Contemporary Studies on Modern Chinese History III 9781138485518, 9781351049061

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Contemporary Studies on Modern Chinese History III

The study of modern Chinese history has developed rapidly in recent decades and has seen increased exploration of new topics and innovative approaches. Resulting from a special issue of Modern Chinese History Studies, this volume is devoted to showcasing the healthy development of Chinese modern history studies, and has already been revised twice in the original language. This three-​volume set exhibits major achievements in the study of modern Chinese history and shows how the role of history has been in debate, transformation, and re-​evaluation throughout this tortuous yet prosperous period. This volume investigates the critical movements, such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression, that contribute to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. In addition, it includes valuable summaries of various perspectives in modern Chinese history studies, such as the translation of overseas studies, and pioneering topics that historians have examined between 2009 and 2019. This book will benefit scholars and students of Chinese history, especially those who are interested in modern Chinese history. Zeng Yeying is a researcher, professor and doctoral tutor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His professional research focuses on the history of the Republic of China. His representative works include The History of the Republic of China, Vol. 1 (2nd edition).

China Perspectives

The China Perspectives series focuses on translating and publishing works by leading Chinese scholars, writing about both global topics and China-​related themes. It covers Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, Media and Psychology, as well as many interdisciplinary themes. This is the first time any of these books have been published in English for international readers. The series aims to put forward a Chinese perspective, give insights into cutting-​edge academic thinking in China, and inspire researchers globally. To submit proposals, please contact the Taylor & Francis Publisher for China Publishing Programme, Lian Sun ([email protected]). Titles in history currently include: The History of Chinese Feudal Society Tung-​tsu  Chu Contemporary Studies on Modern Chinese History I Edited by Zeng Yeying Contemporary Studies on Modern Chinese History II Edited by Zeng Yeying Shamanic and Mythic Cultures of Ethnic Peoples in Northern China I Shamanic Deities and Rituals Fu Yuguang Shamanic and Mythic Cultures of Ethnic Peoples in Northern China II Shamanic Divination, Myths, and Idols Fu Yuguang Contemporary Studies on Modern Chinese History III Edited by Zeng Yeying For more information, please visit www.routledge.com/​China-​Perspectives/​ book-​series/​CPH

Contemporary Studies on Modern Chinese History III Edited by Zeng Yeying Translated by Liu Bing and Li Wenzhong

This book is published with financial support from the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences. First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Zeng Yeying; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Zeng Yeying to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. English Version by permission of China Social Sciences Press. British Library Cataloguing-​in-​Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-​1-​138-​48551-​8  (hbk) ISBN: 978-​1-​351-​04906-​1  (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Newgen Publishing UK

Contents

List of contributors  Translators’ note  Preface  1 The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement 

vii viii ix 1

XI A C H U N TAO

2 Sun Yat-​sen studies 

36

WAN G   J I E

3 History of the 1911 Revolution 

71

Z H AN G K AI YUA N

4 History of the Northern Warlords 

106

Z H AN G J I AN JU N

5 The Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression 

141

RON G   WE I - MU

6 Studies on historical figures 

180

MA  YON G

7 Sorting and publishing of modern history materials 

200

Z H UAN G J I AN- PI N G A N D ZEN G  Y EY I N G

8 Translation of overseas studies on Chinese modern history 228 L E I YI AN D D U  JI D O N G

vi Contents

9 Modern Chinese history studies from 2009 to 2019 

254

Z E N G   YE YIN G

Index 

336

Contributors

DU Jidong, Senior Editor, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 8. LEI Yi, Researcher, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 8. MA Yong, Researcher, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 6. RONG Wei-mu, Senior Editor, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 5. WANG Jie, Researcher, Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 2. XIA Chuntao, Researcher, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 1. ZENG Yeying, Researcher, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Preface, Chapter 7, Chapter 9. ZHANG Jianjun, Professor, the School of History and Culture, Inner Mongolia Normal University; Chapter 4. ZHANG Kaiyuan, Professor, Central China Normal University; Chapter 3. ZHUANG Jian-ping, Senior Editor, the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Chapter 7.

Translators’ note

The English version of this book was sponsored as a national translation project by the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences (15WZS015) and was undertaken by Li Wenzhong in collaboration with China Social Sciences Press. The translation was jointly done by Li Wenzhong (Zhejiang Gongshang University), Wu Jinshan (Henan Normal University), and Liu Bing (Henan Polytechnic University). The translators would like to give their thanks to Professor Zeng Yeying for his discussion and suggestions, Dr. Xia Xia and Liu Jiaqi of China Social Sciences Press for their co-​ordination and support. LI Wenzhong Zhejiang Gongshang University WU Jinshan Henan Normal University LIU Bing Henan Polytechnic University February 16, 2020

Preface

More than twenty years ago, in 1999, I worked as the editor-​in-​chief of the journal Modern Chinese History Studies sponsored by the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and also to help the researchers of modern Chinese history to learn from the past practice with discrimination and precaution in the coming 21st century, I once discussed with Huang Chunsheng and Xu Xiuli, the deputy editors, and decided on a special issue (the 5th issue of the year) with the theme of Research on the History of Modern China in the Past 50 Years. Then we planned 24 special topics, such as the theories and methods for modern Chinese history studies, the political history of the late Qing Dynasty, modern economic history, cultural history, ideological history, social history, urban history, history of women, history of youth movements, history of workers’ movements, history of Sino-​foreign relations, history of the Republic of China, and history of the Communist Party of China, for which we invited a group of prominent historians on the mainland to write introductory articles for both retrospect and prospect, with a view to promoting healthy development of Chinese modern history studies. Subsequently, we received positive responses and support from many notable scholars. But it turned out the limited space made it impossible to accommodate all the contributions at one time. The original 5th issue had only 16 of them published. Then the published articles together with the other eight pieces were made into a volume with the title Research on Chinese Modern History in the Past 50 Years and submitted for publication by Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House. The abovementioned publications aroused widespread concern among historians, especially young students. Many readers wrote to the journal editorial department asking for mail orders, and almost all college history students had a copy, thus making the 5th issue the most widely distributed for many years. The book Research on the History of Modern China in the Past 50 Years was first published in April 2000 and second edition in July 2002. In August 2003, perhaps because it was the first of its kind to systematically introduce the PRC’s studies on modern history, it was also approved by the State Council as one of the “Tenth Five-​Year Plan” key projects for the “211

