China，and indeed the world， has changed very rapidly in recent decades. Our world faces more uncertainty ahead， with potential international crises and the threat of war. The world needs to better understand the inner workings and com-plexities of China. It is my hope that this book， as translated into English， can share my experiences and offer insider insight into China's complex recent history from a writer who has seen the wider world and can contribute to the crucial process of greater mutual understanding.

　　Then，on June 15，1953，Mao Zedong put forward a new general line and tasks for the transitional period at the enlarged meeting of the Political BLu：eau of the Central Committee. Thereafter，he mentioned the general line many times. At that time，there was an analogy in which the genetalline was likened to a bitd，socialist industrialization to the body，and socialist transformation of agricultute，handicraft and industry and commefce to the wings of the bird. It was reported，when revising related documents，that Mao Zedong had described the general line for the transitional period in such detail as： "The time between the founding of the People's Republic of China and the basic completion of socialist transformation is a period of transition. The Party's general line and general task for the transition period is to gradually accomplish the country's industriaLization along with the socialist transfOfmation of agriculture，handicraft and capitalist industry and commerce over a relatively long period of time.
　　The genetal line is just like a lighthouse guiding out work. Without it，right and left deviationist mistakes would be unavoidable."What I can recall of what I felt at that moment is： I had assumed，after the founding of New China in 1949，there would be a new democratic construction or ruling period.Little did I expect that，after： only three years，Mao Zedong would announce the launch of socialist construction. They said that what is most important in a revolution is to wrest political power. In 1949，revolutionaries took helm of the state，dtopping the curtains on the new democtatic revolution. What came next would be socialist industtialization and transformation.
　　At least，for me，a somewhat naive young Communist，it happened too quickly. I came to understand suddenly that the period of new democracy had passed in silence. How impatient we were！ As a matter of fact，"new democracy" turned out to be more a slogan for overthrowing the old tegime，rather than a new social concept，and even had little to do with the new social construction New China was undergoing. A new light broke into my mind that this theoty of new democracy had silently exited the histotical stage. This seemed to be quite different ffom the earlier rhetoric. Nevertheless，what they had talked about earlier had indeed also been tather ambiguous，never gone into detail.
　　……

Chapter 1 A Sense of Youth： As an Old Regime Nears Its End
Chapter 2 Mao Zedong Said： "What Is Left but Revolution?"
Chapter 3 Reveling the Joys of Victory
Chapter 4 Did State-Controlled Purchase and Sales Necessarily Mean Tighter Polcies?
Chapter 5 Communist Party Flags Flutter over China
Chapter 6 A Critique of The Life of Wu Xun Ushering in Continuous Struggles in Culture and Thought
Chapter 7 The Great Wonder of All the People Killing Sparrows
Chapter 8 Engaging in Campaigns after Campaigns
Chapter 9 Pen in Hand， My Mind Lost in a Maze in 1957
Chapter 10 The Great Leap Forward， 1958-60
Chapter 11 Difficult Time： Moving Forward or Backward?
Chapter 12 Mao Zedong， Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh in the 1960s
Chapter 13 Zhao Puchu's Literary Grace and Dagger-Sharp Verse against Revisionism
Chapter 14 We Must Carry Out the Cultural Revolution
Chapter 15 Tightening while Loosening， Adhering while Relaxing
Chapter 16 Everlasting Memories of 1976
Chapter 17 The Beginning of the Post-Cultural Revolution Era
Chapter 18 Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones
Chapter 19 Prolonged Intense Literary and Arts Debates at the F：nd of the 20th Century
Chapter 20 Awkwardness and Innovation in Ideology
Chapter 21 A Flourishing of New Words and Expressions in the 1980s
Chapter 22 Material Life， Money， Corruption
Chapter 23 The Dance between Ideology， Authority and Actual Performance
Chapter 24 A Determinant： The CPC and Democratic Process
Chapter 25 Evolution and Scrutiny of Political Rhetoric
Chapter 26 More Depth and Clarity
Chapter 27 Give Leaders Truth rather than Just Pleasing Them
Chapter 28 Appreciation， Challenges and the Future