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Chinese Rules: Mao'S Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons for Understanding China
From the author of the acclaimed 'Mr China' comes another rip-roaring adventure story - part memoir, part history, part business imbroglio - that offers valuable lessons to help Westerners understand China. In the twenty-first century, as China grows more confident, there's a hunger in the West to understand what makes this immense country tick. Tim Clissold has lived and worked there for more than two decades, and in Chinese Rules he draws on his experience to reveal secrets that Westerners can use to navigate through its cultural and political maze. Picking up where the international bestseller 'Mr China' left off, the gripping narrative chronicles Clissold's adventures with Chinese bureaucrats, factory owners and local bigwigs as he struggles to build a climate change business in China. He soon finds himself caught between the world's largest carbon emitter and the world's richest man, and his story is peppered with entertaining and enlightening anecdotes that highlight the absurdities and mysteries, but also the rewards, of doing business in China.Exploring key episodes in China's long political, military, and cultural past, Clissold outlines five key Chinese Rules that anyone can deploy on the ground with their modern Chinese counterparts. These Chinese Rules will equip foreigners not just to co-operate better with China but to compete better as well.
268 pages, Hardcover
First published October 14, 2014
32 people are currently reading
577 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
September 15, 2021
I listened to the audio book. It is part story of two of Tim Clissold's carbon credit deals between large investors in the US and EU, China, the UN and Chinese history.
The history portion was very interesting as were the two stories Clissold shared.
The Chinese Rules were mentioned during the book and were somewhat hard to discern and Clissold summarized them at the end like this:
Rule 1: China doesn't play by anyone else's rules.
Rule 2: Stability is always the key for government officials
Rule 3: Never attack directly
Rule 4: Stick to practicalities and don't get hung up on side arguments about principles
Rule 5: Know yourself and know others and you'll survive 100 battles
Clissold referenced Sun Tzu's The Art of War and The Thirty-Six throughout this book as well and at the end talked about the calligrapher writing The Tao and I have read The Art of War and studied the Tao te Ching for a year and now plan to read the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
The history portion was very interesting as were the two stories Clissold shared.
The Chinese Rules were mentioned during the book and were somewhat hard to discern and Clissold summarized them at the end like this:
Rule 1: China doesn't play by anyone else's rules.
Rule 2: Stability is always the key for government officials
Rule 3: Never attack directly
Rule 4: Stick to practicalities and don't get hung up on side arguments about principles
Rule 5: Know yourself and know others and you'll survive 100 battles
Clissold referenced Sun Tzu's The Art of War and The Thirty-Six throughout this book as well and at the end talked about the calligrapher writing The Tao and I have read The Art of War and studied the Tao te Ching for a year and now plan to read the Thirty-Six Stratagems.
I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
December 1, 2015
Grope for stones to cross the stream
Tim Clissold's book is part memoir, and part cultural study, and uses Chinese stratagem and historical examples to buttress his argument about the difficulty of doing business in China.
The book is a memoir of a trip to China to negotiate carbon credits for a power plant within China's new, and hitherto, experimental, emissions trading scheme. However, with a business deal where much money hangs in the balance, much stubbornness and stonewalling is still found.
Clissold's primary source of comparison is Sun Zi's Art of War, but many other proverbs and anecdotes are used.
The book also contains a number of interesting interludes into the lives of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, and the author draws surprising parallels for the present.
The book can drag at times, and is something of a slow starter that I initially found myself struggling to persist with, however the book picks up and provided insight that even an experienced China hand such as myself found beneficial.
Tim Clissold writes a decent conclusion that essentially warns people that China will continue to do things in it's own way, and the West would benefit from a greater understanding of China.
At 273 pages and a fairly decent pace, Clissold's book is both readable and rewarding.
Tim Clissold's book is part memoir, and part cultural study, and uses Chinese stratagem and historical examples to buttress his argument about the difficulty of doing business in China.
The book is a memoir of a trip to China to negotiate carbon credits for a power plant within China's new, and hitherto, experimental, emissions trading scheme. However, with a business deal where much money hangs in the balance, much stubbornness and stonewalling is still found.
