Book Reviews

27 3. see, for example, G. William Skinner, Chinese Society in Thailand: An Analytical History (Ithaca, 1957), ch. 3, especially pp. 99-109; James L. watson, Emigration and the Chinese Lineage: The Mans in Hong Kong and London (Berkeley, 1975), pp. 67-71 and passim; and Edgar Wickberg, The Chinese in Philippine Life, 1850-1898 (New Haven, 1965). 4. See, for example, Alfred D. Chandler, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (Cambridge, Mass., 1977), chs. 12-13 and passim; and Johannes Hirschmeier, The Origins of Entrepreneurship in Meiji Japan (Cambridge, Mass., 1964}, pp. 1-6 and passim. 5. see Joseph A. Schumpeter, •The Creative Response in Economic History,• Journal of Economic History 8 (November 1947), 151; and Joseph A. Schumpeter, The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle (Cambridge, Mass., 1959}, p. 66. BOOK REVIEWS Xinhai Kerning Shi (A History o~ the 1911 Revolution), by Zhang Kaiyuan, Lin Zengping, and others. Vol. I, Beijing: People's Press, 1980, 498 pp. Of all major topics in modern Chinese history, the 1911 Revolution is probably the most researched and written about, not only in Chinese but also in other languages. There are many useful compilations of documents and outstanding monographs on various aspects of this historical event. Partly because of its complexities and the voluminous literature, and partly due to the controversial nature of the topic, however, it has been difficult to write a comprehensive, in-depth synthesis. The book under review is the first of a planned 3-volume work, prepared to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the 1911 revolution. It is a collaborative project, involving several dozen scholars at various Chinese universities. General editors of the work are Professors Zhang Kaiyuan and Li Zengping, two leading authorities on modern Chinese history. As the editors describe the plan, •the first volume describes the accelerating ferment of the 1901-1905 bourgeois-democratic revolutionary movement and the circumstances in which it extended to the whole country. In order to explain the historical preparation that modern Chinese society made for this revolutionary movement, this study traces .the origins and first stages of development of the Chinese capitalist economy and Sun Yat-sen's activities before and after the establishment of the Xing Zong Hui. The second volume describes historical events from the establishment of the Tong Meng Hui in 1905 to the upsurge and spread of the Railroad Protection Movement. The third volume describes the process from the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 to the 28 removal northward of the Nanking Provisional Government in 1912, explains the revolutionts success in overthrowing the Manchu regime as as its eventual failure.• (p. 2) and well The above suggests ~hat the project is carefully conceived. The first volume amply demonstrates the value of this ambitious plan. It contains a wealth of information, is well documented, and is written in a lively style. It should prove useful to scholars and students alike. It is a notable achievement of contemporary Chinese historiography. Li Yu-ning St. Jcr~'s University New York City Yuan Shikai Zhuan (A Biography of Yuan Shikai), by Li Zongyi. Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 1980, 374 pp. As in many other fields, Chinese historians working to •modernize• their field of endeavor. historical documents and intrepratative monographs in the modern period of Chinese history. One of is Li Zongyi's study of Yuan Shikai. in recent years have been Numerous compilations of have appeared, especially the most noteworthy works The author's general evaluation of Yuan is stated in the very beginning of the book: •Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) is an extremely important representative of the big landlord and big comprador class in modern Chinese history, a sham reformer of the feudal autocracy. His name has become synonymous with reactionary politics in modern China, and it is impossible to avoid mentioning him in any history of modern China.• (p.1) To recognize Yuan's importance in history and to publish a full-length and serious biography of him is a significant event in PRC historiography, which has consistently taken a negative attitude toward him. The author, deputy-director of the Institute of Modern History at ~h~ Chinese Academy...