The Chinese Communist Party

A mosaic of lives and voices illustrating the history of the Chinese Communist Party over the last hundred years.

Timothy Cheek (Edited by), Klaus Mühlhahn (Edited by), Hans van de Ven (Edited by)

9781108822619, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 May 2021

302 pages
21.4 x 13.9 x 1.8 cm, 0.39 kg

'… a very welcome and very readable contribution to broader debates on the Chinese Communist Party.' Carolin Kautz, Pacific Affairs

Ten engaging personal histories introduce readers to what it was like to live in and with the most powerful political machine ever created: the Chinese Communist Party. Detailing the life of ten people who led or engaged with the Chinese Communist Party, one each for one of its ten decades of its existence, these essays reflect on the Party's relentless pursuit of power and extraordinary adaptability through the transformative decades since 1921. Demonstrating that the history of the Chinese Communist Party is not one story but many stories, readers learn about paths not taken, the role of chance, ideas and persons silenced, hopes both lost and fulfilled. This vivid mosaic of lives and voices draws together one hundred years of modern Chinese history - and illuminates possible paths for China's future.

Introduction. Telling the story of the Chinese Communist Party
1. 1920s: a Dutchman's fantasy: Henricus Sneevliet's united front for the Chinese Communist Party Tony Saich
2. 1930s: Wang Ming's Wuhan moment: a brief flowering of popular front communism Hans J. van de Ven
3. 1940s: Wang Shiwei's rectification: intellectuals and the party in yan'an Timothy Cheek
4. 1950s: from fallen star to red star: Shangguan Yunzhu Zhang Jishun
5. 1960s: Wang Guangmei and peach garden experience Elizabeth J. Perry
6. 1970s: The death of Mao and life of Chairman Gonzalo Julia Lovell
7. 1980s: Zhao Ziyang and the voices of reform Klaus Mühlhahn
8. 1990s: Wang Yuanhua: a party intellectual reflects Xu Jilin
9. 2000s: Jiang Zemin and the naughty Auties Jeremy Goldkorn
10.2010s: Guo Meimei: the story of a young netizen portends a political throwback Guobin Yang
Afterword. The party and the world Philip Bowring
Index.

Subject Areas: Marxism & Communism [JPFC], Politics & government [JP], Asian history [HBJF]