Clissold's primary source of comparison is Sun Zi's Art of War, but many other proverbs and anecdotes are used.
The book also contains a number of interesting interludes into the lives of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, and the author draws surprising parallels for the present.
The book can drag at times, and is something of a slow starter that I initially found myself struggling to persist with, however the book picks up and provided insight that even an experienced China hand such as myself found beneficial.
Tim Clissold writes a decent conclusion that essentially warns people that China will continue to do things in it's own way, and the West would benefit from a greater understanding of China.
At 273 pages and a fairly decent pace, Clissold's book is both readable and rewarding.
August 18, 2019
Dogshit.
Tim Clissold has decided to write a personal memoir of his time in China. These are a popular subgenre of Western literature on China, generally written by vapid businessmen who pretend to teach you something about China while spending most of their time talking about their amazing skills (See: KFC in ChinaKFC in China: Secret Recipe for Success for an excellent example of this kind of dogshit).
A handful of sentences on p. 14 really typified the whole book for me. On visiting a bookshop in Beijing, he sets himself up to reveal the essence of the Chinese character, he presents his qualifications to boil down a billion people into two hundred pages.
"I had heard about Sunzi, but had never taken The Art of War too seriously; tales of battle plans from the sixth century BC had seemed too remote to be of much use in the modern age. But I found the shelves there lined with piles of clothbound books I had never heard of, like the Book of Qi and the Records of Tan Daoji. I discoverd an enormous volume of historical records covering power struggles, plots, and intrigues stretching back well past the time of the European Dark Ages. At first I couldn't understand the antiquated Chinese language, with its ancient, recondite characters, so I sought out translations, trying to put the Chinese and English together to look for a deeper meaning."
Here is what he is really saying:
He has not actually read much Chinese stuff, but he is going to pretend like he has in order to bamboozle you into buying his book. He cannot read classical Chinese (the archaic form of Chinese he that he refers to , which is also necessary to read any text written before approximately a century ago).
Another question: what kind of bookshop in Beijing worth its salt has English translations? Obviously, h
Finally, what kind of ungodly asshole uses a contraction like "couldn't" in mildly serious writing. What a fucking asshole. I couldn't and still can't believe it.
I made it 11% through this shitty book before I could struggle no more.
Dogshit.
Tim Clissold has decided to write a personal memoir of his time in China. These are a popular subgenre of Western literature on China, generally written by vapid businessmen who pretend to teach you something about China while spending most of their time talking about their amazing skills (See: KFC in ChinaKFC in China: Secret Recipe for Success for an excellent example of this kind of dogshit).
A handful of sentences on p. 14 really typified the whole book for me. On visiting a bookshop in Beijing, he sets himself up to reveal the essence of the Chinese character, he presents his qualifications to boil down a billion people into two hundred pages.
"I had heard about Sunzi, but had never taken The Art of War too seriously; tales of battle plans from the sixth century BC had seemed too remote to be of much use in the modern age. But I found the shelves there lined with piles of clothbound books I had never heard of, like the Book of Qi and the Records of Tan Daoji. I discoverd an enormous volume of historical records covering power struggles, plots, and intrigues stretching back well past the time of the European Dark Ages. At first I couldn't understand the antiquated Chinese language, with its ancient, recondite characters, so I sought out translations, trying to put the Chinese and English together to look for a deeper meaning."
Here is what he is really saying:
He has not actually read much Chinese stuff, but he is going to pretend like he has in order to bamboozle you into buying his book. He cannot read classical Chinese (the archaic form of Chinese he that he refers to , which is also necessary to read any text written before approximately a century ago).
Another question: what kind of bookshop in Beijing worth its salt has English translations? Obviously, h
Finally, what kind of ungodly asshole uses a contraction like "couldn't" in mildly serious writing. What a fucking asshole. I couldn't and still can't believe it.
I made it 11% through this shitty book before I could struggle no more.
Dogshit.
January 14, 2023
Maybe 2.5.