x Preface Project” of higher education, namely the “Digital Library Project for Classic Coursebooks of Higher Education”. Accordingly the book was produced by Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House as an e-​book for online reading by teachers and students of 100  “211 Project” universities, 400 universities of graduate programs, and another 1000 universities. In October and November 2008, during my visit to Taipei for historical materials, I was also informed by many of my friends in Taiwan that “the book also sells well here” and asked whether I  was “interested in continuing to do it”. It seems that this book is helpful for people studying and researching the history of modern China. This is the main reason why I am still willing to take up the old job and edit this Contemporary Studies of Modern Chinese History today, more than twenty years later. This book is a revision with new additions of Research on the History of Modern China in the Past 50 Years. Except that I  unified individual topics into chapters, the main changes lie in the fact that an “Overview” was added as an independent chapter and an introduction of research after 1999 or 2012 was added to each chapter while quite a lot of modifications and additions were done on previous reviews before 1999 in some chapters. The introduction of the research mainly adheres to the following principles: first, due to the limited space of this book, while it is not possible to introduce everything in detail, taken into account are only major events, important people, and the research that was well focused, adequately dealt with, well justified, and properly delivered. Second, an introduction has to be as impartial as it can be with regard to the representative viewpoints. For controversial issues, different views have to be given an equal consideration without being biased against or in favor of the viewpoints in terms of the author’s own likes and dislikes. Third, for some representative views that have a wider impact in academia and society, the main arguments and key factual evidence held by researchers are to be introduced appropriately. Fourth, practical review and prospects should be given as a summary of the past research. Of course, everything is easier said than done. Although it is done as well as possible, readers may still find it unsatisfactory, for which we feel obliged to ask for forgiveness. Other aspects remain unchanged. Yet only 23 topics have been retained, as the chapter on “history of education” was removed with reluctance, because its original author Mr. Wang Bingzhao passed away, and other scholars found it inconvenient to revise it. Moreover, a few chapters such as “social history”, “history of Northern Warlords”, and “history of historiography” have changed or added new authors for various reasons. The writing style remains diverse depending on the authors’ own choice, with no unified and consistent style guideline being imposed upon them. Authors vary to a great extent in their presentation in terms of organization, ordering, focus, representation, and citation. It needs to be noted that in order to maintain balance on the size of each chapter, necessary deletions, occasionally significant deletions, were made

newgenprepdf

Preface  xi to some specific chapters; some chapters were written while the majority of chapters were revised and modified in the light of historical facts. I, rather than the original authors, shall be independently responsible for such modifications. However, I have also retained some slightly repeated content in individual chapters, which would not have been appropriate for a unified book, without having deleted them altogether. This is because (1) the fact that the original design ignored the possibility of overlapping events in different chapters simply makes it impossible to avoid them at this stage; (2) although the book is composed of 24 chapters as a whole, each chapter is actually a separate unit, with its own independence, integrity, and internal logicality; (3) despite some slight repetitions, they complement each other on account of their varied emphases and different ways of delivery. In addition, the sources of most of the works introduced in this book are carefully cited for further reference by readers. However, now that the important figures introduced in this book are limited in number and their discussions are relatively concentrated in several chapters, no index to personal names is presented in order to save space. For the successful publication of this book, heartfelt thanks go to all the contributors for their warm support, to China Social Sciences Press for its permission to include the book in the large series of Report of Development of China Philosophy and Social Sciences, and to Zhang Xiaoyi and Liu Zhibing for their guidance, especially Liu Zhibing for his painstaking work in proofreading, citation format, and compilation of references. Finally, I honestly welcome discussion and criticism from both professionals and general readers. ZENG Yeying The Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences May 2019

1  The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement XIA Chuntao1

The study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has lasted for nearly a century. On the eve of the 1911 Revolution, the revolutionaries evaluated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the perspective of propagating the idea of promoting the Han nationality and opposing the Manchu, which differed greatly from the historical facts and cannot be considered as real academic research. After the founding of the Republic of China, Hong Xiuquan and others were honored as the pioneers of the national revolutionary movements, and the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officially kicked off and entered the pioneering and initial stage. Its achievements were mainly reflected in the excavation of historical materials and the examination of historical events. Xiao Yishan, Guo Tingyi, Jian Youwen, Luo Ergang, and others were the first-​ generation scholars who had endured great hardships in the pioneering work and made outstanding achievements. However, it was not until the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 that the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom really entered a new stage of vigorous development.

1.1  Vigorous development The 15 years from 1949 to 1964 could be considered as the vigorous development period of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, there appeared an important turn in the research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Mainland China. First, it was given unprecedented attention. Second, historical materialism became the guiding ideology for the research. On January 11, 1951, People’s Daily published an editorial written by Hu Sheng entitled “The 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom”, which highly praised the glorious achievements of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in fighting against internal and external enemies and held that the revolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was the peak of the old-​fashioned peasant war without the leadership of the progressive class. “The History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement” written by Fan Wenlan was a pioneering work on the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the perspective of historical materialism. This article was published in

2  XIA Chuntao early 1945, and after 1949 it was incorporated as Chapter 3 of the first volume of The History of Modern China which became a best seller and had been republished many times. So, this paper had been widely spread and produced a lasting influence. Fan Wenlan analyzed the subjective and objective causes of the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in detail and held that the subjective reason was the leadership’s three kind of thoughts: sectarianism, conservatism, and hedonism, whose general root cause was the narrow, conservative, and selfish nature of the peasantry; its objective reason was that the domestic and foreign counter-​revolutionary forces gradually merged and exceeded the revolutionary force. Moreover, at that time, China’s progressive class was not yet born. Fan pointed out that completion of the three important works –​ The Song of Jesus for Salvation (Yuan Dao Jiu Shi Ge), The Teachings of Jesus for Awakening the World (Yuan Dao Xing Shi Xun) and The Teachings of Jesus for Rousing the People (Yuan Dao Jue Shi Xun) –​laid theoretical foundations for the Taiping Revolution. Fan fully affirmed the historical significance of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and argued that it changed the appearance of the old-​fashioned peasant uprising, started China’s old democratic revolution, and has been the first revolutionary movement in Chinese history proposing political, economic, ethnic, and gender equality.2 In an article discussing the division of modern Chinese history in 1954, Hu Sheng proposed taking the performance of class struggles as the basis for the division of historical periods, and first expounded the concept of three revolutionary climaxes. Hu held that the revolutionary movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was the first climax of the revolutionary movements in modern Chinese history, which was characterized by the outbreak of conflicts between the landlord class and the peasant class.3 From the standpoint and view of Marxism, the above statements rejected some erroneous viewpoints concerning the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and clarified a number of major theoretical issues. Although some of these assertions were not accurate enough or were overfilled with words of excessive praise, they have established a correct theoretical orientation for the following research and attracted people’s attention and interest in the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At the same time, academics began to compile and publish materials on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on a massive scale. In 1952, The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, one of the Modern Chinese Historical Data Series edited by the Association of Chinese Historians, was published by Shenzhou Guoguang Publishing House. From 1961 to 1963, under the auspices of Luo Ergang, The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Historical Data Series compiled by the Nanjing Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum was published by the Zhonghua Book Company. During this period, Luo Ergang’s series of works had also been published, among which History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a general history written in the form of biography and was noted for its rich data and meticulous textual research. From 1955 to 1958, Luo Ergang’s seven collections of papers: Collection of Papers on the Correction of Mistakes in the

