Book contents
- Demystifying the Chinese Economy
- Demystifying the Chinese Economy
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- 1 Opportunities and Challenges in China’s Economic Development
- 2 Why the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions Bypassed China
- 3 The Great Humiliation and the Socialist Revolution
- 4 The Comparative Advantage-defying, Catching-up Strategy and China’s Traditional Economic System
- 5 Enterprise Viability and Factor Endowments
- 6 The Comparative Advantage-following Development Strategy
- 7 Rural Reform and the Three Rural Issues
- 8 Urban Reform and the Remaining Issues
- 9 Reforming the State-owned Enterprises
- 10 The Financial Reforms
- 11 Deflationary Expansion and Building a New Socialist Countryside
- 12 Improving the Market System and Promoting Fairness and Efficiency for Harmonious Development
- 13 Supply-side Structural Reform and Economic Transformation and Upgrading under the New Normal
- 14 China’s Economic Development and Cultural Rejuvenation
- 15 Reflections on Neoclassical Theories
- Book part
- Index
- References
3 - The Great Humiliation and the Socialist Revolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 December 2025
Translated by
Book contents
- Demystifying the Chinese Economy
- Demystifying the Chinese Economy
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- 1 Opportunities and Challenges in China’s Economic Development
- 2 Why the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions Bypassed China
- 3 The Great Humiliation and the Socialist Revolution
- 4 The Comparative Advantage-defying, Catching-up Strategy and China’s Traditional Economic System
- 5 Enterprise Viability and Factor Endowments
- 6 The Comparative Advantage-following Development Strategy
- 7 Rural Reform and the Three Rural Issues
- 8 Urban Reform and the Remaining Issues
- 9 Reforming the State-owned Enterprises
- 10 The Financial Reforms
- 11 Deflationary Expansion and Building a New Socialist Countryside
- 12 Improving the Market System and Promoting Fairness and Efficiency for Harmonious Development
- 13 Supply-side Structural Reform and Economic Transformation and Upgrading under the New Normal
- 14 China’s Economic Development and Cultural Rejuvenation
- 15 Reflections on Neoclassical Theories
- Book part
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter describes the century-long national salvation spanning from 1840 when China was reduced to a semi-colony of Western powers as a result of the Opium War, to 1949, when the PRC was founded. This period coincides with the exploration for the path of national rejuvenation among Chinese intellectuals, characterized by a shift in focus from inherited artifacts to social organizations, and to ideas, habits, and values. These endeavors ultimately culminated in the socialist revolution.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Demystifying the Chinese Economy , pp. 54 - 71Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
Huntington, Samuel P. “The Clash of Civilizations.” Foreign Affairs 72(3) (1993): 22–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, Justin Y., Cai, Fang, and Li, Zhou. The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Lin, Justin Y., Cai, Fang, and Li, Zhou. The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform, revised ed. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Maddison, Angus. The World Economy. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malinowski, Bronislaw. A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1944.Google Scholar
Prebisch, Raúl. The Economic Development of Latin America and Its Principal Problems. New York: United Nations, 1950.Google Scholar
Singer, Hans W. “The Distribution of Gains between Borrowing and Investing Countries.” American Economic Review 40 (1950): 473–85.Google Scholar
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