The Invention of China

Great, well researched book that would be eye opening for most people. Must read for everyone in international relations, business, or dare I say any field as dealing with a nationalist -socialist totalitarian state quickly descending into genocide and fascism will no doubt be the trial of the century.

A reliable and readable synthesis of the best scholarship on how recently it was that people in what we call China came to understand the borders of their state in dangerously expansionist ways and to imagine themselves as Chinese

When dealing with Totalitarian countries like China it feels irrelevant that facts are true or not. The main thing is that CCP China believes them and so long as they have leverage, economic or otherwise, it doesn’t matter what the real story is.Still, lots of good points and well-written and argued.

The book provides a fascinating look into the origins of modern China. Very readable.

According to the author, ‘China is not some timeless expression of ‘Chineseness' dating back to ‘ancient times’ but a modern invention. Modern China’s ethnic identity, its boundaries and even the idea of a ‘nation-state’ are all innovations from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.’ (P.2) Like all modern states, Chinese nation building has gone through this process of ‘invention’ by selectively remembering and forgetting aspects of its pasts in order to present an ostensibly coherent and unifying vision for the future. Thus, the idea of China as a coherent territory with a seamless history (the foreign imagination) was actively constructed/invented from a jumble of contradictory evidence by individuals and political exiles acting in the particular circumstances of their times. However, the ideas, arguments and narratives that they borrowed, adapted and asserted were products of those times but they continue to guide the actions of today’s Chinese leadership.Generally speaking, every group that chooses to see itself as a nation constructs myths around itself and, if they are successful, reconstructs the state around those myths. The myths of superior Chinese culture and well-defined Chinese borders underpin China’s self-image as a Western-victimized but virtuous civilization which is the natural center of a hierarchical order of Asian states.However, ‘The China that presents itself to us in the twenty-first century is more like the West than it, or the West, generally acknowledge. Rather than being a standard-bearer of ‘Asian values’, it is in fact a state in a Western mould complete with missions of identity, sovereignty, nationalism and territorial aggrandizement. This is not surprising when we look at how it emerged: it is, in essence, a foreign construction.’ (P.246)Apparently, today’s ‘China Dream’ of reclaiming its historic status and greatness has, unfortunately, become ‘China Threat’ to its neighbors and the rest of the world, seems to stem from the country’s two contradictory views of the past. ‘In the first, China sees itself in imperial terms, as the natural center of East Asia, where borders are immaterial to power. In the second, China sees itself in Westphalian terms, determined to incorporate every scrap of territory, every rock and reef, within the homeland’s ‘sacred’ national border.’ (P.247) Without getting rid of the imperial nostalgia, China’s transition from empire to nation-state is by no means complete. After all, the question the world faces is whether the Chinese leadership is heading down a tragically familiar path towards fascism.

