Jiang Zemin's life and leadership sweep through almost eighty tumultuous years of Chinese history: Japanese occupation, Civil War, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square, and, more recently, dramatic economic growth, tensions with Taiwan, and opportunities and confrontations with America. Jiang's story is an epic of war, deprivation, revolution, political turmoil, social convulsion, economic reform, national transformation, and international resurgence. To Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a longtime China observer, understanding the legacy of Jiang Zemin is essential for understanding the challenges of contemporary China. By examining Jiang's life, we observe the clash between China's traditional culture and chaotic history, and we appreciate how its changes impact the entire world. InThe Man Who Changed China, Kuhn, who was cited by the AsianWall Street Journalfor the "unprecedented access" he was given in the course of writing this book, has produced what the Journal called "probably the closest thing to an authorized biography that's possible in Communist China." Here a reader will find a complex and nuanced portrait of China's senior leader, whose policies continue to exert great influence over the course of his country. Kuhn offers insight into how the Japanese occupation during Jiang's teenage years imprinted his psyche for life, how he became a Communist, and how, decades later, he struggled to transform the Party in the face of withering criticism. In a sense, Kuhn argues, Jiang's early skeptics got it right: He was a transitional figure-but not in the way they had meant. With unshakable if paternalistic vision, a lifelong love of Chinese civilization, and backroom political skills that no one had anticipated, Jiang Zemin became an unexpected agent of change, effecting the transition from a traumatized society to a confident, prosperous country rapidly ascending in the new world order. Kuhn shows how Jiang led China through an amazing metamorphosis-from a fretful country destabilized by the turmoil and crackdown in Tiananmen Square into a vibrant nation that became a primary engine of global economic growth. Above all Jiang is a Chinese patriot-and it is important to appreciate what that really means. In offering this unusually intimate and comprehensive personal and political biography, Kuhn demonstrates that Jiang Zemin's life personifies the history of contemporary China, giving invaluable insight into what China is today and will become in the future.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Crown Publishing Group, T.H.E.
ISBN-10
1400054745
ISBN-13
9781400054749
eBay Product ID (ePID)
30880515
Product Key Features
Book Title
Man Who Changed China : the Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin
Author
Robert Lawrence Kuhn
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Presidents & Heads of State, Political, World / Asian
Publication Year
2005
Genre
Biography & Autobiography, Political Science
Number of Pages
720 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.4in
Item Height
2.2in
Item Width
6.5in
Item Weight
39.3 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Ds779.29.J53k85 2004
Table of Content
The Man Who Changed China Contents Introduction: The Life of Jiang Zemin 1 Part One Grounding 1926-1989 15 Chapter 1 1926-1943 "My Background Is My Family" 17 Chapter 2 1943-1947 "I Am a Patriot" 35 Chapter 3 1947-1955 "I Am an Engineer" 53 Chapter 4 1955-1962 "I Love Talent" 66 Chapter 5 1962-1976 "A Period of Unprecedented Destruction" 82 Chapter 6 1976-1985 "It Was My Habit to Learn on the Job" 96 Chapter 7 1985-1986 "Talk Less and Do More" 113 Chapter 8 1986-1989 "How Could I Not Know?" 126 Part Two Leadership 1989-1996 145 Chapter 9 January-May 1989 "Get Prepared for a Protracted Struggle" 147 Chapter 10 May-June 1989 "I Feel the Heavy Burden on My Shoulders" 164 Chapter 11 July-December 1989 "Men Are Not Saints" 180 Chapter 12 1990-1991 "Stability Overrides Everything" 196 Chapter 13 1992 "Bold Explorations and Accelerated Reform" 211 Chapter 14 1993 "We Will Show the World That We Are Trustworthy" 231 Chapter 15 1994 "The Outside World Has a Terrible Misunderstanding of China" 244 Chapter 16 1995 "Spiritual Civilization" 257 Chapter 17 1996 "Talk More About Politics" 274 Part Three Emergence 1997-1999 291 Chapter 18 January-September 1997 "How Can We Improve Their Lives?" 293 Chapter 19 October-December 1997 "My Ears Still Work Very Well" 315 Chapter 20 January-June 1998 "Reform in China Has Now Entered the Assault Stage" 351 Chapter 21 July-December 1998 "I, as a Witness of History . . ." 362 Chapter 22 1999 "All Sorts of Feelings Well Up in Me" 376 Part Four Vision 2000-2004 401 Chapter 23 January-June 2000 "We Recognize and Respect the Unique Sensitivities and Sensibilities of Scientists" 403 Chapter 24 July-December 2000 "Chinese Spy or Not?" 419 Chapter 25 January-July 2001 "My Life Was Closely Associated with Almost Three-Quarters of the Last Century" 437 Chapter 26 August-December 2001 "The Knowledge in Our World Is Rich and Vast, and the Mysteries of the Universe Are Infinite" 462 Chapter 27