Chapter 1 describes the dilemma nineteenth-century Chinese intellectuals faced in contemplating their country’s inability to resist Western and, later, Japanese encroachment; given their belief in the absolute superiority of Chinese culture, what, and how much, could it borrow from these outsiders in order to defeat them. It identifies the major theories of analysis of post-1949 Chinese politics, and analyzes the strong and weak points of each as explanatory and predictive factors. It also considers the arguments for and against Chinese exceptionalism.