and the end of the Second World War, when a multiplicity of European states was struggling for preeminence within the framework of the balance of power. After 221 B.C., China maintained the ideal of empire and unity but followed the practice of fracturing, then reuniting, in cycles sometimes lasting several hundred years.
When the state fractured, wars between the various components were fought savagely. Mao once claimed that the population of China declined from fifty million to ten million during the so-called Three Kingdoms period (A.D. 220–80),4 and the conflict among the contending groups between the two world wars of the twentieth century was extremely bloody as well.

At its ultimate extent, the Chinese cultural sphere stretched over a continental area much larger than any European state, indeed about the size of continental Europe. Chinese language and culture, and the Emperor’s political writ, expanded to every known terrain: from the steppelands and pine forests in the north shading into Siberia, to the tropical jungles and terraced rice farms in the south; from the east coast with its canals, ports, and fishing villages, to the stark deserts of Central Asia and the ice-capped peaks of the Himalayan frontier. The extent and variety of this territory bolstered the sense that China was a world unto itself. It supported a conception of the Emperor as a figure of universal consequence, presiding over tian xia, or “All Under Heaven.”

The Era of Chinese Preeminence Through many millennia of Chinese civilization, China was never obliged to deal with other countries or civilizations that were comparable to it in scale and sophistication. India was known to the Chinese, as Mao later noted, but for much of history it was divided into separate kingdoms. The two civilizations exchanged goods and Buddhist influences along the Silk Road but were elsewhere walled off from casual contact by the almost impenetrable Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. The massive and forbidding deserts of Central Asia separated China from the Near Eastern cultures of Persia and Babylonia and even more from the Roman Empire. Trade caravans undertook intermittent journeys, but China as a society did not engage societies of comparable scale and achievement. Though China and Japan shared a number of core cultural and political institutions, neither was prepared to recognize the other’s superiority; their solution was to curtail contact for centuries at a time. Europe was even further away in what the Chinese considered the Western Oceans, by definition inaccessible to Chinese culture and pitiably incapable of acquiring it—as the Emperor told a British envoy in 1793.

The territorial claims of the Chinese Empire stopped at the water’s edge. As early as the Song Dynasty (960–1279), China led the world in nautical technology; its fleets could have carried the empire into an era of conquest and exploration. Yet China acquired no overseas colonies and showed relatively little interest in the countries beyond its coast. It developed no rationale for venturing abroad to convert the barbarians to Confucian principles or Buddhist virtues. When the conquering Mongols commandeered the Song fleet and its experienced captains, they mounted two attempted invasions of Japan. Both were turned back by inclement weather—the kamikaze (or “Divine Wind”) of Japanese lore. Yet when the Mongol Dynasty collapsed, the expeditions, though technically feasible, were never again attempted. No Chinese leader ever articulated a rationale for why China would want to control the Japanese archipelago.

But in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, between 1405 and 1433, China launched one of history’s most remarkable and mysterious naval enterprises: Admiral Zheng He set out in fleets of technologically unparalleled “treasure ships” to destinations as far as Java, India, the Horn of Africa, and the Strait of Hormuz. At the time of Zheng’s voyages, the European age of exploration had not yet begun. China’s fleet possessed what would have seemed an unbridgeable technological advantage: in the size, sophistication, and number of its vessels, it dwarfed the Spanish Armada (which was still 150 years away).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 24, 2012
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143121316
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143121312
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.54 x 1.36 x 8.4 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #43,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in International Diplomacy (Books)
- #15 in Chinese History (Books)
- #23 in Asian Politics
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Henry Kissinger

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Henry Kissinger served in the US Army during the Second World War and subsequently held teaching posts in history and government at Harvard University for twenty years. He served as national security advisor and secretary of state under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and has advised many other American presidents on foreign policy. He received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Medal of Liberty, among other awards. He is the author of numerous books and articles on foreign policy and diplomacy, including most recently On China and World Order. He is currently chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm.

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Customers find this book to be an excellent summary of Chinese history, with well-written and elegant language that makes it a fascinating read. Moreover, the book provides deep insights into China's cultural perspective and leadership, with one customer noting it serves as a great primer for understanding complex relationships. Additionally, customers appreciate the perspective it offers, with one review highlighting its inside look at China's view of the world, and they find it engaging and worth the price.

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158 customers mention "Knowledge of chinese history"153 positive5 negative

Customers praise the book's excellent summary of Chinese history and cultural perspective, describing it as a wonderfully exciting treatise.

"...It can be described almost in one word: objective.....he doesn't force his reader to accept his analyses of course but there is a certain kind of..." Read more

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"...In short, a splendid, intelligent, well researched and highly readable account of fascinating times in history." Read more

96 customers mention "Readability"96 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be a fascinating read and a magnificent work.

"Kissinger being Kissinger. Excellent book. I strongly recommend it." Read more

"Great book" Read more

"...No matter, this is quite an excellent book...." Read more

"This is a great book for anyone who does not know much about China and would like to get quality information, understanding, history, and..." Read more

53 customers mention "Readable"46 positive7 negative

Customers find the book readable and well written, with many noting its elegant language, and one customer describing it as an immersive experience.

