Chinese vs. Western Perspectives - by Jinghao Zhou (Paperback)

About the Book

This book reflects the author's extensive research and thoughtful examination of many sides of controversial issues related to contemporary China. It is distinct from other studies on this subject in that the author is committed to examining today's China from Chinese as well ...

Book Synopsis

This book reflects the author's extensive research and thoughtful examination of many sides of controversial issues related to contemporary China. It is distinct from other studies on this subject in that the author is committed to examining today's China from Chinese as well as Western perspectives.

Review Quotes

Aiming to deconstruct several myths about contemporary China and assist foreign policy experts engaging with Beijing, Zhou provides an overview of the country's long history and its current problems for a foreign readership. An admirable departure from ultra-nationalist apologies, the book offers a refreshingly balanced discussion of political repression, gender equality, environmental degradation, and human rights issues related to explosive capitalism. Zhou also disproves the fear-based theory that China's development and growth are direct threats to the US, and repeatedly asserts that China's future prosperity depends on thorough political reform. . . .Zhou clearly writes with students in mind; his book addresses nearly every topic that students hunger to understand. Specific chapters could be assigned in virtually any class, and his book would work wonderfully in political science, international relations, and public policy library collections. Students writing research papers in these fields will find many citations to relevant scholarship. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Especially for undergraduate and professional readers.


Chinese vs. Western Perspectives: Understanding Contemporary China is a wonderful insider look from outside China. Unlike most Western scholars writing about China, Jinghao Zhou lived in China for the most part of his adult life and knows the Chinese culture and politics intimately. After teaching and living in the U.S. for many years, he is also able to see China from a distance. As a result, he has a unique perspective on China. His book represents one of the best scholarship in the field.

Jinghao Zhou asks important questions in his attempt at "Understanding Contemporary China," as his book's sub-title states. As a result of grappling with big issues, his work provides a good text for an introductory course on contemporary Chinese politics.

The book provides a comprehensive and insightful narrative of the multifaceted stories of contemporary China. Its examination of the paradoxes and dilemmas of the Chinese experience, placed within a historical context as well as an analytical framework, is a valuable addition to the existing literature in the field of China Studies.


Zhou's ambitious book covers a broad range of topics that can help readers unfamiliar with China recognize the wide array of complex issues that have shaped contemporary Chinese society, culture, politics, and economics. While covering immense historical periods and cultural traditions, he synthesizes both Chinese and Western academic perspectives from many disciplines into a very readable book.

About the Author

Jinghao Zhou is associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. He is the author of three books: China's Peaceful Rise in a Global Context: A Domestic Aspect of China's Road Map to Democratization (Lexington Books, 2010, paperback edition, 2012), Remaking China's Public Philosophy and Chinese Women's Liberation: The Volatile Mixing of Confucianism, Marxism, and Feminism (Edwin Mellen Press, 2006), Remaking China's Public Philosophy for the Twenty-first Century (Praeger Publishers, 2003). His thirty plus articles in English appear in various journals and newspapers, such as The Journal of Comparative Asian Development, American Journal of Chinese Studies, Journal of China: An International Journal, Asian Mission, Asian Perspective, Journal of International Women's Studies, Journal of Religion and Society, In the National Interests, Journal of Church and State, International Journal of China Studies, China Review International, and Asia Times. He has also published more than forty articles in Chinese journals and newspapers.