Master of the Intricacies of the Human Heart

　　爱丽丝·门罗，洞悉人心的大师

　　By Michiko Kakutani

　　Oct. 10, 2013

　　Alice Munro, named on Thursday as the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, once observed: “The complexity of things — the things within things — just seems to be endless. I mean nothing is easy, nothing is simple.”

　　爱丽丝·门罗(Alice Munro)于本周四获得2013年诺贝尔文学奖，她曾说过：“事物的复杂性，即蕴含在事物之中的事物，似乎无穷无尽。我的意思是，没有任何事是轻 松简单的。”

　　That is also a perfect description of Ms. Munro’s quietly radiant short stories — stories that have established her as one of the foremost practitioners of the form. Set largely in small-town and rural Canada and often focused on the lives of girls and women, her tales have the swoop and density of big, intimate novels, mapping the crevices of characters’ hearts with cleareyed Chekhovian empathy and wisdom.

　　这番话亦是门罗那些宁静闪光的短篇小说的绝好写照，这些作品为她奠定了短篇小说界一流作者的地位。她的小说主要发生在加拿大的乡村小镇，描绘女孩与女人们的生活，带着契诃夫式洞悉一切的同情与智慧勾勒出笔下人物心灵的罅隙，亦有着长篇小说所具备的冲击力与厚重。

　　Fluent and deceptively artless on the page, these stories are actually amazingly intricate constructions that move back and forth in time, back and forth between reality and memory, opening out, magically, to disclose the long panoramic vistas in these people’s lives (the starts, stops and reversals that stand out as hinge moments in their personal histories) and the homely details of their day-to-day routines: the dull coping with “food and mess and houses” that can take up so much of their heroines’ time.

　　她的短篇小说行文流畅，文风表面质朴无华，实则结构精美复杂，在时间之中往复穿梭，在现实与记忆之间转换;故事神秘展开，揭开笔下人物生平的全貌景观(在关键的转折点中突出个体人物生活史中的开端、停顿与逆境)，乃至日常生活中的平凡琐碎细节：她会平淡地描述 “食物、琐事与家务”，这些事占去了她笔下女主人公的大部分时间。

　　Ms. Munro’s stories possess an emotional amplitude and a psychological density that stand in sharp contrast to the minimalistic work of Raymond Carver, and to Donald Barthelme’s playful, postmodernist tales. Her understanding of the music of domestic life, her ability to simultaneously detail her characters’ inner landscapes and their place in a meticulously observed community, and her talent for charting “the progress of love” as it morphs and mutates through time — these gifts have not only helped Ms. Munro redefine the contours of the contemporary short story, but have also made her one of today’s most influential writers, celebrated by authors as disparate as Lorrie Moore, Jonathan Franzen, Deborah Eisenberg and Mona Simpson.

　　门罗的小说既有情感的广度，亦有心理的深度，与雷蒙德·卡佛(Raymond Carver)的简约风格，乃至唐纳德·巴塞尔姆(Donald Barthelme’s)戏谑的后现代主义故事形成鲜明对比。她深深了解蕴含在家庭生活中的音乐;在描绘笔下人物内心世界细节的同时，无微不至地勾勒出社区的状态，并点出人物在社区中的位置;此外她还擅长书写“爱的进程”，在时间的演进中为爱的变形与变异画出图谱。这些特质令她重新定义了当代短篇小说的外延，也使她成为当今世上最重要的作家之一，洛丽·摩尔(Lorrie Moore)、乔纳森·弗兰岑(Jonathan Franzen)、黛博拉·埃森堡(Edborah Eisenberg)与莫娜·辛普森(Mona Simpson)等风格各异的作家都对她赞不绝口。

　　In short fiction that spans four and a half decades — beginning with the collection “Dance of the Happy Shades” (1968), through classic volumes like “The Moons of Jupiter” (1982), “The Progress of Love”(1986), “Friend of My Youth”(1990) and “Open Secrets” (1994), up to “Dear Life” (2012), which she has said will be her last — Ms. Munro has given us prismatic portraits of ordinary people that reveal their intelligence, toughness and capacity to dream, as well as their lies, blind spots and lapses of courage and good will. Such descriptions are delivered not with judgmental accountancy, but with the sort of “unsparing unsentimental love” harbored by a close friend or family member.