"...It is well organized and well written, an easy read. No doubt, this could have been a much longer book...." Read more

"...It is an easy read, however, read with care so as not to miss what is not said...." Read more

"Kissinger demonstrates his superb writing as well as his diplomacy throughout the book...." Read more

"...This chapter is superb and superbly written...." Read more

51 customers mention "Educational value"51 positive0 negative

Customers find the book instructive and deeply insightful, with one customer describing it as an awesome primer for foresight and another noting how it helps understand current events.

"...for reconciliation between man and nature, for healing the rift between logic and spirituality, between the pursuit of material wealth and the good..." Read more

"...The fact that China has reached the superpower status is due to the determination, innovativeness and going back to study its historical concepts to..." Read more

"...was a thrilling surprise...readable, conversational (almost), educational and thought provoking. Highly recommended." Read more

"...to trade".. In addition, the fine art of diplomacy as well as good advice on how to proceed in the future was clearly demonstrated...." Read more

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Customers find the book engaging and thoroughly entertaining, with one customer noting it's a remarkable story of improving the lives of more people.

"...March, and this book is a long journey for the reader but it is very rewarding...." Read more

"...of China gave me a glorious introduction to a wonderful, exciting and strange country with wonderful people...." Read more

"...and the dialogues between Nixon, Mao, Zhou and Kissinger were exciting to read. An essential read for those interested in Sino-American studies." Read more

"...But the writing is pedantic, repetitive, and boring. I feel sorry for anyone who's had to listen to Dr. Kissinger at length...." Read more

18 customers mention "Perspective"18 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's perspective, finding it eye-opening and providing excellent background information, with one customer noting it offers an inside look at China's view of the world.

"Kissinger is an outstanding scholar on knowledge on China. He is perceptive and meticulous about the messages sent from the four generation of..." Read more

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Customers appreciate the book's portrayal of Chinese leadership, with one review highlighting its detailed biographical information about various leaders.

"...Kissinger does a good job of portraying the personalities of Mao, Chou, and Nixon during this period especially by including actual conversations..." Read more

"...Zhao at one point to try again without the B.S. There's a great admiration for Zhao (Chao) and a lot of reflection on the word friendship and what..." Read more

"...a great deal from this book written by one of America's greatest elder statesmen." Read more

"...of the people he met in the Chinese Leadership, the differences in personalities and the quirks of individuals like Mao, Deng, and Zhou...." Read more

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Customers find the book worth its price, with one mentioning China's status as an economic superpower.

"...I must say that I think the price of the book is reasonable. Thanks...." Read more

"...This, of course, has led to China's ascendancy as an economic superpower which may one day eclipse all others...." Read more

"...Kissinger's coverage of Chinese history is masterful and worth the price of the book all by itself...." Read more

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Richard of Connecticut
Kissinger's On China becomes the GO-TO Book for our Generation - Just Extraordinary - FIVE STARS !!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2011
Verified Purchase

Prior to the publication of this book the definitive resource on China was Jonathan Spence's "In Search of Modern China". Spence the Yale Professor, is still indispensible to a modern understanding of this remarkable country. Now there is a second more up to date source and that is Henry Kissinger. The former Secretary of State who is now 88 years fortunately has taken the time to put together this incredible piece of work that only he could have created.

The book demonstrates the necessity of having lived a very long productive life and generating wisdom capable of distilling his understanding of a country down to a 530 page volume of work. It is as good as any of his previous works (13 with this one) and for my money I now put this book in Kissinger's top three, along with WHITE HOUSE YEARS and DIPLOMACY.

First the MECHANICS of the Book

If you are going to read the hard copy as opposed to digital, you are in for a treat. The font is beautiful, and the paper used to print the volume is delicious. I say this because if you are a heavy reader; you really appreciate turning the pages of beautifully textured pages. I annotate all of my books, writing in margins, in the back on blank pages and just about everywhere, and I love writing on beautiful page that take the ink nicely. This book was crafted professionally as good as it gets.

The ORGANIZATION of On China

The Secretary has made 40 trips to China in his lifetime, enough that he should be the Honorary Ambassador to the country. He is thoroughly infused in the history of China, and he certainly does give you the history. There are 18 chapters plus an epilogue spread over 531 pages. There are 36 pages of footnotes and it is obvious that the Secretary had considerable organizational help with the footnotes which is to be expected.
The first three chapters or 91 pages are devoted to the nation's history and Kissinger gets it right. I have made many trips to China, but I still have problems with the language. When you read any book on China, you will have problems with pronunciation. What I do is quickly scan the book writing down 50 or a 100 names or terms I can't pronounce, and then head for the first Chinese restaurant in town, and ask for help with the words. People love to help, especially when you are taking an interest in their culture and language.

The guts of the book begins on page 91 or Chapter 4 which is Mao's Continuous Revolution. This chapter is superb and superbly written. If you study American China relations, the question that is always stipulated is whether or not America lost China in 1949. Kissinger correctly reminds us that China might never have been ours to lose, so we asking the wrong question.

Mao always believed that the Confucian order had for thousands of years kept China a weak China. Confucius preached HARMONY, and Mao believed that progress could only come from brutal confrontations both in China and with outside adversaries for China to advance. Mao also believed that these confrontations would happen naturally, but if they did not, he was not beyond creating confrontations even if they had to be within the Communist party to kept progress going, as he understood progress.

