Authority and Benevolence: Social Welfare in China (review)

Reviews 477 made by Lau and Goldblatt constitute a comprehensive collection that shows the quality and diversity ofmodern and contemporary Chinese literature. The book also includes short biographies ofthe writers and poets selected, worth reading before one gets into the works themselves. Even though the apparent aim ofthis anthology is primarily to introduce some ofthe most important modern Chinese writers to the English-speaking reader not yet familiar with the Chinese literary world, it would have been very helpful to include an appendix listing in Chinese the original titles ofthe selected texts as well as the names ofthe authors for other purposes such as translation studies. To mention the original sources used for the translations would also have been useful, since in mainland China new editing is sometimes done when books are reprinted. Due to the diversity in time period and genre of the pieces selected, the lack of original references makes it difficult to check the accuracy ofmany translations. The anthology includes many materials already published but is also enriched with some newly translated texts. No doubt, the authority ofthis volume relies to a large extent on the distinguished previous work done by Professors Lau and Goldblatt, and on the work ofthe many other good translators who are represented here. Taciana Fisac Autónoma University ofMadrid Taciana Fisac is Titular Professor ofChinese Language and Literature as well as Director ofthe Centerfor EastAsian Studies at the Autónoma University ofMadrid. Joe C. B. Leung and Richard C. Nann. Authority and Benevolence: Social Welfare in China. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1995. xxix, 198 pp. Paperback $23.00, isbn 962-201-665-0. This briefvolume, written by two Hong Kong-based scholars trained in the field ofsocial work, is virtually packed with useful information. It should prove a helpful tool for anyone seeking a better knowledge ofthe social-welfare system and related social-organizational issues in China today. "To provide a comprehensive account ofsocial welfare and social services in China, and to highlight the achieve-© 1996 fry University ments and difficuines is me primary objective" (p. xi) that these authors set for their work. And though it is often at the expense ofachieving a very satisfying degree of depth in their various discussions, they do succeed well in conveying the breadth and complexity oftheir subject. The book does not appear to rest on very 478 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 much in the way ofprimary field research carried out by the authors themselves. Rather, it rounds up and lays out for readers, with admirable balance and dispassion , a great many facts and a great deal of data generated by researchers, specialists , and commentators both in mainland China and abroad. The chapter endnotes and the bibliography will be especially useful for those in pursuit of further detail on specific issues. And most tables and statistical materials presented in the book reflect the situation as recently as the early 1990s. The book begins with three preliminary chapters that sweep lightly over what the authors regard as relevant background for understanding China's contemporary social welfare system: historical and cultural legacies (featuring the Confucian tradition), the structuring impact of the Mao years, and the nature of the economic reforms that began in 1978. Following these are a series of chapters that look at the evolution and contemporary condition of the welfare system sector by sector: work-unit welfare in state-owned enterprises, residence-based welfare in urban neighborhood organizations, locality-based welfare in rural areas, and the social reliefwork carried out by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Two additional chapters comment on some of the achievements and the looming failures (from the welfare perspective) ofthe post-Mao marketizing reforms. They indicate the special nature of the problems faced by certain weak and disadvantaged groups in Chinese society today—the chronically poor, the unemployed, the floating population , the disabled, the elderly, children and youth, women, and minorities. The book concludes with a chapter that returns to the theme of Confucian social ideals and outlines the main features of welfare reform that seem to be emerging from the social confusion of China in the 1990s. These include a preference for "minimal...