MaHui Book Gift | Kissinger's *On China*

Since 2016, Source Code Capital has run its "MaHui Book Gift" program, curating timely reads on macro trends, business, and philosophy for founders across the MaHui community. Books go out quarterly, with 76 titles delivered to over 300 member companies to date.

The MaHui Book Gift video series will roll out each title, distilling key insights for readers.

On November 29 local time, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at his home in Connecticut. He was 100. The scholar-turned-statesman had served simultaneously as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor — the only American ever to hold both roles at once. He was the central architect of U.S. foreign policy in the latter half of the 20th century, engineering America's withdrawal from Vietnam and reshaping relations with the Soviet Union at the Cold War's height. Kissinger drove the U.S. rapprochement and opening to China. Over the past half-century, he visited China nearly a hundred times, participating in and witnessing the evolution of bilateral relations.

In 2022, Siying Liu, Partner at Source Code Capital, recommended Kissinger's On China. She wrote: "Getting to know yourself begins with not knowing yourself — then gradually becoming self-aware through how others see you. As Chinese people who grew up in China, 'China' itself is something we may only truly understand through many perspectives. So we need to see how others see China. Many books study China; few offer real insight. On China is one of those rare books. Creating it required not only penetrating thought, but an investigative mind free of preconceptions. Most extraordinarily, the author was himself a player who set the historical chessboard. In this work by a great contemporary diplomat, Kissinger offers sharp observations on China and moving details from the pivotal history of U.S.-China diplomatic normalization — there is so much to gain."

Today we recommend this book again. Kissinger's deep and complex policy and intellectual legacy will continue to shape our world.

Kissinger wielded influence not only in the West but also enjoyed wide recognition in China, where he was known as "an old friend of the Chinese people" — a witness and participant in numerous major China-related events.

In the book, Kissinger draws on his singular vantage point as a veteran diplomat, his observations from more than 50 visits to China, and his close interactions with multiple Chinese leaders to analyze and trace China's diplomatic traditions since the 18th century. He concentrates on the origins and developments of major historical events after the founding of the People's Republic: the Korean War, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S., the Taiwan Strait crises, and more. He probes the Chinese strategic mindset through cultural DNA such as weiqi (Go) culture and The Art of War.

What makes the book distinctive is that it is neither pure memoir, monograph, nor autobiography. It blends recollection, reflection, history, and intuition-driven inquiry, narrating China's past with depth. Its original purpose was to introduce China and Chinese strategic thinking to Western countries, especially the United States. But for Chinese readers, using this authoritative external perspective to step outside our habitual circles of thinking and cognition — to re-understand and truly read China through familiar history — is equally essential.

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