
Yang Jisheng (Chinese: 杨继绳, born November 1940) is a Chinese journalist and author. His work include Tombstone (墓碑), a comprehensive account of the Great Chinese Famine during the Great Leap Forward, and The World Turned Upside Down (天地翻覆), a history of the Cultural Revolution. Yang joined the Communist Party in 1964 and graduated from Tsinghua University in 1966. He promptly joined Xinhua News Agency, where he worked until his retirement in 2001. His loyalty to the party was destroyed by the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Although Yang continued working for the Xinhua News Agency, he spent much of his time researching for Tombstone. As of 2008, he was the deputy editor of the journal China Through the Ages (炎黄春秋), an official journal that regularly skirts censorship with articles on controversial political topics. A leading liberal voice, he published the Chinese version of Tombstone in Hong Kong in May 2008. Yang is also listed as a Fellow of China Media Project, a department under Hong Kong University. He lives in Beijing with his wife and two children.
Yang Jisheng’s The World Turned Upside Down is the definitive history of the Cultural Revolution, in withering and heartbreaking detail.As a major political event and a crucial turning point in the history of the People’s Republic of China, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) marked the zenith as well as the nadir of Mao Zedong’s ultra-leftist politics. Following Tombstone , his groundbreaking and award-winning history of the Great Famine, Yang Jisheng presents the only history of the Cultural Revolution by an independent scholar based in mainland China, and makes a crucial contribution to understanding the lasting influence of those years.The World Turned Upside Down puts every political incident, major and minor, of those ten years under extraordinary and withering scrutiny, and arrives in English at a moment when contemporary Chinese governance is leaning once more toward a highly centralized power structure and a Mao-style cult of personality.
An estimated thirty-six million Chinese men, women, and children starved to death during China's Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and early '60s. One of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century, the famine is poorly understood, and in China is still euphemistically referred to as "the three years of natural disaster."As a journalist with privileged access to official and unofficial sources, Yang Jisheng spent twenty years piecing together the events that led to mass nationwide starvation, including the death of his own father. Finding no natural causes, Yang attributes responsibility for the deaths to China's totalitarian system and the refusal of officials at every level to value human life over ideology and self-interest.
中國改革年代的政治鬥爭(修訂版) 中國到底要不要進行政治改革?為甚麼政治改革的命題會成為當今議論不休的一個熱點,甚至可能引起一場新的政治鬥爭呢? 這本書告訴我們:你想了解這些為甚麼?就必須了解毛東逝世後的中國政治鬥爭,就必須知道胡耀邦、趙紫陽與政壇老人的博弈的詳細經過,就必須了解「六四」前後發生的政治鬥爭內幕。本書作者楊繼繩是前新華社的高級記者,根據許多寶貴的資料及採訪許多高層的當事人後在六年前出版此書,一時洛陽紙貴,而趙紫陽在生命最後的時刻讀完了它,並予以高度評價。但作者不滿足於此書的不足之處。又多方搜集,增刪補闕,加進了許多第一手資料。 作者也不囿於自己的政治傾向,本書就吸收了不同意見者的材料,也補充了一些不為人知的資料,譬如揭示了三十八軍軍長徐勤先「抗命」而被撤職判刑的真相,廓清了謠言與誤傳。可以說,本書比現有任何有關這一方面的書籍所記載的內容更為詳盡與可靠,是一本不可多得的信史,一本不可不讀的好書。 作者簡介: 楊繼繩,新華社高級記者,著名學者。1966年畢業於北京清華大學。在新華通訊社任記者、編輯35年。現任《炎黃春秋》雜誌社副社長、中華全國新聞工作者協會第五屆理事。發表新聞、通訊、評論數以千篇計。出版專著有:《技術商品與技術市場》、《技術貿易學》、《社會奧秘之門》、《鄧小平時代》、《中國社會各階層分析》、《中國改革年代的政治鬥爭》等。1984年被評為全國優秀新聞工作者。作為有突出貢獻的專家,1992年開始享受國務院特殊津貼。
The author records the difficulties of China’s reform and the internal strife of the leadership in detail and gives profound and comprehensive comments. The book collects 3 pieces of interview records with Ziyang Zhao in its appendix, which is helpful to readers’ understanding on complicated and relentless high-level politics. This book is the first among the similar works owing to the authority and sharp point of views from author.
邓小平说:“让一部分人先富起来。”28年过去,什么人先富了起来?国家垄断经营初步放开时期,双轨价格运行时期,金融资零起始时期,国有资产重组时期,为什么成为红顶商人聚敛财富的四大高潮?私营企业是怎样成为人人要吃的“唐僧肉”的?在贫富差异上,中国的基尼系数已逼近0.5,城乡收入差距之大已成世界之最,社会动荡的“黄色警戒灯”是何时亮起的?为什么说中国是“一个布满地雷的富矿”?数据及答案,全在本书之中。
新華社原高級記者楊繼繩以《墓碑》、《鄧小平時代》等書聞名於世,但作為一名出色的記者,採訪成為他的記者生涯的重要工作內容之一。本書是他在改革開放之後採訪一系列中國政要的訪談記錄文字的整理稿之大成,包括趙紫陽、蕭克、任仲夷、葉選平、安志文、梁靈光、王恩茂、阮崇武、普朝柱、李長春、吳南生、梁湘、李灦、雷宇、梁廣大、董輔礽、吳江、羅征啟、馮蘭瑞等中國政要人物群的個訪,從方方面面為改革開放的過程留下了珍貴的斑斑史實記載,乃目下第一本獨具特色的高端訪談錄,極具閱讀性與資料價值。 除了上述訪談錄之外,本書還收入作者對中國政壇、思想界一些重要人物的述評與回憶,為那個大時代和這些名人留下了側寫的紀事,也糅合了作者對他們的功過評價,論點犀利、評論公允,不失為一部新聞工作前線人的力作。
本书分别从银行漫谈、股市浅说、财富流动、财政随笔、宏观经济、企业改革、当代老板等十几个大方面归纳选择了一百余篇评论集成此书奉献给读者。作者经历了改革前后中国两种政治经济体制,还有幸对中国三十年改革的整个历程进行了新闻采访和跟踪调查。三十年来,作者除了发表了大量的关于改革的新闻报道以外,还发表了数百篇关于改革的评论。这些评论文章不仅用通俗的文字介绍了有关改革的经济知识,还不时抨击了改革中的问题。改革发表时曾产生较大的社会影响,有的文章还引起高层领导人的重视。