a few years" (p. xxi ), but "behind the main thoroughfare of the city, the
back alleys remain unpaved and contain water puddles even during the
dry season" (p. xxiii ), the description should also apply to speedy
construction and growth and the difficulties of coordination in numer-
ous other areas.

Furthermore, the latest policy of the United States toward China is
that of engagement. Instead of bombarding Chinese officials with nu-
merous questions to which they cannot find adequate answers, the
Clinton administration, apparently with congressional support, wishes
to maintain a candid dialogue with the Chinese leadership, asking them
to define China's nascent power in the forthcoming century. This is to
admit that their power is legitimate and inevitable, and we welcome it
to steer a clear course in harmony with our own pursuit. If anyone leafs
through my original text and pays attention to the sentence "for the
broadminded reader, the Chinese success is at once an American ac-
complishment" (p. 294 ), he or she should realize that the author could
not have supported this policy with more fervent enthusiasm.

But China: A Macro History is by no means a political tract. It
draws this conclusion with historical justification and consistency. The
text cites the Confucian doctrine of "self-restraint and mutual defer-
ence" eight times, spread over a historical span of more than 2,500
years. It recognizes that China has made a "breakthrough" and the
Chinese revolution is "reaching a settlement"; but with all this the
country and people will continue to face problems, to the extent that
"no one can enumerate all such future prospects" (p. 294 ). For verifi-
cation of what is said, China: A Macro History encourages its readers
to take the perspective of an enlightened tourist to see the places for
themselves and to compare the text with visual images.
With all this in view, I really do not need to prepare a revision. Why
should I water down a thesis, which is currently in vogue, and add
diversions to it whose connections with macro-history are far from
certain at this point?

But before reaching a final decision, further clarification of the
author's standpoint might be useful.

A half century ago when I invoked the Refugee Relief Act to apply for
permanent residence in the United States, my feelings toward Chinese
affairs were negative and uncertain. ( U.S. citizenship was taken eighteen
years later.) Dazed by our losing of the civil war, cut off from my mother
and sister, and aggravated by what seemed to be a Sino-Soviet combi-

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