张学兵，中央党史和文献研究院副研究员，主要从事中共党史和当代中国社会经济史研究，在《中共党史研究》、《党史研究与教学》等期刊发表论文40余篇，参与多部中共党史和改革开放史著作编写，出版《统购统销与计划经济秩序》、《通向和谐之路》等。
Zhang Xuebing
He is an associate research fellow at Central Institute of Party’s History and Literature, mainly studying the history of the CPC and the socioeconomic history of modern China. He has published more than 40 articles in journals such as CPC History Studies and CPC History Research and Teaching, and co-authored many works on the history of the CPC and of reform and opening up, such as State Monopoly for Purchase and Marketing and the Order of the Planned Economy, and The Road to Harmony, etc.

To begin with, the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics was initiated by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China aligned with historical evolution after the Opium War in 1840. However, the CPC was not the only one, let alone the first to care for “what path China should take” and make unremitting efforts to “explore a way out” after 1840. In the way of exploration, it was the Communist Party of China that had taken the torch of the predecessors and eventually found a way out for the Chinese people.
For this reason, we could never explain what exactly the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is without looking up to those predecessors in history and giving a retrospective analysis to their struggles and setbacks.

Chapter One　Dead Ends
Changes Unseen in Thousands of Years
The Heavenly Dream of Peasant Heroes
Self-Strengthening: The Pursuit of “Strength” and “Wealth”
The “Reform” of the Reformists
Chapter Two　Revolution
“The Only Way to Save China”
Xinhai Revolution
The New Democratic Revolution
Socialist Revolution
Chapter Three　 The Twists and Turns of the Path to Socialist Construction
A Good Start of the Exploration of the Path to Socialist Construction
The Major Twists and Turns in the Exploration
Don’t Keep to the Old Path
Chapter Four　Press ahead for a Path Out
Reforms Ignited by Famine
“Circling” a Plot of Land as the Special Economic Zone
Permitting the Development of New Economic Elements
Finding the Path to Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Chapter Five　 The Macroscopic Development of the Chinese Path
Deng Xiaoping Initiated the Path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Cont inuous Efforts to Adhere to, Develop, Expand the Path of Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics by Generations of the Central Collective Leadership of the Party
Broaden Our Path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Chapter Six　 The Theoretical, Systematic and Cultural Underpinning for Chinese Path
The Theoretical Underpinning
The Systematic Underpinning
The Cultural Underpinning
Chapter Seven　Chinese Way of Modernization
The Three-Step Strategy for Modernization Formulated by Deng Xiaoping
The Three-Step Strategy Enriched and Developed
Decisive Achievements Scored in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects
Chapter Eight　Market Economy under Socialism
The Objective of Developing a Market Economy under Socialism
The Characteristics of Socialist Market Economy
A Socialist Market Economy Initially Established with Deepening Understanding and Practice
Chapter Nine　A Path of Miracles
The Miracles of Rapid Economic Development
The Miracles of Improving People’s Livelihood