China is one of the oldest cultures in the world history. From archaeological and anthropological discoveries, China area has been inhabited by humans since ancient 1.7 million years ago. Chinese civilization originated from various city states along the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic era. China's written history began in the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1750 BC - 1045 BC).
History has proved that China is a nation-state are managed through various episodes of life, with a tragic ending or a happy story. Of a great nation, led by various dynasties, China had to pass first "period of humiliation" by European powers since the mid-19th century before finally "freed" by the communist forces under the leadership of Mao Zedong in 1949.
Mao's China in the future is China that "hate but homesick" for both the U.S. and the Soviet Union - a foreign policy posture that eventually make China should isolate itself from the international arena. Meanwhile, in the domestic difficulties of people due to political adventure Mao culminated in the Great Leap Forward (1958-60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).
Mao's China in the future is a socialist state in which the state plays a major role in economic development. In the industrial sector, for example, state-owned enterprises yields a more than 60 per cent of gross value of industrial production. In the urban sector, the government is the only agency authorized to set prices of key commodities, determine the distribution of investment funds, allocated energy resources, set wage labor, and control of financial policy and the banking system. Foreign trade system is also a monopoly of the government since the early 1950s.
Since Mao "went to Marx" in September 1976, China began to open itself and adopt open market reforms. Since 1978 the role of the central government under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping in regulating the dwindling economy, coupled with the growing role of both private companies and other market forces. As a result, the Chinese economy showed astonishing dynamism: between 1978 and 1995, China's contribution to world GDP increased from 5% to 10.9%. Although China is still relatively poor in the context of per capita income, this result has fueled speculation about the future of China. In fact there are observers who say that the success of China to not be dragged into a wave of the Asian economic crisis, China's economy is expected to be able to match the United States in about 2015.
China enters the 21st century with the remnants of socialist ideology in one leg and endeavor to be one of world power in the other leg. When China during Mao's rule still apply autocratic rules, excessive veneration on the figure of the leader of the country, the rigid orthodoxy and isolationism, then in the 1990s and early 21st century China's government faced a much more educated population and could articulate yourself.
Chinese communist revolution that had adored (which is closely related to the working class radicalism, egalitarianism, and hostile alisme imperi-West) has been replaced by a modernized China, with an integrated capitalist industrial economy to the world, the application of the concept of democracy, and human resource development through the education system advanced. This is evidence of a refusal on the revolution in the name of modernization or in other words on the rejection of socialism in the name of capitalism.
Transition from a centralized socialist economy towards a free market economy is making most of the living standard of the Chinese people has improved. It is therefore not surprising that prosperity is no longer a luxury item in China. Economic boom has brought great advances in the standard of living of most urban Chinese. Although China is not necessarily soon will be free and open society, but restrictions on pop culture and other harmful things from the West have started to minus three quarter proof that capitalism had become deeply put the nails in China.
The transition also raises acute issues that must be addressed immediately. Kenneth Lieberthal, a sinolog from the University of Michigan, make a list of five tergawat problems facing China today: (1) decrease the degree of environmental quality, (2) unemployed, (3) separatist conflicts that lead to disintegration, (4) China's participation in the WTO, and (5) corruption is endemic.
In relation to the latter issue, China is aware that a political and social environment stable is a necessity for maintaining a healthy economic development, including the fight against corruption. This is why the Chinese government since the beginning of the reform has been determined to make economic development as the primary task and with it also struggling against corruption to ensure stability and promote reform and development.
Given the importance of China today in many fields, it is not an exaggeration to stated that we need to look at how the development of culture and history to be as current as the reflection of a very valuable material. This book complements the history of China in Indonesian paper titled China Nio Joe Lan Sepandjang Ages. At least this work will facilitate sinologi scholars and the general public in the study of Chinese history.
