Digital Commons Network^™

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 1 No. 1, Spring 2001, University Of San Francisco, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Contents:

To Change China: A Tale of Three Reformers by Greg Anderson

The cyclical rising and falling of historical Chinese dynasties has often been punctuated by the emergence of reformers who attempted to bring about improvements and to set the nation on what they believed to be the correct course. This paper examines the lives, motivations, reform programs, and results achieved by three such reformers – Wang Mang of the Han, Wang Anshi of the Song and Zhang Juzheng of the Ming – in an effort to understand the conditions that drove them to reform, and to draw lessons for …