There are many works today with China as subject posed by western authors, but the ‘China’ you see will flow from the background training and attitudes of authors yielding insight or not into the amazing development of the ‘Poor Man of Asia’ into the second or first ranked economy we witness today;* or for those who want one: Adversary.Bill Hayton is a correspondent for B.B.C., a pundit.Attempts to describe that transformation vary in quality when assigning cause (excluding many asserting ‘Collapse Emanate’); an Economic Miracle a common take; leaving open the question of what is to follow including the possibility of a ‘Middle Income Trap’ that other developing nations have discovered, e.g. Brazil and Thailand.2020 forward the discussion seems to have largely shifted to “Which Social System – Democratic or Authoritian – will shape mankind’s future.” Bill Hayton falls into that cluster by laying out his Invention of China as a relentless perverse force intending to rule the world – it’s in their DNA – Tian Xia – “One under Heaven.”Years back, the forecast was ‘Development of China will lead to Democracy;’ former Authoritian Systems, So. Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, Japan had transformed into some form of Representative Government as their middle class enlarged. China, under the Communist Party and Xi Jinping’s leadership a leading authoritarian system with the world’s largest middle class troubles Haydon, he labors to show why with his historical sketch. A wise commentary on current times looking at Economic Systems, sees all systems Capitalistic and divines those into Liberal Meritocratic Capitalism and Political Capitalism. **China being one of eleven systems in Southeast Asia, and Africa with common characteristics of central government control and ownership, single party dominance; shared characteristics are they passed through violent formations (Singapore peacefully slipping out of Malaysia formation), a single party government, or one party in control if multiparty exist, a highly trained technocratic bureaucracy, corruption at varying levels by world standards, and higher growth rates than average their attractive feature: China, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Algeria, Tanzania, Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.All of these nations and whatever others follow that patch will wish the Rule of Law written ‘by a few wise men following WWII’ revised to fit their active governmental systems.Hayton needs to let go of Tian Xia and see current times; with G.B. and U.S.A. both in a state of Quandary. Three chapters and Conclusion a boring journey for this reviewer; the price was about right: $2.53.My Miao neighbors pleased to call themselves Zhongguo ren; Chinese and China English words of little content, but some of the children do have ‘Made in China' T-shirts.3 Stars*2018 World Bank p.p.p. index places PRC approximately 4 trillion dollars above USA ranking.**Branko Milanovic’s Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World, list Communism as a name of a political party, not an economic system.

The guy basically argues that the modern interpretation of China is a myth, and thus invalidates 5,000 years of history. Guess he doesn't understand that cultures and people evolve over time, just as Americans today are quite different from America post-Revolutionary War.

The book provides excellent contextualisation and background to the fundamental security policy challenge of our time. A must read!

Bill Hayton é autor do excelente South China Sea, ótima narrativa sobre um dos principais pontos de conflito potencial no mundo, em minha opinião a mais abrangente análise do tema, com ótimo texto. Em The Invention of China, a narrativa é um pouco mais árida, refletindo o embasamento acadêmico muito sólido; Hayton interpreta a idéia de China (tanto a dos estrangeiros como principalmente dos próprios chineses) como basicamente uma construção recente, fruto de interesses políticos e sociais ao longo da História. Há capítulos sobre os conceitos de soberania, etnias, linguagem , nação, trazendo sólidos argumentos que são iconoclastas em relação ao que é defendido pelo atual governo chinês. Nesses capítulos, especial atenção é dada aos diversos termos em chinês e de como evoluíram, em grande parte influenciados por conceitos estrangeiros, seja da relação com o Ocidente ou com o Japão Meiji. Essa atenção faz com que tais capítulos se arrastem um pouco, mas valem a leitura. Nos dois últimos capítulos, sobre a questão do território chinês e dos litígios marítimos, a argumentação de Hayton é precisa, como se um golpe final. Na questão de Taiwan, por exemplo, vários pontos importantes são levantados e atestam que a preocupação dos governantes chineses com o assunto é relativamente recente (o próprio Partido Comunista Chinês, quando Taiwan era posse do Japão, defendia a independência da ilha). Em suma, um livro mais denso de Hayton, se comparado ao South China Sea, mas um que certamente traz diversos argumentos importantes para que mesmo o leitor mais familiarizado com a China reflita sobre vários temas, contestando verdades consideradas basilares.

If somebody wants to approach this book, better (s)he will have a good background in Chinese history and culture. This is because knowledge is required in order to understand the rhetoric claims of the author. The author has mistaken the history of China with the claims of the Chinese Communist party. People’s history changes over time as part of the specific awareness that a community has of itself in a determined time. The vision of the Chinese Communist party is somewhat influenced by its enemies as well. The author who is a British journalist should know such things if he goes back to the history of Britain as well as the history of the relationship between England and China. I must admit that the thesis of this book did not convince me.

one of the best books i’ve ever read on china! super readable and super informative!

Another point of view of modern making of China, a very few Western scholars have taken serious dive into history of post imperial history. A very good reading material for these interested in modern history of China and last days of Qing dynasty.