The End of the China Model: From Imperial Examination Autocracy to Digital Authoritarianism, Revealing the Destiny of China's Governance System

 
 
  This is by far the best book I have read on Chinese bureaucracy, and possibly one of the best books on China in general.
                  ──Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, one of the world's top 100 thinkers
 
　Beyond its stunning originality, brilliant and insightful theoretical arguments, Yasheng Huang's book also stands out for its methodological mastery. It employs a wide range of comparative cases and robust statistical analyses to illustrate how the introduction of an institution fundamentally changed Chinese history. Written in an elegant and accessible style, this book will be a perfect textbook for graduate and undergraduate students... It is a contemporary classic and an inspiring example of theoretical ambition and academic excellence.
 ——Minxin Pei, China Quarterly
 
　Professor Yasheng Huang's work opens up a new framework for "scientific institutionalism" in Chinese studies. The author proposes the "EAST" model, answering why China has been able to maintain its longevity for millennia and effectively control popular protests, from the imperial examination system to contemporary "Xi's China." This book establishes a "grand historical view of China," reflecting China's imperial culture and ruling code. It is a must-read.
──Kuo-cheng Sung, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, and author of China's Lost Speed
 
　Yasheng Huang's book is a must-read for anyone in politics, business, or academia who wants to understand China's future direction. Its penetrating power lies in the author's use of the same framework to explain why the "rise" of the CCP regime was short-lived, uncover the "chronic illness" that this regime has suffered "since ancient times," and point out why it is bound to "relapse."
──Xiaonong Cheng, Head of the Princeton China Center, and author of Deconstructing the US-China Cold War
 
　This fascinating and informative book combines historical resonance with modern China, and highlights the more worrying traits and risks of China under Xi Jinping.
——George Magnus, author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Crisis
 
　An extraordinary and innovative argument on a crucial question: why has China's authoritarian system been so durable? Yasheng Huang focuses particularly on China's traditional imperial examination system and offers a powerful new explanation.
——Rana Mitter, author of China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism
 
 
　In his new book, Yasheng Huang describes the harshness of the imperial examination system in China... Professor Huang argues that the imperial examinations stifled ancient innovation and sees in this a cautionary tale for China under Xi Jinping.
——The Economist
 

 
China's rise is one of the most astonishing phenomena in the modern world. But is its rise accidental, a miracle, or rooted in a long-evolved institutional design? And does this institutional design, while bringing success, also have built-in risks of decline?
 
To understand today's Xi Jinping, one must first comprehend the 1,300-year-old "imperial examination" system
Over the past four decades, the world has marveled at China's economic miracle, seeing it as a unique "China model" combining authoritarian politics with a market economy. However, as economic growth slows and social control tightens, this superpower seems to be entering a cold winter. Yasheng Huang, a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management, puts forward a shocking view in this book: our misunderstanding of China lies in misjudging its timeline.
 
The author is not only a professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, a visiting scholar at the Kissinger Center, and a consultant for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. But more importantly, he possesses a unique perspective, having been born in mainland China, educated at Harvard, with a grandfather who was one of the fifty-seven founding elders of the Chinese Communist Party, and a father who was a victim of the Cultural Revolution. This tension in identity gives him the rare ability to both deeply understand the Chinese system and maintain a critical distance.
 
Therefore, Professor Yasheng Huang, with his vision spanning history, economics, politics, and institutional analysis, proposes a bold and insightful model: "EAST." These four English letters represent Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology—precisely the four pillars on which China has built its powerful state capacity for millennia.
 
Through Exams, all clever people are made obedient
　　It is not just a selection system, but a tool for comprehensive formatting of thought. It monopolizes the minds of all elites, in exchange for absolute obedience to imperial power.
 
Implementing Autocracy makes civilian voices disappear
　　Through the imperial examinations, social forces are hollowed out, creating an unorganized society that ensures state power is unchallenged and governance has no blind spots.
 
Maintaining Stability loses the ability to self-correct
　　This extreme control has led to an extraordinary longevity of the regime, but it has also trapped the state in a reluctance to innovate and progress. The superficial stability has instead led to stagnation.
 
Dominating Technology cannot produce disruptive innovation
　　State dominance can bring great engineering achievements, but it stifles the free soil required for scientific exploration, dooming the ceiling of technological innovation, leading to mere replication without invention.
 
　　History is repeating itself! The Chinese Communist Party did not create a new model, but inherited this ancient art of governance. The success of reform and opening up stemmed from a temporary relaxation of ideological control; however, in the Xi Jinping era, this mechanism has fully returned. What is more terrifying is that modern technology, far from bringing freedom, has become an accomplice in "digital imperial examinations," pushing state surveillance to Orwellian extremes.
 
　　In an era where authoritarianism is resurging and democratic beliefs are wavering, this book provides a new framework for understanding China, and offers warnings and insights for us to reconsider the nature and cost of "state success."

今周刊

9786267589687