China S Struggle For Modernization

In the Modernization of China, an interdisciplinary team of scholars collaborate closely to provide the first systematic, integrated analysis of China in transformation--from an agrarian-based to an urbanized and industrialized society. Moving from the legacy of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties to the reforms and revolutions of the 20th century, the authors seek reasons for China's inability to achieve rapid, steady growth during a 200 year-long struggle to modernize. They examine the changing shape of Chinese society: the role of the state in local politics; military affairs; economics; the development of the educational system; changes in family; population, and settlement patterns; science and technology; world views and foreign relations. And they make frequent comparisons between China's experience with growth and that of two other latecomers to modernization, Japan and Russia. The result is a book that brings much-needed clarity and perspective to our understanding of China, and the way a great civilization attempts to meet the challenge of modernity.

Extensively revised and updated, this popular text conveys the drama of China's struggle to modernize against the backdrop of a proud and difficult history. Spanning the years from China's humiliating defeat in the Opium Wars to its triumphant hosting of the 2008 summer Olympics, the authors narrate the major developments of that journey: the breakdown of imperial China in the face of Japanese and Western encroachments; Sun-Yatsen and the founding of the Chinese republic; the early struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong; China's bitter and costly war with Japan; the final shootout that sent Chiang to Taiwan and Mao to Beijing; the turbulent first decades of the People's Republic; and the dramatic shift to a globalizing economic strategy. This edition features all new analysis of issues facing China's leaders today, including environmental challenges, rural economic developments, corruption, the current economic climate, China's relations with its neighbors and the United States, the latest Tibet crisis, and the reelection of Hu Jintao. The authors have also incorporated some of the latest scholarship on Chinese historical events, making this the best and most up-to-date brief text on modern China currently available.

The drama of China's struggle to modernize unfolds against the backdrop of a proud and enduring history in the new and completely revised edition of this classic text. Spanning the years of the Opium War to twenty-first century China, the book covers the great episodes that highlight that journey: the breakdown of Imperial China in the face of relentless Western and Japanese encroachments; the rise of the new Chinese republic; the decades-long struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong; China's bitter and costly war with Japan; the years of the People's Republic punctuated by the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen; up to the rise of the Fourth Generation leadership and the tenure of Jiang Zemin - with special emphasis on China's role in the Gulf wars, North Korea, and the war on terrorism. As China continues to develop as a political and economic superpower, this book will help students understand how the nation reached new heights from the depths in which it found itself during the nineteenth century.

Extensively revised and fully updated in this fifth edition, this popular textbook conveys the drama of China's struggle to modernize against the backdrop of a proud and difficult history. It features new analysis of the issues facing China’s fifth generation of leaders, including the current economic climate, China's relations with its neighbors and the United States, the latest Tibetan crisis, and the election of Xi Jinping. Incorporating new analytical summaries in each chapter and updated suggested readings, this new edition covers: The breakdown of imperial China in the face of Japanese and Western encroachments The early struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong China's bitter and costly war with Japan The Chinese Communist Party’s successes during the 1950s Mao Zedong’s turbulent and tragic Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution Deng Xiaoping’s far-reaching reforms that resulted in the dismantling of socialism and China’s dramatic economic growth The triumphant hosting of the 2008 summer Olympics and China’s emergence as a world power. Spanning the years from China's defeat in the Opium Wars to its current status as a potential superpower, the fifth edition of Modernization and Revolution in China is essential reading for courses on Modern Chinese History, Chinese Politics and Modern East Asia.

In this important text, now revised and updated, the drama of China's struggle to modernize unfolds against the backdrop of a proud and enduring history. Spanning the Opium War to China in the late 1990s, the book narrates the great episodes that highlight that journey: the breakdown of imperial China in the face of relentless Western and Japanese encroachments; the rise of the new Chinese republic; the early struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong; China's bitter and costly war with Japan; the final shootout that sent Chiang to Taiwan and Mao to Beijing; and the long years of the People's Republic -- culminating in the reforms of Deng Xiaoping and tragically punctuated by the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen. As China emerges from the abyss she was in during the teenth century to become a world-class economic superpower of the post-Cold War Asia-Pacific region, this book is essential for understanding how China reached these new heights. "This is a good undergraduate textbook. ... Controversial and lively and ends up being quite a pleasaure to read. Strongly recommended to all university students in the field". -- Journal of Contemporary Asia (on the previous edition)