The Lost Giant - China at the Crossroads After the Collapse of Imperialism

Author: Ye Shuming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-01
Features: At critical moments in history, why did some great powers rise while others fell into confusion? Why was China unable to complete the transition from imperial rule to a democratic system after the Xinhai Revolution? Why could the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War give rise to figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, while China produced Yuan Shikai and a host of large and small warlords instead? Why did we repeatedly sow dragon seeds but harvest fleas instead? Is this land truly different from others? The Xinhai Revolution did not overthrow the "Qin political system" that had lasted for over two thousand years; the patriarchal autocratic tradition remained strong, and the "Republic" merely served as a variant of the "Empire," continuing its legacy. Why could Japan, a small nation, rise rapidly after the Meiji Restoration, while China, a vast country, fell into prolonged turmoil after the Xinhai Revolution? Where exactly did we lose our way? Why, when history repeatedly presented crossroads of choice, did we repeatedly miss the opportunity? The author attempts to connect the reasons for the formation and evolution of social, political, and cultural systems with geographical environment, natural climate, cultural background, ethnic psychology, and even physiological factors. This book uses a geographical and cultural, regional cultural perspective to re-examine a century of Chinese revolution and the transformation of modern Chinese society. Why was China unable to complete the transition from imperial rule to a democratic system after the Xinhai Revolution? Why could the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War give rise to figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, while China produced Yuan Shikai and a host of large and small warlords instead? Why did we repeatedly sow dragon seeds but harvest fleas instead? Is this land truly different from others? The Xinhai Revolution did not overthrow the "Qin political system" that had lasted for over two thousand years; the patriarchal autocratic tradition remained strong, and the "Republic" merely served as a variant of the "Empire," continuing its legacy. Why could Japan, a small nation, rise rapidly after the Meiji Restoration, while China, a vast country, fell into prolonged turmoil after the Xinhai Revolution? Where exactly did we lose our way? Why, when history repeatedly presented crossroads of choice, did we repeatedly miss the opportunity? The author attempts to connect the reasons for the formation and evolution of social, political, and cultural systems with geographical environment, natural climate, cultural background, ethnic psychology, and even physiological factors. This book re-interprets a century of Chinese revolution and the transformation of modern Chinese society from a geographical and cultural, regional cultural perspective.