Tide Players: The Movers and Shakers of a Rising China

by Jianying Zha

In Tide Players, acclaimed New Yorker contributor and author Jianying Zha depicts a new generation of movers and shakers who are transforming modern China. Through half a dozen sharply etched and nuanced profiles, Tide Players captures both the concrete detail and the epic dimension of life in the world’s fastest-growing economy.

Zha’s vivid cast of characters includes an unlikely couple who teamed up to become the country’s leading real-estate moguls; a gifted chameleon who transformed himself from Mao’s favorite “barefoot doctor” during the Cultural Revolution to a publishing maverick; and a tycoon of home-electronic chain stores who insisted on avenging his mother, who had been executed as “a counter-revolutionary criminal.” Alongside these entrepreneurs, Zha also brings us the intellectuals: a cantankerous professor at China’s top university; a former cultural minister turned prolific writer; and Zha’s own brother, a dissident who served a nine-year prison term for helping to found the China Democracy Party.

Deeply engaging, lucid, and poignant, Zha’s insightful “insider-outsider” portraits offer a picture of a China that few Western readers have seen before. Tide Players is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand today’s China.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Economics, Business

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2011

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Zha Jianying's earlier book, China Pop, Tide Players is a terrific, nuanced and thoughtful collection of essays that centre on some of the major personalities and cultural phenomenon of China today. Zha, who moves between the two worlds of the US and China (mainly her hometown of Beijing) is a perceptive and thoughtful observer whose best profiles are of people she's known over many years. My favourite chapters in this book are the final two: Enemy of the State, about her dissident brother, whom she visited regularly during his nine-year stint in prison for pro-democracy activism, and Servant of the State, a portrait of the novelist and former Minister of Culture, Wang Meng, which also talks about the imprisoned dissident and Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo. There is no love lost between Wang and Liu, as anyone who has followed the Chinese cultural scene would know. She resists the tendency to judge these two very different personalities, both of whom have had a huge influence on the culture of the post-Mao Reform Era. I know both of them and I've never seen anyone discuss both with such an even hand - all the more remarkable given that Zha was also an original signatory to the Charter 08 petition for democracy that Liu drafted and that her hopes are clearly that China moves with 'gradual, incremental adjustment' (p. 223) in the direction of social justice and responsible, transparent government.

[jm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vignettes on a couple of (more or less) prominent people in China in the early 2000s. The selection is much too limited to fully reflect China at the time (as Zha admits herself) and overrepresents intellectuals (those typically moved and shaken rather than movers and shakers). The internet economy is entirely absent, despite being hugely important in the 2010s already, and the actual movers and shakers from politics at best get mentioned on the side.

