Explosions of nationalistic sentiments in China have taken place for as long as its history can tell. But the recent ones are the most telling because they happen as the country is achieving unprecedented economic development and political clout, boosting Chinese people's pride and their demand for world recognition. This study of Chinese nationalism is timely. Some historians contend that China became a "nation" only in the 20th century even though it has four millennia of documented history and two millennia of centralized rule. China as a nation yearns to become a state. An important element in defining Chinese nationalism is Confucianism, which has influenced civilization and thinking by the elite over many centuries. Some Chinese scholars believe that Confucian teaching can be a guide to nationalism, while others believe that Confucianism and nationalism are not compatible.

This author prefers to deal with nationalistic issues from different angles. One is "face" in China, and Gries uses examples of incidents in recent years, like the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999, which killed a number of Chinese journalists. The US said the bombing, which was carried out by an American jet fighter, was a mistake. But millions of Chinese and their leaders strongly protested the attack, believing that it was a deliberate move to humiliate the country. They demanded an apology. The bombing prompted a new wave of anti-US and nationalistic demonstrations in China. Nationalists blame the US for trying to isolate China, citing the rejection of Beijing's request to host the 2000 Olympics and the crisis in the Taiwan Strait in 1995-96. When a US reconnaissance plane collided with a Chinese jetfighter in the South China Sea in April 2001, anti-US feelings revived. The Chinese people saw these incidents as attempts to make them "lose face." Each incident also reminds Chinese of the so-called "Century of Humiliation" that Chinese people say was inflicted on them by the West, beginning with the British-led opium war in the mid 19th century.

The author says "face" is present in all societies and the Chinese culture is no different from others. He urges Westerners to try to understand Chinese "face." "It may be helpful for the Western reader to think of 'face' as denoting the more neutral term 'honor,'" he says.

Another aspect of new nationalism in China is the publication of books, paintings or calligraphy upholding nationalistic sentiments and using the past to represent the present. The "Century of Humiliation" has been used by prominent writers to strike back at Western countries. An example which Gries uses is a cartoon published in 1996 with the sentence "The sleeping lion has awoken," showing a lion scaring away a Western "big nose" man. In today's China it is not uncommon to see pictures of lions instead of dragons depicting China as many people try to come to terms with the trauma of the "Century" or other past humiliations. The return of Hong Kong to mainland China in 1997 was another step towards conquering the demons of the past. Many Chinese authors writing before 1997 said that taking back Hong Kong would wipe away the past.

An interesting example explaining why the Chinese desire recognition by the world is what the author calls "the Kissinger complex." Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is the man who helped establish diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing. But Kissinger had a love affair with China. He praised Chinese leaders and painted a rosy picture of the communist giant even as the East-West ideologies clashed at the height of the Cold War. Beijing leaders were grateful for Kissinger's support. Many Chinese today suffer from the "Kissinger complex" and they also display a "China complex" as well, meaning that some Chinese officials now see the need to praise foreigners who ignore China's flaws and trumpet its achievements. By praising these foreigners, those Chinese are enhancing their "face", their self-esteem and increasing their confidence in China's future, the author says.

At each occasion when a Chinese leader shakes hand with a foreign leader the media never fails to mention Chinese victory over the West. A clear example was when President Richard Nixon visited Beijing and shook hands with the leaders there. When China took its place in the United Nations in 1971 after two decades of exclusion, the event was celebrated as a Chinese victory and a saving of face.