The Limited Times

Nicolas Baverez: "50 years after the prophecy of Peyrefitte, China has awakened... and the world trembles"

5/14/2023, 6:37:09 PM

Highlights: Fifty years ago, Alain Peyrefitte published Quand la Chine s'éveila... The world will tremble. The book is the result of a fact-finding mission carried out in the summer of 1971. China was just beginning its exit from the Cultural Revolution, launched by Mao Tse-tung's dazibao of June 5, 1966. For the rest of the world, it was perfectly opaque, masking behind a great ideological wall the intensity of the...


TRIBUNE - Written in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, this major essay by Alain Peyrefitte, When China will awaken... The world will tremble, described a country still poor, impregnated by totalitarian violence. Our columnist reminds us how much this book allows us to better understand this...

Fifty years ago, Alain Peyrefitte published Quand la Chine s'éveila... The world will tremble, which was a tremendous success. The book is the result of a fact-finding mission carried out in the summer of 1971, whose members visited 6 of the 18 provinces of China and conducted numerous interviews with leaders, first and foremost the Prime Minister, Zhou Enlai, but also senior officials, teachers and scholars, doctors and engineers. artists, heads of popular communes.

Alain Peyrefitte's journey and investigation into the heart of Maoist China took place at a turning point in history. China was just beginning its exit from the Cultural Revolution, launched by Mao Tse-tung's dazibao of June 5, 1966 calling for "firing on the headquarters," which caused the country to shut down completely for five years.

For the rest of the world, it was perfectly opaque, masking behind a great ideological wall the intensity of the...

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