La Cina alla fine del periodo Qing tra spinte riformatrici e resistenze culturali

In analyzing China's different responses to Western challenges in the nineteenth century, this article focuses on reform attempts made at the end of the century. It highlights the political-institutional aspects of the phenomenon, without neglecting the cultural variables, especially with regard to the dominant elite's resistance to change. The article also examines the main characteristics of Japanese leadership's approach to modernization. To sum up, some aspects of recent developments in contemporary Chinese history are assessed, along with the official version of the mainstream Chinese historiography, used by the Government of the People's Republic as political instrument.

In analyzing China's different responses to Western challenges in the nineteenth century, this article focuses on reform attempts made at the end of the century. It highlights the political-institutional aspects of the phenomenon, without neglecting the cultural variables, especially with regard to the dominant elite's resistance to change. The article also examines the main characteristics of Japanese leadership's approach to modernization. To sum up, some aspects of recent developments in contemporary Chinese history are assessed, along with the official version of the mainstream modern Chinese historiography, used by the Government of the People's Republic as political instrument.