　　门罗创作短篇小说已有45年，最早的作品集是1968年的《快乐影子舞》(Dance of the Happy Shades)，其间有《木星的卫星》(The Moons of Jupiter，1982)、《爱的进程》(The Progress of Love, 1986)、《青年时代的朋友》(Friend of My Youth, 1990)和《公开的秘密》(Open Secrets, 1994)等经典小说集，直到2012年的《亲爱的生活》(Dear Life)——她说《亲爱的生活》将是她的最后一本小说集。在这些作品中，门罗为普通人的生活描绘出五光十色的画像，展现他们的智慧、坚韧与梦想的能力，与此同时也有他们的谎言和盲点，乃至勇气和善意的偶尔缺失。她的描写不带评判色彩，只有“不夹偏私，冷静理性的爱”，如同来自亲密的朋友或家庭成员。

　　There is always an awareness in her fiction of the subjectivity of perception, and the kaleidoscopic permutations that memory can work on reality. In “Friend of My Youth,” the story of a twice-jilted woman named Flora is remembered by a friend, and that friend’s account, in turn, is framed by her daughter’s thoughts on the subject, turning Flora’s sad tale into a kind of Rorschach test for the pair of them.

　　她的小说也总是清醒地认识到认知能力的主观性，以及记忆对现实的各种丰富多彩的影响。《青年时代的朋友》讲述两次遭人遗弃的芙罗拉在一位朋友心目中的回忆，这位朋友的叙述也受到她女儿对芙罗拉看法的影响，芙罗拉悲哀的故事变成了母女之间的罗夏墨迹心理测验(Rorschach test) 。

　　Like Ms. Munro, many of the women in these stories grew up in small towns in Canada and, at some point, faced a decision about whether to stay or to leave for the wider world. Their lifetimes often span decades of startling social change — from a time and place when tea parties and white gloves were de rigueur to the days of health food stores and stripper bars.

　　和门罗一样，她小说中的女人们也多在加拿大小镇上成长，在某个时刻面临留在家乡还是奔赴广大世界的抉择。她们在数十年的人生中往往历经社会巨变，从举办茶会、社交场合必须戴白手套的年代和地点一路走到健康食品店与脱衣舞酒吧的时代。

　　For that matter, Ms. Munro’s women, much like John Updike’s men, often find themselves caught on the margins of shifting cultural mores and pulled between conflicting imperatives — between rootedness and escape, domesticity and freedom, between tending to familial responsibilities or following the urgent promptings of their own hearts.

　　因此，门罗笔下的女人很像约翰·厄普代克(John Updike)笔下的男人，经常发现自己被困在文化道德转型的边缘，在互相矛盾的义务中挣扎——坚守与逃避、家庭与自由，对家族的责任与内心冲动的迫切召唤。

　　The narrator of “Miles City, Montana” craves “a place to hide” from the demands of running a household; she wants to “get busy at my real work, which was a sort of wooing of distant parts of myself,” only to realize, after a swimming pool accident, that her self-preoccupation has endangered her daughter. In “Family Furnishings,” the heroine doesn’t stay home to take care of her ailing mother, but wins a college scholarship, moves away to the big city and sets about becoming a writer.