[Emily Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

(SPOILERS)
“Tide Players: The Movers and Shakers of a Rising China” is written by Zha Jian Ying, a Chinese writer who went to the United States to study. , I have read few books that are written by Chinese people in English. Earlier in my life, as a typical Chinese patriot, I have rejected these kind of books since one reason it is written this way, one major reason is that the book contains sensitive speech that is prohibited in China. As my research went on, I found out that the reputation of Ms. Zha is not that high in the Chinese circle. Some even criticize her as a westernized opportunist who does not has real knowledge. I remember the first book I read with a similar theme was “Red Azalea” by Anchee Min. I was angered by the author’s extreme point of views that were of course negative towards China, and scared by the same time as I flipped through the pages revealing the wicked truth behind the Cultural Revolution. For years under the brainwashing education method and environment, it is hard for me to truly absorb all of these information. As I grew up I started to became more open-minded. There was this time when I finally realized that loving your country is not about how much you praise it, but that you can learn to accept the shortcomings of it and do your best to contribute in changing it, or at least regulating yourself. (After that, I took more interest in finding out the histories in modern China, and accepting point of views from others towards my country.) To my surprise, the understanding of self-contribution somewhat relates to what the author is trying to express in the Tide Players. Though I have a hard time in paying attention to English books, I did not have to worry about focusing at all this time since the book caught me just in through a few pages. The saying of Ms. Zha as “westernized opportunist” or any downsides is totally nonsense. The author’s words, or style of writing are very comfortable to read. Her intention is not to educate anyone, but to record things that should be remembered. I like it.
The title of the book is “Tide Players,” but what is the meaning of tide players? Many young men went into the sea to “play” with the tides, no matter how high the waves are, or how hard the wind blows. It implies to the brave and enterprising spirit of people who are always willing to be the first of situations. The book is about these tide players.
The two sections in the book I felt most attracted to is “A Good Tycoon” and “Enemy of the State”. When I was young, I remember sitting in a car, driving past bright red signs with a yellow bell on the left. It is called “Dazhong Electronics”, a company so popular I bet everyone knows. Everyone knows the brand, but I had little knowledge about the story of Zhang Dazhong, the man who created it. With 500-yuan capital, he managed to make Dazhong Dianqi into the most profitable electronic-appliance store in China. This is enough for him to become a legend, but what I admire the most of him is his characteristics, how he treats his workers, friends; how generous and how great gratitude he has, and most praiseworthy, how he managed to reserve his pure heart even as he gains countless wealth. Though he owns hundreds of millions, he did not forget about his mother like his siblings did. Dazhong’s mother Wang Peiying, is a kindergarten teacher who publicly criticized Mao Ze Dong during the Cultural Revolution. At that time, criticizing Mao is considered “great crime, extremely evil” and will not be tolerated. Wang is forced into “medical treatment” and eventually sentenced to death along with sixteen other “counterrevolutionaries” at an organized Pi-dou on January 27, 1970, in front of a 100,000 packed crowd. After Dazhong wrote numerous amount of letters to Deng Xiaoping and other Party officials, the case was finally renewed. The outcomes were, Wang was not a counterrevolutionary since she suffered from mental disease, but in Dazhong’s heart he knew that his mother was not an extraordinary woman. He did not give up, and eventually after he gathered success in business, he helped his mother to rehabilitate. At the fortieth anniversary of his mother’s execution, about five hundred people attended. Dazhong has used his wealth and influence to slowly change the government’s attitude towards the Cultural Revolution.
In the section “Enemy of State”, Jianying wrote the story of her brother, who is kept in jail for nine years. What possibly could keep a person in jail for that long? Murdering? No. For organizing a party. “I didn’t know our country still had political prisoners. I thought everyone here got in trouble because of something to do with money.” Jianguo, Jianying’s brother, was a former Red Guard but realizes his foolishness after what happened to the Tian-anmen protestors on June 4th. Jianguo felt that he must do something, so along with a few others, they created the “China Democracy Party” hoping that there would be a change. They got nothing but anger from the government who sentenced them to prison one after another. It was a result that was inevitable from creating the party in the beginning, but Jianguo had been ready. He even carried a toothbrush waiting for the police to arrest him. Jianguo’s mother, Aunt Zhong was determined that Jianguo’s actions were out of arrogance and stupidity, that it was worthless. But, was it? No. Men like Jianguo tested “the baseline” with their own lives, because of this, others now know exactly how far they can push. Cui Weiping said, “The officials think of us as moderates because of them. They are the reason we are not in prison. For this alone we are grateful.”
Whether it is Dazhong or Jianguo, or other characters in the book, they all played their role in contributing to the change in modern China. In present time, we can see more and more people criticizing the Cultural Revolution on internet. People are slowing regaining the power of freedom of speech. Though it has not quite completely open since China is still a single-party state. It shocks me when I brought up about the June 4th event and my Chinese friends did not have a clue. I told them about it, and it was their turn to be shocked. All information of this shameful government action is blocked in China, hoping that this could hide their ugly actions forever. It may seem impossible for a to change, but no. Who would have thought that denouncing Mao and discussing about the Cultural Revolution could’ve been said in public on internet decades ago? It may take a long time for the change of a country and most people might not see the hope, but there is a bright side just like Dazhong says, “Our country has developed not just economically. It has progressed politically.” History never lies, China is rising, things will start to change. Everything is becoming better.
Though nobody can change how or when the tides rise, but an individual has the ability to “play tides”. An individual can change his or her own destiny along with influencing others. Whether it is a small action like Dazhong storing a book “Mao: The Unknown Story” in the back of his car, and handing it out to whomever it seems appropriate to, to improve their knowledges on the part of history, or as big as Jianguo stepping into jail to push “the baseline” to its limit for people from now on to have a clue about how far we can go. Tears welled in my eyes when I read to the part where a Chinese CEO says, “The person who takes one step ahead of others is a leader. The person who takes three steps ahead of others is a martyr.” In the end, I would like to pay my respects, and salute to the martyrs in life whom have all contributed to the mass change in modern China.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is easy to make sweeping generalizations about China, and almost all articles and books about it start with them: China's economy is growing by X percent, China is a police state, China is the next hegemony, etc. What is often lost in these books are the men and women who are shaping China. In this short book, Zha profiles several people who are shaping China's economy, culture, and political situation. She looks at how a few moguls made their fortune, writers and dissidents who are sorting out how far they can push for political reform, and what it means to be a Chinese person in a changing nation. From these portraits one is able to see just how complicated China is; how multi-faceted its culture and economy is, and how difficult it is to govern, much less write about, such a vast country.

