The Rise Of Modern China

This new edition of the classic history of modern China since the seventeenth century has been updated to examine the return of Hong Kong in 1997 and the upcoming return of Macao in 1999. In his new concluding chapter, Hsü discusses the end of the last vestiges of foreign imperialism in China, as well as China's emergence as a regional and global superpower. US-China rivalry and the prospect of unification between China and Taiwan are also considered. Sections cover: The Persistence of Traditional Institutions, 1600-1800; Foreign Aggression and Domestic Rebellions, 1800-1864; Self-strengthening in an Age of Accelerated Foreign Imperialism; Reform and Revolution, 1898-1912; Ideological Awakening and the War of Resistance; The Rise of the Chinese People's Republic; China After Mao: The Search for a New Order.

The third edition of this outstanding textbook vividly describes China's extraordinary metamorphosis from a traditional self-sufficient empire into a modern nation. Professor Hsü surveys the main currents of modern Chinese history from 1600 to the present, focusing throughout on the forces that shaped China's political, diplomatic, intellectual, social, and economic history. Completely revised and up to date, the text now devotes considerable coverage to the period from 1949 to 1981 and includes an entirely new section on China since the death of Mao.

Clear and engaging, this is the definitive history of China, one of the most important political, economic, and cultural players in the modern world. 8-page color photo insert.

'China's reemergence as a global economic powerhouse has compressed into a single generation an industrial and urban revolution on a scale the world has never seen. Its transformation looks to many foreigners, and to millions of newly prosperous Chinese, like a near-miraculous escape from the agonies of its recent history - late imperial, warlord-republican and Maoist. The great merit of Jonathan Fenby's vivid account of the years since 1850 is to underline how heavily that history still weighs on the present' Rosemary Righter, The Times

'This book is a remarkable tour de force. Joseph Chai offers a fine synthesis of thinking about the nature and origins of China's long-run economic growth and structural change. Through the meticulous use of an impressive range of sources, he explores some of the most challenging puzzles of China's economic history, such as its failure to match the modern industrial revolutions of Western Europe, or, closer to home, to rival Japan's economic transformation in the final decades of the nineteenth century. His definition of history is broad and his narrative extends down to the present day, thereby illuminating continuities and discontinuities across not only the historical divides of 1840 and 1911, but also those of 1949 and 1979. But despite its ambitious scope, Chai's analysis is authoritative, nuanced and full of detail. It will surely become necessary reading not only within the academic community of China scholars and students, but also among that even larger audience of readers seeking to understand the "rise of China".' Robert Ash, University of London, UK 'For most people interested in the contemporary Chinese economy, the story begins with Deng Xiaoping's policy of Opening and Reform in 1978. This is especially true of students from China, where modern history is still taught in a simple, politically determined framework. This situation urgently needs remedying and Joseph Chai's new book is a valuable step in this direction. Chai surveys China's economic growth from the earliest times to the present day explaining the key turning points and the intellectual puzzles that arise in this long evolution. This book will be of interest to the general reader and will be valuable as a textbook for students studying any aspect of China's current development and prospects.' Christopher Howe, University of London, UK 'Joseph Chai places the recent phase of China's spectacular economic growth in its historical context in his well-researched, interesting and accessible overview of the economic history of China. Because no similar up-to-date book is available in English, English readers will find this book particularly welcome. Valuable attributes of his exposition include analyses of various economic puzzles (for example, why did China, which was once the world's economic leader, falter, suffer economic retardation, fall behind Europe and begin its economic resurgence later than Japan?) and his thoughtful considerations of the prospects for China's future economic growth. This book is highly recommended.' Clem Tisdell, The University of Queensland, Australia As a country's current development is path dependent, the rise of China and its strategic implications can only be understood in a historical context. Hence, the key to understanding contemporary China is the understanding of its past. So far there has been an absence of a comprehensive text dealing with Chinese economic history in the English language. An Economic History of Modern China fills this important gap, focusing on modern Chinese economic growth and comprehensively surveying the patterns of China's growth experience over the past 200 years, from the Opium wars to the present day. Key events are traced back to their foundations in history to explain their impact on China's modern economic growth.