Reviewed by Rosita S. Chen Shippensburg State College
This book, a published master thesis, was the result of a year-long research on the evolution of accounting in China, as a response to the world-wide summon of Dr. Paul Garner for an international study of accounting history.
This book consists of 12 chapters grouped into three parts. The first part (chapters 1 & 2) introduces the objective of the study, the layout of the book and a brief summary of the materials covered in the chapters to follow. The second part (chapters 3-5) describes the history of accounting from 2183 B.C. to 1911, the year which marked the end of the Ching Dynasty and the birth of the Republic of China. Using three short chapters (about 16 pages) to cover historical development for a period of more than 4000 years, the author made no attempt to enter into detail other than providing a general background for a more extensive examination of the development of modern accounting. It should be noted that during this period, due to the stagnant nature of Chinese society, no significant change in accounting systems, mainly government accounting, had been observed even in the years of political turmoil and dynasty changes.
The third part deals with accounting development since 1911. In China, 1911 marked the beginning of the era of modernization and thus serves as a convenient dividing line between traditional and modern accounting. The evolution of accounting in general is presented in Chapter 6, while the development of each of the following branches of modern accounting is discussed in a separate chapter: government accounting (chapter 7), bank accounting (chapter 8), public enterprise accounting (chapter 9), and private enterprise accounting (chapter 10). Since, as a Chinese tradition, all the accounting activities have been subject to extensive regulatory supervision, laws and regulations appear to be the common thread of these chapters.
The last two chapters are devoted to the introduction of public accounting and accounting education, respectively. Public accounting is relatively young in China. However, it has been growing rapidly since the sixties under the influence of the United States. This influence is reflected in the by-laws of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the adopted Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and the recommended short form auditor’s report, which is virtually a direct translation of the standard form recommended by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The evolution of accounting education and the current status of college accounting programs are discussed in some length in the last chapter. Here again American influence is dominant.
In general, this book was appropriately organized and well written. It provides a bird’s eye view of the historical development of accounting. Reference material is adequate though some second-hand in-formation was used in the early chapters. This book is a valuable source for beginners interested in the history of Chinese accounting systems.
A word of caution, however, is in order. In 1949, the Nationalist government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan, while the Chinese Communist Party established the People’s Republic in the mainland. In his discussion of the accounting development since 1949, the author has carefully limited his focus to Taiwan. For those interested in the evolving accounting systems in Communist China, this book will give very little help, if any.