Chapter 6 which deals with China Confronts Both Superpowers is another section that only Kissinger could have written. It is here that China confronts the Soviet Union creating the Sino-Soviet split, and the United States with the Taiwan Strait Crisis. The chapter is riveting, and will affect and change your understanding of history.

MY ANALYSIS

The book is indispensible. You cannot understand China and modern Asia without having this book under your belt. One would have to be foolish to visit China and not read this book first to truly benefit from such a trip. Mao was famous for the Long March, and this book is a long journey for the reader but it is very rewarding. The Secretary takes us through the Road to Reconciliation in Chapter 8, and then the first encounters with Nixon, himself and the Chinese leadership in Chapter 9.

It is a fascinating portrayal of power meeting power head to head, and the respect that even enemies can hold for each other. It is now generally accepted that only Nixon the hardened right winger could have opened the door to China and brought the American people along with him, because he Nixon was viewed as tough. Perhaps in a decade or two, Harvard will accept what most historians have already accepted.

In Chapter 11 we witness the End of the Mao Era. Zhou Enlai falls and Deng's first return to power begins. Kissinger loves writing about Deng and calls him the indestructible Deng throughout chapter 12. Keep in mind that it was Deng who opened up modern China and began the reforms that were necessary for China to assert itself years later internationally and economically.

For those readers that know very little of China, this book is a whirlwind tour of a country fast gaining hegemony over Asia. You need to read Chapter 13 on the Third Viet Nam to understand how China is capable of dealing with its neighbors. Had we handled Viet Nam this way, the outcome and history would have been different.

CONCLUSION:

Henry Kissinger ON CHINA is destined to become a best seller and in the process will greatly help an America that knows very little about China except for newspapers, to understand not just the history of this vital country, but its future and the nexus of that future with America's future. No one can ignore China, so the sooner we as Americans gain the understanding that we need to make intelligent decisions, the better off we will all be. If you have an interest in China whatsoever, run to read this book, and do not put it down until you are finished with it. Good luck and thank you for reading this review.

Richard C. Stoyeck

ASSIDE:

I will share something extraordinary with you. When you read a book like this, you will have a better understanding of China than 98% of the people living in China and 95% of the Chinese people living in America. I am still shocked when I meet Chinese people in this country young and old who have next to no understanding of Chinese history prior to Mao. They do not know the name Sun Yat-sen, or even Zhou Enlai, and forget about the Cultural Revolution unless they lived through it. Even the tragedy of Tiananmen Square is fast fading from memory.

It reminds me of German history in the post Hitler period. Anybody in Germany who was educated post 1950 has very little to no understanding of the Hitler period. It is simply glossed over as a dark period in German history; the teachers do not know what to say. Just amazing.

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Francis Fung
RELATION OF CHINA DREAM, CHINA REVIVAL, DECRATIC WORLD ORDER AND MULTIPOLAR PEACE AND HARMONY
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
Dear Dr. Kissenger, following is my humble comment on the renaissance of Confucian constitution for China as inspired by my China dream. Kindly review and comment. Your support and help in propagating the kingly way in China is greatly appreciated.

CONTEMPORARY CONFUCIAN CONSTITUTIONAL RENAISSANCE REVISED ACCORDING TO CHINA DREAM AND HARMONY RENAISSANCE OR
ORDER OF THE HUMANE AUTHORITY WAY ENDOWED WITH SPIRIT OF CHINA DREAM AND HARMONY RENAISANCE
INTRODUCTION
In a paper titled "The Chinese dream can enrich world civilization" the well-known academic Yue Dai Yuan from Peking University posted the following questions to the Chinese nation: "First, what kind of ideological and conceptual schemes do we need to effectively tackle the world's problems? Without fundamental conceptual capabilities, no great ideals can be created nor can a strong culture and society be built. Second, what kind of social system can make a virtuous man willing to live in a society? Our future social designs must surpass both those of the ancients and those of the West. Only in this way will we benefit the people and make a contribution to world civilization. Third, what way of life can make people feel that their lives are meaningful? This requires society to cultivate spiritual values. No society can sustain a sense of purpose merely by achieving ever-higher living standards. It is only by developing a spiritual dimension that life can be enriched".
She answered her questions by looking into ancient Chinese civilization. There are reasons why the Chinese civilization continued 5000 years uninterrupted despite foreign invasions unlike all other ancient civilizations of the world that has ended. There are reasons why the Chines civilization influenced the whole world without hegemony or outright occupation. No other ancient or modern civilization has influenced the Far East as much as China did. According to Yue Dai Yuan, "The history of world civilization has demonstrated that Chinese civilization is a cultural system with powerful resonance. Since ancient times, Chinese culture has put the pursuit of a spiritual and moral life at the center of its concerns. Its harmony principles stand for reconciliation between man and nature, for healing the rift between logic and spirituality, between the pursuit of material wealth and the good life, between natural science and humanism"
" If these intrinsically Chinese cultural genes can be brought up to date and fused with our modern, culturally diverse world, a new Chinese dream that represents a new historical epoch will emerge and benefit all of humanity".
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) laid out a strategy for building a culturally strong nation on the basis of ideals that, while having their roots in Chinese civilization, are different from both of those of the West and ancient China, and project a new China with new spirit of global significance. This CPC call opens the way for adopting Confucian inspired constitution for long term political reform and rejuvenation of world culture.

