China: From the Last Emperor to Xi Jinping

Pu-Yi, the last emperor of China, was enthroned in 1908, at the age of two. His abdication in 1912 marked the end of Imperial China. In early November 2021, Xi Jinping (General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China) was elevated by the Party to a status essentially equal to that of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. The way is clear for Xi to rule as long as he chooses. Has China chosen another Emperor?  

This workshop will trace the 20th- and 21st-century evolution of power in China — from the Imperium, through the Civil War, to the ascendancy of the Communist Party, through Five Generations of leadership, to the rise of Xi, the most powerful figure China has known since Mao, and perhaps since the days of the greatest emperors.