Based on the title, I thought this book would be a list of "rules" the Chinese tend to follow in life or business and how to navigate them. I suppose if you dig really deep it was kinda that. But more it was just a memoir of some business deals this author did in China interspersed with some history lessons. The history lessons were interesting. And in fact the memoir of the business deals was ok (though memoirs of business deals are not my cup of tea) but where was the indepth look at these supposed "rules" and why they are important? In fact, until the very end when the rules are actually spelled out I had no idea what they really were. Every few chapters he says "Rule number #" but the lesson that I took from the section and what were listed toward the very end were not generally the same. Essentially, I think he failed spectacularly in the premise of the book even if the stories were interesting. Did I learn about China? Yes, I suppose because I'm not super familiar with Chinese history and how carbon business deals work. But did I better understand these so-called "rules"? No, because I already kinda knew that China operates differently from the west and that's what the main lesson of the book is. I wanted more!
Based on the title, I thought this book would be a list of "rules" the Chinese tend to follow in life or business and how to navigate them. I suppose if you dig really deep it was kinda that. But more it was just a memoir of some business deals this author did in China interspersed with some history lessons. The history lessons were interesting. And in fact the memoir of the business deals was ok (though memoirs of business deals are not my cup of tea) but where was the indepth look at these supposed "rules" and why they are important? In fact, until the very end when the rules are actually spelled out I had no idea what they really were. Every few chapters he says "Rule number #" but the lesson that I took from the section and what were listed toward the very end were not generally the same. Essentially, I think he failed spectacularly in the premise of the book even if the stories were interesting. Did I learn about China? Yes, I suppose because I'm not super familiar with Chinese history and how carbon business deals work. But did I better understand these so-called "rules"? No, because I already kinda knew that China operates differently from the west and that's what the main lesson of the book is. I wanted more!
May 11, 2021
If you are reading this book in business class on a direct flight to Shanghai, you're the mark.
February 10, 2025
If only western politicians and commentators on China read more books like this before opening their mouth or putting pen to paper.
October 29, 2017
Mind Opening.
A great book to understand differences between Chinese and Western cultural and business norms. Values can be relative and the Chinese approach to strategy and negotiations, although difficult to understand from Western lenses, has invaluable lessons that can be applied to a number of situations in business and in Life.
A great book to understand differences between Chinese and Western cultural and business norms. Values can be relative and the Chinese approach to strategy and negotiations, although difficult to understand from Western lenses, has invaluable lessons that can be applied to a number of situations in business and in Life.
December 19, 2019
Interesting. I chose this book because I was bored and wanted something that was a tiny bit interesting but not too interesting because peace and stuff. I've also been struggling with culture and personality differences with my Dad, whom my mom believes had a very traditional Chinese way of parenting. I wanted to know what she meant.
The book didn't really go into traditional Chinese family stuff, but it was more on political strategies used in the past, which the author explains and also tries to use in his own 20th century business dealings with Chinese people.
It was interesting to know more about politics and the people in charge. I used to ignore this stuff because I felt like it was useless. It didn't really matter how they got into power and their fears because whatever they said I'd have to obey anyway. That's why my mom says I'm too honest and trusting. Anyway, seeing that these political people were actually people whos had insecurities, failures, humiliation, dreams, tries, selfishness, pride, ego, bravy, anger, spitefulness and altruism like people, made me realize that ok they're not 'God'. They're kinda fuck ups sometimes too. And even more so, because they take bigger risks than me so they're failures are worse. They also grow up as teens wanting to do more, some feeling out of place, work in jobs that didn't really make them feel fulfilled because society made them do it, and feeling powerless with little options to change their circumstances until other things happened and they're taking risks with their visions, with small and big victories, and small and big failures, hiding with their life at stake when it's really bad and maybe being humiliated is the worst of all :( anyway, interesting. In summary I guess author put history into more realistic perspective for me, which is a relief from my long fiction reading strike and my idealistic and demanding dad.
The actions of Cordelia in the book was really realistic to me. The indirect ways she was dishonest
Author put things into more realistic perspective for me.
I listened to the audiobook version and it was kinda funny but kinda awful that the narrator often pronounced Deng Xiaoping as "Dung" for short. The way the narrator passionately and almost angrily talks about "Dung" made it feel a bit offensive.