CALL FOR CONFUCIAN AND HARMONY RENAISSNCE
Along the above line of call by the 18 National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC) and his own outstanding research, the Confucian and Marxist scholar Jiang Qing, the most original, provocative Confucian political thinker, has single handedly led the contemporary debate on Confucian and Harmony Renaissance that led to the discovery of ancient Confucian teaching of the Humane Authority governance system or the Royal Way of governance. This ancient paradigm of superior governance explained why Chinese ancient civilization outlasted all other ancient world civilization and satisfied Prof. Yue Dai Yuan above three questions most expertly. The Humane Authority Governance System upholds that the legitimacy of governance follows the tradition of the Gongyang school of Confucius politics according to the contemporary Confucian and Harmony Renaissance debate. And this new contemporary Confucian teaching encompasses religion, philosophical and political thought, all three parts are integral of Confucius Renaissance.
The key feature of the Way of the Humane Authority lays down the theoretical basis for Confucian Constitutionalism and a Tricameral Parliament according to Jiang Qing's book "A Confucian Constitutional Order, how China's ancient culture can shape its political future". In this book and other contemporary Confucian and Harmony Renaissance debate one can find more details on Humane Authority governance tradition and discovery. According to current worldwide debate, the multifaceted Tricameral nature of Humane Authority governance system offers the promise of future solution for a world with diverse culture surpassing the Western liberal Democracy and Middle Eastern Theocracy. Because the Humane Authority Tricameral Parliament requires three legitimacy for good governance and defined as will of heaven, spirituality; will of earth, tradition and harmony and will of the people. In the Western liberal democracy, the legitimacy of the U.S. government is entirely grounded in the will of the people lacking the legitimacy of will of the tradition, harmony and will of heaven or spiritual qualities. Whereas the Middle East governance is strongly grounded in religion but lacking in the will of the people.
The promise of the Humane Authority Governance for the future diverse world forecasts the importance of Confucian and Harmony Renaissance will far surpass the discovery of democracy during European Renaissance. It is more universal and puts China in a higher moral high ground than liberal democracy as we shall see. The rediscovery of the Humane Authority political thinking in time will totally repudiate Margaret Thatcher's triumphant statement that "China is unlikely to become a superpower because it lacked an independent ideology with global clout" and the U.S. media often echo in chorus, that China will never catchup with the U.S. because it has no original idea of importance to offer to the rest of the word.

WESTERN LIBERAL DEMOCRACY WITHOUT CONCURRENT SUPORT OF HUAMNE AUTHORITY WILL NOT WORK IN CHINA
The deficiencies of Western liberal democracy without the concurrent support of Humane Authority are many, despite the famous tunnel vision statement by Churchill and the prediction by Professor Francis Fukuyama of Stanford University, in his book "The end of history and the last man "he concluded that Western liberal democracy is the answer all political solution for the world. In a New York Times article, titled "A Confucian Constitution for China" by Jiang Qing and Daniel Bell, the authors in response to Hillary Clinton's criticism of China, sum up the deficiency of Western liberal democracy as "Democracy is also flawed in practice. Political choices come down to the desires and interests of the electorate. This leads to two problems. First, the will of the majority may not be moral: it may favor racism, imperialism or fascism. Second, when there is a clash between the short-term interests of the populace and the long-term interests of mankind, as is the case with global warming, the people's short-term interests become the political priority. As a result, democratically elected governments in America and elsewhere are finding it nearly impossible to implement policies that curb energy usage in the interests of humanity and of future generations." Of late, news of U.S. government's shortcomings seems to flood the West's own media. Outstanding examples are: the U.S. 2008 financial crises that dragged down the world economy due to corrupt creation of toxic mortgage investments, to this day none of the U.S. culprit that caused the multi-trillion dollar loss has been sentenced; the U.S. government's gridlock that led to government shut down in 2013; the U.S. sky rocketing deficit spending; years of PEW survey leaves no doubt the alarming low confidence of U.S. public towards the direction the U.S. is heading. The loss of public confidence has a lot to do with the U.S. style election, the lack of performance, and the U.S. politician in order to win reelection tend to be short sighted and engage in negative campaign strategies .

The U.S. Supreme Court which has the ultimate say in law making is concerned only with matters of legality without moral guidance resulting in rulings such as "money is speech freedom" in U.S. political campaign thus allowing voting to be disproportionately dominated by the rich. Liberal democracy tends to favor community self-interest and narrow vision as oppose to measures that are more holistic and may benefit the world and the nation as a whole. The fact that the U.S. is only major developed nation did not sign the Kyoto Ecology Accord is a good example. The U.S. elections for president are more about popularity as opposed to meritocracy, the proven value system in the Far East. The uninformed public often is emotional and whimsical. The election of an alcoholic president who led us to the disastrous Iraq nation building war under false pretenses is unlikely to happen in a constituent representative democracy as practiced in Hong Kong and the Bahai faith.

For more discussions of the inadequacy of the U.S. liberal democracy and why it will not work in a country as large, complex and with 5000 years of history as China please read the revealing book "The Fourth Revolution" by chief editors of "The Economist" magazine John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge. The conclusion of the book is that Western Liberal Democracy has a lot to learn from East Asia's political system of selection by meritocracy combined with constituent representative democracy. Their brave and pointed warning is that without East West exchange and mutual learning to improve Western liberal democracy the U.S. is heading to the forth coming political Fourth Revolution. According to the Fourth Revolution, as the longest Civilization State in history, Western liberal democracy will not work in China. For detail analysis of China as a Civilization State please refer to the book "When China Rules the World" by Martin Jacques, the seasoned China observer, and "China Wave" by Zhang Weiwei, who maintained that China needs its own Confucian constitution brand for long term reform and lasting contribution to world civilization and political rejuvenation.

