This book discusses the mishu (staff member, secretary) system and the operation of the Chinese Communist Party between 1921 and 2022, focusing on the system’s impact on high-level politics and decision-making during four key periods. Starting with the Revolutionary War (1921–1945), it moves to the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the beginning of the Cultural Revolution (1950–1966), the period of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), and finally the period of reform and opening up, bringing the history to the present day (1976–2022). This is the first systematic analysis of the mishu system, offering new insights on the history of the CCP and modern China.

Wen-Hsuan Tsai is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica (Taiwan). His main research is on Chinese political development, and authoritarian regimes. Tsai has published many articles in The China Journal, The China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, and other journals in English and Chinese. In addition to publishing this book with Amsterdam University Press, he also has another monograph entitled A Tight Grip: State Power and Control in Modern China (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2024).

Introduction
1. The Inner Court, Bureaucracy, and Elites
2. Military Mobilization and the Development of the Mishu System
3. Socialist Construction and Developing Conflicts
4. The Cultural Revolution, Political Intrigue, and Purges
5. The Invisible Hand Promoting Reform and Opening-up
Conclusion