fered here and squawkings heard there are not even worth mentioning.
But I have at least gone through an endurance test. To this day China:
A Macro History is still the only book in the field upholding the long-term
rationality of history in its full length. As an eyewitness to the Chinese
revolution, I can testify that an ideal solution satisfying every individual is
impossible. The present outcome has already surprised and shocked nu-
merous early participants. As a foreign observer, I have also gone to the
remotest corners of the world to seek criteria for comparison. What hap-
pens now is a settlement. Some forty years ago when I became a serious
student of history, I had not the faintest idea that I would write the present
book. But when all the bits of information are melded into a grand synthe-
sis, the result carries the unmistakable message that we all need to accept
the final arbitration of history. For this reason, I do not wish to put forth
any disclaimer to diminish the usefulness of this volume.

China: A Macro History has already been adapted for class reading
in many colleges and academies. The Chinese version, since its publi-
cation in Taipei in late 1993, continues to circulate well. Its Japanese
translation has gone into a second printing. The Korean edition, having
been in preparation for some time, will come out soon. I have just seen
the proofs of the mainland Chinese edition in simplified characters.
Mr. Shen Changwen, formerly of Sanlian publishers and the Dushu
Monthly, has been trying hard for years to bring forth such an edition.
As editor of Dushu, he also reprinted chapter 20 in the August 1993
issue of his eminent magazine.

Grateful for such assistance and support, and in view of their difficul-
ties, technical and otherwise, Doug and I decided not to disturb the text of
the original issue, including the preface to the 1988 edition, except for a
few minor corrections that apply to the earlier chapters only. Additions
such as this preface and a short bibliographical essay are incorporated to
strengthen and support what was said in the original. The epilogue of the
1990 edition is omitted, because its content is now combined with the new
conclusion, "Observations at the Closing of the Century," which at this
moment appears only with the American edition.

I thank my friends at M.E. Sharpe for their effort to make this
edition more attractive.

R.H.

August 21, 1996

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