But after two decades of market-style reforms and the weakening of government social controls, it's now little more than a novelty sold in antique markets.
Today, Chinese bookstores are stocked with memoirs by legendary capitalists such as Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, retired General Electric Co chief executive Jack Welch and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing.
Their publishers are state-owned, suggesting the communist government at least tacitly endorses the Chinese public's hunger for practical guidelines for living.
"Today is completely different from before," said Feng Xiaolin, 37, who moved to Beijing from her hometown of Hangzhou, in eastern China, planning to become a Dale Carnegie trainer. "We have to find our own way in life."
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