　　《蒙大拿迈尔斯城 》(Miles City, Montana)中的叙事者渴望“一个躲藏的地方”，可以逃避持家的义务;她想“忙于我真正的工作，有点像哄好我内心深处冷淡的部分，”但在一次游泳事故之后，她发现她对自我的关注令女儿置身危险境地。在《家居装饰》(Family Furnishings)中，女主人公没有呆在家里照顾生病的母亲，而是获取大学学位，搬到大城市，打算开始写作。

　　In story after story, passion is the magnet or the motor that drives women’s choices. Love and sex, and marriage and adultery are often mirrors that reveal a Munro heroine’s expectations — her fondest dreams and cruel self-delusions, her sense of independence and need to belong.

　　在一个个故事里，激情就像磁石或马达，吸引和驱动着女人们做出选择。对于门罗的女主人公们来说，爱情与性爱，婚姻与外遇通常就像镜子一样映照出她们的渴望——她们最美好的梦想与最残酷的自欺，她们的独立意识与对归属感的需求。

　　Ms. Munro is adept at tracing the many configurations that intimacy can take over the years, showing how it can suffocate a marriage or inject it with a renewed sense of devotion. She shows how sexual ardor can turn into a “tidy pilot flame” and how an impulsive tryst can become a treasured memory, hoarded as a bulwark against the banalities of middle age.

　　门罗还擅长描写多年亲密关系的多种复杂情况，显示这样的关系如何扼杀一段婚姻，或为婚姻注入新的奉献精神。她展示了性爱可以变为“蔓延的火势”;一时冲动的幽会可以成为珍贵的回忆，汇聚为对抗平庸中年生活的堡垒。

　　Illness and death frequently intrude upon these stories, and the reader is constantly reminded of the precariousness of life — and the role that luck, chance and reckless, spur-of-the-moment choices can play. Some of Ms. Munro’s characters embrace change as a liberating force that will lift them out of their humdrum routines, or at least satisfy their avid curiosity about life. Others regard it with fearful dismay, worried that they will lose everything they hold dear — or at least everything familiar.

　　疾病与死亡也是她小说中经常出现的主题，读者经常会感受到生命的珍贵，以及运气、机遇和轻率莽撞的选择在人生中扮演的角色。门罗笔下的一些人物把改变视为解放自身的力量，可以让他们摆脱一成不变的生活，或者至少能满足他们对人生敏锐的好奇心。另一些人则将改变视为可怕的不幸，担心会失去手中珍贵的一切，至少那是他们所熟悉的一切。

　　In “A Wilderness Station,” an orphan named Annie marries a gruff frontiersman and after his mysterious death, finds herself in jail for his murder. And in “A Real Life,” a woman who has led a marginal existence, trapping muskrats for their fur in the Ontario countryside, meets a visitor from Australia, begins corresponding with him and after he proposes, moves to Queensland, where she finds herself flying airplanes and shooting crocodiles.

　　譬如《旷野车站》(A Wilderness Station)讲述孤女安妮嫁给一个性情冷漠的拓荒者，丈夫神秘死亡后，她却莫名其妙地被控谋杀他，进了牢房。《真实生活》(A Real Life)里，一个住在安大略乡村的女人靠捕捉麝鼠贩卖皮毛勉强维生，她遇到一个澳大利亚游客，开始和他通信，后来他向她求婚后，她移居昆士兰，过上了开飞机和猎杀鳄鱼的生活。

　　Some of Ms. Munro’s more recent tales have exchanged the elliptical narratives she pioneered years ago for a more old-fashioned, stage-managed approach. Compared to her earlier work, many of the stories in “Dear Life” feature tightly plotted — even contrived — narratives and more closure than in the past.

　　门罗早年的作品开创了委婉的叙事风格，近年来的作品则走向传统的、舞台化的方式。和早期作品相比，《亲爱的生活》中的许多小说有着构思更为严密的叙事(甚至有些不真实)，比以往的小说更有如释重负的宽慰之感。

　　The highlights of that volume were four final entries, which she described as “the first and last — and the closest — things I have to say about my own life,” a comment that cannot help but remind the reader of how closely many of Ms. Munro’s stories have followed the general contours of her life: from a hardscrabble childhood in an Ontario farming community, to early marriage and a move to British Columbia, followed by divorce, a new marriage and a move back to rural Ontario.

