China Changes Face : The Road from Revolution, 1949-1989

China has changed dramatically since Mao's victory over the Nationalists in 1949. Once a revered leader, Mao is now publically criticized for leading his people astray. And if seven hundred thousand landlords and rich farmers were executed during the land reform of the 1950, today private enterprise flourishes, and the Chinese people aspire to dishwashers and color TVs. In China Changes Face, John Gittings examines the political, social, and cultural changes that have swept China during the last four decades. He explores the Cultural Revolution and how the Chinese view it now, the evolving theories of socialism and the new enthusiam for capitalism and foreign trade, and the changing fortunes of political figures such as Lin Biao, the Gang of Four, and Deng Xiaoping. Gittings incorporates many vivid quotes from Mao, dissident writers, Red Guards, hopeful peasants, and new entrepreneurs, giving readers a more immediate sense of China today. Written for anyone interested in China--general readers, tourists, or students--China Changes Face offers an engaging introduction to the China of the 1990s, as seen on the 40th anniversary of the Communist victory.