Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China

by Ian Johnson

In Wild Grass , Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist Ian Johnson tells the stories of three ordinary Chinese citizens moved to extraordinary acts of a peasant legal clerk who filed a class-action suit on behalf of overtaxed farmers, a young architect who defended the rights of dispossessed homeowners, and a bereaved woman who tried to find out why her elderly mother had been beaten to death in police custody. Representing the first cracks in the otherwise seamless façade of Communist Party control, these small acts of resistance demonstrate the unconquerable power of the human conscience and prophesy an increasingly open political future for China.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, History, Asia, Politics, Anthropology, Travel

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer focusing on society, religion, and history. He works out of Beijing, where he also teaches and advises academic journals.

Johnson has spent over half of the past thirty years in the Greater China region, first as a student in Beijing from 1984 to 1985, and then in Taipei from 1986 to 1988. He later worked as a newspaper correspondent in China, from 1994 to 1996 with Baltimore's The Sun, and from 1997 to 2001 with The Wall Street Journal, where he covered macro economics, China's WTO accession and social issues.

In 2009, Johnson returned to China, where he writes features and essays for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, National Geographic, and other publications. He teaches undergraduates at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies, where he also runs a fellowship program. In addition, he formally advises a variety of academic journals and think tanks on China, such as the Journal of Asian Studies, the Berlin-based think tank Merics, and New York University's Center for Religion and Media.

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a book one enjoys, but rather one that anyone interested in contemporary China should read. If you think that China's 'proletariat' has escaped the reigns/reins [pun intended] of China's modern mandarins, think again. In these three case studies (a term that is far too academic for this very first-person journalistic approach to the subject matter), Ian Johnson records the struggles normal working-class citizens still face when trying to assert rights that most citizens of 'democratic' nations take for granted: the right to submit a document to a legal authority, to practise their chosen religion, the right to demonstrate in a peaceful manner, the right to get an official death certificate for a parent. But the infrastructure that has been put in place to prohibit citizens to even access their rights was the real surprise--official buildings' addresses are often unlisted or even disguised or 'hidden' inside what appear to be abandoned warehouses, official request forms are non-existent, plainclothes police are omnipresent when alarms have been raised of events that would 'disrupt the peace'. It appears that 'getting rich' has had its price--do your job, don't create any waves, and you can have your apartment, eat at McDonald's and go to trendy bars. But disturb the equilibrium of the perfect quiet state, and you may pay the price. A very sobering and depressing read.

[Baljit · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a clam quiet style Johnson depicts the lives of ordinary Chinese and the changes facing this nation. Johnson's style captures the essence of the problems faced by ordinary folk, who for the most part go about thier daily lives and are not fire-brand activists, but gradually realise that change is neccesary to thier very existence. Johnson has great understanding of the Chinese psyche but his writing does not patronise his subjects.

[Jordan Mazur · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times reads like a newspaper article, which makes sense given the author. Detail and subject matter are excellent.

[Russ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is divided into 3 parts. Many people have commented, and I agree, that the third chapter titled, "Turning the Wheel," was worth the read, even if you had to wade through some laborious pages before then. It takes a look at Falun Gong, something we'd definitely heard about in the West, and it was most interesting to get a glimpse from someone on the ground. This part of the book was excellent.

The first part, titled "The Peasant Champion," is quite interesting and follows the journey of Mr. Ma as he advocates for peasants wrongfully taxed. Descriptions of the Chinese countryside, his meetings with those interviewed, and the story itself I found of interest.

The middle of the book, the 2nd chapter titled , "Dream of a Vanished Capital," was a bit to wade through. The writing was less interesting, and the story less captivating - to me. I wondered for a bit it I'd continue reading.

Overall, a decent read, and I do appreciate a deeper look into China, her citizens, the culture of an abusive government.