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  3 History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Examination of Historical Events of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Collection of Papers on Identifying the Pseudographs in the Historical Data of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The Calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Table of Comparison between the Calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Traditional Chinese Calendar, Collection of Textual Criticism and Explanation of the Historical Data on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Illustrations of the Historical Relics of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Collection of Investigations into the Historical Sites of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were successively published by SDX Joint Publishing Company. There are many pseudographs and mistakes in the historical materials on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the number of which is unique among all the monographic studies of modern Chinese history. In his study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Luo Ergang gave the most weight to distinguishing between truth and falsehood. While examining the pseudographs, he contrasted the content of the book with the systems and historical facts of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to find out solid evidence of their falsehood and expose their tactics for forging. Luo Ergang applied this method to the textual research on the pseudograph entitled Notes of the Jiangnan Chunmeng’an. The above discussion has shown Luo Ergang’s achievements in the textual research on the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which has provided a key for following researchers and promoted the rise of new research forces. During this time, historian circles also carried out discussions on many important issues concerning the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, focusing on the nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution, which led to a wide and heated discussion. Scholars’ views could be summarized as three different ones. Scholars holding the first view were represented by Fan Wenlan and Hu Sheng who thought that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution was still a pure peasant war or peasant revolution. However, in 1957, Guo Yisheng published an article which proposed the second view asserting that The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom reflected the economic content contained in the revolution, which had made way for the development of capitalism, and thus was a completely peasants’ anti-​feudal land program of a bourgeois nature. Guo pointed out that, on the eve of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution, the hired agricultural workers and hired laborers were already differentiated from the peasants by their non-​feudal nature, and the burgeoning urban populace were the predecessor of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The hired agricultural workers, hired laborers, and the urban populace were the main and core forces of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution had many features which were quite different from the previous pure peasant wars, such as the concept of equality put forward in its political program, and the thought of negating the feudal theocracy and autocracy, which were obviously of the bourgeois nature. It was thus evident that “the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution is a peasant revolution of

4  XIA Chuntao the bourgeois nature”.4 Scholars holding the third view were represented by Zhang Kaiyuan who thought that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution was a pure peasant war with the character of bourgeois revolution. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution should be a bourgeois democratic revolution in terms of its social content, but in terms of its means of struggle, it should be a pure peasant war. Zhang also pointed out that the land policy and the policy of free trade of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the program of developing capitalism proposed in New Treatise on Administration and the political ideas of equality all subjectively reflected the “requirements of some capitalist development”.5 This debate had lasted for many years and become the most heated academic contention in the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research. Through discussion, most scholars agreed with the opinion of “pure peasant war” and thought that the opinion of “peasant revolution of the bourgeois nature” over-​ estimated China’s social economy which had exceeded the objective stage of China’s social development at that time and exaggerated or even advanced the degree of the formation and development of Chinese capitalism; Capitalism could not develop from a society like a primitive commune which had no independent handicraft industry and commerce. Hence, even if The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom could be fully enforced, it would not promote the development of capitalism; suggestions of capitalist color in New Treatise on Administration were not the tradition of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so they could not produce any practical effect. However, scholars still differed on whether or not the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had the nature of bourgeois democratic revolution. This discussion involved the origin, motive, program, task, goal etc. of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution, which had fully reflected the great progress and achievements of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research in the early days of the People’s of China in 1949, greatly enriched people’s understanding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and objectively deepened the research. For example, in order to grasp the class relations and the nature of the political power in the areas ruled by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, scholars have paid great attention to the study of the economic and political measures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and thus the land system and the grass-​ roots political power in the rural areas have become the hotspot of research. With regard to the land system, scholars all agreed that The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom had not been put into practice, but they had different opinions on whether the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had implemented the policy of “land to the tillers”. With the continuous discovery of new historical data and the deepening of the research, most scholars thought that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not carry out this policy, but generally implemented the policy of “paying taxes as before”, which meant that the legality of landowners’ possession of land was acknowledged; although because of tenant farmers’ spontaneous rent strikes and government’s limitations on the

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  5 amount of landowners’ rents, peasants had gained some practical economic benefits, but the revolution had not changed the whole ownership system, and the old production relations had been preserved. The reasons for this situation were mainly summarized as follows:  the ingrained private concept of the small farmers inevitably made the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom abandon the notions of public ownership and acknowledge the existing private ownership and land system; the work of re-​compiling the registers of taxes and grains was difficult to carry out because of the war, so the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had to maintain the previous tenancy system to solve problems like the army’s wages. In the late period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a large number of landlords infiltrated into the local regimes and publicly protected the interests of their own class. Scholars also pointed out that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still attacked and restricted the landlords by means of direct confiscation of some landlords’ land, strict military repression, deprivation of landlords’ movable property, reducing the rents and so on.6 The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom once widely appointed countryside officials (Xiang Guan) in the rural grass-​roots regimes. Academics had two different views concerning the class composition of the countryside officials. Some scholars thought that the countryside officials were mostly landlords both in the early and late period, but others thought that the majority of the countryside officials had always been the laboring people.7 After discussion, most scholars agreed that in the early period, the countryside officials were mainly working people, but in the late period the composition of local officials was complicated, varied from place to place and time to time and was not all the same, which reflected the peasantry’s dispersion and the sharpness and complexity of the class struggle. With regard to the origin of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution, based on the materialist interpretation of history and historical facts, Dai Yi pointed out that “ascribing the outbreak of the revolution to the large population did not touch the essence of the problem”; though the God-​Worshipping Society (Bai Shang Di Hui) emerged from Christianity and resembled Christianity to some extent, but their essence and functions were completely different. The reason why the revolutionary thought was produced and had the positive effect was that the thought itself was rooted in the objective reality of social struggles and social life. Dai Yi stressed that the reason for the outbreak of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution was not the large population or religious power, and the most fundamental reason should be the exploitation and oppression of foreign invading forces and Chinese feudal forces. People’s resistance would become more and more fierce along with the aggravation of the exploitation and oppression they suffered.8 Textual research on the historical facts had also made significant progress in this period, among which the textual research on the authenticity of Li Xiucheng’s “self-​statement” inspired the most concern. After Zeng Guofan executed Li Xiucheng in 1864, he published the abridged edition of “Li Xiucheng’s confession”, i.e., the Jiu Ru Tang edition, in Anqing. However,

