Understanding China: Center Stage of the Fourth Power (review)

162 China Review International: Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 1998 from throughout the county. On the night of the birthday festival, however, a Kong lineage-focused liturgy of ancestor veneration is performed, celebrating from within the village the ritual solidarity and identity of the Kongs. A review can only touch the surface of Jing Jun's fascinating account. The book includes, among other things, a memorable potted history ofthe main Kong lineage that had remained in Qufu, Confucius' hometown in Shandong; a section on Chinese lineage genealogies; and an interesting discussion of ritual language and the role it plays in modern-day Dachuan. Anthropologists and historians will find themselves rewarded by this nuanced examination of social memory, ritual life, and the traumatic recent history of a remarkable village. Jonathan Unger Australian National University Jonathan Unger is head ofthe Australian National University's Contemporary China Centre and coeditor ofThe China Journal. im Yanan Ju. Understanding China: Center Stage ofthe Fourth Power. Albany: State University ofNew York Press, 1996. xi, 181 pp. Hardcover $44.50, isbn 0-7914-3121-5. Paperback $14.95, 1SBN 0-7914-3122-3. This book is a timely and useful addition to the literature on contemporary China, a literature that has been growing recentiy in response to the emerging need by members of the Western business community for resources to help them understand the rise of China as an economic power—the "Fourth Power," as its title suggests. The author, a native of China, brings to this work not only his expertise in management training in both China and the United States, but also the experience ofhis personal upbringing. He discusses issues that concern China watchers worldwide, such as the role of Greater China (including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore) in the global economy, China's political future, China's current social and moral problems, and, most importantly, whether it is valid to refer to China as a "Fourth Power." While this volume is slim, it has a lofty goal: to help its readers, especially y iversi y (J1086 m (J16 West, understand China's potential so that they may work with the people of China to develop its economy and raise the standard ofliving. With its broad coverage of a variety of interesting topics that range from the economy and government to morality, education, and family, and with its rich, up-to-date staofHawai 'i Press Reviews 163 tistical data well presented in charts attached as appendixes, this book is a handy guide for any Westerner interested in doing business in China. I am sure that many readers will be intrigued by the author's straightforward, candid style, no matter how simplistic his thesis appears. For example, although he touches on many problems, he definitely believes that poverty is the most serious problem for the Chinese people. He illustrates this by twice using his decision to work in the United States as an example. "I stayed. I stayed not because I was afraid ofpolitical persecution; I wouldn't be persecuted since I had always been a moderate as far as my political views were concerned. I stayed because I did not care about the people who raised me any more. Nor did I care about the destiny ofmy students, colleagues, and friends any more. All I was concerned about was my future, my success, my happiness" (p. 96). Elsewhere, he puts it more bluntly, by admitting that the "predominant factor" in his decision was money: "I chose to stay mainly because I would make one hundred times more money here in the United States dian I did in China seven years ago, and I decided that I deserved to make one hundred times more" (p. 90). In offering this confession, he seems to be saying that money has corrupted him. Yet he applauds this kind of "corruptness" since, although money does corrupt people, "no money" also corrupts just as badly, ifnot more so (p. 88). "Since no money corrupts, so make people rich. Since man being above the law corrupts , make laws enforceable. Since no morals corrupts, bring back morals to the people" (p. 97). Although he believes that these three injunctions are equally important , he...