Defining Modern China: A Little Book with a Multifaceted Perspective.
My colleague Drew gave me this book as a birthday gift. It’s a mini-handbag-sized, 140-page overview of modern China. I particularly like this quote:
China is a continent, not just a country. It is a series of identities, some shared, some differentiated, and some contradictory: modern, Confucian, authoritarian, democratic, free, and restrained. Above all, China is a plural noun. (11)
I found a great video of professor Rana Mitter introducing his book. (That’s a screenshot below. Click here to watch the video. It includes an anecdote about how Chairman Mao pioneered an exercise program involving thrusts for optimal fitness.)
26 Jan 2010, 1:13am
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matthew Stinson, Leslie Forman and Leslie Forman, Daniel Feldman. Daniel Feldman said: RT @stinson/ @leslieforman: "China is … modern, Confucian, authoritarian, democratic ..China is a plural noun." http://tinyurl.com/yabdgb3 [...]