[Alexandre Blanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

After 16 years, people who had an extraordinary resilience to rebel to injustice were just wild grass smashed by a totalitarian regime. The same happened for the historical cores from old cities like Beijing. What mattered was to set up order, to focus the country to development and to give the world postcards of modernity through a savage and unequal capitalistic way. Good business was the reward from the peer countries. They closed the eyes, but not the writer who left a precise and sensitive testimony through three interesting stories written in a parallel structure which reach moments real of terror and describe the mechanisms of four pillars of Totalitarian State control: Unfair taxing to the weakest citizens, real state plundering, unfair Law at the side of Power, religion/reunion banning. The writer tries to end positively, giving a ray of hope in the last sentences of each story, but After 16 years from these facts this reader who spend long time in China is hopeless.

[Zhu Tong · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of pains China need to overcome facing a changing era. However, I hope the pains won't drive the country to death but alert more people to fight for it. Quoting a sentence I just read from a book about Chinese investigative journalists: "the world doesn't need just one Don Quixote; it needs a whole band of Don Quitoxte." I'm so glad and grateful to see foreign friends like Ian is also worried about the future of Chinese society and reveal the scar that we must see to all of us.

Wild grass also refers to the Chinese people who never give up on the way leading to a better China and better world, I think.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually give this book 3.5 stars. Ian Johnson is not as skilled of a storyteller as say, Peter Hessler, when it comes to China. But if you're looking for a more journalistic tome on three issues of change in China, this is definitely recommended. The book is a little older (considering how fast China is changing), but these issues (petition/appeal process, fair taxing, censorship, Falun Gong crackdown, modernization and lack of historical preservation) are still at play. It's a solid read and as a reporter, Mr. Johnson does his legwork thoroughly.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johnson is a journalist, so this would be another big fact-filled style book. I really liked it, though. It is very modern. He chooses 3 current stories to demonstrate how change is taking place right now in China. If I recall correctly, one is the persecution, beatings, and imprisonments of a religious movement called Falun Gong; another is about land rights and houses being acquisitioned to make way for government projects; and I don't remember the last one. Really honest, non-judgmental, great read if you are curious about what China is like NOW.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read that delves into the changing society and state of China. It takes you into the relationship btwn Chinese State and society. A must-read for anyone with an interest in China, as the book portrays how the China of today really is and escapes the commonplace writing by authors trying to predict or put words in the mouth of Chinese people. Here, Ian Johnson, simply and elegantly provides fascinating accounts of Chinese common people (laobaixing) in their struggle against the State.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was on Peter Hessler's "recommended reading on China" list at the back of the edition of River Town that I read. The book is three separate stories of Chinese people trying to use the country's nascent legal system to combat corruption and abuse, and how the system is just failing them.

In the first story, Shaanxi farmers band together to combat the "fees" that corrupt officials impose on them. Their lawyer gets jailed for 5 years. In the second story, residents of Beijing's hutongs try to sue to stop their demolition. They get ignored. In the third story, the daughter of a Falungong member who gets beaten to death tries to obtain her mother's death certificate. She is given the runaround. For a while, international news coverage keeps her from going to prison, but eventually she is sent to prison. Ironically, despite not being a Falungong member in the beginning and opposed to the demonstrations, she basically starts taking up Falungong teachings.

4* because the prose was a bit prosaic and the second story went a bit long about Beijing architecture and not about the legal aspects of the story, which are really dealt with in the first and last few pages of the chapter.

The best chapter by far is the Falungong chapter. I have to say that I have no liking for either side in this chapter. I think the Falungong is going the way of the Moonies and propping up right-wing causes in the US (e.g. through the Epoch Times) the way the Moonies did in Japan. But at the time of their outlawing, none of this had yet happened. And certainly even if it had, none of it would have justified the awful tactics that the Chinese government used against them, especially just the ordinary believers. The most eye-opening part of the chapter, though, isn't the legal case, but how pressure gets put on down the line to get local officials to harshly put down the protestors. The local officials aren't just threatened with career disruptions, but each official down the line would be fined by the person above them for each protestor who came from their area. Yikes.