6  XIA Chuntao Li Xiucheng’s original handwritten edition had been kept secret. In 1944, Lv Jiyi, the Secretary of the Guangxi Bureau of History Compilation, found this secret edition in the former residence of Zeng Guofan in Xiangxiang. Lv proofread the Jiu Ru Tang edition according to this secret edition, added 5600-​odd characters which had been deleted by Zeng Guofan and photographed 16 pages of it. In 1951, based on Lv’s edition and four of Lv’s pictures, Luo Ergang published A Commentary on the Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Autobiography with the Kaiming Book Company, which became a great sensation of that time. In 1956, some scholars doubted that in terms of the contents, Li Xiucheng could not have begged to surrender; according to the legal medical expert, the handwriting of The Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Autography and Li Xiucheng’s Personal Letter to Li Zhao to Offer His Birthday Congratulations was different. In view of the above analyses, they declared that Li Xiucheng’s “self-​statement” was forged by Zeng Guofan.9 From then on, the historian circles started to argue over this issue. According to “the writing method for the eight strokes of Chinese Characters”, Luo Ergang disassembled and compared all the characters of these two books one by one and determined that their handwriting was identical in fact though they looked different and claimed that Li Xiucheng’s “self-​statement” was indeed an authentic work.10 The rigorous textual research method and meticulous scholarship were very instructive. In 1962, the authentic work of Li Xiucheng’s “self-​statement” entitled Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Confession, which had been secretly kept by Zeng Guofan’s descendants, was photocopied and published by Taibei World Journal Book Store, the publication of which had proved Luo Ergang’s judgment. However, there was also deviation in the research of this period, mainly characterized by the tendency of simplification and dogmatism in the understanding and application of the materialist interpretation of history and the blind embellishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Some scholars had noticed this problem at that time and pointed out that in the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, especially in the discussion about its nature, some historians had misconstrued and garbled the classical works of Marx and Lenin and made strained interpretations to support their own preconceived ideas. This approach runs counter to the requirements of historical research guided by theories, and undoubtedly should be corrected in time.11 Discussions on the Baoen Paifang Bei (memorial archway built to repay Li Xiucheng’s kindness) in Changshu could demonstrate this deviation. This memorial archway was built in 1862, and the preface of its inscription said that “All the crops produce good harvests and people from all works of life live and work in peace. The rents and commissions are reasonable and the taxes are at a lower level. Every trade is thriving and a scene of prosperity spreads out before us. For this reason, we shall never forget the Loyal King Li Xiucheng’s kindness”. Some scholars cited these words as a proof of people’s living and working in peace and contentment after the Taiping Army occupied the Southern part of Jiangsu Province. In 1957, based on the new historical

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  7 data like Zi Yi Diary, Qi Longwei proposed his doubt and pointed out that Changshu was then controlled by renegade generals like Qian Guiren and Luo Guozhong who were plotting rebellion and bleeding the peasants white with ruthless taxes and caused a mass impoverishment and social unrest. They set up a monument for Li Xiucheng just to conceal their conspiracy. The peaceful picture described in the inscription was nothing but a fictional illusion. Qi criticized the deviation existing in the current research work, namely, “all the data that are beneficial to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, whether they are true or not, will be exaggerated and rendered as reliable evidence; all the data that are opposite to this point would be considered as ‘slanders of the landlord class’ and rejected”.12 This article had caused another long debate in the historian circles. Though scholars had different understandings about the content of the monument, the theoretical problems revealed in this debate were undoubtedly important and timely. Unfortunately, this good momentum in the process of exploration was quickly interrupted by a sudden political storm.

1.2  Zigzag development and retrogression The research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from 1964 to 1976 was in the period of zigzag development and retrogression. In 1963, Qi Benyu published an article criticizing Li Xiucheng, asserting that the Loyal King was not “loyal”, and his “self-​statement” was a “confession” which betrayed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution; with the support of Mao Zedong and under the banner of uncovering “traitors” and highlighting “moral integrity”, a political campaign to criticize Li Xiucheng had been initiated from 1964. This political storm in the academic circles caused great confusion and harm to the research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which were mainly manifested in the following aspects: The first was to equate the academic issue with the political issue. It is quite common that different people have different opinions on the same academic issue, but in the campaign to criticize Li Xiucheng, scholars who had a positive attitude toward Li Xiucheng had been regarded as “taking up the wrong stance”, and a simple academic issue had been turned into a political one gratuitously, which had set a bad example to historical research in the People’s of China in 1949. In the first edition of A Commentary on the Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Autobiography published in 1951, Luo Ergang proposed a hypothesis that the Loyal King’s behavior was an imitation of Shu Han’s general Jiang Wei’s pretending to surrender to Zhonghui, and his real purpose was to restore the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the revised edition published in 1957, Luo revised his hypothesis slightly and thought that the Loyal King had two goals in making his “confession”, namely, “preserving the strength of the revolution” and “hoping the reactionary rulers to fight against foreign aggression together with the people”. In 1961, Yuan Shuyi also wrote that Li Xiucheng’s behavior was a manifestation of his loss of confidence in the

8  XIA Chuntao future of the revolution and having fantasies about the feudal forces, which was a “compromise and surrender” in nature, but this could not change the fact that his great contribution to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom remained the mainstream of his life.13 However, Luo Ergang had been attacked because he insisted that Li Xiucheng’s “confession” was his stalling tactics; Yuan Shuyi, Mao Jiaqi, Qi Longwei and other scholars all had been suppressed and labeled as “the traitor Liu Xiucheng’s defender” because they disagreed with Qi Benyu’s view of completely negating Li Xiucheng. The relatively relaxed and free academic atmosphere had disappeared, and it had become impossible to carry out academic research in the real sense. The second aspect was the unchecked spreading of the insinuation historical study. The essence of the insinuation historical study is to generalize and absolutize the individual cases or local phenomena in history, so as to meet the needs of the politics. The third was that attaching political labels to figures had become a popular mode of research on historical figures. According to this model, Hong Xiuquan was portrayed as a perfect leader of peasant revolution and was taken as the criterion of right and wrong. Therefore, Yang Xiuqing was regarded as a “careerist”, Wei Changhui became a “class alien”, Shi Dakai became a “separatist”, and Li Xiu became a “traitor”. Simplified and stereotyped research had come to a climax, which had exerted a bad influence on the academic atmosphere. All of the above-​mentioned phenomena were the products of the “ultra-​ leftist” line. Qi Benyu, Liang Xiao and their like could hardly absolve themselves from the blame. However, a lot of researchers had written ingratiating articles for the occasion under the influence of the political climate at that time. In this regard, this is the tragedy of the whole era, and the lessons learned deserve our careful reflection and absorption. In general, from 1964 to 1976, research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had undergone a period of twists and turns and even retrogression, and thus had become one of the most deeply affected areas of modern history. Newspapers and magazines had been filled with stereotyped articles. What lay behind the superficial prosperity was the real suffocation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research.

