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Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip P. Pan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
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Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 19494
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 1416537058
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.2095109045
EAN: 9781416537052
ASIN: 1416537058
Publication Date: June 17, 2008
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Product Description
From an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and one of the leading China correspondents of his generation comes an eloquent and vivid chronicle of the world's most successful authoritarian state -- a nation undergoing a remarkable transformation.Philip P. Pan's groundbreaking book takes us inside the dramatic battle for China's soul and into the lives of individuals struggling to come to terms with their nation's past -- the turmoil and trauma of Mao's rule -- and to take control of its future. Capitalism has brought prosperity and global respect to China, but the Communist government continues to resist the demands of its people for political freedom. Pan, who reported in China for the Post for seven years and speaks fluent Chinese, eluded the police and succeeded in going where few Western journalists have dared. From the rusting factories in the industrial northeast to a tabloid newsroom in the booming south, from a small-town courtroom to the plush offices of the nation's wealthiest tycoons, he tells the gripping stories of ordinary men and women fighting for political change. An elderly surgeon exposes the government's cover-up of the SARS epidemic. A filmmaker investigates the execution of a young woman during the Cultural Revolution. A blind man is jailed for leading a crusade against forced abortions carried out under the one-child policy. The young people who filled Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989 saw their hopes for a democratic China crushed in a massacre, but Pan reveals that as older, more pragmatic adults, many continue to push for justice in different ways. They are survivors whose families endured one of the world's deadliest famines during the Great Leap Forward, whose idealism was exploited during the madness of the Cultural Revolution, and whose values have been tested by the booming economy and the rush to get rich.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 An Infinity of Abuses November 2, 2008
China's rapid economic growth and the resulting improvement in millions' living standards are impressive, even when achieved at the hopefully temporary cost of massive environmental degradation. Pan, however, reveals that there are other major, though hidden, costs - all involving various abuses of the Chinese people. Further, it is easy to imagine that if China's only leadership were less paranoid and had less of an authoritarian history these abuses could be substantially reduced without hurting its economic growth.
Pan first takes readers through China's troubled 20th century under Mao, starting with the 1957 "Hundred Flowers Movement" to encourage what he thought would be mild criticism. Instead, the surge of vitriolic responses startled him and Mao reversed course, limiting debate and punishing those who spoke out. More than one-half million were shipped off to labor camps or exiled to work in the countryside.
However, the Hundred Flowers Movement pales in comparison with Mao's "Great Leap Forward" that began in 1958. Absurdly ambitious targets were set - eg. overtake the U.S. in steel production within 15 years. Millions were diverted from the fields, many to work on worthless backyard furnaces in which they were supposed to turn all their metal belongings into steel. The resulting agricultural shortages led to 30-50 million starving to death.
Another 1-2 million died in the Cultural Revolution that began May, 1966 - supposedly purging capitalist representatives that had infiltrated all levels of society.
Rather than temper China's leadership, however, these experiences under Mao have simply been largely erased from memory through rewriting published accounts to blame others and make the government look good; those writing contrary information risk long prison terms.
Pan then takes readers through an overview of abuses, starting with the estimated 10-40,000 coal miners killed/year (about 800X the U.S. death rate), prohibitions against unions and strikes, managers conspiring with officials to force factories into bankruptcy and pick up state assets at fire-sale prices. Then there's the arbitrary and very low compensation offered homeowners in the way of developers' projects (protesters risk being jailed or given nothing), excessive taxes levied against rural residents in some areas, the SARS epidemic becoming unleashed because state secrecy prevented hospitals from recognizing the need for isolation, and the arbitrary jailing and beatings of citizens - often for local government profit via extortion.
Courageous citizens fight back in each instance, and sometimes win partial victories. But most Chinese are kept in the dark via government control of the media, and nobody gets away Scot-free - bureaucrats always get their revenge. We saw this again when the government suppressed protests against poor school construction exposed in the recent Chinese earthquake tragedy.
China has yet to escape Mao's shadow.
 Honest, but lacks perspective October 5, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
China is a country without modern parallel. With 1.3 billion people, recent history of tremendous economic failure under Mao, and economic development over the last 20 years that is unmatched in the history of the world, this is a country of extremes. Philip Pan shows us only one side of the story. The China Pan describes is an endless plain of despair and discontent, with hardship and injustice for the masses and corruption based wealth for the few.
The stories Pan tells are all true. The stories are well documented. They are told with insight and perspective from both sides. Never the less, do not believe that reading this book will give you a fair perspective on the full spectrum of modern China.
Other recent books on China may have been unfairly focused on the economic growth that has helped so many in China. The other books may be countered by this book, which I believe unfairly focuses on the turmoil and misfortune that has followed the rapid economic change. There is truth in both stories, but those who truly understand China find the reality of the situation somewhere in between. Without a doubt, this is an important book, but do NOT let this be the only book you read about China. It's far too one-sided.
Compelling snapshot of a closely-controlled society ... September 29, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Interesting insight into the current Chinese government's power over their peoples. Compelling stories about some of the dissidents involved in the Tiananmen Square uprising and the country's continued crackdown on their citizens. Interesting read on how Western capitalism, though it appears only materially, has lulled the Chinese people into acceptance of their government's stronghold over this nation.
Out of Mao's Shadow September 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Philip Pan's book was excellent in understanding how the China of today has evolved. Each chapter is a story of how particular Chinese were involved in the history of the last 60 years of history. The reader should be able to understand how the last 20 to 30 years of Mao's reign, eratic as he was, effected the people of China. China was a closed society in the 50s and 60s, so information on the Great Leap Forward, the Red Guards and the Gang of Four is not readily known to most readers. Understanding how the Chinese transformed their industry from state industry to private control was fascinating. Having traveled in China and listening to the guide, Pan's book helped provided a great deal of information not shared in the tour.
casting light on a shadow. September 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
A mix of history and political analysis from a region and period in which records are systematically destroyed, and authors like Pan are fighting to preserve the truth.
The book paints a picture of a modern Orwellian state, describing, in detail, the contortionist social policies of a communist party that managed to cling to power long after communism became internationally discredited.
For example: the distortion of language for propaganda, the exploitation of nationalism, the systematic partitioning of farmers and peasants away from the central power structures, and the kidnap and remorseless torture of dissidents; Pan lifts all of these elements from the pages of '1984' and moves them to the non-fiction section with this expose'.
The story is also predictive. Pan casts serious doubt on the hopeful -possibly naive- assumption that capitalism will inevitably democratize China. Pan describes modern life in China as more free than it has ever been, though the story he tells is still draconian by most western standards, and his work gives good reason for the rest of the world to be gravely concerned about the future of world's next superpower.
At the same time, however, a powerful human element is brought to the fore: Pan interviews ordinary and extraordinary citizens and shows how the pain and despair of the last 5 decades, on both the individual and social scale, have led to a culture of citizens disengaged from politics.
Pan provides a scathing indictment of the officials and opportunists who exploit the status quo, but also a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the few people willing to challenge the system; the painful decisions they make and the prices they pay are both inspiring and heartbreaking.
After reading, one is left cheering for the unsung heroes of a far away nation, hoping that eventually their stories will be revered at home, and that their images will be used to replace that of big brother over-looking the blood-soaked ground of Tienanmen square.
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