The book didn't really go into traditional Chinese family stuff, but it was more on political strategies used in the past, which the author explains and also tries to use in his own 20th century business dealings with Chinese people.
It was interesting to know more about politics and the people in charge. I used to ignore this stuff because I felt like it was useless. It didn't really matter how they got into power and their fears because whatever they said I'd have to obey anyway. That's why my mom says I'm too honest and trusting. Anyway, seeing that these political people were actually people whos had insecurities, failures, humiliation, dreams, tries, selfishness, pride, ego, bravy, anger, spitefulness and altruism like people, made me realize that ok they're not 'God'. They're kinda fuck ups sometimes too. And even more so, because they take bigger risks than me so they're failures are worse. They also grow up as teens wanting to do more, some feeling out of place, work in jobs that didn't really make them feel fulfilled because society made them do it, and feeling powerless with little options to change their circumstances until other things happened and they're taking risks with their visions, with small and big victories, and small and big failures, hiding with their life at stake when it's really bad and maybe being humiliated is the worst of all :( anyway, interesting. In summary I guess author put history into more realistic perspective for me, which is a relief from my long fiction reading strike and my idealistic and demanding dad.
The actions of Cordelia in the book was really realistic to me. The indirect ways she was dishonest
Author put things into more realistic perspective for me.
I listened to the audiobook version and it was kinda funny but kinda awful that the narrator often pronounced Deng Xiaoping as "Dung" for short. The way the narrator passionately and almost angrily talks about "Dung" made it feel a bit offensive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2019
If you like to geek out on geo-politics, carbon markets, financing, war strategy, and China then this book is for you. The book recounts Tim Clissold's backstory of how he got involved with the carbon markets filled with some "only in china" layers of negotiation tactics (traced back to Art of War techniques). He paints a beautiful narrative with authority on why things happen the way they do.
I particularly enjoyed how well he painted the layers of UN bureaucracy (the many different layers of approval required by an application) that allowed financing for projects to sell "Carbon Credits" which have no underlying value in emissions reductions, and the sorts of acrobatics that people had to go through to delude themselves that they were creating real value / this was something that would be accepted. To sell a carbon credit, both buyer and seller needed government approval, have shown that the project wouldn't have been profitable with out, but once they had the carbon credit, it could be sold multiple times / and people just made up numbers / let old plants run just so that they could take advantage of this scheme. The requirement of specialists who can block projects because of their complex knowledge base needed for carbon computations developed more friction to what could be an otherwise simple market.
Whether Clissold realized it or not (he doesn't come out an admit it in the book), he was directly part of a scam that helped plants generate revenue that put more efficient (lower carbon intensive) factories at a disadvantage. He doesn't admit that the financial additionality test is bogus, but he sure lays out the case for why it shouldn't exist. And carbon reduction projects in general, should cease to exist, because they don't actually solve the problem. The book walks through a story of a 300 million euro purchase recounting the greed, drunkenness, and in general
I particularly enjoyed how well he painted the layers of UN bureaucracy (the many different layers of approval required by an application) that allowed financing for projects to sell "Carbon Credits" which have no underlying value in emissions reductions, and the sorts of acrobatics that people had to go through to delude themselves that they were creating real value / this was something that would be accepted. To sell a carbon credit, both buyer and seller needed government approval, have shown that the project wouldn't have been profitable with out, but once they had the carbon credit, it could be sold multiple times / and people just made up numbers / let old plants run just so that they could take advantage of this scheme. The requirement of specialists who can block projects because of their complex knowledge base needed for carbon computations developed more friction to what could be an otherwise simple market.
Whether Clissold realized it or not (he doesn't come out an admit it in the book), he was directly part of a scam that helped plants generate revenue that put more efficient (lower carbon intensive) factories at a disadvantage. He doesn't admit that the financial additionality test is bogus, but he sure lays out the case for why it shouldn't exist. And carbon reduction projects in general, should cease to exist, because they don't actually solve the problem. The book walks through a story of a 300 million euro purchase recounting the greed, drunkenness, and in general
February 14, 2025
I remember reading Clissold's first book Mr China and being highly entertained by it. The China of this book is not quite the wild west of the first book - but the Chinese are still Chinese. Clissold describes his new adventures trying to jump into the carbon credit market in China and how he attempts to use the 36 Stratagems/Art of War/Mao's tactics/Deng's tactics against his Chinese counterparties to get what he wants. I must say he seems a lot more successful than the pompous, self-centred British arse at the beginning of the book, but I suppose one could argue that the book would certainly depict himself as the best chap in the story.
