AmbroseYeo-chiKinghasbeenapioneersincethemid-1960stheorizingChina’smodernizationprocess.China’sGreatTransformation:SelectedEssaysonConfucianism,Modernization,andDemocracyisacollectionofhispaperspublishedbetween1975and1997.ThesetwodecadesareturningpointsforChinaasweobservedthefollowingdramatichistoricaltrends—theshiftfromrevolutionaryMaoismtoFourModernizationsinmainlandChina,theunexpecteddemocratictransitioninTaiwan,andtheriseoffourlittledragons(HongKong,Taiwan,SouthKorea,andSingapore)inEastAsia.Focusingontheculturaldimension,King’sessaysinthisvolumeareaimedtounderstand,tointerpret,ortoexplainallthesenewdevelopmentsfromahistorical,comparativeframework.
Kingobviouslyisaculturalistandascholarinthemodernizationcamp,butheatthesametimevoicesmanysharpcriticismsonthemodernizationtheoryandoffersafreshreinterpretationofConfucianculture.Heemphasizestheroleofcultureinsocietaltransformation,buthenevertakescultureforgranted,andexaminesitasadynamichistoricalprocessalwayssubjecttochangeandembeddedinpoliticaleconomyandsocialinstitutions.
HONGKONG KING CONFUCIANISM Taiwan CHINA SELECTED GREAT
