Wang Meng sees enourmous nee for action to turn China towards the globalized, democratized future. He asks this of the government, the party, the officials and every Chinese citizen.His well-known literary style is very metaphorical and rich in imagery, even in this specialized book: "A proper society is, in principle, very simple: Politicians persuade and make politics, cooks cook diligently, tailors tailor clothes devotedly, famous singers enchant with a song, with their pens, authors conjure both wind and rain wondrously. And at the same time, everybody is entitled and to fulfill their duties.""China - Deciphered" presents the inner view of a liberal minister of culture from the Chinese Cabinet of the 1980s; one who was temporarily succeeded in office by a hardliner after the events of June 1989. Wang Meng identifies the mistakes and problems of the Chinese government and the Communist Party with unusual clarity, but is confident that the party and Chinese-style socialist market economy will master the problems. being a "rehabilitated" victim of the history of the People's Republic of China an explicitly exposes the inevitability of corruption, violence, failing revolutions and campaigns in socialist China as systemic mistakes.This is a book that has been, and still is, widely discussed in the Middle kingdom. For the Western reader, it is a key that opens the door to enigmatic China and explains much of modern Chinese culture and history.