456 POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY documentary collections provide a window-indirect to be sure-into military, party,and foreign ministry archives.Taken together,they offer a view that contrasts sharply with what was available earlier in China.13 Foreign scholars soon recognized this historical opening.The first hints came at a conference in Beijing in 1986.14 Since then,as more and more material has been published and reached specialists outside China,additional accounts in English have begun to appear,pulling aside the curtain long obscuring Chinese decision making.i5 While the record of China's role in the Korean War is by no means complete, the materials now in hand are voluminous and reliable enough to invite a sweeping reappraisal of Beijing's response to the crisis and an overall reassessment of the crisis itself.These new Chinese materials on the Korean War are especially rich for the first year of the conflict when Beijing moved toward a decision to intervene, struggled to formulate war aims and an appropriate strategy,and finally accepted negotiations and a military stalemate.This article begins by sketching out some of the central findings that have emerged to date.It then seeks to relate those findings to themes drawn from the more fully documented Anglo-American side zheng de lishi huigu yu fansi [The first test of strength:A historical review and evaluation of the war to resist America and aid Korea](Beijing:Zhongguo guangbo dianshi,1990).The chief memoirists from the military side are Nie Rongzhen,Nie Rongzhen huiyilu [The memoirs of Nie Rongzhen]3 vols.(Beijing:Janshi,1983,and Jiefangjun,1984);Du Ping,Zai zhiyuanjun zongbu [With the headquarters of the volunteer army](Beijing:Jiefangjun,1989);Yang Chengwu,Yang Chengwu huiyilu [Memoirs of Yang Chengwu]2 vols.(Beijing:Jiefangjun,1987 and 1990);Yang Dezhi,Weile heping [For the sake of peace](Beijing:Changzheng,1987);and Hong Xuezhi,KangMei yuanChao zhanzheng huiyi ["Recollections of the war to resist U.S.aggression and aid Korea"](Beijing:Jiefang- jun wenyi,1990). 13 For an impression of how thin and domestically oriented the treatment of the war was before the recent explosion of publications,see Hu Zhongchi,KangMei yuanChao yundong shihua [An informal history of the resist-America aid-Korea campaign](Beijing:ZhongHua qingnian,1956);and Zhongguo renmin kangMei yuanChao zonghui xuanchuanbu,comp.,Weida de kangMei yuanChao yundong [The great resist-America,aid-Korea campaign](Beijing:Renmin,1954),a collection of documents. 14 The two conference papers that deal with the Korean War are Jonathan D.Pollack's "The Korean War and Sino-American Relations,"a treatment that is strongest on the first months of the war,and Chen Xiaolu's "China's Policy Toward the United States,1949-1955,"both in Harry Harding and Yuan Ming,eds.,Sino-American Relations 1945-1955:A Joint Reassessment of a Critical Decade (Wilmington,DE:Scholarly Resources,1989),213-37 and 184-97. Hao Yufan and Zhai Zhihai,"China's Decision to Enter the Korean War:History Revisited," China Quarterly 121 (March 1990):94-115,is a revealing treatment rendered problematic by its heavy reliance on unattributed interviews.That account has been improved upon and extended by Chen Jian,"The Sino-Soviet Alliance and China's Entry into the Korean War"(Occasional paper,Cold War International History Project,Woodrow Wilson Center,Washington,DC,n.d.[1992?]);Chen Jian,"China's Changing Aims during the Korean War,1950-1951,"The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 1 (Spring 1992):8-41;:Thomas J.Christensen,"Threats,Assurances,and the Last Chance for Peace:The Lessons of Mao's Korean War Telegrams,"International Security 17 (Summer 1992):122-54.Chen,drawing on a book manuscript he is preparing on Chinese policy and the origins of the Korean War,offers the most detailed treatment.456 | POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY documentary collections provide a window - indirect to be sure - into military, party, and foreign ministry archives. Taken together, they offer a view that contrasts sharply with what was available earlier in China.'3 Foreign scholars soon recognized this historical opening. The first hints came at a conference in Beijing in 1986.14 Since then, as more and more material has been published and reached specialists outside China, additional accounts in English have begun to appear, pulling aside the curtain long obscuring Chinese decision making.'5 While the record of China's role in the Korean War is by no means complete, the materials now in hand are voluminous and reliable enough to invite a sweeping reappraisal of Beijing's response to the crisis and an overall reassessment of the crisis itself. These new Chinese materials on the Korean War are especially rich for the first year of the conflict when Beijing moved toward a decision to intervene, struggled to formulate war aims and an appropriate strategy, and finally accepted negotiations and a military stalemate. This article begins by sketching out some of the central findings that have emerged to date. It then seeks to relate those findings to themes drawn from the more fully documented Anglo-American side zheng de lishi huigu yufansi [The first test of strength: A historical review and evaluation of the war to resist America and aid Korea] (Beijing: Zhongguo guangbo dianshi, 1990). The chief memoirists from the military side are Nie Rongzhen, Nie Rongzhen huiyilu [The memoirs of Nie Rongzhen] 3 vols. (Beijing: Janshi, 1983, and Jiefangjun, 1984); Du Ping, Zai zhiyuanjun zongbu [With the headquarters of the volunteer army] (Beijing: Jiefangjun, 1989); Yang Chengwu, Yang Chengwu huiyilu [Memoirs of Yang Chengwu] 2 vols. (Beijing: Jiefangjun, 1987 and 1990); Yang Dezhi, Weile heping [For the sake of peace] (Beijing: Changzheng, 1987); and Hong Xuezhi, KangMeiyuanChao zhanzheng huiyi ["Recollections of the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea"] (Beijing: Jiefang￾jun wenyi, 1990). 13 For an impression of how thin and domestically oriented the treatment of the war was before the recent explosion of publications, see Hu Zhongchi, KangMei yuanChao yundong shihua [An informal history of the resist-America aid-Korea campaign] (Beijing: ZhongHua qingnian, 1956); and Zhongguo renmin kangMei yuanChao zonghui xuanchuanbu, comp., Weida de kangMeiyuanChao yundong [The great resist-America, aid- Korea campaign] (Beijing: Renmin, 1954), a collection of documents. 14 The two conference papers that deal with the Korean War are Jonathan D. Pollack's "The Korean War and Sino-American Relations," a treatment that is strongest on the first months of the war, and Chen Xiaolu's "China's Policy Toward the United States, 1949-1955," both in Harry Harding and Yuan Ming, eds., Sino-American Relations 1945-1955: A Joint Reassessment of a Critical Decade (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1989), 213-37 and 184-97. 15 Hao Yufan and Zhai Zhihai, "China's Decision to Enter the Korean War: History Revisited," China Quarterly 121 (March 1990): 94-115, is a revealing treatment rendered problematic by its heavy reliance on unattributed interviews. That account has been improved upon and extended by Chen Jian, "The Sino-Soviet Alliance and China's Entry into the Korean War" (Occasional paper, Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC, n.d. [1992?]); Chen Jian, "China's Changing Aims during the Korean War, 1950-195 1," The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 1 (Spring 1992): 8-41; and Thomas J. Christensen, "Threats, Assurances, and the Last Chance for Peace: The Lessons of Mao's Korean War Telegrams," International Security 17 (Summer 1992): 122-54. Chen, drawing on a book manuscript he is preparing on Chinese policy and the origins of the Korean War, offers the most detailed treatment