Recently, I read another book that was pretty positive about China's economy - The New China Playbook. In the introduction, the author comments that her American friends think that Chinese people live in fear for their lives and livelihood everyday, which she says is patently untrue (and I believe her). But this book shows that even if they don't, it takes very little to put them in a situation where they might have to.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and at times slow-moving book with three stories about 'grassroots' campaigns protesting some part of the Chinese Communist Party's governing of China. The stories are about taxation of peasant farmers, loss of heritage buildings in central Beijing, and the suppression of Falun Gong in the 1990s and 2000s.
The book was a fairly easy read, and was well-researched by an on-the-ground journalist. The final postscript offered some more recent insights into the rise of the internet in China (which enabled greater access to communication and organisation platforms for those protesting the Government), but was then used to brutally crack down on dissent under the current leadership of Xi Jinping. I'd have liked more discussion of the present-day situation, but I can understand that the book is based on the author's first-hand experiences which are now a few decades old.

[Care · Rating 4 out of 5]

not really an enjoyable read but rather a depressive one, though very informative (at least for someone who hasn’t known too much about china before). I read this before going to china and it gave me some great insights. the writing is not always that captivating but all in all very worth the time, to delve into such a different culture and see people struggle naïvely against a corrupt system, in that case three people: a farmer and peasant lawyer that tried to stop the immense taxations, a young architecture student fighting against the demolition of the historical part of Beijing , and the daughter whose mother had been murdered for championing and practicing Falun Gong.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important books I’ve read this year. 3 stories of ordinary Chinese people pushing for justice: a lawyer representing farmers Beijing overtaxed by corruption, a man whose house was demolished by corrupt officials for their personal gain, and a daughter trying to get a death certificate after her elderly mother was killed in police custody. The parallels with the BLM movement and the Palestinians whose homes are routinely demolished by into sharp focus. This book brings those global struggles against state-sanctioned injustice and violence down to a human scale.

[Moira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book it was well written and looked at some of China's issues from the perspective of three individuals who took on the system. Three clear examples of the battle against power and bureaucracy by brave individuals who tried to make small differences. Occasionally I felt that the detail although interesting at times became a bit tedious especially the middle section about the housing and planning in Beijing, otherwise an interesting read.

[pdxmaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting, especially the third portrait that includes a great deal about Falun Gong. The third portrait includes interviews with several practitioners, and observers. The initial assessment of one person, Mr. Chen, is that Falun Gong is “…’Just a typical northeastern thing. Northeasterners like things big and exaggerated and simple,’ he said with a laugh, consciously repeating the stereotypes of northeastern Chinese.” Page 236

[Kiridaren Jayakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

While we often read anti-authoritarianism piece from famous philosophers like Hannah Arendt and the Existentialists, or the left oriented personnel and anarchists, this book offer us a close-to-life stories how three people fought bravely against the norm and authority.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly interesting, horribly written.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We were assigned to read this book in one of my political science classes so I didn't have high hopes for it. I was, however, pleasantly suprised. The stories were captivating and even heartbreaking knowing that not everyone in this world is granted the same freedom that we are privaledged to. Its worth reading, even if you don't have a grade depending on it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting because I've been to China, right before the Olympics when they were tearing down all kinds of stuff right in front of tourists. I thought at first he was writing about some random issues there, but have since run into Chinatown protesters against Falun Gong repression. Very specific issues which the mainstream media usually wouldn't pick up....

[Nathan Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fascinating. The author understands the Chinese people and the communist party both very well. It was interesting to read about the spiritual void felt by many after communism lost its "religion" status.

[William Shoemaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnson's writing is pretty mediocre and the editing is not great, but the last section of the book, about the suppression of Falun Gong, the religion that was banned in the early aughts and viciously cracked down upon, is reported super well and is fascinating.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing book that gives 3 stories about current life in China from a sympathetic yet clear-eyed view. Extremely well-written and interesting.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

learn about regular people battling to have their rights according to the chinese constitution honored

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best (if non-comprehensive) accounts of the forces changing life in modern China I've ever read.

[Nathan]

Meditations for the Olympics.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has 3 sections on three subjects, one of which is Falongong. It is really excellent.

[Raini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains three stories of people in China. I only liked two of the tree stories... However, it is an eye opener to what really happens in countries behind closed doors.

[Sian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love his books

[Kimfu]

I was most interested in the passages about Falun Gong. I learned many things I didn't know before.

"Wild Grass" is Book No. 24 for 2013!

[Nick Woodall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful! Sad! Inspiring!