Balancing Changes. Seventy Years of People’s Republic of China

The book offers a comprehensive overview of changes in Chinese society in the last seventy years, since the formation of the People’s Republic of China. Within its pages, several authors focus on Chinese policy, as to how China is perceived, its relations with other countries, and related topics, such as Chinese soft power. There are also valuable chapters that focus on the transformation of language, and the use of classical Chinese in modern society, reflecting aspects of Chinese culture, and in particular the challenges of creating contemporary literature. The book portrays China through an interdisciplinary approach, which is innovative and deserves acclaim. I highly recommend this book to all interested in China, its activity on international arena, its society and culture.

Head of Department of East Asian Studies
Director of Confucius Institute
Comenius University in Bratislava

This important volume makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the political, social, and cultural changes within mainland China since the founding of the People’s Republic seventy years ago. Organized according to four broad thematic categories and focusing on change in its many manifestations, the contributions examine the legacy of Maoism in contemporary China, the transformations of language and literature, and the constant rethinking of art and culture as well as China’s present-day political and economic aspirations. With its focus on macro- and micro-historical and cultural developments along with its inclusion of substantial Chinese-language scholarship, this volume offers a great deal both to sinologists and students alike.

Dr Andreea Chirita
Department of Chinese Studies
University of Bucharest

Preface / 7

GUIDING THE CHANGES: THE LEGACY OF MAOISM

Dawid Rogacz
From Upcoming Liberation to Endless Imbalance. On Mao Zedong’s Philosophy of History / 15

Axel Dessein
Revisiting the Divergent Trajectories of the USSR and the PRC: Tracing the Origins of China’s Rise to 1953–1958 and the Sino-Soviet Split / 49

Konstantinas Andrijauskas
Physical Infrastructure and Manchuria’s Transformation into Northeast China / 83

REFLECTING THE CHANGES: TRANSFORMATIONS OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Maria Kurpaska
Dialectal Features in the Lexicon of Putonghua / 99

Mirjana Pavlović
Growing Up During the Cultural Revolution: Ah Cheng’s “Three Kings” / 117

Zofia Jakubów-Rosłan
70 “Hou” and 80 “Hou” Writers and Chinese Modernization: Evolving Attitudes toward Space / 131

Ioana Clara Enescu
Nature at the Borders, Borders of Nature. Jiang Rong, Guo Xuebo, Chi Zijian – a Comparative Analysis / 145

Daniela Zhang Cziráková
Woman’s Body as an Instrument of Rebellion – Erotic Motifs in the Novel “Candy” by Chinese Author Mian Mian / 161

RETHINKING THE CHANGES: TRANSITION OF ART AND CULTURE

Chi Yumei
In Search of the Origins of New Wave Cinema: the Emergence of a Chinese Intelligentsia Society at the Dawn of the 20th Century / 181

Kamil Burkiewicz
Future Written with a Brush Pen: The Role of Classical Chinese in Modern Political Discourse / 207

OPENING FOR CHANGES: CHINA’S ASPIRATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Norbert Nyári
Forms in Motion – National Image Building in Modern China / 223

Przemysław Sieradzan
The Concept of Multipolarity in Chinese Foreign Policy / 237

Anna Voloshina
The Taiwan Issue in Sino-American Relations (2008–2020) / 255

Michał Dahl, Hanna Kupś, Maciej Szatkowski
Space Program in the Creation of China’s Soft Power: Cultural and Political Context / 271

About the authors / 297

Michał Dahl

Hanna Kupś

Dawid Rogacz

Maciej Szatkowski