Interspersed are chapters on various episodes from history - the Hong Xiuquan rebellion, the history of Mao Zedong, up to Deng Xiaoping - which are intended to illustrate the dicta that guide Chinese politics and personalities to this day. They are written in an engaging way. They do come across as a little superficial, but what more can you do in a book of this kind.
Apparently Clissold's new aim in life is getting all British schoolchildren to learn about Chinese civilisation, and this book is part of his educational efforts in general. I think that is quite worthwhile. I would love to have a guided reading list from his perspective, especially of Chinese classics/historical tomes translated into English that he has found useful. I've already read 36 Stratagems (my favourite) and Art of War, albeit in simplified comic form (an excellent way to digest them, I wonder how much more I would get from reading the texts in full unabridged translation?). In particular, I would love to read more about interesting episodes in ancient court politics. I've enjoyed C-dramas on the topic but I haven't read anything historical.
Interspersed are chapters on various episodes from history - the Hong Xiuquan rebellion, the history of Mao Zedong, up to Deng Xiaoping - which are intended to illustrate the dicta that guide Chinese politics and personalities to this day. They are written in an engaging way. They do come across as a little superficial, but what more can you do in a book of this kind.
Apparently Clissold's new aim in life is getting all British schoolchildren to learn about Chinese civilisation, and this book is part of his educational efforts in general. I think that is quite worthwhile. I would love to have a guided reading list from his perspective, especially of Chinese classics/historical tomes translated into English that he has found useful. I've already read 36 Stratagems (my favourite) and Art of War, albeit in simplified comic form (an excellent way to digest them, I wonder how much more I would get from reading the texts in full unabridged translation?). In particular, I would love to read more about interesting episodes in ancient court politics. I've enjoyed C-dramas on the topic but I haven't read anything historical.
August 28, 2017
Years ago, I read Clissold's first book on China, about his experiences in the 1990s as an early venture capitalist. This one focuses on the 2000s as he works to make deals involving carbon credits. Clissold is a compelling storyteller and both his books are well worth reading. He uses the changing view from the top of Coal Hill, overlooking Beijing's Forbidden City, to mark the changes in China. His two books are equally revealing. His experiences in early Western investment in China were a wild ride, involving theft, fraud, corruption in a country with few laws and little to no experience enforcing the existing laws. This second book is markedly different. Working between two quite different cultures, business deals are still difficult. However China has made enormous strides in establishing orderly processes that foster business. But of course these processes are distinctively Chinese, and Clissold emphasizes that to succeed in business in China you need to play by Chinese rules. He uses the precepts drawn from Sun Tzu's Art of War to guide his business. Perhaps. But it seems to me that his breakthroughs occurred not from following Chinese rules but rather from establishing enough trust between the two different parties that both sides could understand each other's needs and motivations. That's often the challenge in any business deal and it's made harder by cultural differences. Both sides have to make adjustments. But it's Western businessmen, far more ignorant about China than their Chinese counterparts are about the West, that have difficulty reaching across the gap. It's interesting that the eventual decline of the carbon credit business was caused by changes in the West, not by challenges in China.
July 20, 2020
Parts of it were very entertaining (about the business endavours). The big parts of the book on history were less interesting to me. Did enjoy seeing how the carbon credit system did seem to really change things in China. The book, while beautifully written and I enjoy the choice of words from the author, didn’t feel all that coherent to me.
I read it cause a friend lent it to me in lockdown so I guess I wasn’t quite the target audience.
If you’re interested in doing business in China, the history of China, carbon credits this is then book for you. Another take away from the book was never underestimate the Chinese
I read it cause a friend lent it to me in lockdown so I guess I wasn’t quite the target audience.
