Title: Chinese utopianism : a comparative study of reformist thought with Japan and Russia, 1898-1997 /
Authors: Hua, Shiping, 1956-
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson Center Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Utopias China History; Communism China; Social change China History; Social change Japan History; Communism Soviet Union; Social change Soviet Union History.; China Economic policy.; Japan History; Soviet Union Economic policy.
Abstract: "Chinese Utopianism offers a new explanation of the extreme radicalism of Chinese reform movements from the late nineteenth century through the Cultural Revolution and on to the post-Mao era. By studying comparable Japanese and Russian reforms that have, in contrast, pulled their societies back toward moderation, Shiping Hua demonstrates how datong, an ancient culturally central concept that can be translated as "great harmony," along with other elements of Chinese thought, has led China down a unique political path." "This new book is an example of an emerging body of scholarship that highlights Chinese, rather than Western, concepts in analyzing China. In this case, Hua treats datong as central to understanding China, while employing a comparative method to bring in important contrasting notions from Russia and Japan."--Jacket.
Contents: Theory and method. Political culture theory ; Contract-oriented comparative case study ; Political discourse -- Utopianism: Japan, Russia and China. Japan ; Russian ; China -- Modernizing reforms: Japan and China. Structure: historical background of the Meiji restoration and the Late Qing reform ; Political strategies ; Philosophical underpinnings -- Reforms within Communism: the Soviet Union. Structure: historical background of the new economic policy (1921-1929) and the thaw (1953-1964) ; Political strategies ; Philosophical underpinnings -- Reforms with Communism: China. Structure: historical background of the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) ; Political strategies ; Philosophical underpinnings -- Reforms out of Communism: China and the Soviet Union. Structure: historical background of Deng's reform (1978-1997) and Gorbachev's reform (1985-1991) ; Political strategies ; Philosophical underpinnings -- Conclusion: Hopefulness toward the future as natural, supernatural, and the product of human endeavor.