Since the early 1980s, many people in the world, including scholars and thinkers, have turned their eyes to the East and paid close attention to the changes that have taken place in China. Indeed, miraculous changes have taken place in this magical land of China. Over the past 30 years of reform, opening up and modernization, China has jumped from a poor and backward country to the second largest economy in the world, with the largest foreign exchange reserves and a per capita GDP of more than 4,000 US dollars. It has entered the middle and late stage of industrialization, and its economic strength and comprehensive national strength have been significantly enhanced, people's lives have been significantly improved, and its international status has been greatly enhanced. People can't help asking, what is the magic and mystery of this miraculous change in China in a short time? This is a "mystery of the times". Uncovering the mystery attracts all people who care about China like magic. The book "China Shock-the Rise of Civilized Countries" (hereinafter referred to as "China Shock") gives its own answer to the mystery of China's rise. There may be different opinions and comments on this answer, but the influence and hot discussion in the ideological circle, academic circles and even social life are affirmative. It can even be said that there are all kinds of stubborn prejudices and superficial and short-sighted comments on the development of China, which is also a kind of "shock". The "China shock" first came from the rise of China. The book "China Shock" tells the story of the development and rise of China with full and accurate information and conclusive facts at the beginning. This is not a simple theoretical problem, but a real objective reality. Although there are still various problems such as unbalanced development, widening distribution gap, resource and environmental constraints, corruption in power and money transactions, and various doubts and ideas, even if the bias and ulterior motives of "singing China down" never stop, the development and rise of China is an indisputable fact. So, what impact has the development and rise of China brought? After reading China Shock, you will naturally get the following three insights. The first is the impact of peaceful development and rise. It is undoubtedly a great task to realize modernization, revitalization and rise in a big eastern country with thousands of years of civilization history, a population of 654.38+0.3 billion, a vast territory and backward economy and culture. This topic itself has unparalleled great attraction. Needless to say, the development and rise of contemporary China began from the contemporary era, but the author's vision of analysis and exploration is not fixed in the contemporary decades, nor is it hundreds of years since modern times. Instead, it puts the development and rise of contemporary China under the background of thousands of years of Chinese civilization history, and thus has the theme of "China shock-the rise of civilized countries". This theme is unique, because China is unique as a country with an uninterrupted civilization history of more than 5,000 years and rising in modern times. As the author said, "There is only one country, and the ancient civilization of thousands of years and the modern state form almost completely coincide, and that is China". So, what is the way for the rise of civilized countries? This is the rise of peaceful development. This is the first shock wave that shocked China. After reading the historical track of the rise of great powers at all times and all over the world, the book wrote: "From the perspective of world history, the biggest feature of China's rise is peace. It is an extraordinary miracle in human history that we have not waged war abroad and maintained stability and unity at home. Looking back at world history, the process of the rise of the West is almost a history of turmoil and war. " Historical facts are indeed true. The rise of the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and other countries is not all aggression, war, slaughter, conquest and slavery, but a disgraceful history of the rise of blood and fire. The development and rise of China are completely different. China's reform, opening-up and modernization drive, and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation have taken the road of peaceful development, promoting the construction of a harmonious world externally and a harmonious society internally. Isn't this the most important connotation and symbol of contemporary civilization? The road of peaceful development is the road of civilized development, which depends on China's national policy, China's socialist system, today's international environment with peaceful development as the theme, and also on China's peace-loving civilization and historical tradition for thousands of years. Obviously, the rise of China as a civilized country is the rise of peaceful development and the rise of developing civilization. Therefore, the "China shock" is firstly the shock of peaceful development and rise. The second is the impact of the rise of the development model. The book "China Shock" holds that "the rise of civilized countries" is also a kind of "the rise of development models" and that "the rise of China is behind its own unique development model", and summarizes China's development model into eight characteristics, namely "practical rationality, strong government, stability first, people's livelihood first, gradual reform, order difference, mixed economy and openness", emphasizing that obviously, in the author's view, China. Here, the China model is interlinked with China's experience and China's road, which is the title of China's experience and China's road. It should be said that after more than 30 years of reform, opening-up and modernization in the new period, we have found and formed a road to modernization in Socialism with Chinese characteristics, accumulated and concentrated rich successful experiences, and established and formed the system of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Theory. The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China also summarized this. The most fundamental reason for the successful development of China lies in Socialism with Chinese characteristics's "one banner, one road, one theoretical system". This generalization is not only a scientific and concise summary of the history of China's modernization, but also a significant difference between China and other countries. Its main principles, successful experiences and