Saving the World ─ Chen Hongmou and Elite Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China

Chen Hongmou (1696-1771) was a Qing Dynasty era Chinese official who had served as governor-general, governor, and in other posts in more than a dozen provinces, achieving after his death a reputation as a model official. Rowe (Chinese history, Johns Hopkins U.) examines his life as a window into the views Qing officials had of the perfect world and their role in attempting to achieve it. Because the role of the Qing statesmen (Chen in particular) came to be seen as the model for succeeding generations of Chinese statesmen, Rowe feels that the study of their world views offers a valuable window into the values of Chinese statecraft. Three conflicting tensions that were emerging in elite consciousness are the focus of Rowe's investigation: a neo-Confucian orthodoxy that clashed with the rising valuation of technocratic prowess, contradictory views of the use of the state apparatus versus local elites and communities, and the traditional emphasis on groups in Chinese culture that was coming up against a growing of the dignity and productive potential of the individual. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)