Chang-tai Hung is the author of two highly praised works on modern Chinese political culture, War and Popular Culture: Resistance in Modern China 1937-1945 and Going to the People: Chinese Intellectuals and Folk Literature 1918-1937. Equally acute, this study of the newly established regime in China in the early 1950s will appeal to a wide range of readers. The book's three main themes are the strong although not unchallenged influence of Soviet political culture in the early 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party's mostly successful use of nationalistic appeals, and, through both of these factors and more, its successful establishment of authoritarian rule that continues in modified form to the present day. Much of this is relevant to the present day, not least the CCP's flexibility in adapting the Soviet model to Chinese conditions; although the Soviet influence is now mostly erased from state propaganda, its legacy is still visually apparent as well as deeply embedded in cultural practice, and references to Stalin's cult of the personality are well taken. Other persistent themes include the global comparisons of economic outputs (starting around the time of the Great Leap Forward) and the ruthless destruction of neighbourhoods and the city walls for massive reconstruction, such as the buildings flanking Tiananmen Square and the square itself. The CCP's appeals to nationalism are also familiar, and Hung is particularly good at delineating the contested areas of modernity and tradition that were crucial in creating a new national identity. Above all, what emerges from the case studies that form the bulk of this book is the determination and skill exhibited by the CCP and its supporters in creating and maintaining a centralized cultural regime in a huge and diverse country.
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