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"Strange things happen when Chinese dynasties near their end. Dams break, earthquakes hit, clouds appear in the shape of weird beasts, rain falls in odd colors, and insects infest the countryside. These are the ill omens of moral turpitude and political collapse. While greed and cynicism poison the society from within, barbarians stir restlessly at the gates. Corrupt officials, whose authority can no longer rely on the assumption of superior virtue, exercise their power with anxious and arbitrary brutality. When people, even those who live far from the centers of power, begin to sense that the Mandate of Heaven is slipping away from their corrupted rulers, rebellious spirits press their claims as the saviors of China, with promises of moral restoration and national unity. Millenarian cults and secret societies proliferate and sometimes explode in massive violence."What does it mean to be Chinese? Few questions in history have been as fateful. Bad Elements is the result of Ian Buruma's five years of travels throughout the Chinese-speaking world observing the varying groups competing for a right to define its answer. From the diaspora of exiles in the West, to Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, to factions within the People's Republic itself, Buruma comes to terms with the range of dissident communities competing to shape China's future in their own image.A brave and illuminating reckoning with the groups fighting for the Mandate of Heaven, Bad Elements is also a profound meditation on the universal themes of national identity and political struggle.From the Hardcover edition.
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Public opinion, Politics and government, Dissenters, Attitudes, Human rights, Communism, Chinese, Foreign public opinion, Meningsverschillen, Dissidenten, Toekomstverwachtingen, Chinezen, New York Times reviewed, Human rights, china, China, politics and government, 1976-Places
China, Foreign countriesTimes
1976-2002Showing 6 featured editions. View all 6 editions?
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1
Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing
January 7, 2003, Vintage
Paperback
in English
0679781366 9780679781363
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2
Bad Elements
August 7, 2003, Orion, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
Paperback
- New Ed edition
0753816997 9780753816998
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3 |
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4
Bad elements: Chinese rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing
2002, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
in English
0297643134 9780297643135
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5
Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing
November 20, 2001, Random House
Hardcover
in English
- 1st edition
0679457682 9780679457688
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6
Bad elements: among the rebels, dissidents, and democrats of greater China
2001, Random House
in English
- 1st ed.
0679457682 9780679457688
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