 | |
| Author | Ezra Vogel |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
Publication date | September 26, 2011 |
| ISBN | 9780674055445 |
| OCLC | 756365975 |
| LC Class | DS778.T39 V64 2011 |
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China is a 2011 biography about Deng Xiaoping written by Ezra Vogel and published by The Belknap Press/Harvard University Press.
In May 2012 the Chinese University Press of Hong Kong published the first Chinese translation, unabridged, with versions using both Traditional and Simplified characters. In January 2013 Sanlian Publishing House published a Simplified Chinese version for Mainland China. The Mainland version was adopted from the Hong Kong translation, but was subject several minor changes due to censorship; most of the changes were centered on negative descriptions or adjectives describing Chinese leaders. [1] [2]
The initial reviews praised Vogel's book as detailed and well-grounded, generally favorable, but not without criticism. Jonathan Mirsky of The New York Times described the book as "wide-ranging" and wrote that the coverage of Deng's changes to the Chinese economy is the "most valuable part of" the book. [3] John Knight, a PhD candidate stated that the book "provides much insight into" Deng and that "for those interested in learning more about China's present, Vogel's study is a delightful read." [4] Reviewers also mentioned controversial points. John Pomfret wrote in The Washington Post that Vogel "clearly believes that Deng — known in the West mostly for engineering the slaughter of protesters in the streets near Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 — has been wronged by history. His tome is an attempt to redress the balance." [5]
In the London Review of Books , Perry Anderson sharply criticized Vogel as "a booster" and the book as "an exercise in unabashed adulation" in which "anything in Deng’s career that might seriously mar the general encomium is sponged away", noting how "Vogel devotes just 30 pages, out of nearly 900, to the first 65 years of Deng’s life". He also critiqued the book for exaggerating the significance of certain events, such as Deng’s "universally forgotten" 1974 speech at the United Nations. [6]
As of 2020, the Mainland Chinese version sold 1,200,000 copies, while the U.S. version sold 45,000 hard copies and 9,400 ebooks. [2]
The book received the Lionel Gelber Prize, a literary award for excellency in literature related to foreign policy. [7] [8]
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng gradually rose to supreme power and led China through a series of far-reaching market-economy reforms earning him the reputation as the "Architect of Modern China". He contributed to China becoming the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP in 2010.
Zhao Ziyang was a Chinese politician. He was the third premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1982, and CCP general secretary from 1987 to 1989. He was in charge of the political reforms in China from 1986, but lost power in connection with the reformative neoauthoritarianism current and his support of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Ezra Feivel Vogel was an American sociologist who wrote prolifically on modern Japan, China, and Korea, and worked both in academia and the public sphere. He was Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University.
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The history of the People's Republic of China details the history of mainland China since 1 October 1949, when CCP chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC) from atop Tiananmen, after a near complete victory (1949) by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War. The PRC is the most recent political entity to govern mainland China, preceded by the Republic of China and thousands of years of monarchical dynasties. The paramount leaders have been Mao Zedong (1949-1976); Hua Guofeng (1976-1978); Deng Xiaoping (1978-1989); Jiang Zemin (1989-2002); Hu Jintao (2002-2012); and Xi Jinping.
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Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang are the memoirs of the former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Zhao Ziyang, who was sacked after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The book was published in English in May 2009, to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the clearing of the square by tanks on June 4, 1989. It is based on a series of about thirty audio tapes recorded secretly by Zhao while he was under house arrest in 1999 and 2000.
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Book censorship in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is implemented or mandated by the PRC's unique ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and is currently widespread in China. Enforcement is strict and sometimes inconsistent. Punishment for violations can be arbitrary many times leading to long sentences for crimes against censorship laws.
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