CORRECT AND RELEVANT NAME FOR THE THREE PARLIAMENT HOUSES OF HUMANE AUTHORITY WAY IN CHINA

The names of the three Parliament Houses in China adopted by the contemporary debate must be revised to fit their functionality in China. Confucius himself advised "before one acts one must have correct names." I propose the following reasons for changing the three Humane Authority Way parliament house names.

1) The name House of Heaven is not appropriate for China because it is not necessary to install state religion in Humane Authority Way to work, although in China, ancestor worship is traditional and widespread. It is an element of Confucius religion to remember and respect our common origin and continuity of Chinese civilization. What we need is the whole system of Confucian moral teaching as a noble guide for China. This moral teaching can be substituted by other nations cultural values deemed as more appropriate for each different country. This makes the Humane Authority Way more universal compared to the U.S. worldwide forceful enforcement of its bill of rights and systems of values, which may or may not be universal in other cultures having to deal with other higher rights priority such as the rights of livelihood, medical health and education. I propose that in China the House of Heaven be revised to House of spirituality as suggested by my wife Julia Devendorf, the consummate teacher. The spiritual quality of Confucian teaching is what highly recommended by Professor Yue Dai Yuan, another renowned and dedicated teacher, in the previously cited essay "The Chinese dream can enrich world civilization." I draw upon her inspiration of China dream to rename the House of Heaven as House of Spirituality (HOS). Although in some Islamic or Christian culture they may want to use the names "House of Ala" or "House of God" to be appropriate for their culture and tradition.

2) The name of "House of Earth" should be revised to "House of Tradition and Culture" (HTC) because the Humane Authority Way deals with good governance for a nation. The organic growth of any nation cannot be broken from its tradition and culture as witnessed by the immense chaos and tragedy created by U.S. nation building in Iraq that disrupts Iraqi on going tradition and political stability. In all nations, political change must be continuous otherwise we are inviting chaos and revolution that can be very costly. Most of all, a nation denies its tradition and culture has lost its soul. As a priority I strongly advised China must not look away from its 5000 years of continuous culture but must engage actively in Confucian and harmony renaissance because they are the essence of Chinese ancient culture. I strongly support the CPC dedication to rejuvenate China with Chinese characteristics. Because the continuation of a nation depends on tradition and culture.

3) The "House of Tradition and Culture" (HTC) must be able to exercise its guidance on Humane Authority Way with authority. So it shall be the only house given the veto power in the deliberation of national policy. The three houses are bound to work harmoniously by consensus but all laws including declaration of war, must pass withat least two houses to be adopted. The granting of veto power to the house is that as the executive arm of the government it can avoid gridlock and to stop social disturbance without calling upon the military. In the U.S. the president is granted the veto power. Unfortunately, giving one person the veto power will never win the hearts and minds of any nation. That is why Obama recently faces vigorous objections from the opposition party, the public and even the Supreme Court on legal grounds without needed moral judgment. On the other hand veto power to the "house of tradition and culture", HTC , collectively is very necessary at times of emergency to curb unnecessary and misguided violence. As an aside, the U.S. president is also given the power to wage war, to appoint Supreme Court judges and cabinet ministers. That makes the President effectively a dictator at times. It is most logical to grant those similar powers to the "House of Tradition and Culture", HTC, to maintain national stability with no need to call on the military. That fulfills the teaching of the Humane Authority Way.
4) The House of People's Will should be more specific, because of the afore mentioned short comings of U.S. liberal democracy and U.S. liberal democracy has infected China's uninformed public to look away from its tradition and culture and other developing nations are disturbed by international media controlled by the U.S. and West. Not the least let us not forget the warning of the forth coming Western political Fourth Revolution conclusion in the book "The Fourth Revolution". An appropriate name that exercises the people's will but allows more universality without falling into the trap of Western liberal democracy is constituent democracy. This form of democracy works to accommodate both election and selection by meritocracy. Constituent democracy has been proven in the success of Singapore, Hong Kong and the Bahai Faith. The House of the people's will shall be revised to "House of Constituent Democracy" HCD. China already has the equivalent of the HCD in the form of People's Consultative Congress that advices the present government. All China needs is to formalize it to become the HCD.

THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA HAS PROVEN RECORDS TO CONTINUE CHINA'S SUCCESS, CULTURE AND TRADITION.

The CPC has ample track records to prove that it is the most logical entity to head the "House of Tradition and Culture"( HTC)with 51% vote in China. As much as the aforementioned three houses of parliament are bound by the principle of Humane Authority Way to work harmoniously, the power of veto to the "House of Tradition and Culture" is necessary to ensure smooth government function, so it is the most important house among the three pillars of the Humane Authority Way. HTC needs to be the strongest house so it can act as the executive branch of the three houses. The most credible and able of all political parties in China is the CPC, which can head the HTC for the following reasons:

1) CPC is the most natural, logical and able choice to continue the Chinese tradition to take charge of the HTC and to continue running all government functions to assure the most smooth transition to a Humane authority Way nation and society. CPC's current role is already the consensus leader of all the political parties and the 56 minorities of China. Its leadership style is one by constituent democracy in keeping with Humane Authority Way as a shining example of how the House of Constituent Democracy (HCD) can work in China.

