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China's Ibsen
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 1995
2 people want to read
About the author
Elisabeth Eide
20 books6 followersElisabeth Eide er professor emerit. ved OsloMet - Storbyuniversitetet. Et hovedfokus i forskningen hennes er medier og marginalisering med vekt på kjønn og ulike minoriteter. Hun har publisert/redigert en lang rekke fagbøker og artikler, samt fem romaner. Hun har også erfaring som journalist i inn- og utland.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 24, 2024
Key Arguments
Culturalism → Nationalism
China’s traditional culturalist worldview, (華夷之辨) where Chinese culture was superior to those of barbarians, dissipated after China’s successive defeat at the hands of Western/Japanese powers (e.g. Sino-Japanese War of 1895)
Under this Sinocentric Confucian orthodoxy, the ethnicity of the ruling dynastic power (whether Manchu or Han) did not matter, as long as it was absorbed into Chinese culture.
China was now to recognise its place as a weak member in the international order of nation-states, stimulating an ethnic/political awareness of Han Chineseness among students and the intelligentsia.
Zhang Binglin’s 章炳麟 Anti-Manchuism as a function of his Anti-imperialism
Social Darwinism
“Their [the Manchus] evil is not limited to a few political measures but rooted in the nature of the race and can neither be eliminated nor reformed.”
The motivation behind Zhang’s anti-Manchuism was his concern about Qing weakness in the face of imperialism, as the Qing was seen as colluding with foreigners.
His fear of the ‘white peril’ led him even to justify Japanese expansion as an attempt to expel the Russians from Manchuria.
Zhang was not a Han chauvinist - his anti-Manchuism was only a practical means for strengthening the national spirit.
Paradoxically, much of Zhang’s anti-Manchu polemical writing was done under the protection of foreign concessions in Shanghai.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The inclusion of biographical details demonstrates that Zhang’s anti-Manchuism was not independent from other aspects of his thought.
E.g. Traced the origins of how Zhang’s Buddhist beliefs led him to emphasise sentiments and passions as motivations to action, such the the need for Chinese people to possess grief 哀 after the failure of the 1898 reforms.
Omits discussing important historical links to the future
Mentions that Zhang divided the Chinese people into sixteen categories based on their level of morality and thus their reliability in the upcoming revolution against the Manchus.
Anticipates the system of ascribed status popularised later by the CCP?
Culturalism → Nationalism
China’s traditional culturalist worldview, (華夷之辨) where Chinese culture was superior to those of barbarians, dissipated after China’s successive defeat at the hands of Western/Japanese powers (e.g. Sino-Japanese War of 1895)
Under this Sinocentric Confucian orthodoxy, the ethnicity of the ruling dynastic power (whether Manchu or Han) did not matter, as long as it was absorbed into Chinese culture.
China was now to recognise its place as a weak member in the international order of nation-states, stimulating an ethnic/political awareness of Han Chineseness among students and the intelligentsia.
Zhang Binglin’s 章炳麟 Anti-Manchuism as a function of his Anti-imperialism
Social Darwinism
“Their [the Manchus] evil is not limited to a few political measures but rooted in the nature of the race and can neither be eliminated nor reformed.”
The motivation behind Zhang’s anti-Manchuism was his concern about Qing weakness in the face of imperialism, as the Qing was seen as colluding with foreigners.
His fear of the ‘white peril’ led him even to justify Japanese expansion as an attempt to expel the Russians from Manchuria.
Zhang was not a Han chauvinist - his anti-Manchuism was only a practical means for strengthening the national spirit.
Paradoxically, much of Zhang’s anti-Manchu polemical writing was done under the protection of foreign concessions in Shanghai.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The inclusion of biographical details demonstrates that Zhang’s anti-Manchuism was not independent from other aspects of his thought.
E.g. Traced the origins of how Zhang’s Buddhist beliefs led him to emphasise sentiments and passions as motivations to action, such the the need for Chinese people to possess grief 哀 after the failure of the 1898 reforms.
Omits discussing important historical links to the future
Mentions that Zhang divided the Chinese people into sixteen categories based on their level of morality and thus their reliability in the upcoming revolution against the Manchus.
Anticipates the system of ascribed status popularised later by the CCP?
Displaying 1 of 1 review