Viewing China through a Third Eye (第三隻眼睛看中國 Di san zhi yanjing kan Zhongguo) (review)

360 China Review International: Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 1995 Wang Shan. Viewing China through a Third Eye (HHJiBjIlifß?? Di san zhiyanjing kan Zhongguo). Shanxi Province: Shanxi People's Publishing House, 1994. Viewing China through a Third Eye was first published in January 1994, at which time it was advertised as a translation into Chinese from the German by Wang Shan, a semiretired civil servant and part-time novelist. A search of German sinologists, however, could turn up no trace of Dr. Leininger, the purported original author. As a result, speculation about the book's real author began to circulate . Due to its generally critical outlook and leanings toward authoritarianism, some suggested that the book was the work of He Xin, a member ofthe Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and an informal adviser to Premier Li Peng who supported the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989. However, Yazhou zhoukan, a Hong Kong newsmagazine, reported after an interview with Wang he adamantly denied that he had authored the book. Prior to this, President Jiang Zemin, Deng Xiaoping's chosen successor, praised the book in a speech given in Shanxi in January 1994, emphasizing that the development ofthe Chinese economy over the last forty years is the direct result ofactive government involvement. Although Jiang is generally considered to be a moderate, he does advocate strong government control. Yazhou zhoukan reported that Jiang also recommended the book to the Bureau of Security of the Party Central Committee, thus making it must reading among the cadres. However, the book was banned in August 1994, presumably due to its critical tone and the ideological controversy it sparked. As Asia Week reported in October 1994, the book produced a wide range ofreactions. While some saw it as aiding the reformist cause by pointing to current problems, others interpreted this as a condemnation ofeconomic reform. That same month, the "translator," Wang Shan, finally admitted to being the author. Xu Bing, Wang's publishing agent, explained to Yazhou zhoukan that the book was the product of their discussions of current problems in China, and that the idea offeigning German authorship grew out ofan interest in protecting Wang's identity. Apparently, the degree ofsupport it received among party officials no longer necessitated obscuring his authorship. Now that the question of authorship has been resolved, the more important questions remain: to what extent has Wang produced a sound analysis of Deng's progressive economic reforms, and what can be done ifwe take Wang's criticisms© 1995 by University m earnest? These questions are discussed in light of"The Chinese Road toward ofHawai?PressModernization and the Particularity ofChinese Culture," a review article which Wang Yi submitted to China Review International before the true identity of the author became known. Features 361 Wang Yi writes that China is at a unique juncture in its history, where traditional Chinese systems ofthought are being supplanted with "universally admitted truth and methodology." He further suggests: The mandate [for the ideological transition] was historically reasonable not only because it embodied the profound influence exerted by the united world market after the Industrial Revolution on the cultures ofhuman beings, but also because, for the first time in history, China had truly considered her choice of destiny from the perspective ofworldwide cultural relations, instead ofthe model of "Tianchao (Heavenly Dynasty)." This represented the first step towards crossing the subjective and objective limitations of the native culture. Despite how chaotic and biased the demand may have seemed, its tremendous historical progressiveness stands in stark contrast with the traditional, well-established cultural and intellectual models of renyi and lijiao. However, the above-mentioned mandate also had obvious shortcomings for the same reason, namely a far too simplistic and idyllic vision ofWestern culture and an insufficient understanding ofour own cultural structure. Furthermore , the complexity ofthe modernization process for a nation as culturally grounded as China requires a delicate, balanced approach. Viewing China Through a Third Eye sees the imposed ideological transformation as problematic, and argues that the wholesale adoption and imposition of a foreign ideology is doomed to fail. Success, it is argued, is dependent upon being acutely aware ofthe particular Chinese situation. Wang Yi finds Viewing...