What do time travel, online fiction, and Chinese politics have in common? In Make China Great Again: Online Alt‑History Fiction and Popular Authoritarianism, newly released by Columbia University Press, SPIA professor Rongbin Han explores a genre of online novels in which contemporary Chinese characters journey into the past to change their nation’s fate. These massive, serialized stories—some longer than all the Harry Potter books combined—offer unexpected insight into how political ideas take shape in China’s digital age.
“China now has over a billion internet users,” Han explains, “and nearly half read internet literature, creating a massive commercial ecosystem.” Writers publish chapter by chapter and readers pay small amounts to access new installments, creating an attention‑driven marketplace where only the most compelling stories rise to the top. Among the many genres on internet literature, one stands out to Han both for its popularity and its political resonance: alt‑history fiction.
These stories share a common structure. Modern Chinese protagonists travel to a distant era: the Ming dynasty, the Song dynasty, the final years of the Qing, or moments before foreign invasion. Armed with modern knowledge, they attempt to reform politics, fix the economy, transform society, or repel foreign powers. Han calls these works “Make China Great Again” fiction, capturing their driving theme of national revival.
To understand just how widespread this phenomenon is, Han combined digital ethnography, which examines how people interact and create culture online, with a quantitative analysis of top‑ranked online novels.
With the help of an undergraduate research assistant, Han systematically coded the 2,100 most‑recommended works. He found that more than 20 percent involved time travel or rebirth, and 238 titles clearly fit the “Make China Great Again” pattern.
“The sheer number is not a coincidence,” Han says. “These stories echo long‑standing nationalistic narratives and the contemporary ideological project of the ‘Chinese Dream.’”
Understanding why these stories resonate requires looking not just at what they say, but how readers encounter them.
A Consumer Experience With Political Implications
Production and consumption of online fiction belong to what Han calls “digital consumerist experiences.” Readers turn to online fiction for fun, escape, and long, addictive storylines. Writers publish to share ideas, build audiences, and, in some cases, earn a living. On the surface, this world looks far removed from politics.
But that distance is precisely what makes it powerful. Online platforms reward the stories that attract the most readers, meaning the most popular novels reflect ideas that resonate widely. Over time, these “winning” stories help shape shared assumptions about what China is, what it should become, and who is best positioned to lead it.
Han calls this process “pop hegemony.” Rather than relying on force, political legitimacy is built through popular culture—through stories people choose to read, enjoy, and support. As Han puts it, “This is not Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s Brave New World, but the Brave New World of 1984 where consent is popularly produced through entertainment.” Even when these stories don’t openly promote the government, their focus on national revival and strong leadership often aligns with official ideology, helping explain why many readers come to accept—or even embrace—authoritarian rule.
Although Make China Great Again is rooted in rigorous scholarship, Han wrote it for a broad audience. By centering on popular stories and everyday digital experiences, he offers a powerful answer to a pressing question: how does an authoritarian system sustain popular consent in a digital age?
