ABSTRACT
The most remarkable aspect of Chinese imperial history has been the contrast between the ever-recurring hiatus in the political process with its rise and fall of dynasties on the one hand and the steadily evolving continuum of the social order on the other. In imperial China, the Confucian scholar-gentry were leaders of society who at the same time held a monopoly on the positions of officialdom in the state of the emperor, thus forming a vital link between society and state, essential to maintain the unity of the polity. Japans aggression and invasion destroyed the great chance tor a true Chinese nation-state and provided the conditions and the opportunity for the Chinese Communists to take power. The regime of Deng Xiaoping is trying to restore a working economy, improve the miserable living standards and undo the damage of the past decades without giving up the claim to proceed within Marxism-Leninism and the framework of a socialist order.