2) In 1949 under the leadership of Mao Zedong as the founder and Chairman the CPC together with other minority political parties founded a unified Chinese People Republic that started the important tradition of the new China. Mao's revolutionary theories not only liberated the whole China under imperialist powers occupation but also for the first time in Chinese history liberated the masses and women as equal citizens. His famous saying on women rights that "Women carry half of the sky" started and was put into action from the early Yan An revolutionary days. His love for the minorities won the hearts and minds of the Tibetan, Xinjiang and Mongolia minorities. That is why Peoples Republic of China was able to unite Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia under Mao but not under the previous Nationalist government. All these monumental achievements make an undeniable modern Chinese epic tradition that will be long lasting and must be preserved for all Chinese history. In recognition of CPC's epic liberation legacy tradition under Chairman Mao's leadership CPC should be given 51% voting rights to head the HTC. Chairman Mao because of the liberation legacy he left for China will always be remembered as the father of modern China despite his mistakes of over enthusiastic for the future of China in his old ages. Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader that launched todays reform and open up era of modern China summed up correctly that he gave Mao 80% for correct leadership and 40% for impatience at old age, resulting in a 60% overall score. The Western media's constant malicious attack on Chairman Mao is very inconsiderate and insensitive to the majority of Chinese people.

3) Chairman Mao during his rule of China also correctly predicted the catching up with U.K. in economy during 1980s ,when China was so poor and behind it was inconceivable by the West that China can catch up with U.K. China's economy eventually did catch up with U.K. in 2000 under Deng Xiaoping. Mao's prediction is just a little early; however it sets the goals for China to continue to surpass the imperialist powers as a laudable tradition.

4) The progress made by China during the last 30 or so years starting with the reform and open up movement launched by Deng Xiaoping is nothing short of miracle. Its modernization broke all kinds of world records. It accomplished the modernization achievements in 30 years while it took the West centuries to accomplish. Coming from its poor agriculture background China today accounts for 90% of the world's poverty reduction by moving 600 million people out of abject poverty. It has higher life expectation and lower infant mortality rate than the U.S. It has more college graduates than the U.S. and soon will have more engineers and scientists working than the U.S. In 2012 its economy caught up with Japan to become the second largest economy in the world. Today it is the largest export country in goods surpassing the U.S., which came from mere millions in export in 1949 to today's trillions. It is expected by World Bank and many experts that China's economy will catch up with the U.S. in real terms by 2020 if not earlier. For more discussion of China's ascendance please refer to the book "China's Mega Trends" by John Nassbitts, "China in 2020" by Hu Angang, " The China Wave" by Zhang Weiwei and "When China Rules the World" by Martin Jacques.

WHAT LIES AHEAD AFTER CHINA IMPLEMENTED THE HUMANE AUTHORITY WAY?

Since the Humane Authority Way originated in ancient China it is natural for China to transition into it. As mentioned in previous section the CPC has also been in practice as political party for the last 60 years for the role as the consensus leader in the most important HTC of Humane Authority Way. According to the eminent scholar Yue Dai Yuen in Introduction, I quote again, "The history of world civilization has demonstrated that Chinese civilization is a cultural system with powerful resonance. Since ancient times, Chinese culture has put the pursuit of a spiritual and moral life at the center of its concerns. Its harmony principles stand for reconciliation between man and nature, for healing the rift between logic and spirituality, between the pursuit of material wealth and the good life, between natural science and humanism." Thus with renaissance of Confucianism and harmony brought about by China Dream and the Humane Authority Way, China will further her modernization in the direction as called for by the 18 National Congress of CPC under the leadership of Xi Jinping.

As a visionary new leader Xi already called for a China dream to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by rediscovery what is best in the past to combine with what is best in the future to bring a better life for all China with improved environment, better social and health services and an responsive governance according to the Humane Authority Way, a truly socialist nation with Chines characteristics. By today's news China already is the country with the biggest production of renewable energy products including solar energy products. Based on the conclusion of all cited references we can expect that China will be most exemplary in its undertakings entrusted by the Chinese people's wisdom. The CPC is the largest political party with 75 million active members, it has 60 years of proven nation building record as mentioned in the last section, it has the most resources among all political parties in the world, it is accustomed to manage large projects as witnessed by the perfect hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic with the theme "One world, One dream" and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo with the theme "Better City, Better Life". Both event themes accurately forecast China `s dream and future action.
All predictions expect China to become exemplary in political reform and modernization far exceeding its past achievements. China will become a good model to the multipolar world in all human endeavors beneficial to the world. No matter how strong China becomes it will never become a hegemony power. It will always practice harmony and mutual development as promised by President Xi Jinping in numerous world speeches. It is not in the Chinese gene to practice hegemony. China's culture profoundly influenced the world especially the East in the past but it was always through resonance instead of hegemony in contrast to the U.S. Ever since the end of second World War , as the world's only superpower the U.S. always seek to extend its influence through wars such as the Vietnam war and the Iraq war.

