The Intellectual Foundations of Chinese Modernity: Cultural and Political Thought in the Republican Era

by Edmund S. K. Fung

• ISBN13: 9780521195119
• ISBN10: 052119511X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-22
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In the early twentieth century, China was on the brink of change. Different ideologies - those of radicalism, conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy - were much debated in political and intellectual circles. Whereas previous works have analyzed these trends in isolation, Edmund S. K. Fung shows how they related to one another and how intellectuals in China engaged according to their cultural and political persuasions. The author argues that it is this interrelatedness and interplay between different schools of thought that are central to the understanding of Chinese modernity, for many of the debates that began in the Republican era still resonate in China today. The book charts the development of these ideologies and explores the work and influence of the intellectuals who were associated with them. In its challenge to previous scholarship and the breadth of its approach, the book makes a major contribution to the study of Chinese political philosophy and intellectual history.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xiii
A Note on Romanization	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Towards an Understanding of Chinese Modernity	p. 5
Some Methodological Issues	p. 13
A Community of Critical Intellectuals	p. 18
The Main Arguments of the Book	p. 20
The Structure of the Book	p. 24
The Push of Westernized Radicalism	p. 27
The Early East–West Debate	p. 31
The Advocacy of Thorough Westernization	p. 37
Total Westernization: The Advocacy of a Fervent Nationalist	p. 46
The Decline of Westernized Radicalism	p. 56
A Critique of Westernized Radicalism	p. 58
The Pull of Cultural Conservatism	p. 61
The Rise of Modern Chinese Conservatism	p. 63
Easternization: The Quest for Cultural Equality	p. 72
Central Themes of the Conservative Counter-Discourse	p. 76
Tiaohelun: The Doctrine of Mediation and Harmony	p. 84
New Confucianism	p. 90
Reflections on Cultural Conservatism	p. 93
The Politics of Modern Chinese Conservatism	p. 96
Nationalism, Modernity and Politicocultural Nationalism	p. 98
The Politicocultural Thought of Liang Shuming and Zhang Junmai	p. 103
The Politics of China-Based Cultural Reconstruction	p. 113
Wartime Politicocultural Nationalism	p. 117
The Political Thought of the Warring States Group	p. 120
Conclusion	p. 126
Liberalism in China and Chinese Liberal Thought	p. 128
The Rise of Chinese Liberalism	p. 130
The Liberals as a Differentiated Category	p. 134
How Was Liberalism Understood in Modern China?	p. 138
The Features and Specific Concerns of Chinese Liberal Thought	p. 146
Liberal Thought, Cultural Radicalism, Cultural Conservatism	p. 157
The State, Government and the Rule of Law	p. 159
What Did a Strong Chinese State Mean?	p. 161
Omnipotent Government and Government with a Plan	p. 167
Good Government and Government by ‘Good Men’	p. 171
The Rule of Law	p. 182
Conclusion	p. 189
The Rise of Reformist Socialist Thought	p. 191
The Socialist Discourse, 1919	p. 193
The 1920 Controversy: Capitalism Versus Socialism	p. 199
Zhang Junmai and the German Influence	p. 205
The Influence of British Socialism	p. 211
A Liberal Response to the Soviet Experiment of the 1920s	p. 213
Protosocialism in Ancient Chinese Thought	p. 219
Conclusion	p. 222
From State Socialism to Social Democracy	p. 224
State Socialist Thought to 1945	p. 226
Postwar Social Democratic Thought	p. 238
A Comparative Perspective	p. 253
Conclusion	p. 256
Glossary	p. 269
Selected Bibliography	p. 281
Index	p. 307
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