Authority and Welfare in China

This book describes the relationship between political authoritarianism and people's welfare in modern China. Based on a study of Chinese political discourse from the 1898 reform period to the present, the book demonstrates that support for authoritarian rule in modern China is best understood when compared to ancient political traditions of authority and welfare that were established in China's late Zhou dynasty by the Confucian philosopher Xunzi (298-238 BC).

'In this thought-provoking study, Michael Twohey persuasively argues that the Confucian conception of the relationship between authority and welfare, informed by Xunzi's political thought, is a pertinent frame of reference for understanding contemporary Chinese statecraft. He has demontrated that familiarity with Xunzi's ideas of group, natural inquality and great harmony can significantly enhance our appreciation of the rhetoric and ritural of exercising power in the People's Republic of China. His analysis of the debates on New Authoritarianism offers a fresh perspective on democracy and socialism in China.' - Tu Weiming, Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy, Harvard University and Director, Harvard-Yenching Institute

'Michael Twohey sets aside the long-standing disposition to see political arguments in China in the past hundred years from a liberal or Marxist point of view, argues that to call them 'Confucian' is too simple, and demonstrates their strikingly pragmatic continuity from Kang through Sun Yat-sen and the early Mao and Deng to the present. The result is a clear, powerful and persuasive intellectual history, of the first importance for understanding China in the twentieth century and its likely progress into the twenty-first.' - Geoffrey Hawthorn, University of Cambridge

'A thought-provoking and persuasive book! In this thought-provoking study, Michael Twohey persuasively argues that the Confucian conception of the relationship between authority and welfare, informed by Xunzi's political thought, is a pertinent frame of reference for understanding contemporary Chinese statecraft. He has demonstrated that familiarity with Xunzi's ideas of group, natural inequality and great harmony can significantly enhance our appreciation of the rhetoric and ritual of exercising power in the People's Republic of China. His analysis of the debates on New Authoritarianism offers a fresh perspective on democracy and socialism in China.' - Tu Weiming, Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy, Harvard University and Director, the Harvard-Yenching Institute

'A clear, powerful and persuasive intellectual history. Michael Twohey sets aside the long-standing disposition to see political arguments in China in the past hundred years from a liberal or Marxist point of view, argues that to call them 'Confucian' is too simple, and demonstrates their strikingly pragmatic continuity from Kang through Sun Yat-sen and the early Mao and Deng to the present. The result is a clear, powerful and persuasive intellectual history, of the first importance for understanding China in the twentieth century and its likely progress into the twenty-first.' - Geoffrey Hawthorn, University of Cambridge

'...a timely and interesting book...' - Ramon H. Meyers, Hoover Institution, Journal of Asian Studies

'Recommended for undergraduates, graduates, and faculty.' - S.K. Ma, California State University, Los Angeles, Choice>

Michael Twohey received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Cambridge University.