If you’re interested in doing business in China, the history of China, carbon credits this is then book for you. Another take away from the book was never underestimate the Chinese
June 2, 2018
I read this in preparation for a family vacation to China. I thought it would be interested to better understand how China differs from the west. Articulated through the author’s personal experience with the emerging carbon credits business, intertwined with ancient Chinese approaches to battle I learned a great deal about how Chinese civilization’s methods are very much ingrained in today’s culture. China will not change to a western approach. We need to learn how they operate if we want any chance of success with the region who will dominate in the future.
August 9, 2019
Even though the book deals with a somewhat esoteric topic of buying and selling carbon credits, the narrative is positively riveting. The story of an aspiring business negotiating, cajoling and fighting its way up in modern-day China is interspersed with chapters on China's history, culture and politics. Plus, after reading the book, dealing with Chinese is so much easier - just because of the insight into the inner workings of this most ancient and sophisticated civilisation provided by the book.
February 12, 2017
Clissold's memoirs, unlike so so many others, actually relay meaningful insight about China. He speaks the language, knows much of the underlying philosophy of Chinese culture, and treats Chinese people as humans to be understood instead of aliens to gawk at. Clissold along with Peter Hessler (and Kissinger I suppose) write the only foreigner-in-China memoirs worth reading. I'm serious. Most writing about China is nonsense. This guy gets it.
February 17, 2025
Nice read, mildly over-ambitious on the title and the descriptions
TLDR would be:
1. Two business case studies (pretty fun) – early days of carbon credit investing and a following bust
2. A few historical retreats for context (felt relevant and engaging)
3. Extra adjectives attempting to convey how the author feels about the place (if it's worth picking up from the shelf, it's not for the wordsmithing)
TLDR would be:
1. Two business case studies (pretty fun) – early days of carbon credit investing and a following bust
2. A few historical retreats for context (felt relevant and engaging)
3. Extra adjectives attempting to convey how the author feels about the place (if it's worth picking up from the shelf, it's not for the wordsmithing)
April 26, 2018
This is a well-written book combining the author's anecdotes and some key events in China's history. I am impressed by how the author translated ancient Chinese literature and modern Chinese catchwords into English so subtly. This is a worthy read for all westerners who want to succeed in doing business in/with China.
May 24, 2019
This book clearly had some editor or something insist of having explanations of these rules by having long tangents on Chinese history that did not feel necessary. I was mostly interested in stories from developing CDM projects for the carbon markets. Those were very useful and I wish I got a bunch more of those.
October 1, 2020
I was a bit sceptical about this book at start as books about economies of China are pretty difficult to understand but then as I started I almost fell in love with the way Tim has explained every minute detail with his own experience.
This book truly helped me learn things that won't only be necessary for doing business in China but to do business in general.
A must read!
This book truly helped me learn things that won't only be necessary for doing business in China but to do business in general.
A must read!
July 20, 2023
Borrowed from the library. I really enjoyed the history bits but the focus of the book was Clissold's carbon capture venture in China. I found it hard to follow and hard to really care. Wanted something a bit more cultural and history focused as per the title of the book but just never got it.
Would help if books like this didn't just have praise on the back for the last book and had a functional blurb instead.
Would help if books like this didn't just have praise on the back for the last book and had a functional blurb instead.
July 16, 2025
Absolute garbage. The author has no redeeming qualities as a writer, possibly not even as a traveler in this country. Totally unappreciative of China's long and storied history. Writes with derision and contempt for what he does not understand, and seems to be proud of his ignorance. I read two chapters before throwing the book across the room in frustration.
January 11, 2018
Brilliant analysis of Chinese mentality in business dealings, and quite fun reading as well. Clissold tells his own experiences of doing business in China and what it taught him. He finds 5 rules for doing business in China, for which he finds illustrious historical examples.
December 31, 2016
Another interesting book about doing business in China written with humour and empathy and trying to see common threads through history while invoking ancient writings. Well worth reading
December 18, 2018
This book contains interesting anecdotes about the author's business adventures in China. This book is great for bedtime stories and cocktail parties.
