Great Equal Society, The: Confucianism, China And The 21St Century Paperback – October 10, 2013

The authors focus on Confucius' notion of a dàtóng society, a radically cooperative, equitable national family.Alas, they assume that the PRC has abandoned this vision for China, when it most definitely has not.Instead, the PRC has created a xiaokang society in preparation for dàtóng, just as Confucius directed.But every Chinese leader from Sun Yat Sen to Mao to President Hu has reminded the nation to remember that their ultimate goal is dàtóng, and that establishing China as a moderately prosperous society by 2021 is just the prelude to their ultimate vision.The authors are also unfamiliar with some critical turning points in recent history.They state, for example, that in 1989 students saw Deng Xiaoping as a hero, when in fact their demonstrations were against his ham-fisted attempts to create capitalism over night. Many, for example, carried banners reading, "It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as the cat resigns."They also accept the Western narrative about a Tiananmen Square massacre, when there was none. The students went home peacefully.But these are quibbles. They are to be praised for drawing attention to the real meaning of the Chinese Dream and we can look forward to hearing more about that in the coming years.

Interesting reading but a bit repetitive. The topic is extremely interesting but the flow of the book and the way to approah it couldhave been more entartaining.

very interesting and informative. Compares American and Chinese cultures and shows the similarity and differences.