Introduction

Abstract

The century-long debate scrutinizing China's cultural heritage and the road to wealth and power (modernization) reached a crescendo in 1988 with the publication of a best-selling book, performances of a six-part series on national television, and soul-searching discussion culminating in the banning of He shang (River elegy, or Deathsong of the river). Cutting to the heart of the emotional issues pertaining to assessment of Chinese tradition and the West, the debate provides insight into the cultural and political conflicts of the era and the democratic movement of 1989 that it helped shape.