1.3  Maturity and harvest The period from 1979 to 2009 can be said to be the maturity and harvest period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research, which had come to its climax in the early 1990s. Compared with the research of the previous 30  years, old research topics had been further deepened, and new topics had been opened up, which covered almost every aspect of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; at the same time, a large number of summary works had been published. The following is a brief review of some of the important woks. It

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  9 should be noted that some works are of interdisciplinary nature and the classification below is mainly for the sake of narrative convenience. 1.3.1  The compilation, publication and related research of historical documents Over the past 30  years, historical documents of more than 20  million words have been compiled and published. Compilation of Documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom edited by the Historical Museum of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1979, and The Official Publications of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was published by Jiangsu People’s Publishing House in the same year. These two books, together with the above-​mentioned The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Historical Data Series formed the most basic historical data for the research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Wang Qingcheng found two kinds of precious documents in the British Library that had not been noticed by Chinese scholars, to wit:  Heavenly Father’s Imperial Edicts and Heavenly Brother’s Imperial Edicts (Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother refer to Jehovah and Jesus respectively). Wang edited and annotated these two documents and got them published under the title of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother’s Imperial Edicts by Liaoning People’s Publishing House in 1986; they became an indispensable historical material for the study of the early history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As for the Qing government’s records on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the 26-​volume Archive Materials on the Qing Government’s Suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom compiled by the First Historical Archives of China had been published by Social Sciences Academic Press in succession from 1990 to 2001 (the first two volume were published by Guangming Daily Press). In 2004, the 10-​volume The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom edited by Luo Ergang and Wang Qingcheng, one of the Continuation of the Modern Chinese Historical Data Series, was published by Guangxi Normal University Press. This book was divided into three parts:  “The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Documents”, “The Qing Government’s Records” and “The Outsiders’ Records”, which gathered up all the published and unpublished materials over the past several decades. In the long-​term process of editing and compiling the historical data, research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has gradually formed a special branch –​Philology of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, involving many aspects like discrimination, collation and annotation. The most important achievement of this branch should be Luo Ergang’s Annotations to the Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Confession published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1982. Luo started to annotate the manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s confession in 1931 and had revised and enlarged his annotations time and again from then on. Some scholars exclaimed that “in China’s academic history, there have been many famous experts on annotating historical works, such as Pei Songzhi and his

10  XIA Chuntao annotations to The Records of Three Kingdoms (San Guo Zhi), Hu Sanxing and his annotations to History as a Mirror (Zi Zhi Tong Jian). But there had been no other experts who encountered more twists and turns in terms of versions than Luo Ergang”. In 1995, Luo published an enlarged edition of Annotations to the Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Confession (Chinese Social Sciences Press), which glossed from 12 aspects, such as the system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, tabooed characters, special appellations and so on, and revised the errors and supplemented the omissions in the original works from 10 aspects including the facts, dates and so on. Luo paid equal attention to the glossary and textual research and wrote about 700 masterly notes, which were four times the size of the original text. Wang Qingcheng’s Documents and History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Research on the Publication and Historical Events of New Overseas Documents (Social Sciences Academic Press, 1993)  studied the related historical events based on new documents, examined the history of formation, oblivion, collection, compilation and publication of the documents about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, discussed the evolution of the publishing system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and laid special stress on the system of “catalogue of the imperial decrees for publication”. In his Rare Historical Data of the Qing Dynasty and Related Textual Research (Wuhan Publishing House, 1998), Wang examined and annotated 30 of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom documents collected in this book one by one and revised more than 50 textual errors in “Hong Rengan’s Self-​Statement”, which were collected in The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Volume of the “Modern Chinese Historical Data Series”. Wang Qingcheng also compiled 12 Photocopied Documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Zhonghua Book Company, 2004), which photocopied eight books and four documents that had not been collected by the previous photocopies. In his Introduction to the Historical Study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Academy Press, 1989), Qi Longwei did textual research and concluded that Lin Xue Cong Chao, the notes taken by people of the Qing Dynasty, was a pseudograph written by modern people, and the 14 Dongyang documents collected in Compilation of Documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were local governments’ documents of the Qing Dynasty, but not the documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Records of Books Published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1993) was a summary of Qi Longwei’s research on the historical documents. This book has been the first to make detailed records and collation of the official publications of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom one by one. Qi also reviewed the documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom compiled by modern people. He adopted the method of “testifying the book with characters and testifying the characters with books” (Yi Zi Zheng Jing, Yi Jing Zheng Zi) to classify and interpret the special characters and words used by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; Qi also summarized three experiences of discriminating pseudographs, i.e., finding out all the flaws, looking for irrefutable evidences, and examining the evidences repeatedly.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  11 1.3.2  Discussions on the nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime Historians have had heated discussions on the nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime since 1979. On the whole, there are three different views: The first view is a newly proposed one holding that it is a feudal regime. Shen Jiarong thought that the simple peasant movement could not change the ownership of the feudal land and overthrow the whole landlord class, so the new regime established after overthrowing the old one could only still be a feudal dynasty.14 Sun Zuomin pointed out that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom basically followed the model of the feudal autocratic regime, placed the landlord class and its intellectuals on the dominant position of the country, and always carried out the land policy of acknowledging and protecting the landlords’ ownership, allowing and encouraging landlords to collect their rent, so the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime was a new feudal regime.15 Duan Benluo also thought that the feudal production relations still existed firmly, the small-​scale peasant economy was still in its integrity, and the regime established on such a social and economic basis could only be a feudal regime.16 The second view is a traditional one holding that it is a revolutionary regime of peasants. Sun Kefu and Guan Jie thought that regime meant the right to rule. During the fierce class struggles, peasants could establish a short-​ term and unstable dictatorship of the laborer for the needs of resistance; the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom and revolutionary practices had shown that it was a revolutionary regime of peasants which had opposed to the feudal regime of the Qing Dynasty for more than ten years.17 Dong Caishi expounded and proved that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a revolutionary regime of peasants from five aspects: it destroyed the Qing Dynasty’s local power system; it shouldered the anti-​aggression task; the peasants had basically seized central and local political power; it gave a heavy blow to the landlord class in terms of economy; it had always been supported by the majority of laboring people.18 The third view asserts that it is a feudalized regime of peasants. Wang Tianjiang thought that, under the limitations of history and class, the anti-​ feudalism struggle of Hong Xiuquan and others remained at the stage of spontaneity rather than self-​ consciousness, which would inevitably bring some feudal factors to the peasant movement. The implementation of the policy of “paying taxes as before” was the symbol of the new regime’s evolution toward a feudal regime. In the later period, this historical transformation had been basically completed.19 Su Shuangbi also held this view and later added that there was no essential difference between the peasants’ regime and the feudal regime. We called a regime the peasants’ regime only because it had represented peasants’ interests more at a certain stage. The peasants’ regime could only be distinguished from the landlords’ regime.20 A similar view held that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime was a regime of a dual nature. Li Jinquan thought that peasants and landlords were the unity of opposites in

