Chinese Professionals and the Republican State: The Rise of Professional Associations in Shanghai, 1912–1937

by Xiaoqun Xu

• ISBN13: 9780521027892
• ISBN10: 0521027896
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-02
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Xiaoqun Xu makes a compelling and original contribution to the study of China's modernization with this book on the rise of professional associations in Republican China in their birthplace of Shanghai, and of their political and socio-cultural milieu. This book is rich in detail about the key professional and political figures and organizations in Shanghai, filling an important gap in its social history. The professional associations were, as the author writes, 'unambiguously urban and modern in their origins and functions ... representing a new breed of educated Chinese' and they pioneered a new type of relationship with the state. Xu addresses a central issue in China studies, the relationship between state and society, and proposes an alternative to the Western-derived concept of civil society. This book illuminates the complexity of modernization and nationalism in twentieth-century China, and provides a concrete case for comparative studies of professionalization and class formation across cultures.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	xii
Acknowledgments	xiii
Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Sources	xv
Introduction	1	(20)
Professionals and Their Associations in Republican China	3	(6)
Professionalization in Republican China	9	(4)
State—Society Relationship in Republican China	13	(8)
Part I Professions and Professionals	21	(58)
1 Professions in Early-Twentieth-Century Shanghai	23	(27)
Modern Sectors of Shanghai's Economy	23	(16)
Law, Medicine, and Journalism in Shanghai	39	(11)
2 Professionals as Urban Middle Class	50	(28)
The Life of Professionals	50	(18)
The Career and Identity of Professionals	68	(10)
Conclusion to Part I	78	(1)
Part II Social Institutions, State Actions, and Professionalization	79	(78)
3 The Republican State and Urban Associations	83	(24)
Urban Associations in Late Qing Shanghai	83	(4)
Urban Associations in the Beiyang Period	87	(8)
Urban Associations in the Nanjing Decade	95	(12)
4 The Republican State and the Legal Profession	107	(22)
The Legal Profession in the Beiyang Period	107	(14)
The Legal Profession in the Nanjing Decade	121	(8)
5 The Republican State and the Medical Profession	129	(26)
Medicine in the Beiyang Period	130	(12)
Medicine in the Nanjing Decade	142	(13)
Conclusion to Part II	155	(2)
Part III Professionalism, Nationalism, and Politics	157	(114)
6 From "Literary Men" to Professionals: Shanghai Journalists	161	(29)
Journalism and Journalists in Shanghai	162	(7)
From "Literary Men" to Professionals	169	(12)
Freedom of Speech and the Journalistic Profession	181	(9)
7 National Essence versus Science: The Medical Profession in Conflict	190	(25)
Native Medicine on the Defensive	191	(5)
National Essence versus Science	196	(8)
Toward the Triumph of Native Medicine	204	(11)
8 Professionalism and Nationalism: The Shanghai Bar Association (1)	215	(27)
The Organization of the Shanghai Bar	216	(7)
The Efforts at Professionalization	223	(6)
The Shanghai Bar and the Rendition of the Mixed Courts	229	(13)
9 Professionalism and Politics: The Shanghai Bar Association (II)	242	(26)
Between Professionalism and Politics	243	(11)
Into the Politics of National Salvation	254	(14)
Conclusion to Part III	268	(3)
Conclusion	271	(14)
Symbiotic Dynamics in the State—Society Relationship	271	(2)
Synthesis of Urban Society and Its Relationship with the State	273	(5)
From Republican China to Post-Mao China	278	(7)
Glossary	285	(14)
Bibliography	299	(20)
Index	319