Jessie G. Lutz

Chinese Nationalism and the Anti-Christian Campaigns of the 1920s

The definition of China as a nation has often been contrasted with the definition of China as a culture. The modern Chinese state, it is said, has to displace the Middle Kingdom concept of the Great Tradition. The culturalism of dynastic China had to be transmuted into nationalism as China accepted the challenge of modernization. Truly, China has experienced revolution in the twentieth century; the political and cultural definition of China in the 1970s does differ from that of the 1870s. But perhaps our concentration on Chinese tradition as a deterrent to modernization has obscured the continuities of Chinese history. Though certain aspects of the Great Tradition hindered change in China, others contributed to it. The Chinese heritage provided the framework and orientation as Chinese selected elements from Western civilization, and while transforming their own tradition they also translated and transformed those importations designed to bring wealth and power. Reinterpretations of the importations were informed by Chinese perceptions of the past as well as of the present.

The Chinese Student Movement of 1945–1949

By the 1940s, China already had a well-established tradition of student activism. The most famous of the Chinese student movements had originated with the demonstration of May 4, 1919, against the Versailles Peace Settlement. Punctuating Chinese politics thereafter were numerous student demonstrations: the protest against the unequal treaties on May 30, 1925; the condemnation of Japanese aggression in Manchuria in 1931; and the demand for resistance to Japan on December 9, 1935. Youth leaders of the 1940s were conscious of the May 4th tradition, as they called it. They were proud of the tradition and felt an obligation to keep it alive. They accepted a role as a politicized elite with the right and duty to speak for the Chinese people. As the competition between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party for control of Chinas destiny entered its critical stage between 1945 and 1949, Chinese students sought active participation in Chinas revolution.

China’s View of the West, A Comparison of the Historical Geographies of Wei Yuan and Xu Jiyu

Wei Yuan and Xu Jiyu, civil servants in mid 19th century China, were deeply disturbed by British expansion into Asia. On the theory that one should know ones enemies, both wrote pioneer historical geographies designed to introduce Chinese officials to the sources of Western power. They both made extensive use of missionary sources; however, there were significant differences between the works of Wei and Xu. Wei never abandoned the Middle Kingdom concept whereas Xu came to realize that the West had developed its own civilization, and he encouraged Chinas development of trade and commerce, especially in Southeast Asia. Wei and Xus works circulated among a small number of Chinese officials on Chinas east coast, but it was not until after Chinas defeat in the Opium War, 1839-42, and the near over throw of the Qing dynasty by the Taipings that the works were reprinted and served as introductions to the West. Resume Wei Yuan et Xu Jiyu, fonctionnaires en Chine au milieu du 19eme siecle furent profondement marques par l’expansion britannique en Asie. Partants du principe que l’on doit connaitre son ennemi, les deux hommes firent œuvre de pionnier en redigeant des geographies historiques destines a introduire les officiels chinois a ce qu’ils voyaient comme les racines du pouvoir occidental. Tous deux firent ample usage de sources missionnaires ; mais il y eut egalement d’importantes differences entre le travail de Wei et celui de Xu. Wei ne renonca jamais au concept de l’Empire du Milieu alors que Xu realisa que l’Occident avait developpe sa propre civilisation et encouragea des lors le commerce et les echanges de la Chine, avec le sud-est asiatique en particulier. Les travaux de Wei et de Xu circulerent parmi un nombre restreint d’officiers chinois sur la cote est de la Chine, et ce n’est qu’avec la defaite chinoise durant les Guerres d’Opium en 1839-40 et le quasi-renversement de la dynastie Qing par les Taiping que leur travaux furent reimprimes et servirent d’introduction a l’Occident.