Zha offers a unique perspective. A skilled English writer, she is mainland Chinese, which is a rarity among English-language commentators. While authors and journalists such as Evan Osnos and Peter Hessler are skilled at painting modern Chinese culture, they are outsiders, and write from a Western perspective. Zha, through her deep connections with her subjects (the jailed dissident is her half-brother), is able to gain deeper insight, and offers a perspective that doesn't have the defensive posture that is often taken when Chinese are interviewed by Westerners. Through the four people she writes about, we can see some commonalities between the mogul, the dissident, and the writer. One of these common experiences is suffering during the Cultural Revolution. The mogul pines for his mother, who was publicly executed. The dissident lost his chance to be educated, and is forever isolated as a result. The writer spent 16 years in near-exile in Xinjiang. I can't help but wonder when the Chinese people will face the Cultural Revolution head on, and allow open discussion of the tragic episode in Chinese history that everyone from that generation experienced.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tide Players by Zha Jianying. A great book on the changes of Chinese economy and society. It captures the complexities of modern China with a shrewd microscopic perspective. The common mistakes of sweeping generalization and orientalism are not seen in this book. (Waaaaay better than Mr.Yu Hua's disappointing flop "China in 10 words")

[lukoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zha offers an unbiased landscape of Contemporary China, the most objective, neutral, and meticulous critics about the cultural, politics, economy in the mysterious Far East country in Western's eyes. Disappointed to see that the book does not receive as much as popularity than many Chinese immigrant writers who depict daring, sensational, and provocative life back in China, which is unsurprising, since the trauma and suffering in China, and in a form of a memoir, will surely catch the most eyeballs, sympathy from the audience, especially the Western audience who already bear the presupposition that China, a Communist state, is a demonised place, where people are full of twisted revolutionary zest, poorly educated, barbarian mannered, and realistically eating each other as a way of making a living.
Zha Jianying should have received more, no matter in literature, journalism, or humanities.

[咕咚来了 · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Consider yourself among them.'

[Reader Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

挑着看的，只看了潘石屹张欣和两个文化人：哥哥和王蒙。理想主义和实用主义在那个年代 如此泾渭分明，在涉及商业开发的时候左翼的精神还会明确的摆出来

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, nuanced account from an elite, 'Beida' insider from a generation that is now largely in power and whose lives and paths were tempered during the exciting and ultimately explosive 80's in China. I just wonder to what degree many of these insiders, whom the author knows well - some alienated in prison staying resolute to ideals that have been transplanted by the general consumerism in China today, or those absorbed by that great rush of commerce over the past two decades - are really the movers and shakers. Still, this is an absorbing read largely on a generation caught up in a great tide of change. One wonders, as the author does: where will China veer to next?

[William Shoemaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zha's writing is a tad cloying at times, and she uses way too many exclamation points; but it's fascinating to get an "insider's" look at some stories about China from the past decade. I will also say that she seems pretty unscrupulous and she always talks about how much money someone has with barely hidden admiration; she tends to fawn over characters who are probably much more despicable than she makes them out to be.

[Meish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thoughtful exploration of modern-day China and those entrepreneurs and intellectuals who live and breath through the the country's complex social, economic, political, and cultural fabric. Great insight into the culture and development of the country post-Mao. The essay on the author's brother, a political prisoner for 9 years, was especially moving for me.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting set of portraits, but a bit credulous about the conduct of billionaires in a land of flexible laws. Also displays the nation-straddling semi-liberalism so common among Chines academics, lightly chiding the regime while supporting its view of the country and its prescription for only gradual (and government-managed) change.

[Usman Chohan · Rating 1 out of 5]

1) The reading was going so well, until she had to say "Beida" (her alma mater) was the best university in China, instead of Tsinghua. Book Summarily Dismissed!

2) There isn't anything new in this book for someone who has spent even six months in China. No deeper investigations - just an exercise in basic reporting.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent view into China yesterday, today and beyond--highly recommended!

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better if you are an insider and China scholar, interested in the messy arcane politics of Chinese intellectuals and dissidents.

[Xiaoran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it fair to ask for more illuminating opinions beyond all these materials Zha collected from her amazingly broad connections...?

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book on contemporary China and people we never hear about.

[Christine Nie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good way to understand modern China, even/especially for a Chinese.