Using the Past to Serve the Present

An historiographical examination of the political debates of the 1980s over despotism in Chinese history and over Party history. The extent of popular culture and its reinterpretation of history is also assessed, as governmental control of the media has decreased. Acknowledgements, Contributors, Introduction, 'The Play's the Thing': Wu Han and Hai Rui Revisited, 'In Guise of a Congratulation': Political Symbolism in Zhou Xinfang's Play Hai Rui Submits His Memorial, The Strange Case of Liu Zhidan, Qu Yuan and the Artists: Ancient Symbols and Modem Politics in the Post-Mao Era, Party Historiography, The Controversy over 'Feudal Despotism': Politics and Historiography in China, 1978-82, 'The Spiritual Heritage of Chinese Capitalism': Recent Trends in the Historiography of Chinese Enterprise Management, Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Sun Yatsen and the International Development of China, History for the Masses, Index