Mindy’s Reviews > The Rise and Fall of the EAST: How Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology Brought China Success, and Why They Might Lead to Its Decline > Status Update
Mindy
is on page 117 of 411
* 科举 deprived china of its human capital and reinforced the autocracy
* M corps >> U corps. CCP is M corp and Soviet Union was U corp
* CCP has lasted so long bc it’s run as an organization not polity and there’s a degree of autonomy to its regional delegates
* literacy != technological breakthroughs. China always had higher literacy but limited impact bc the only use for literacy was Confucianism
— Nov 27, 2025 10:38PM
* M corps >> U corps. CCP is M corp and Soviet Union was U corp
* CCP has lasted so long bc it’s run as an organization not polity and there’s a degree of autonomy to its regional delegates
* literacy != technological breakthroughs. China always had higher literacy but limited impact bc the only use for literacy was Confucianism
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Mindy’s Previous Updates
Mindy
is on page 285 of 411
* 2 ppl since CCP founding have “influenced” 5/6 successions: mao +
Deng. The sole one they didn’t was Xi
* tullock’s curse for autocracy successions
* most inventive period in Chinese history: Han-Sui interregnum (not tang + song). Inventiveness ⬇️ after 科举
* all but 1 successful Chinese tech company today have legal entities outside PRC
— Nov 30, 2025 10:18PM
Deng. The sole one they didn’t was Xi
* tullock’s curse for autocracy successions
* most inventive period in Chinese history: Han-Sui interregnum (not tang + song). Inventiveness ⬇️ after 科举
* all but 1 successful Chinese tech company today have legal entities outside PRC
Mindy
is on page 183 of 411
* 80s China was very different — more equal footing for politicians, open debates on TV in newspapers
* deng and his succession plan inadvertently set up Xi to centralize power 20 years later
* pre Sui: emperors and aristocrats were more equal, more violent depositions of premiers
* post Sui: emperors and aristocrats coexisted = stability
* emperors gamed keju to select for commoners at palace exams
— Nov 28, 2025 11:23PM
* deng and his succession plan inadvertently set up Xi to centralize power 20 years later
* pre Sui: emperors and aristocrats were more equal, more violent depositions of premiers
* post Sui: emperors and aristocrats coexisted = stability
* emperors gamed keju to select for commoners at palace exams
