The Economic Transformation of South China (review)

© 1996 fry University ofHawai'i Press Reviews 495 are invited to picture a sort ofbogus anatomy offixed spatial structures, but perhaps ifthey read the whole book carefully they will begin to treat such terms as arbitrary names for physiological activities that become clear in clinical work. Students can be assured that this book represents an introduction to the state ofthe field (including its materialist politics) oftraditional Chinese medicine in China today. Academic and clinical readers who seek a deep understanding ofthe logical styles of Chinese medicine or ofits historical complexity will need to turn to the three or four good academic studies of Chinese medicine now available in English as a supplement, or (even better) tackle the huge literature available in Chinese. Clinicians ofChinese medicine who rely on English-language textbooks will find it useful up to a point, although it is perhaps not really detailed enough to serve as a clinical handbook. Last but not least, there are charming illustrations in the bai-miao (brush-line drawing) style by Cheng Duoduo (with the assistance ofSally Yu Leung) throughout volume 1. Though they suggest at times an ancientness that is at odds with the very modern version ofknowledge presented in the book, they are nevertheless lovely to look at. Judith Farquhar University ofNorth Carolina Judith Farquhar is Bowman and Gordon GrayAssociate Professor ofAnthropology at the University ofNorth Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author 0/Knowing Practice : The Clinical Encounter of Chinese Medicine. m Thomas P. Lyons and Victor Nee, editors. The Economic Transformation of South China. Cornell University East Asia Program, East Asia Series. Ithaca: Cornell East Asia Program, 1994. vii, 292 pp. Hardcover $25.00, isbn 0-939657-82-1. Paperback $17.00, isbn 0-939657-70-8. Thoughtful and rigorous analyses ofthe "economic miracle" taking place in the People's Republic of China are difficult to find. This is due at least partially to the fact that sufficient attention is not being given to the research ofour Chinese colleagues , whose primary scholarly outlets are often limited to university-specific publications. While this problem may not be resolved in the immediate future (although the much-touted 211 Program supporting and linking universities may prove to be effective), some symposia and conferences outside China have attempted 496 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 to fill the void. One such symposium took place at Cornell University in the fall of 1992, and it is from mis symposium that most ofthe essays in this volume are taken. Often these educational forums produce papers ofmixed quality. Fortunately, Lyons and Nee have compiled a balanced collection on economic development in the Lingnan region of South China. This region of approximately 350,000 square kilometers is located south of the Nanling Mountains, traditionally considered the northern limit of South China.1 Taiwan is often discussed for its role as the catalyst for development in this region, or for comparisons of development. (A more thorough treatment of economic development in Taiwan by Wade2 would provide an excellent companion to this compilation). According to the Table of Contents (the headings are not entirely indicated in the text), the book is divided into three sections: Developmental Patterns, Institutional Change, and Taiwan-Mainland Economic Relations. Each section offers both empirical and generally well grounded conceptual analyses. Victor Nee introduces the volume with a thoughtful and well-integrated essay, "Institutional Change and Regional Growth" (pp. 1-17), that identifies some of the common elements of the ten essays that follow. He identifies the formal and informal forces affecting economic development, especially the diffusion of innovations brought in by overseas Chinese. He also discusses the transition to a hybrid economy of mixed-form organizations—for example, state enterprises with joint ventures and autonomous subsidiaries—with the decreasing costs associated with a market economy contrasted to the increasing costs ofa redistributive economy. Developmental Patterns The four essays in the first section on patterns of development analyze economic change in the Pearl River Delta, with particular focus on Guangdong and Fujian Provinces. Interdependence, through family and other connections, leading to the creation ofguanxi and cooperation in development ventures with Hong Kong and Taiwan, is also discussed here. In the...