　　这本小说集的亮点是最后四篇小说，她称它们是“关于我的人生，我要说的最初与最终的话，也是最亲密的话。”这样的评语会令读者们联想到，门罗的很多小说都与她本人的人生大致历程相吻合：在安大略农场度过贫苦的童年、早早结婚、移居卑诗省、离婚、再婚，搬回安大略乡村。

　　In the last paragraph of the last of those semi-autobiographical pieces, Ms. Munro writes, “I did not go home for my mother’s last illness or for her funeral. I had two small children and nobody in Vancouver to leave them with. We could barely have afforded the trip, and my husband had a contempt for formal behavior, but why blame it on him? I felt the same. We say of some things that they can’t be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. But we do — we do it all the time.”

　　在这些半自传小说的最后一段里，门罗写道：“母亲生病临终之际我没有回家，也没有出席她的葬礼。当时两个孩子还小，在温哥华无人可以替我照看他们。我们几乎付不起旅费，丈夫又一向鄙弃正统的礼数，但为什么要怪他呢?我也是这么想的。我们说过一些不能被原谅的话，也说过我们将永远不能原谅自己。但我们就是这样做的——我们一直都是这样做的。”

　　Writers and artists make quite a few appearances in Munro stories, but storytelling remains important to all her characters, no matter their vocation — in fact, it’s an essential tool for ordering and making sense of their lives. Sometimes, it’s a way of reimagining the past in order to manufacture an identity or mythologize one’s family. Sometimes it’s a way of foregrounding certain events, while smudging over others. Sometimes it’s a way of finding patterns in the chaos of the everyday. And sometimes, as in Ms. Munro’s own wonderful stories, it’s a way of connecting time past, present and future — not in conventional terms of beginnings, middles and ends, but in surprising new ways that leave readers with a renewed appreciation of the endless “complexity of things — the things within things.”

　　门罗的小说中也经常出现作家与艺术家们的身影，但不管她笔下的人物从事什么样的职业，“讲故事”对于他们来说都很重要——事实上，讲故事是他们为人生赋予意义和秩序的重要工具。它有时是重新想象过去，为自己建立身份或书写家族神话的方式;有时是凸显某些具体事件，模糊其他事件的工具;有时是在日常生活的混乱中确立规范的手法;有时又是连接过去、现在与未来的桥梁——在门罗精彩的小说中，过去、现在与未来并不意味着传统的开始、过程与结局，而是一种惊人的全 新方式，令读者可以以崭新的眼光去欣赏无穷无尽的“事物的复杂性，即蕴含在事物之中的事物”。

　　2014年6月11日，中共中央政治局常委刘云山访问丹麦期间，参加了“欧洲学者眼中的中国共产党国际研讨会”并发言，主办方是丹麦哥本哈根商学院和中国当代世界研究中心。李世默在研讨会上做了题为“从全球视角看中国研究的新动向和中共形象的新变化”的发言。

　　李世默：从全球视角看中国研究的新动向和中共形象的新变化

　　现代西方的中国学研究大致经历了两个代际的变化。第一代是历史主义流派主导的，第二代是意识形态至上流派所主导的。当代西方对中国的认知，不论是学术界或大众媒体，都深受这两大代际流派的影响。

　　我认为，当下，海外中国学正迎来新的一代，即第三代。第三代中国学发端于新的形势背景下，研究方法和取向都不同以往。这一代流派的演进，将推动中国学从基础结构上发生转型，并使世界对中国的认知产生决定性影响。这对中国共产党来说意义深远，作为中国政治治理模式的核 心，中共将有能力深刻影响中国学的结构和方向，并从根本上改变中国的国际形象。

