by Jonathan D. Spence
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4 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
 scholarlykatie, 2004-05-14
The Gate of Heavenly Peace thoroughly documents the naivety of a prevailing idea during the conflict. During the occupation of Tiananmen Square in 1989, some student leaders and their followers alike believed a simplistic formula: Bloodshed would awake people; the awakened people would rise up; and democracy would somehow naturally result. But as the whole world sadly witnessed, there were only severe bloodsheds and casualties but no uprising whatsoever. The Gate of Heavenly Peace presents this fact metaphorically with blood stains on the stone pavements in the subsequently tranquil Tiananmen Square after the crackdown. We can calmly observe that after all the people's uprising did not happen. This might be a less miserable outcome though. In my judgment, an uprising of the unorganized civilians would have accomplished everything--nationwide chaos, for one--but democracy.
The spectacles of revolutions in the world history can be deceptive in that many do not see the behind-the-scene efforts of mobilization. One of the more thoughtful and influential Chinese thinkers of his generation, Kang Youwei, first visited Hong Kong in 1879 and came away with impressions of a well-run city with grand buildings, clean streets and a dependable police force, all of which contrasted favorably with the urban scene in nearby Canton, capital of Kang's home province of Guangdong. Westerners in treaty ports like Canton also intrigued this Cantonese reformer, who noted how these foreigners, subject primarily to laws of their respective countries, were able to rule themselves. As Kang continued to analyze the roots of the success and power of the West he also emphasized the openness of lines of communication between the people and their rulers.
These were among the ideas and observations that one of Kang's students, Liang Qichao, took with him to the inland province of Hunan in 1897. This province, one of the last opened to foreigners, became famous as the home of Mao Zedong, but the future revolutionary was just a boy when Liang arrived in the capital city of Changsha. The language of reform popularized by Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei did, however, indirectly affect Mao and his peers in years to come. In particular, Liang and his colleagues encouraged their listeners in schools and study societies to begin to practice `self-government', to talk about `democracy' and `people's rights', and to strive for `equality' in human relationships.
In contrast to Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen is known as "The Father of the Revolution" or "The Father of the Republic." Sun Yat-sen based his idea of revolution on three principles: nationalism, democracy, and equalization. These three principles, in fact, were elevated to the status of basic principles: the Three People's Principles. The first of these held that Chinese government should be in the hands of the Chinese rather than a foreign imperial house. Government should be republican and democratically elected. Finally, disparities in land ownership should be equalized among the people, wealth more evenly distributed, and the social effects of unbridled capitalism and commerce should be mitigated by government. The latter principle involved the nationalization of land; Sun believed that land ownership allows too much power to accrue to the hands of landlords. In his nationalization theory, people would be deprived of the right to own land, but they could still retain other rights over the land by permission of the state.
Lu Xun is the greatest writer of modern China. Lu Xun studied to become a doctor in order to help the Chinese people fight foreign domination, corruption and crushing feudalism. After two years of medical school, however, he realized that to reform society, a fit body is useless if the spirit is weak and apathetic. Thus he decided to become an author rather than a physician, and went on to lead a new literary movement that would take China by storm. In 1918 Lu Xun published his first story, A Madman's Diary, a powerful protest against the feudal system that forces people to consume and undermine one another. He worked as a teacher, lecturer and editor, created woodcuts, and helped young writers establish several literary organizations. He translated many significant works, particularly from Russia. He is known as the father of modern Chinese literature for writing in the vernacular rather than the traditional "literary style."
One of the major leaders during the early days of the Communist Party of China, Qu Qiubai (1899-1935), was held in Beijing on January 29 by the Communist Party of China Central Committee in the Great Hall of the People. Wei Jianxing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Political Bureau, said in his address to the forum that Qu was an important Communist Party of China leader, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, theorist and publicist, as well as a major contributor to literature in the cause of China's revolution A movement led by young students had little chance of success, because its leaders didn't know what they wanted to accomplish and how. It eventually became a run-away train fueled by uncontrollable raw emotions and crashed into the stonewall of a cold-hearted, inflexible, and ruthless government. Nobody would let a ten-year old drive a car. In the hindsight, it was regrettable that some twenty-year old students, who lacked the knowledge of history, vision of future, and wisdom of politics, were leading the movement and rejected almost every friendly and more mature advice given to them. However, their courage and conscience should be commended as their mistakes be examined and criticized.
1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
scholarlykatie :), 2004-05-14
The Gate of Heavenly Peace thoroughly documents the naivety of a prevailing idea during the conflict. During the occupation of Tiananmen Square in 1989, some student leaders and their followers alike believed a simplistic formula: Bloodshed would awake people; the awakened people would rise up; and democracy would somehow naturally result. But as the whole world sadly witnessed, there were only severe bloodsheds and casualties but no uprising whatsoever. The Gate of Heavenly Peace presents this fact metaphorically with blood stains on the stone pavements in the subsequently tranquil Tiananmen Square after the crackdown. We can calmly observe that after all the people's uprising did not happen. This might be a less miserable outcome though. In my judgment, an uprising of the unorganized civilians would have accomplished everything--nationwide chaos, for one--but democracy.
