Reread a Century (Volume 5 of Social and Humanistic Debates in 20th Century China)

Author: Liu Huili Lishiliang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-10-01
Features: The term "century" used in this book refers, in principle, to the years of the 20th century that have passed since 1900. The book is divided into 5 volumes, each covering approximately 20 years, based on general time limits rather than precise dates. The scope of the articles included primarily focuses on those published publicly in mainland China, especially in the past 50 years. This is not only due to well-known reasons but also primarily for the purpose of highlighting the theme, concentrating the perspective, and considering factors such as volume, format, and reality.
III. The term "social and humanities" in this book mainly refers to content with an era's "trend" nature and current "hotspot" nature. Even for such content, only the essential parts are selected, prioritizing representativeness and timeliness rather than solely from the perspective of scientific and academic value. Therefore, some materials that clearly contradict or oppose the normal development of social and humanities, such as the "Cultural Revolution," are included in selected excerpts to preserve the truth, as they reflect, in a certain sense, the reality of social and humanities during that era and have a long-lasting impact.
The term "debate" in this book includes exchanges with explicit debate subjects as well as statements with implicit debate subjects. The debates cover both specific viewpoints of certain articles and broader tendencies and trends. Of course, the debates here are primarily normal "discussions" or "comments," while extraordinary "debates" (such as "mass criticism") can be treated as "exceptions." Additionally, the selected "debates" are mostly those with significant influence and a "dramatic" atmosphere.
The term "rereading" in this book has two meanings: one is to provide literature materials for readers to read independently; the other is to offer a brief summary for shared reading with the readers. Of course, this should be a reading with a sense of reflection and retrospection.