45October 2018
BOOK REpORt
T HIS year marks the 40th an-niversary of China’s reform and opening-up, and Deng Xiaoping is reputed as the chief architect of this grand undertak-ing. Therefore, foreign readers are recommended to read Deng Xiaoping and the Transforma-tion of China written by profes-sor Ezra F. Vogel, who is nick-named
“Mr. China” at Harvard University.It took the author 10 years to complete the biography, which is a panoramic description of Deng’s rollercoaster life and his leading role in reform and opening-up to the outside world. Based on abundant historical documents, research both at home and abroad, archives, as well as exclusive interviews, Vogel, in his distinctive way, conducted an in-depth analysis of Deng’s personality and politi-cal career, as well as a compre-hensive interpretation of that period of history. Personages such as Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, and Vice Premier Chen Yun, and their relations with Deng are expounded upon, together with major events and decisions including the Third Plenary Ses-sion of the CPC’s 11th Central Committee, establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations, tentative political reform, con-struction of special economic zones, the policy of one country and two systems, and Deng’s southern tour in 1992.The book’s six parts encom- a pleasure for me to negotiate with him.” Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter recalled of Deng, and acclaimed that the book was an impressive biography. He regarded Deng as one of the most important figures of the 20th century, who pushed forward the transformation of China’s economy, politics, and society, as well as the establishment of dip-lomatic relations between the U.S. and China, a great achievement for both nations. Facts are the footstone of Vogel’s research and writings on Deng Xiaoping, who left behind neither private documents, nor notes or diaries. Deng never re-vealed his major decisions to the public; and no one knows what Deng was thinking on. Vogel therefore did a solid job, reading books, r
esearching sources, and interviewing witnesses and in-siders. He exchanged views with Chinese and foreign top leaders, met with Deng’s relatives and persons who held different posi-tions, as well as some intellec-tuals. He visited Ruijin County in Jiangxi Province where Deng served as the County Party Secretary, to Taihang Mountain where Deng established the anti-Japanese base, and also to Deng’s hometown in Guang’a n of Sichuan Province. In addition, he managed to discuss with foreign statesmen who met or negotiated with Deng, includ-ing the first Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, former Governor of Hong Kong Sir Mur-ray McLehose and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Alfred Kissinger.Chief Architect of China’s Reform and Opening-up
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
Author: Ezra F. Vogel
Paperback, 928 pages
Published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
editors in chiefIn the 1980s, Vogel stayed in Guangdong Province where Deng started the economic reform. During the seven or eight months, Vogel chatted with directors from county-level economic commit-tees to kn
ow every detail of the reform. Based on his research and observation, the author formed a distinctive understanding on contemporary China.Vogel predicts that China’s GDP will surpass that of the U.S. in 10 or 20 years. The U.S.-China rela-tionship is to become the most important relationship in the world, which urges the two big na-tions to seek peace, avoid conflict, and enhance mutual understand-ing. If an American wants to know China, they must study the history of reform and opening-up since China has taken on tremendous changes in the course. Vogel says in the preface that the book is based on Deng’s words and deeds and he cannot disguise his admiration for the late Chi-nese leader. Deng has exerted a huge impact on the world, and completely changed the direc-tion of his nation after suffering the “great leap forward” (1958-1960) and the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976). The author hopes that Chinese people regard the book as a serious study on China’s reform and opening-up.For an octogenarian author, a decade of time and effort is neither a trivial nor an easy invest-ment. The book merits a thorough reading considering the impres-sive amount of attention to detail, research, and monumental efforts that went into it. C
By staff reporter ZHOU LIN
pass 23 chapters, from Deng’s birth in 1904 to his southern journey in 1992, a retrospect on his life in chronological order, including Life Experience (1904-1969), Banishment and Return (1969-1977), Ush
ering in the Times of Deng (1978-1980), After Reform and Opening-Up (1978-1989), Challenges in the Times of Deng (1989-1992), and Deng’s Historic Status (China Trans-formed).Ezra F. Vogel, a Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sci-ences Emeritus at Harvard University, was once the director of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research. As a scholar whose research concentrated on Japan and China, he has written multiple works including Japan as Number One : Lessons for America ; Canton under Commu-nism : Programs and Politics in a Provincial Capital , 1949-1968; and One Step Ahead in China : Guangdong Under Reform .In September 2011, Harvard University Press published Deng Xiaoping and the Transforma-tion of China , which instantly became a “must read on contem-porary China,” honored in the short list of American National Book Awards, a 2012 Lionel Gelber Prize winner, and was recommended by The Economist and the New York Times , as well as by former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Bill Gates. “He’s small, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured and friendly. It’s
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