February 7, 2020
Very good book with many insight and advice from the author's experience. I recommend it
March 15, 2018
Loved this book, one of the most engaging account on China.
Couldn’t stop before I finished all of it.
Couldn’t stop before I finished all of it.
August 11, 2021
I was not blown away by this book but, as ever, just reading about the minor differences of opinion or nuances of thought regarding quite obvious elements of China has a lot of value.
I would recommend this book for the die hard enthusiast looking to really get a grip of all things China, but not to someone looking to learn anything vital on a generic basis. There are much better books for that.
I would recommend this book for the die hard enthusiast looking to really get a grip of all things China, but not to someone looking to learn anything vital on a generic basis. There are much better books for that.
February 2, 2017
I read this book as part of my New Years resolution to read all 100 NYT notable books of 2016. To be honest, at this part in the journey I was beginning to question the list itself. I even went back and double checked in search of figuring out why my interests were in woeful lack of alliance with the venerable NYT. Then I read this book and I feel that the list is redeemed. The writing is interesting and shows the author's deep and sustained interest in China. His occasional musings on what we can learn from China are a real delight, such as that a politician changing his or her mind is a good idea, and potentially a great idea, while we in the States hear the dreaded words "flip flopper" whenever a politician sees something in a new light. The sections on the rise/fall/rise of carbon credit trading were the highlight of the book for me.
My only criticism is that the historical sections were quite lengthy, and the recent trend towards taking an interesting, but ultimately short tale, and wrapping the tale in lengthy historical retrospectives is not to my literary liking. If I want a pithy history of Mao I'll head over to other sources, where I am sure the facts have been triple-checked. However, if the various sections had been omitted the book itself would have been quite short, and one can always skim such sections.
Overall, despite the fact that I am not a fan of the historical sections of the book, I have found myself quoting various segments of the book to others over the last few days, and I'm feeling better about my son's decision to tackle mandarin. In this post election age, I found myself wanting to highlight several of the rules and sending them to our President-elect. For, if the book is accurate, our new leaders will roar and bluster, and China's leaders will deflect and ignore, while waiting for decades for their next move. During that time multiple US Presidents and administrations will rise, fall and end, while China remains watching.
My only criticism is that the historical sections were quite lengthy, and the recent trend towards taking an interesting, but ultimately short tale, and wrapping the tale in lengthy historical retrospectives is not to my literary liking. If I want a pithy history of Mao I'll head over to other sources, where I am sure the facts have been triple-checked. However, if the various sections had been omitted the book itself would have been quite short, and one can always skim such sections.
Overall, despite the fact that I am not a fan of the historical sections of the book, I have found myself quoting various segments of the book to others over the last few days, and I'm feeling better about my son's decision to tackle mandarin. In this post election age, I found myself wanting to highlight several of the rules and sending them to our President-elect. For, if the book is accurate, our new leaders will roar and bluster, and China's leaders will deflect and ignore, while waiting for decades for their next move. During that time multiple US Presidents and administrations will rise, fall and end, while China remains watching.
January 31, 2016
Clissold explains his 5 Chinese Rules for understanding the dealing with Chinese along with lots of Chinese history; McCartney's visit the 18th Century, the Taiping Rebellion, and the biographies of Mao and Deng.
The 5 Chinese Rules are:
1. China has its own set of rules and will follow them and not adopt Western rules and values. China is a civilization, not a country.
2. Stability and harmony are paramount. The group is more important than the individual.
3. Criticism is always indirect and nuanced
4. Practical approaches are preferred to values. As Deng is famed for saying, “it does not matter if a cat is black or white; what matters is can it catch mice.”
5. It is important to know yourself and others.
The 5 Chinese Rules are:
1. China has its own set of rules and will follow them and not adopt Western rules and values. China is a civilization, not a country.
2. Stability and harmony are paramount. The group is more important than the individual.
3. Criticism is always indirect and nuanced
4. Practical approaches are preferred to values. As Deng is famed for saying, “it does not matter if a cat is black or white; what matters is can it catch mice.”
5. It is important to know yourself and others.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews