A tragedy of history: The Chinese search for democracy in the twentieth century∗

Lloyd E. Eastman suggested that, “Because of the nature of Chinese society and of its political traditions, it is perhaps one of China's tragedies during the twentieth century that, in the quest for a viable political system, attempts had been made to erect democratic institutions.” Is Eastman's statement too pessimistic? And why has the tragedy recurred? This paper tries to answer these questions by examining some major events in the Chinese search for democracy.