Mandarins and Merchants: After Tiananmen

Book excerpt: Even as late as 1989, most young Chinese professionals believed they could predict their entire future lives. But when the Chinese government followed the Tiananmen killings with vigorous promotion of free enterprise, the rules began to change daily. The security of assigned jobs free housing and other benefits dwindled or disappeared as more initiative to get rich was encouraged. This account, based on personal observations during the two years after Tiananmen, follows a number of young Chinese as they struggle to invent individual strategies for coping with changes they could never have predicted. The images and character sketches are forceful and succinct, and evoke a person, place or mood with apparent fidelity. --Jonathan Spence Margaret Dickeman Datz makes the people, places and culture of China come alive better than any China book Ive read. Her book is a true human drama. --Arnold Hano