In the future the world will become more multipolar, more democratic and more peaceful because the U.S. will have to share its power position with China and other nations. As liberal democracy comes under more world denial beginning at the home front challenged by the political fourth revolution predicted by the book "The Fourth Revolution." The U.S. will involuntarily concede some of the moral high ground to China and thus become less aggressive and arrogant for the better. The U.S. postured shining light on the hill will become less blinding to the world , that allows a more diverse world culture with hundred flowers blooming in a verdant and beautiful world cultural garden.

Francis C W Fung, Ph.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization
San Francisco, CA

RELATION OF CHINA DREAM, CHINA REVIVAL, DEMOCRACTIC WORLD ORDER AND MULTIPOLAR PEACE AND HARMONY
Dear editor, kindly publish and distribute following important China dream discussion topics:
Definition:
Harmony Renaissance: Revival of harmony philosophy ancient or modern for multipolar national cultural identity and world peace and harmony. For more details please refer to World Harmony Organization and Francis C W Fung publications. UPDATED 20 CHINA
China Dream: Revival of Chinese nation for national dignity and multipolar world peace and harmony. For more details on China dream please refer to summary of President Xi's statements.
1) China dream, harmony renaissance essential for China and global peace and China revival.
2) China dream and harmony renaissance together means Chinese soft power.
3) China must continue harmony renaissance for survival against U S criticism
4) China must be proactive on harmony renaissance not to be contained by U.S. liberal democracy
5) China dream, resolve south China sea dispute by harmony diplomacy
6) ancient Chinese thought, modern Chinese softpower through harmony renaissance
7) Harmony renaissance is the spirit of China dream, dream with in a dream
8) Harmony renaissance vs liberal democracy thought in 21st century.
9) Rally around harmony renaissance to rebuild a Chinese civilization state
10) Can China survive without harmony renaissance under U.S. democracy assault?
11) Survival of the fittest demands China dream to include harmony renaissance.
12) Without harmony renaissance China dream is empty
13) "China is unlikely to become a superpower because it lacked an independent ideology with global clout" according to Margret Thatcher.
14) China will remain a "small country" without harmony renaissance despite economic growth.
15) China dream means 21st century multipolar world, peace and world harmony.
16) Harmony renaissance is the missing ancient Chinese ideology with global clout Margret Thatcher is referring to.
17) Harmony renaissance is the revival of Chinese cultural value ,ancient and modern.
18) The Chinese dream with harmony renaissance can enrich world civilization.
19) Harmony renaissance adds spiritual life and perspective to China dream.
20) Harmony Renaissance will be a preferred balance to U.S. relentless and powerful push of liberal democracy ideology on other countries in a multipolar world.
21) China dreams mean democratic world order and multipolar world peace and harmony.
22) Sun Yet Sen and Nationalist party empowered the elite, Mao Zedong empowered women and the masses, Deng Xiaoping's reform and open up empowered the economy and rule and order, the final movement in the symphony of Chinese modernization is to empower China's soul and spirit with China dream and harmony renaissance.
Best of Harmony
Francis C W Fung, Ph.D.
Director General
World Harmony Organization

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Serghiou Const
Insightful, engaging, informed, and comprehensive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2011
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The book covers a huge historical period. It is true, however, that the first of a total of eighteen chapters plus an epilogue covers a period of millenia. It commences with the unification of China in the 3rd century B.C. and ends in the 19th century, a period of humiliation for China with incursions, depredations, and its semicolonization by the Western powers. The aim of this first chapter is to familiarize the reader with China's Confucian culture, its approach to Diplomacy and its conception of the Art of War. The balance of the book covers the remaining period to the present year. This latter period includes the very period of its humiliation including the notorious opium war, the 22 year civil war which ended with communism prevailing in 1949;the Mao era and the turbulent sixties with the Great Leap Forward which left in its wake 20 million Chinese dead from famine, the Cultural Revolution which nearly ruined China and forced Mao to reverse it. But it also describes the unprecedented growth under Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping and the Chinese leaders that followed him rendering China an Economic Superpower.

The credentials of the author for writing the book are impeccable:the book was written 40 years after the author's first high level mission to China at the behest of president Nixon in 1971 and following 50 additional travels and discussions with four generations of Chinese leaders in the interval.

The book aims, partly drawing on the discussions with Chinese leaders as primary source, to explain the conceptual way the Chinese think about problems of peace and war and international order, and its relationship to the more pragmatic American way.

American exceptionalism is missionary. It holds that the United States has an obligation to spread its values to every part of the world. China's exceptionalism is cultural. China does not proselytize;it does not claim that its contemporary institutions are relevant outside China. But it is heir to the Middle kingdom tradition, which formally graded all other states as various levels of tributaries based on their approximation to Chinese cultural and political forms;in other words, a kind of cultural universality.

At the time when Buddhism appeared in Indian culture stressing contemplation and inner peace, and monotheism was proclaimed by the Jewish - and, later, Christian and Islamic - prophets with an evocation of a life after death, China produced no religious themes in the Western sense at all. The Chinese never created a myth of cosmic creation. Their universe was created by the Chinese themselves, whose values, even when declared of universal applicability, were conceived of as Chinese in origin.