　　首先，我们稍微回顾下历史。

　　现代中国学研究的第一代，可以追溯到20世纪初，以史景迁、傅高义等杰出学者为代表。他们用历史主义的语境研究现代中国，研究方法深受中国传统文化影响，研究领域涵盖了中国的政治、历史、社会状况和引领中国现代史的领袖人物。这些研究，为人类知识宝库增加了新的瑰宝。

　　中国学的第二代，始于1989年，在后冷战时代的意识形态狂热中诞生。这一时期的研究，被历史决定论引入歧途，陷入自由民主或专制独裁的意识形态两元对立。在研究取向上，强调政治立场先行和意识形态挂帅，目的只有一个，即证明中国的政治制度必 然崩溃。在研究方法上，则十分类似美国竞选中常见的“敌情研究”。可惜，这一代流派的研究一再被中国成功发展的事实证伪，备受质疑，如今摇摇欲坠。我预判，这一派的未来前景极其有限。

　　梳理完过去，让我们再来看看当下。

　　最近几十年来，中国全方位快 速崛起，其巨大影响波及至世界各个角落。全球政治、历史、经济研究的顶 尖人士，纷纷聚焦中国，希望探究这一历史重大事件的深远含义。这个群体不再象前两代那样限于中国通，而是来自各个领域，他们便构成了第三代中国学的主体。

　　这第三代中国学呈现两个趋向，一个是理论派，即试图用西方现有的政治和国际关系理论，来分析和解读中国模式，譬如建构主义，“正当抗争”理论，“社会团结”理论，“受众理论”等。在我看来，这种用抽象教条硬套鲜活现实的研究方法很不可取，极有可能重蹈意识形态挂帅式研究的覆辙。

　　另一个趋向可以称为实证派，即以收集客观数据为基本研究方法，客观分析中国的治理模式。这一派中不少人是世界知 名学者，比如弗兰西斯·福山的政治学研究，尼古拉斯·拉迪的经济学研究，以及傅泰林的国际关系研究。更值得注意的是，这一派中很多是年轻一代的学者。

　　在我看来，实证研究高度关注政府治理，聚焦于具体问题，以实际数据为支撑，回应了世界客观认识中国的需求，对各国的政治治理也提供了借鉴。实证研究的兴起，标志着学术界正从意识形态论战转向务实分析，发展前景非常广阔。

　　新一代中国学研究吸引了当今世界最杰出的学术精英。其原因主要有两点：首先，中国崛起影响全世界，世界需要了解中国，特别是中国的治理模式。第二，当今世界上许多国家，包括美国和欧洲各国和很多发展中国家，正遭遇史无 前例的政治治理困境。全世界都在反思后冷战时代对政治治理的共识。而中国的成就有目共睹，对中国政治治理的积极研究，有望为世界打开新视角，找到新钥匙。

　　但是，这一代中国学要想真正实现跨越，还面临一道障碍亟待排除。这就是，中国共产党是中国政治治理的核 心，迄今其角色、原理却极少为世界所客观认知。

　　应该说，无论从理论上还是实践中，中共都是中国政治当之无愧的领导核 心。但是，从中华人民共和国成立起，中共一直将自己隐藏在一个貌似和其他所有现代政党国家一样的国家体制内，这是一个很奇特的现象。

　　其实，几乎所有人都知道这不是事实。众所周知，中国的政治治理模式在当今世界上独一无二。中共的干部选拔制度复杂有序，中共的政策决策机制和反馈机制科学严密。遗憾的是，全世界很难了解到这些细节。

　　我们正站在一个新时代的起点。意识形态挂帅的迷雾正在散去。在“后意识形态”的时代，提高治理能力和找到有效的解决方案，是各国各类政党的 任务。各国学术界都在苦寻良方，以拯救自己免于现实之水火。

　　社会科学界几乎每一个领域里的新一代学者，都意识到今天中国的重要性。他们都已经深知，不深入研究中国的案例，就无法全面理解和解读当代世界的政治治理。中国的发展可以说是当今世界在政治治理模式上最重要的尝试和探索。现在他们又逐步发现，要想深入研究中国治理，不深入了解中共，就无法真正搞清楚。万法归宗，要揭开中国成就之谜，钥匙是研究中共，可谓条条道路通中共。那么，中共会走上前台、会自己撩开神秘面纱吗?中共的“秘方”能改变世界对中国的认知吗?能促进世界全面革新政府治理的时代理念吗?

