REVIEW—The Great Wall—China against the world 1000BC-2000AD.

Once in a while a book that is originally about one topic illuminates greatly another. One book (that I can't blog about in China but contained a number of internal government documents about the happenings in a large square in Beijing in the late 80's) was one such book—highlighting the Chinese leadership and psychology behind the decisions of that summer almost two decades ago. This year another book has done much the same thing—while “The Great Wall” is about the history of the wall, its value is in the light it sheds on the development of the Chinese international perspective.The Chinese Govt., in the last 15 years, has obsessively used the call for a peaceful and harmonious society to limit opposition and galvanize support any and all state sponsored social positions. What’s so interesting about “The Great Wall” is the historical context into which this “new” desire for social harmony can be now placed. Indeed neither the desire for social harmony nor the enforced superiority of the Chinese “official” position is new to China. And more than just a list of dates, Julia Lovel’s analysis of Chinese international decision making over the last three millennia contextualizes beautifully the current regime’s thinking.Further illuminating is the historical details of what can easily be called a national superiority complex. I have for years been personally detailing what I see as a national inferiority complex—and I think they are one and the same. Chinese, in general, feel like and have been taught that they are historically, socially and educational superior to at least all others in Asia if not the world—hence the superiority complex. But very few of them can rationalize the current economic, military or political superiority of the immature (less than 300 years old) United States and it’s perceived humiliation of China-hence the inferiority complex. Lovel addresses these insecurities in the context of the national obsession with building and now showing-off the wall.Tackling 3000 years of wall building is no small task, but Lovel does it with such an easy flow that you forget about the dreariness of the lands and lives through which the wall passes. The book is fantastically descriptive of major historical events related to The Wall without ever becoming a boring list of names and places.Certainly not a quick read but definitely worth the investment if you want to understand the historical drivers of China’s international perceptions of itself.