basic features can be explored and enriched, and can be interpreted more or less differently, but its core and essential contents are basically the same. For example, seeking truth from facts expressed by "practical rationality" in the book, as well as the role of the government, social stability, concern for people's livelihood, gradual reform, opening up and so on. These principles and experiences have been constantly mentioned and expounded by academic and ideological circles at home and abroad who study and discuss the development and rise of China. Why is the development and rise of contemporary China so similar and similar with the basic characteristics of China Road, China Model and China Experience? The reason lies in the fairness, objectivity and rational conscience of the research position, and in the constraints and decisions of China's national conditions and the actual situation of China's economic and social development. As long as we study contemporary China from the reality of China, we will come together and form more knowledge. For example, when talking about the role of the government, the author said: "The super-large scale of China means the complexity and arduousness of state governance", "A short Spring Festival travel rush peak, with more than 2 billion people on the road every year. In 20 10, the passenger flow in Spring Festival travel rush reached 2.5 billion. " "This means that the population of the United States, Europe and Africa has moved within one month. Except for a relatively efficient government system like China, no system can meet this challenge. " This argument should be said to be powerful, reasonable and convincing. In fact, the Spring Festival travel rush peak is not the biggest and most difficult thing. China has a weak foundation, scarce resources and unbalanced development, with a population of more than 654.38+0.3 billion, and is in the process of profound transformation. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are not difficult! Fighting Wenchuan earthquake, Yushu earthquake, Zhouqu mudslide, floods and droughts, and organizing Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games are even more challenging and difficult. Without strong government leadership and organization, it is unimaginable to do great things, difficult things, happy events and urgent matters, and the results are unpredictable. In addition, the author also points out that the China model should not be absolutized, closed and solidified, but should be regarded as a process of continuous opening, continuous development and continuous improvement, which is the same as China's experience and China's road cannot be absolutized, closed and solidified. Thus, the "China shock" is the impact of the rise of China's development model. The third is the impact of the rise of political values. The author also believes that the rise of China is not only the rise of a civilized country, but also the rise of a development model, or the rise of a political discourse, that is, the rise of a political value concept. This view is very insightful. Indeed, the rise of China is not only the development of economy, but also the development of democratic politics and values. The construction of democratic political system and its democratic political values has always been the goal of China's socialist modernization, and we are making unremitting efforts for it. As long as you are not ignorant, as long as you are not biased, you will see that with the economic and social development of China, China's democratic politics, equality and freedom, fairness and justice, human rights protection and other undertakings have made great progress and development, forming Socialism with Chinese characteristics's concept of democracy, human rights, freedom and equality, which is undeniable and hard to erase. But the problem is that there are always some people who are particularly fond of the western political system and the values attached to it, such as democracy, human rights and freedom, and worship the western political system with their values. In the process of building Socialism with Chinese characteristics's democratic political system and political values, we should actively learn from and draw lessons from all outstanding achievements in the development of human political civilization, including western developed countries. This is no problem and firm. But each country has its own national conditions and reality. Regardless of China's national conditions and reality, it is not only wrong but also impracticable to try to mechanically copy the western political system and values. As the author wrote: "If China, a civilized country, adopts the western political model, its own advantages will disappear without a trace, and finally the whole country will collapse." "The relative success of the China model shows that no matter what political system, it is necessary to finally implement' good governance' and what China people call' people-oriented' and' make great efforts to govern'." "The people of China believe that no matter what kind of system it is, it must ultimately be reflected in whether it can achieve good governance and whether it can be satisfied and recognized by its own people. This is the essence of democracy." These expositions about good governance being more important and better embodying the essence of democracy are very enlightening. In particular, the author warns: "Don't be fooled by western words", "Western multi-party democracy has evolved into a' game democracy' in many places, which is characterized by equating democracy with elections, equating elections with political marketing, and equating political marketing with competing for money, resources, public relations, strategies, image and performing arts." As an author who has traveled to more than 100 countries and devoted himself to the study of realistic politics, he witnessed the democratic syndrome of "scattered, soft, short, broad and refined" brought to some countries by copying the western political system, as well as the dilemma of economic and social stagnation and retrogression. His admonition and exposition on democracy is based on comparison and recognition, which cannot but arouse our deep thought and attention. Obviously, the "China shock" is also the shock of the rise of China's political values. (The author Zhang Xiaolin is the editor-in-chief of Qiushi magazine. )' s thought "China shock" shocked sober self-confidence and the affinity to solve doubts —— Some thoughts on reading "China shock" Zhang Weiwei: The rise of China is very difficult.