Is the failure of communism in China inevitable? So argue the authors of China and the Crisis of Marxism-Leninism, who believe that Mao’s programs were utopian fantasies that greatly aggravated the incurable flaws of the Stalinist order, now eroding worldwide. At the time of the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 China was in a state of disarray, and the
One of America's leading authorities on China outlines and assesses the implications of the inevitable passing of Mao Tse-tung and the older generation of revolutionary leaders from their position of command in China. Describing the mid-1960’s as "a transitional period of great historic significance," the author outlines the basic unsolved problems and unresolved issues that face Peking’s leaders, speculates on future changes in Chinese Communist leadership and policies. Part Il of the book presents documents pertinent to the developing crisis in China, including “Khrushchev’s Phoney Communism,” Lin Piao’s “Long Live the Victory of the People’s War,” and “Great Cultural Revolution.” China After Mao is based on the Walter E. Edge lectures given at Princeton University in October 1966. Originally published in 1967. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
This groundbreaking study of Chinese Marxism examines the ideology and praxis of Marxism as it has developed in China from its earliest beginnings to current debates. This is the first systematic, full-length analysis of the development and nature of Marxist ideology in China. Adrian Chan challenges established scholarship in both the West and China, which continues to be overshadowed by Cold War dogma and party orthodoxy, respectively. It has long been argued that Chinese Marxism was merely an offshoot of Soviet thought blended with ill-defined traditional Chinese ideas. Using previously neglected Chinese sources--including newspapers, political journals and communist party documents--Chan refutes this. Showing how the first Chinese revolutionaries were directly influenced by the writings of Marx, Chinese Marxism argues that Bolshevism was a secondary influence on Chinese communist thought. Mao himself drew upon Marxian themes in the creation of party orthodoxy. In doing so he signalled his differences from Lenin and Stalin on important issues of theory and practice.However, not all party leaders accepted this Marxian praxis. This has led to continuous conflict between proponents of Maoist Marxism and Soviet-type scientific Marxism-Leninism. Chinese Marxism presents detailed studies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution to illustrate the consequences of this ongoing ideological conflict, and brings the story up to the present day with an analysis of the current Thermidorean Reaction and the controversial embracing of Confucianism.
