> in this piece, i trace the intellectual map of china’s tech founders by asking a simple question: what books have shaped their worldview?
> what emerged is that the “china tech canon” shares deep roots with the “silicon valley canon” ... works by paul graham, jim collins, peter thiel, and biographies of elon musk (and many others) circulate widely. but the chinese canon also branches into its own distinct traditions: what i call the red canon, the grey canon, and the fanstasy canon. alongside the western playbook of disruption and ambition, chinese entrepreneurs also draw from maoist texts, confucian ethics, martial-arts fantasies, and liu cixin's ruthless universe.
fritzo•3mo ago
> in this piece, i trace the intellectual map of china’s tech founders by asking a simple question: what books have shaped their worldview?
> what emerged is that the “china tech canon” shares deep roots with the “silicon valley canon” ... works by paul graham, jim collins, peter thiel, and biographies of elon musk (and many others) circulate widely. but the chinese canon also branches into its own distinct traditions: what i call the red canon, the grey canon, and the fanstasy canon. alongside the western playbook of disruption and ambition, chinese entrepreneurs also draw from maoist texts, confucian ethics, martial-arts fantasies, and liu cixin's ruthless universe.