　　答案不仅是肯定的，而且是令人鼓舞的。新中国成立65年来，特别是邓小平启动改革开放36年来，中共以人类历史上最快的速度，带领人类历史上最大规模的人口，实现了人类历史上最大幅度的生活水平的提高。中共的治理秘笈博大精深、独一无二。这一秘密的揭晓，将拓宽整个世界的政治经济视野。

　　或许，今天我们正站在一个新时代的开端。在这个新的时代里，中共将以开放的姿态走到台前，世界将以客观务实的态度一窥中共这一当代政治治理学里最重要体制之堂奥。

　　这个时代需要双方相向而行。中共需要进一步开放，学术界需要更多严肃学者的投入。要做的工作很多，但并不需要太久，经历了前两个代际流派之后，在第三代学者手中，我们就有望创造出一个全 新的知识体系，贡献给世界的政治治理研究。中共也有望极大地改变世界的认知，改写当代世界的中国故事。

　　或许，到那一刻，我们回望今日，会发现，今天正是这个丰收时代的开端。

　　EMERGING TRENDS IN CHINESE STUDIES AND THE ROLE OF THE PARTY

　　By: Eric X. Li

　　In the modern era, Chinese studies in the West have gone through two main generations: the generation of the historic school and the generation of the ideological school. Contemporary Western perceptions and understanding of China, in both the academic world and popular press, have been informed by the methods and aims of these two schools.

　　I would like to suggest that we are at the beginning of a new phase. A third generation is emerging. This new generation is approaching China with new methods and different aims within different contexts. This development has placed the fundamental frameworks of Chinese studies in transition. How this evolves will have decisive impacts on the world’s interpretations of China. As such, the contemporary CCP, the party, as China’s central governing institution, is in a position to exercise significant influence over the future landscape and conditions of Chinese studies and thereby China’s image in the eyes of the world.

　　First, let’s summarize the past.

　　The first generation, the historic school, has guided the world’s understanding of China since early 20th century. Its ranks have been filled with illustrious scholars, such as Jonathan Spence and Ezra Vogel. They seek to study modern China in an historical context and thereby better understand the nation’s trajectory. Their methods are deeply cultural. Their studies in China’s politics, historical and social conditions, and the personalities who drove China’s modern history have made significant contributions to the world’s repertoire of knowledge.

　　The second generation, the ideological school, on the other hand, has proved to be a deeply flawed approach. This school materialized after 1989 in the context of the post Cold War ideological fervor. Historic determinism framed their approach and the entire school was defined by the ideological dichotomy between liberal democracy and authoritarianism. The aim of their studies carried an overtly political and ideological agenda - to prove the Chinese political system is on an inevitable course towards eventual collapse. The methods of their studies are similar to what is called “opposition research” in American political campaigns. This school has been largely discredited by facts on the ground and I suspect their impact on the future will be limited at best.

　　That was then, and this is now.

　　The dramatic rise of China in all aspects of its national power in recent decades is impacting every walk of life in just about every corner of the world. As a result, some of the brightest minds in political science, history, and economics are beginning to examine closely what it all really means. Many of them are no longer China experts but generalists. They form the third new generation.

