The Tyranny of History: The Roots of China's Crisis

Over a quarter of the human race lives within the borders of China, the empire that has outlasted all its rivals from the Roman to the British. But, claims the author of this sweeping and provocative study, the Chinese empire is in terminal crisis, a crisis that goes much deeper than the decline of the current regime and threatens the survival both of China as a unified state and of the high tradition and culture that span more than three thousand years.
According to Professor Jenner, China has been both held together and held back by the tyranny of its history, by a culture and an education system that have always looked back, have rooted authority in the past and have inhibited creative thinking. Although in this century the orthodoxy has borrowed the language of Marxism, 'revolutionary' history has contrived to celebrate the authoritarian values of the imperial bureaucracy and the single orthodox tradition of pre-revolutionary China. The tyranny of China's past is not simply a matter of history and politics, however, but derives equally from the Chinese writing system, which is inherently authoritarian, and the Chinese family, which inhibits both individuality and a sense of citizenship and provides the building blocks of the autocratic state. The very successes of pre-modern China's productive technology have left the present with an ecological nightmare that recent economic growth has only exacerbated.
This remarkable book, by a very experienced observer of Chinese history and culture, greatly deepens our understanding of recent events and the challenge of the future. Democracy, though appealing as a slogan to some Chinese, will not easily find a place in the China that W.J.F. Jenner portrays. Yet he also sees hope as the tyranny of China's past and the unity of the Chinese imperial state begin to unravel and the many local components of the Chinese world assert their own identities and defend their own interests.

Modern Chinese history is a series of crises: the Opium War, the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Communist takeover, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Massacre. The most enduring civilization has been in a turbulent stage for over 100 years. What are the problems? In his "impressionistic" book, Jenner tries to link China's present situation to its past and claims that the fundamental problem is a flaw in Chinese tradition. Confucianism is blamed for economic stagnation, and the traditional family structure is seen as an obstacle to democracy. Jenner even finds the Chinese language an inferior medium of expression. The author, who admits that he "has not tried to present a balanced argument," offers such a bleak depiction of Chinese tradition that he feels the need to remind the reader repeatedly that he is not "anti-Chinese." Jenner's book is also marred by the lack of footnotes or any kinds of bibliographic references to materials used. Not recommended.
- Mark Meng , St. John's Univ. Lib., New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.