ABSTRACT
In this introductory chapter, the research objectives, rationale and motivation are explained and the overview of the book is provided. This book is concerned with the changes in the Chinese language and literacy curriculum (Yuwen) in high school in China from 1978 to 2010, corresponding to the post-Mao reform and opening up era. The drastic social change and its attendant changes in school textbook compilation in the post-Mao era and the researcher's work experience as a language teacher across two decades and in various countries informed his insight into the entangled relationship between the power and text in Yuwen education. This book presents the first systematic and in-depth research in the field of Yuwen education in the English-speaking world. An outline of the remaining chapters is provided in this chapter. The literature review, theoretical foundation and the research method appear in Chapters 2, 3 and 4, and Chapters 5, 6 and 7 are dedicated to the data analysis of the Yuwen syllabus documents, Yuwen textbook lists and texts and the fieldwork conducted in two high schools in China. Chapter 8 summarises the findings in this book.
