By 1979, Chinese people were poorer, on average, than North Koreans. I mean, your average per-capita income in China that year was one third of sub-Saharan Africa's.

Fact-checking can wreak havoc on Chinese political mythology.

China no longer has an ideology that makes any sense to them, but what they do have is great pride in the Chinese nation.

Chinese readers are buying books in translation, particularly non-fiction about China, in large numbers.

In 1975, the collapse of a cascade of Chinese dams during a flood killed a hundred and seventy-one thousand people, but the event is rarely discussed, and the names of the victims are largely unrecorded today.

If the economy can only provide a diminishing political dividend, Chinese leaders will encourage their people to feel pride and vigor in other ways.