Transformations of Modern China
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Edited by:
Jennifer Altehenger
The growing importance of China in the 21st century has increased public interest in the history of China and its complex political, economic and cultural entanglement with other regions in modern times. “Modern” here broadly refers to the period of growing encounters and interactions between China and the world, especially since the 19th century. This new series aims at offering fresh scholarly perspectives at both domestic and international developments during this period. It explicitly calls for proposals that trace processes of transformation, adaption or continuity within Chinese society, which often cross well-established political boundaries such as the 1911 or 1949 divides. Emphasis will be placed on works that explore novel questions and theoretical approaches or that utilize previously neglected sources.
If you are interested in submitting your manuscript to the editors, please write to: daniel.leese@sinologie.uni-freiburg.de
Author / Editor information
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What does it mean to be a conservative in Republican China? Challenging the widely held view that Chinese conservatism set out to preserve traditional culture and was mainly a cultural movement, this book proposes a new framework with which to analyze modern Chinese conservatism. It identifies late Qing culturalist nationalism, which incorporates traditional culture into concrete political reforms inspired by modern Western politics, as the origin of conservatism in the Republican era. During the May Fourth period, New Culture activists belittled any attempts to reintegrate traditional culture with modern politics as conservative. What conservatives in Republican China stood for was essentially this late Qing culturalist nationalism that rejected squarely the museumification of traditional culture. Adopting a typological approach in order to distinguish different types of conservatism by differentiating various political implications of traditional culture, this book divides the Chinese conservatism of the Republican era into four typologies: liberal conservatism, antimodern conservatism, philosophical conservatism, and authoritarian conservatism. As such, this book captures – for the first time – how Chinese conservatism was in constant evolution, while also showing how its emblematic figures reacted differently to historical circumstances.
The book is a systematic study of the China-Britain relationship during the 1942–1949 period with a particular focus on the two countries’ discussions over both the 1943 Sino-British treaty and the discarded Sino-British commercial treaty, the future of Hong Kong, and the political status of Tibet. These were dominated by two underlying themes: the elimination of the British imperialist position in China and the establishment of an equal and reciprocal bilateral relationship. The negotiations started promisingly in 1942–1943, but, by 1949, had failed to reach a satisfactory settlement. Behind the failure lay a complex set of domestic considerations and external factors, including the powerful infl uence of the United States. Even after seven decades, the failure still has a contemporary impact. Recent Sino-British disputes over the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement and incessant Indo-Chinese confl icts and skirmishes over their unsettled borders all attest to the enduring legacy of the years 1942–1949 as setting the scene for subsequent Sino-British and Sino-Indian relations. From this perspective, the history has never left us.
The year 1919 changed Chinese culture radically, but in a way that completely took contemporaries by surprise. At the beginning of the year, even well-informed intellectuals did not anticipate that, for instance, baihua (aprecursor of the modern Chinese language), communism, Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu would become important and famous – all of which was very obvious to them at the end of the year.
Elisabeth Forster traces the precise mechanisms behind this transformation on the basis of a rich variety of sources, including newspapers, personal letters, student essays, advertisements, textbooks and diaries. She proposes a new model for cultural change, which puts intellectual marketing at its core. This book retells the story of the New Culture Movement in light of the diversifi ed and decentered picture of Republican China developed in recent scholarship. It is a lively and ironic narrative about cultural change through academic infi ghting, rumors and conspiracy theories, newspaper stories and intellectuals (hell-)bent on selling agendas through powerful buzzwords.
Republic of China was highly contentious. Periods of intentionally
excessive campaign justice intersected with attempts to carve out
professional standards of adjudication and to offer retroactive justice
for those deemed to have been unjustly persecuted. How were victims and
perpetrators defined and dealt with during different stages of the
Maoist era and beyond? How was law practiced, understood, and contested
in local contexts? This volume adopts a case study approach to shed
light on these complex questions. By way of a close reading of original
case files from the grassroots level, the contributors detail
procedures and question long-held assumptions, not least about the
Cultural Revolution as a period of “lawlessness.”
Modern China in Flux heralds a transformative epoch in historical research, spotlighting the innovative methodology of network analysis. As the digital age unfolds, historians encounter both an unparalleled opportunity and a daunting challenge: navigating the vast digital repositories of historical data. Central to this volume’s discourse is the imperative for a methodological shift in examining modern China's historical research. By embracing the digital evolution, this volume highlights the promise of network analysis as a model for historians.
Modern China, rich in tales of socio-political upheavals, economic transformations, and cultural shifts, emerges as a nuanced tapestry of intertwined narratives. Capturing its intricacies necessitates an approach that illuminates the multiple connections, alliances, and conflicts that shaped its course. Here, network analysis proves invaluable. By exploring textual databases and archival documents, and leveraging the capabilities of full-text historical sources, historians can craft a dynamic, interconnected narrative of modern China. Previously obscured relationships come into sharp focus, revealing the delicate balance of power, influence, and change.