The predominant values of Chinese society were derived from the prescriptions of Confucius (551-479 B.C.). Confucius was concerned with the cultivation of social harmony. His themes were the principles of compassionate rule, the performance of correct rituals, and the inculcation of filial piety. The Confucius canon would evolve into something akin to China's Bible and constitution combined. Its maxim the harmonius society. Confucius preached a hierarchical social order. Oriented toward this world, his thinking affirmed a code of social conduct, not a roadmap to the after-life. At the pinnacle of the Chinese order stood the Emperor, a figure with no parallel in the Western experience. He combined the spiritual as well as the secular claims of the social order. The empire was administered by high literate bureaucracy selected following national examination.

In Diplomacy rarely did the Chinese statesmen risk the outcome of a conflict on a single all-or-nothing clash;elaborate multiyear maneuvers were closer to their style. Where Western tradition prized the decisive clash of forces, the Chinese ideal sressed subtlety, indirection, and the patient accumulation of relative advantage.

China's most enduring game is wei qi. Wei qi translates as 'game of surrounding pieces;it implies a concept of strategic encirclement.

Chess on the other hand, is about total victory. The purpose of the game is checkmate, to put the opposing king into a position where he cannot move without being destroyed.

A similar contrast exists in the case of China's distictive military theory. Chinese thinkers developed stragetic thought that placed a premium on victory through psychological advantage and preached the avoidance of direct conflict. The seminal figure in this tradition is known to history as Sun Tzu, author of the famed treatise 'The Art of War'. What distinguishes Sun Tzu from Western writers on strategy is the emphasis on the psychological and political elements over the purely military. Where Western strategists reflect on the means to assemble superior power at the decisive point, Sun Tzu addresses the means of building dominant political and psychological position, such that the outcome becomes a foregone conclusion.

The author is incisive in describing the personalities of Chinese leaders including Mao's and Zhou's:'The difference between the leaders was reflected in their personalities. Mao dominated any gathering;Zhu suffused it. Mao's passion strove to overwhelm opposition;Zhou's intellect would seek to persuade or outmaneuver it. Mao was sardonic;Zhou penetrating. Mao thought himself as a philosopher;Zhou saw his role as an administrator or negotiator;Mao was eager to accelerate history;Zhou was content to exploit its currents. A saying he often repeated was 'The helmsman must ride the waves.' When they were together there was no question of the hierarchy, not only in the formal sense but in the deepest aspect of Zhou's extraordinary deferential conduct.'

And then we come to Deng. Mao destroyed China and left its rubles as building blocks for ultimate modernization. Deng was the builder. The China of today - with the world's second-largest economy and largest volume of foreign exchange reserves, and with multiple cities boasting skyscrapers taller than the Empire State building - is testimonial to Deng's vision, tenacity, and common sense.

Mao had governed as a traditional emperor of a majestic and awe-inspiring kind. He embodied the myth of the imperial ruler supplying the link between heaven and earth and closer to the divine than the terrestrial. Deng governed in the spirit of another Chinese tradition:basing omnipotence on the ubiquitousness but also the invisibility of the ruler.

Mao had governed by counting on the endurance of the Chinese people to sustain the suffering his personal vision would impose on them. Deng governed by liberating the creativeness of the Chinese people to living above their own vision of the future.

In the epilogue the author outlines possible scenarios in the relationship between USA and China:

The conflict scenario: The United States is more focused on overwhelming military power, China on decisive psychological impact. Sooner or later, one side or the other would miscalculate.

The above scenario is countered by China's demographics and the capability of modern military technology.

Another scenario is that the crucial competition between the United States and China is more likely to be economic and social than military.

The author concludes appropriately the book with a wish:that the United States and China could merge their efforts to build the world.

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Rolf D. Kranepuhl
Excellent
Reviewed in France on September 3, 2022
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There is no better analysis on China than this book. And it puts world peace in prospective, even now ten years after it was written

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Octavio Villagomez
El mejor texto sobre China que se puede leer.
Reviewed in Mexico on June 3, 2024
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Kissenger es genial en su forma de abordar un tema tan complejo y su lírica es accesible y comprensible, la forma en que la va abordando los temas no deja cabos sueltos y aunque por momentos -sobre todo en la época de Nixon- se va por las ramas, en realidad es un texto muy concreto que toca los temas mas importantes sobre este fascinante país llamado China.

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F
Brilliant
Reviewed in Canada on April 16, 2021
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From the start to 2000s. Even though China has changes recently, it is still a great book to learn about how China got to where it is today. This book break through the mist about china and gets straight to the point. I highly recommend reading this book with an open mind.

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Alexandre Bittencourt Ramos
Excelente (Great)
Reviewed in Brazil on January 23, 2022
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Pela ótima introdução e motivos que é demonstrada hoje em dia, sobre o porque os comunistas chineses atualmente.
For the great introduction and reasons that is demonstrated nowadays, on why the Chinese communists nowadays.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Kissinger's On China becomes the GO-TO Book for our Generation - Just Extraordinary - FIVE STARS !!!!!!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, engaging, informed, and comprehensive

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5.0 out of 5 stars El mejor texto sobre China que se puede leer.

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Kissinger's On China becomes the GO-TO Book for our Generation - Just Extraordinary - FIVE STARS !!!!!!

RELATION OF CHINA DREAM, CHINA REVIVAL, DECRATIC WORLD ORDER AND MULTIPOLAR PEACE AND HARMONY

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El mejor texto sobre China que se puede leer.

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