Tradition In Chinese Politics

This book examines the Chinese political tradition over the past two thousand years and argues that the enduring and most important feature of this tradition is autocracy. The author interprets the communist takeover of 1949 not as a revolution but as a continuation of the imperial tradition. The book shows how Mao Zedong revitalised this autocratic tradition along five lines: the use of ideology for political control; concentration of power in the hands of a few; state power over all aspects of life; law as a tool wielded by the ruler, who is himself above the law; and the subjection of the individual to the state. Using a statist approach, the book argues that in China political action of the state has been the single most important factor in determining socio-economic change.

"This study discusses the role of history and tradition in the legitimization of the state in the People's Republic of China. In Chinese political debate, history has traditionally been the most important source of argumentation. Today, the Party-state is reinventing history and tradition to bolster its legitimacy, but the project has met with opposition. This study introduces and analyzes the related debate, ongoing among various actors in different public fora in China, and engaged in both by those affiliated with the Party-state and those outside the establishment"--Summary.

"This text demonstrates how the government of China has been significantly affected by attempts to harmonize the unique nature of its indigenous culture with a variety of influences and ideas from the outside world." "China faces many challenges to its traditional economic, legal, social, and cultural structures. China's Political System: Modernization and Tradition provides students with a clear sense of how this transition is taking place, what its effects on current leaders and policies are, and how the system might evolve in the future."--BOOK JACKET.

Until this book, there has been no comprehensive, methodologically aware study of all aspects of Chinese political culture. The book is organized into three major areas: Chinese identities and popular culture (regional identities, anti-politics attitudes, Hong Kong identity); public opinion surveys (the Beijing area, Chinese workers, the Shanghai area); and ideological debates (the "new" Confucianism, masculinity and Confucianism, why authoritarianism is popular in China, the decline of Chinese official ideology). Here is the first work that reveals just how much, how rapidly, and how dramatically China is changing and why our perceptions of China must keep pace.

This book examines the political use of China's traditions by the party-state in contemporary China. It argues that the party-state has taken an official Marxist stance in terms of the political use of tradition. Besides looking at the official Marxist stance, this book also looks at critiques of the party-state's use of traditions by the Liberalists and Neo-traditionalists. The underlying political ideologies of these three camps are Marxism, Liberalism and Neo-traditionalism. These three political ideologies have been the most influential in Chinese politics since the Republican Revolution in 1911. The contemporary political use of China's traditions is a competition between Marxism, Liberalism and Neo-traditionalism. This competition is critical to the future of Chinese politics. This book also examines three cases, representing identical ways of the political use of traditions. The three cases are the children's reading-of-the-classics movement, the construction of a Chinese Cultural Symbolic City, the construction and subsequent removal of a statue of Confucius in and from Tiananmen Square, and the revision of the official list of public holidays. The study of the three cases attempts to shed light on the three ways Chinese traditions have been used politically by the party-state. It also attempts to explore the reasons for the party's use of Chinese traditions, the reasons for the party's scepticism with regard to using Chinese traditions, and more importantly, the competition and/or cooperation between Marxists, Liberalists and Neo-traditionalists.

Lucian Pye, one of the most knowledgeable observers of China, unfolds in this book a deep psychological analysis of Chinese political culture. The dynamics of the Cultural Revolution, the behavior of the Red Guards, and the compulsions of Mao Tse-tung are among the important symptoms examined. But Pye goes behind large events, exploring the more enduring aspects of Chinese culture and the stable elements of the national psychology as they have been manifested in traditional, Republican, and Communist periods. He also scans several possible paths of future development. The emphasis is on the roles long played by authority, order, hierarchy, and emotional quietism in Chinese political culture as shaped by the Confucian tradition and the institution of filial piety, and the resulting confusions brought about by the displacements of these traditions in the face of political change and modernization. In this new edition Pye adds a chapter on the basic tension between consensus and conflict in the operation of Chinese politics, illustrating the "spirit" in action, and another discussing the great gap that persists between the worlds of the political leadership and of society at large in post-Tiananmen China.

Updated in its eleventh edition, China’s Political System continues to engage readers in the pursuit of greater understanding of Chinese politics past and present, providing accessible insight into the important policy problems. Throughout the text, June Teufel Dreyer challenges students to think about the broader problem of governance in China by comprehensively showing how past and present impacts leaders, citizens, ethnic minorities, and policies, leading to incisive considerations on the different futures for China’s political system. When instructors teach from this textbook, they benefit from Dreyer’s expert analysis of historical context and current trends to show how this transition is challenging China’s economic, legal, military, social, and cultural institutions. New to the Eleventh Edition: Discussion on the CCP’s hundredth birthday celebration including Xi Jinping’s strident speech. Tensions in South China and East China seas and "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy. China’s three-child policy. The "lying flat" phenomenon (tangping). New regulations clamping down on freedom of speech and human rights violations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and against religion in general. Examination of the overhaul of the for-profit tertiary education system and the large-scale student protests that ensued. New regulations at primary and secondary levels on cram school off-campus tutoring, crackdown on false advertising, and selling unnecessary programs. Evaluating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s economy and government’s response in terms of demographic and health policies. "Made in China 2025". Leadership response to deteriorating environmental conditions with new policy tools. China’s Political System continues to provide all of the tools professors need to introduce their students to Chinese politics in ways that are informed, accessible, and intriguing.