12  XIA Chuntao the feudal society, which could be reflected by the intertwined combination of revolution and feudalism, equalitarianism and feudal privileges in terms of their thoughts and claims, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime was a paradoxical regime with dual nature.21 Sun Zuomin disagreed with this view and argued that as a tool of one class to rule over other classes, the regime could only represent and maintain the interests of a certain class, and could not represent and maintain the interests of two antagonistic classes at the same time.22 At the same time, there was a similar debate about whether the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could be called a “revolution”. Some scholars stressed that the peasant revolts could not change the old mode of production and set up a new mode of production. Therefore, the peasant revolts, including the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, “could not be called the revolution, but only the peasant movement”.23 Mou Anshi responded by saying that according to its general and conventional meaning, “revolution” was the use of violence to seize power. From this point of view, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was, of course, a revolution. Mou pointed out that it was not complete to define the “revolution” by whether or not it would change the way of production, because it skipped over the fundamental issue of revolution in the class society –​the regime, and the fundamental means of revolution –​the use of violence and armed struggle. The replacement of the mode of production was “the result of the revolution, but not the revolution itself ”.24 After several years, the discussion gradually subsided and scholars failed to reach a consensus. The main reason was that the two sides of the dispute were mainly confined to the dispute over concept, but did not conduct any empirical research, and there lacked in-​depth research on issues like the members of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and their thought, attitudes, policies and behavior, which was also the reason why its promoting effect on the research was not as good as that of the debate in the 1950s. Scholars have also made positive discussions on some specific historical facts, and the issue concerning the date of the Jintian Uprising was an example. Luo Ergang held that it took place on January 11, 1851, and he had two main arguments: one was Hong Rengan’s self-​statement, the other was the 349th poem of The Heavenly Father’s Poems. Accordingly, Luo made a judgment that the Jintian Uprising and Hong Xiuquan’s birthday were on the same day, i.e., January 11, 1851. According to the saying that “we arrived at the Jintian military camp on October 1 by the lunar calendar” in Tian Qing Dao Li Shu, Rong Mengyuan and Mao Jiaqi et al. drew the conclusion that the Jintian Uprising took place on April 5, 1850. Wang Qingcheng thought that the Jintian Uprising was not an event taking place on a certain day, but a process made up by a series of events and struggles. But this did not mean that later generations could not choose a certain day as the Memorial Day for the Jintian Uprising. According to the record of Hong Xiuquan’s “wearing the imperial robe” on April 5, 1850 in Heavenly Brother’s Imperial Edicts, Jiang Tao thought

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  13 that Hong had ascended the throne in secret before starting the uprising, and thus held that the broad-​sense Jintian Uprising referred to the whole process of all the local uprising troops’ marching toward the Jintian military camp in the autumn of 1850, which had lasted for several months; the narrow-​sense Jintian Uprising took place on November 4, 1850.25 1.3.3  Research on the historical figures The most important feature of the study on the historical figures during this period was that it had abandoned the simple research mode of judging someone by his attitude toward a certain person and had made a major breakthrough in the monographic research on the core figures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In 1979, Wang Qingcheng made a reappraisal of Hong Xiuquan’s early thought by analyzing his early works and traces of actions and deeds. Wang concluded that Hong Xiuquan’s early thought had experienced a developing process from seeking scholarly honor or official rank to reforming the world with moral sermons and aiming to oppose the Qing Dynasty. His conversion to God in 1843 was the beginning of the heresy of his thought, but not the symbol of his anti-​Qing revolution. Hong Xiuquan did not take a firm stand on the anti-​Qing revolution until after 1847. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution had roots in the class struggle, but not the religious doctrines. Good Words (Quan Shi Liang Yan) only turned Hong Xiuquan into a gospel propagator, and it was the class struggle which pushed him toward the political revolution of creating a new country. The Song of Jesus for Salvation, The Teachings of Jesus for Awakening the World and The Teachings of Jesus for Rousing the People were all religious propaganda, which did not contain the thought of political equality and economic equality at all. If we believe that Hong Xiuquan had put forward this thought of equality and made it the theoretical basis of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution, it would be impossible for us to explain the history of Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and also the 100-​odd years of history after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.26 These views had evoked strong responses at that time and had been widely accepted by most scholars. Su Shuangbi wrote critical biographies of many historical figures like Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng, Shi Dakai and Hong Xiuquan, and his points were quite neutral. For example, with regard to Shi Dakai’s Anqing Reform, he pointed out that Shi Dakai abandoned The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom  –​which was a utopian model –​and carried out the policy of “paying taxes by acreage” (An Mu Shu Qian Mi), which helped the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom overcome its difficulties in finance and supply in the early days of its founding. The Anqing Reform was not a retrogression, nor a restoration, but a measure consistent with historical rules.27 As an important figure in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and even in the history of modern Chinese thought, great importance has been attached to the

14  XIA Chuntao research on Hong Rengan by academia. Xia Chuntao’s Hong Rengan: From a Teacher in the Private School, a Christian to the King had made a detailed study of Hong Rengan’s course of life and thought, including the similarities and differences between his and Hong Xiuquan’s thoughts. He also put forward a new perspective on how to evaluate Li Xiucheng’s performance after his captivity. Compared with Hong Rengan, Li Xiucheng had never revealed ideas such as “the Han nationality and Manchu nationality were different” on any occasion from his captivity to his death. It thus could be seen that the so-​called saying that the Loyalty King followed the example of Jiang Wei in pretending to surrender so as to make mischief between Zeng Guofan and the Qing government had to be re-​evaluated. Xia Chuntao also pointed out that Hong Rengan was the only person in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who had read Li Xiucheng’s Confession and commented on it. In his refutation, Hong repeatedly referred to Li Xiucheng’s “fickleness”, “making decisions without authorization” and so on, which in fact was an implicit condemnation of Li Xiucheng’s betrayal.28 Although the research on historical figures has been very deep, there still exist some unclear points in almost every important figure’s life. Researchers always had divided opinions on the evaluation of a certain figure, which mainly focused on some hot issues, such as the features of Hong Xiuquan’s thought and his merits and faults in his later period; Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui and the infighting in Tianjing; Shi Dakai’s departure from Tianjing and the fact of his captivity in the Dadu River Battle; and Hong Rengan and New Treatise on Administration, Li Xiucheng and his “confession” after captivity, and the inner corruption of the leadership. The horizons of research on historical figures remain to be broadened. For example, most of the poems in The Heavenly Father’s Poems were religious ethics poems written by Hong Xiuquan for his concubines, most of which involved people and events in the palace. In the 1950s, based on The Heavenly Father’s Poems, Wu Liangzuo made a novel study of Hong Xiuquan’s life in the palace from three aspects:  titles of the Heavenly King’s queen and concubines and female officers in the palace; the Heavenly King’s family education and private life, and the Heavenly King’s strict domestic discipline.29 No other similar research has been carried out since then. The study of the relationship between historical figures needs to be strengthened. Taking the relationship between Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui as an example, they had the power to represent the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother respectively and convey their holy orders, and both of them were important figures in the early Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. According to the analysis of Heavenly Brother’s Imperial Edicts and Tian Qing Dao Li Shu, in the beginning, Heavenly Brother’s descending surpassed Heavenly Father’s descending obviously. When Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother’s descending co-​existed, how did Yang and Xiao handle their relationship, especially when their opinions were different? Had they had any frictions in terms of power? Was the death of Xiao on the battlefield related to