　　One of the two newly emerging trends in the current generation is the theoretical school. It seeks to use existing theories in political science and international relations, such as constructivism, theory of "rightful resistance", theory of "social solidarity", "audience theory", etc. to analyze and interpret various developments in China. In my personal view, the approaches taken by the theoretical school are not promising. They may fall into the same trap as the ideological school that proceeded them – applying abstract principles to highly specific and incommensurate conditions.

　　A much more interesting emerging trend is the empirical school. In this approach, the methods center around empirical data and the aim is the objective understanding of Chinese governance in both historic and contemporary contexts. Some of the most notable scholars have begun to undertake this approach, such as Francis Fukuyama on political science, Nicholas Lardy on economics, and Taylor Fravel on international relations. More importantly, perhaps, is that many from the current young generation of scholars are undertaking this approach.

　　In my view, the emerging empirical school carries the most significant promise in the future. It is the most significant sign that the academic community is shifting beyond ideological judgment and toward empirical analysis. Its heavy emphasis on governance, its focus on specific problems, and its reliance on data are all consistent with what the world needs in both its desire to better understand China and the need to address governance problems elsewhere.

　　This new generation of Chinese scholarship is attracting some of the best minds in the business. It is happening in the context of two underlying forces. First, the global impact of China’s rise is such that more comprehensive understanding of its governance is urgently needed. Second, a vast number of countries, including America and major European states and many developing nations are encountering unprecedented difficulties in political governance. Everywhere, the post Cold War consensus on political governance is being reassessed. The accomplishments of China, if properly studied, could provide the world with much needed fresh perspectives.

　　There is, however, a substantial gap that, if not addressed, would greatly limit the potential of this shift. There is too little knowledge and data about the most important institution that is at the center of it all – the party.

　　The party’s centrality in Chinese governance has been a fact in both principle and practice. Yet, a most peculiar phenomenon in the past decades since the founding of the People’s Republic has been the party’s insistence that it remains behind a state structure that resembles every other modern state in the world.

　　But everyone knows it is not so. Everyone knows the Chinese model of governance has its own unique characteristics, namely, the party matters the most. Everyone knows the party has a most extraordinarily elaborate system of selecting and promoting officials within the political system. Everyone knows the party operates a highly sophisticated process of decision-making and feedback collection on policies. Yet, so little specifics are made known to the world.

　　We are at the beginning of a new era. Ideology is receding into the background. In this post-ideological era, governance and problem solving are becoming the most pressing requirements everywhere in the world. It seems the world’s scholastic community is ready and eager to find practical solutions to real world problems.

　　This new generation of scholars of every social science is finding that China is the big elephant in the room. One cannot produce a credible and full picture of contemporary political governance without considering the Chinese case. Indeed, the Chinese phenomenon is perhaps the most significant experiment in political governance taking place in the world today. Further, one cannot unlock the secret behind the Chinese phenomenon without studying the party. The key resides with the party. All roads lead to the party. Will the party step forward and offer the world a chance to learn? What is the content that could bring about qualitative improvements in not only the understanding of China but political governance in general?

　　The answers to both are affirmative and encouraging. In its nearly 65 years of governing the People’s Republic, the party has led China from the most debilitated state of existence to an emerging great power. In the 35 years since Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, the party has led the most significant improvements in standard of living for the largest number of people in the shortest period of time in human history. The party’s model of governance is deep and rich and unique. The opening up of the party will expand the entire world’s horizon.

　　Perhaps today can be the beginning of a new and rewarding period. The party will further open itself to the world. And the world will undertake to study and understand the most important institution that is at the center of the most important phenomenon in political governance of our time.

　　It is a two-way street. The party needs to come forward and open up. The scholastic community needs to approach the party with an open mind and empirical attitude. Much work remains to be done. But I am hopeful that, a generation from now, this process will have facilitated the building of new bodies of knowledge that would contribute to the entire world’s understanding of political governance. From its standpoint, the party will have an unprecedented opportunity to influence the narrative of modern China for generations to come.

　　By then, perhaps, we can look back to this day as a historic beginning.