The spectacles of revolutions in the world history can be deceptive in that many do not see the behind-the-scene efforts of mobilization. One of the more thoughtful and influential Chinese thinkers of his generation, Kang Youwei, first visited Hong Kong in 1879 and came away with impressions of a well-run city with grand buildings, clean streets and a dependable police force, all of which contrasted favorably with the urban scene in nearby Canton, capital of Kang's home province of Guangdong. Westerners in treaty ports like Canton also intrigued this Cantonese reformer, who noted how these foreigners, subject primarily to laws of their respective countries, were able to rule themselves. As Kang continued to analyze the roots of the success and power of the West he also emphasized the openness of lines of communication between the people and their rulers.
These were among the ideas and observations that one of Kang's students, Liang Qichao, took with him to the inland province of Hunan in 1897. This province, one of the last opened to foreigners, became famous as the home of Mao Zedong, but the future revolutionary was just a boy when Liang arrived in the capital city of Changsha. The language of reform popularized by Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei did, however, indirectly affect Mao and his peers in years to come. In particular, Liang and his colleagues encouraged their listeners in schools and study societies to begin to practice `self-government', to talk about `democracy' and `people's rights', and to strive for `equality' in human relationships.
In contrast to Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen is known as "The Father of the Revolution" or "The Father of the Republic." Sun Yat-sen based his idea of revolution on three principles: nationalism, democracy, and equalization. These three principles, in fact, were elevated to the status of basic principles: the Three People's Principles. The first of these held that Chinese government should be in the hands of the Chinese rather than a foreign imperial house. Government should be republican and democratically elected. Finally, disparities in land ownership should be equalized among the people, wealth more evenly distributed, and the social effects of unbridled capitalism and commerce should be mitigated by government. The latter principle involved the nationalization of land; Sun believed that land ownership allows too much power to accrue to the hands of landlords. In his nationalization theory, people would be deprived of the right to own land, but they could still retain other rights over the land by permission of the state.
Lu Xun is the greatest writer of modern China. Lu Xun studied to become a doctor in order to help the Chinese people fight foreign domination, corruption and crushing feudalism. After two years of medical school, however, he realized that to reform society, a fit body is useless if the spirit is weak and apathetic. Thus he decided to become an author rather than a physician, and went on to lead a new literary movement that would take China by storm. In 1918 Lu Xun published his first story, A Madman's Diary, a powerful protest against the feudal system that forces people to consume and undermine one another. He worked as a teacher, lecturer and editor, created woodcuts, and helped young writers establish several literary organizations. He translated many significant works, particularly from Russia. He is known as the father of modern Chinese literature for writing in the vernacular rather than the traditional "literary style."
One of the major leaders during the early days of the Communist Party of China, Qu Qiubai (1899-1935), was held in Beijing on January 29 by the Communist Party of China Central Committee in the Great Hall of the People. Wei Jianxing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Political Bureau, said in his address to the forum that Qu was an important Communist Party of China leader, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, theorist and publicist, as well as a major contributor to literature in the cause of China's revolution A movement led by young students had little chance of success, because its leaders didn't know what they wanted to accomplish and how. It eventually became a run-away train fueled by uncontrollable raw emotions and crashed into the stonewall of a cold-hearted, inflexible, and ruthless government. Nobody would let a ten-year old drive a car. In the hindsight, it was regrettable that some twenty-year old students, who lacked the knowledge of history, vision of future, and wisdom of politics, were leading the movement and rejected almost every friendly and more mature advice given to them. However, their courage and conscience should be commended as their mistakes be examined and criticized.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
 A Brilliant Examination..., 2003-10-31
This book is a brilliant examination of the lives of several key players in the Chinese Revolution. It is written in a narrative biographical style that is helped along (beautifully, I might add) with some of the contemporary literature of that time. I think this book might be hard to use as a research tool, but I was completely engrossed in it as a wonderful book to enjoy to widen my understanding of the Chinese Revolution.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
History for those who (think they) don't like history, 2002-06-15
A brilliant evocation of 85 years of modern Chinese history. It has been said by some critics that this is a book to read for research and not for pleasure -- an opinion I would call a neat inversion of the true situation (as I saw it, anyway): I bought the book as a research tool and, though I soon found I couldn't use it for that purpose, became utterly engrossed in Spence's fascinating narrative all the same. If you're a lover of well-written biographical history, buy this book.
5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
 A Book For Research, 2002-05-23
I live and work in China and generally love reading Chinese history, so after reading reviews here I ordered several of Spence's books. His writing style in general focuses too much on minute details that are not interesting to me, such as poems and musings by historical characters (a lot of them!). If you are doing research on a certain historical person it might be useful, if you are looking for a fun read this is not it.
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