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  15 this friction? This is a thought-​provoking question that has not been explored carefully yet. 1.3.4  Research on the politics In response to the traditional view asserting that the polity of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was “autocratic monarchy”, Luo Ergang cited historical materials like The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom and The Heavenly King’s Gospel Witnessed by His Eldest Brother and Second Elder Brother (Wang Zhang Ci Xiong Di Qin Mu Qin Er Gong Zheng Fu Yin Shu) and proposed a new view. Luo thought that the polity of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was “the responsibility system of the military counsellor”  –​the Heavenly King was the head of the state, who would reign but not govern; the military counsellor was the head of the government and assumed the real power –​which not only contained the content of the peasant democracy but also followed the old system of feudalism. It was different from the traditional monarchy of our country and the cabinet system (constitutional monarchy) of the Western countries, and thus had its unique characteristics. Luo pointed out that this polity was inspired by The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo Zhi Tong Su Yan Yi), The Water Margin (Shui Hu Zhuan) and the organization of the Heaven and Earth Society (Tian Di Hui) in modern times. The implementation of this polity in the early period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had carried forward the peasantry democracy, pushed forward the revolution greatly and brought prosperity to the country. After the Tianjing Incident, the responsibility system of the military counsellor was destroyed, and Hong Xiuquan started to enforce the autocratic monarchy strictly, which resulted in the serious decentralization of people’s minds and finally led to the fall of the kingdom.30 Luo also re-​evaluated Du Wenxiu, the leader of the uprising of the Hui people in Yunnan and proposed that the so-​called “Muslim State of Dali” was fabricated by foreign invaders. The so-​called “envoy from Dali” was Liu Daoheng’s shell game. He handed over a forged diplomatic correspondence of Du Wenxiu to Britain declaring Dali a vassal to Britain, which had nothing to do with Du Wenxiu.31 According to the records in Heavenly Father’s Imperial Edicts and Heavenly Brother’s Imperial Edicts, Wang Qingcheng corrected a number of errors in The Record of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolt which was narrated by Hong Rengan, written by Han Shanwen and translated by Jian Youwen. Wang also examined and analyzed some complicated and obscure historical facts in this book. For example, he pointed out that the dispute and split emerged in the “God-​Worshipping Society” after Feng Yunshan was arrested was mainly caused by internal disturbances rather than external attack. At that time, besides Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui, there were also other members in the “God-​Worshipping Society” who pretended to be possessed by the Spirit and gave orders in the name of the Spirit. Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui united with each other and defeated others or

16  XIA Chuntao other factions in the “God-​Worshipping Society”; the acknowledgment of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother’s possession of Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui to convey their decrees had reduced the importance of Feng Yunshan and weakened Hong Xiuquan’s right to speak to a certain degree, but it played a positive role in the transformation of the “God-​Worshipping Society” from a religious group to a political one which finally started the uprising.32 Research on the anti-​Qing uprisings of various ethnic groups during the period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has also made considerable progress, among which the study of Nian Uprising was the most in-​depth one. Jiang Di had published two collected works: Collected Essays on the History of the Nian Army (People’s Publishing House, 1981) and Study and Investigation of the History of the Nian Army (Qilu Press, 1986). The former chronologically discussed the whole process of the formation, development and failure of the Nian Army, and the latter horizontally discussed the nature of the Nian Army, its periodization, investigation of its historical sites, and the collection of related data. Based on detailed analysis, Guo Yuming’s History of the Nian Army argued that the nature of the Nian Uprising was a peasant revolt rather than the so-​called resistance movement of local separatists’ opposition to the central government of the Qing Dynasty.33 Fang Shiming summarized two historical features of the Small Sword Society (Xiao Dao Hui) of Shanghai: first, it had a broad social basis. Besides the peasants, its members also included a large number of handicraft workers, shipping sailors, urban laboring people and business owners; second, it gave priority to the armed struggles in the cities, and the uprising troops had kept fighting for 17 months in the Shanghai County.34 Since the early 21st century, much attention has been devoted to issues like the relationship between the uprising of the Small Sword Society in Shanghai and the immigrants and its influence on the modernization of Shanghai, reflecting the widening of the research horizons and the deepening of the research content. Luo Baoshan examined the collusion between the domestic and foreign rival forces during the uprising of the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangdong and thought that the armed forces of Britain, France and the United States, working in collaboration with the Guangdong authorities of the Qing Dynasty, destroyed the uprising army’s strategic deployment of attacking and seizing Guangzhou, and thus strangled its victory in Guangdong and played the shameful role of working jointly with the ruling authorities of the Qing Dynasty to strangle the Chinese people’s revolutionary movement.35 1.3.5  Research on the opposite sides of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Research on the opposite sides of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a meaningful topic for understanding the ups and downs of this period of history and the external reasons for the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. But among the early studies, there were few related works, and most of them

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  17 were condemnations. From the early 1980s, more and more attention has been paid to this topic, and a number of important studies have been published. Jia Shucun’s The Landlord Class in the Period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a masterpiece systematically studying the opposite sides of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Jia divided the landlord class into two categories:  the central government and the local forces. In terms of the military power, the former was divided into five major military groups, to wit: the Great Camp of Jiangnan (South of the Yangtze River), the Great Camp of Jiangbei (North of the Yangtze River), the Linhuai Army, the Army led by Sheng Bao and the Army led by Seng Ge Lin Qin; in terms of political power, the former was divided into three political groups:  the Manchu Grandees Group, the Statecraft Group and the Westernization Group. The latter was divided into the Pro-​Qing Group, the Group of Fence-​Sitters, the Group of Pro-​Foreign Powers, the Statecraft Group and the Westernization Group. Jia explored the performances of the representative and important figures of these groups one by one and assigned a special section for the Zeng Guofan Clan of the Statecraft Group, which involved more than a thousand people. Jia made summaries on these grounds and analyzed the reasons why the tottering Qing government was just shaken but not overthrown. He thought that it was mainly due to the stubbornness and reactionary nature of the feudal family. Under the attack of the peasant war, the landlord class had quickly carried out its metabolism and had been hardly differentiated. Few of them joined the peasant revolt army, but most of them rose up and resisted the revolts. Different groups united and implemented various effective countermeasures. For example, in terms of military, they formed Hu’nan Army and the Huai Army; in terms of economy, they implemented the Li Jin system in order to enrich the military supply; in terms of politics, they constantly adjusted their internal contradictions, and managed to ease the confrontation between the landlord class and the peasantry. At the same time, they made full use of the weaknesses of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and adjusted relationships with foreign powers to facilitate the collusion between the reactionary forces of China and the foreign countries, thus making themselves grow from weak to strong and turn defeat into victory, and finally defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and achieved the so-​called “Tongzhi Restoration”.36 Long Shengyun’s History of the Xiang Army is a representative achievement of the research on the Xiang Army. From the perspective of political history, this book investigated the whole process of the Xiang Army from its creation, development and prosperity to its disintegration, including the internal reasons and external effects of the Xiang Army’s emergence and development, the operation of the rear base in Hu’nan and Hubei, Zeng Guofan et  al.’s summary of their experiences and lessons and adjustment of relationship with the Manchu grandees, the evolution of the Xiang Army’s camp system and arms of the services, raising money for soldiers’ pay, the generals and the staff, etc. It also discussed the Xiang Army’s war history, which surpassed the previous works on the Xiang Army’s system or war history only. Some

18  XIA Chuntao of its arguments were also quite insightful. When talking about the influence of the Xiang Army and Huai Army on the later generations, it pointed out that although Zeng Guofan and others had protected the Qing Dynasty, the situation that the army was owned by the General and Manchu landlords and Han landlords divided the power equally had brought hidden dangers to it. The highly centralized central power had been transferred into the hands of the leading military and government officials, and thus the central government performed practically no function and the local power was seized by the military warlords. “Precisely because of this, the Xiang Army Group, especially Zeng Guofan, had been touted even as a sage by the rulers for a long time”.37 From the perspective of interpersonal relations, Dong Caishi laid special emphasis on the intricate relations among Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Shen Baozhen and others, and developed a school of his own in the study of the political opponents during the period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Taking the relationship between Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi as an example, Dong divided it into three stages, that is, the stage from 1853 to 1856 when Hu took part in the Hu’nan Army and attached himself to Zeng Guofan, the stage from 1856 to 1860 when Zeng Guofan developed the Hu’nan Army with the support of Hu Linyi, and the stage of their cooperation in capturing Anqing in 1860. Dong Caishi held that in the development history of the Hu’nan Army and in process of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng and Hu helped and complemented each other in both politics and military operations, and both of them were the deadly enemies of the peasant revolts army.38 Several biographies have been published of Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang. Except for Dong Caishi and Wang Guoping’s Critical Biography of Hu Linyi (Unity Press, 1990), Tao Haiyang’s Hu Linyi and the Hu’nan Army (Guangling Bookstore, 2008), etc., all the rest of them involved a great deal of historical facts after the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Taking the organizational structure of Zeng Guofan’s Mufu as the point of departure, Zhu Dong’an’s The Study of Zeng Guofan’s Mufu (Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1994) examined its establishment, function, effectiveness and the activities of its main members, including its development process and regular pattern of expansion and contraction, the relationship between Zeng Guofan and his staff and their mutual influence. From the perspective of history of the Mufu in China, Zhu’s work also probed into the historical causes, status and the influence of Mufu on the political situation of the late Qing Dynasty, which further deepened the study of Zeng Guofan’s Mufu. Zhu Dong’an pointed out that Zeng’s Mufu was the largest and the most influential one whose staff spread all over different departments, and thus almost half of the best-​known officials were Zeng Guofan’s disciples. So, Zeng’s personal stamp remained evident in the Manchu-​Han political pattern, the national defense and diplomacy of the late Qing Dynasty, which affected the whole political situation of that time. Zhu Dong’an also published

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  19 a book entitled The Zeng Guofan Group and the Political Situation of the Late Qing Dynasty (Sino-​Culture Press, 2003), which considered the Zeng Guofan Group as a whole, and explored the changes in the power pattern of the Qing Dynasty during the reign of Xianfeng and Tongzhi and their historical causes. The above studies deepened people’s understanding of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and even the whole history of modern China. However, there still exist fierce controversies concerning the merits and demerits of Zeng Guofan et al.’s suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At the “International Symposium on Zeng Guofan” held in Shuangfeng of Hu’nan Province in December 2006, some scholars proposed that in terms of research method, we should jump out of the binary opposition between the revolutionary and modernization views of history, go beyond the limits of simple comparison of merits and demerits, and focus on the reason behind Zeng Guofan’s success and failure and its inspirations to the present. 1.3.6  Research on the military, diplomacy, economy and culture A number of monographs on the military affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have been published in succession. Li Chun’s A Summary of the Military History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Zhonghua Book Company, 1982) involved detailed textual research and gave a full account of the military history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but had the shortcomings that it only studied the history of war and its theoretical analysis was quite brief. Zhang Yiwen’s The Military History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1994)  had two volumes. The first volume was about the battles, in which the author briefly described the strategic moves and major battles that affected or even determined the outcome of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The second volume analyzed the Taiping Army’s leadership structure, command structure, as well as its military discipline, training, weaponry, logistic support, tactical deployment of troops, method of operation, strategy, military thought, etc., whose content was comprehensive and whose overall analysis was quite enlightening. The Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition were two major successive strategic actions launched immediately after the establishment of the Heavenly Capital at Nanjing. Zhang Shouchang’s History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Northern Expedition and Zhu Zhefang’s History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Western Expedition (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1957) have carried out detailed exploration and analysis of the specific processes of the two major campaigns respectively, including the gain and loss of their strategy and tactics. Zhang Shouchang pointed out that the decisive factor leading to the failure of the Northern Expedition of the Taiping Army was not the establishment of the Heavenly Capital at Nanjing and the Taiping Army’s penetration into their enemy’s territory in isolation, but the mistakes made by the Tianjing leadership in decision-​making: first, they ordered Northern

20  XIA Chuntao Expeditionary Forces to march rapidly and directly toward Beijing and had no thought for eliminating enemy’s effective strength, expanding their own forces and constructing their own power; second, they ordered the Northern Expeditionary Forces to “station at Tianjin first” before attacking Beijing. As a result, the Northern Expeditionary Forces stationed in Duliu and Jinghai and waited for reinforcement for more than three months, and thus gave up the initiative on the battlefield, which became the turning point of the Taiping Army’s Northern Expedition from victory to failure.39 The Complete History of the War of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Nanjing University Press, 2002)  edited by Cui Zhiqing was a monograph of high quality. Centering around the war, the core content of the military history, this book divided the ten-​odd years of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s rise and fall into four stages: the rise of the Taiping Army, the strategic development, the strategic stalemate and the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It integrated the macro study (the course of the war) with the micro study (the specific campaigns and battles), and thus depicted the whole picture of this fluctuating peasant war in greater detail and more clearly. While affirming the justice of this peasant war, this book also touched upon its negative side and analyzed the negative effects of power struggle, alienation among the leadership and non-​unified authority on the overall situation of the war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Another feature of this book was its emphasis on the study of the dynamic aspects of the war, especially the study of the warring parties’ military thought, strategic direction and application of tactics. Shen Weibin questioned the popular saying that the Taiping Army’s Water Camp (the engineer battalion) was established in Yuezhou, and held that it was established in Wuhan.40 Zhang Haipeng analyzed the Anqing Battle from the perspective of the Hu’nan Army and held that the reason for Hu’nan Army’s victory was that they objectively assessed the military situation, correctly determined the strategic direction, summarized lessons from failures, flexibly used various tactical principles aiming at eliminating the enemy’s effective strength, dispatched the troops in a unified manner and fought in coordination.41 Wang Jianhua investigated the battle in which the Taiping Army broke through the Great Camp of Jiangnan of the Qing Dynasty for the second time, and thought that the most direct reason for the defeat of the Jiangnan Camp was that the Qing government failed to pay soldiers on time; the reason why Li Xiucheng’s scheme of “besieging Wei to save Zhao” could work had a close relationship with He Guiqing’s blocking the action of the troops of the Jiangnan Camp to rescue Zhejiang on purpose on the consideration of contending for the territory in Zhejiang with Zeng Guofan.42 Zhang Tiebao first verified the exact location and scope of the Dibaocheng, which was an important fortress of Tianjing.43 Diplomacy had been a weak spot of the early research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Related works were mainly confined to its anti-​ imperialist struggle. During this period, this situation had been changed a lot.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  21 Mao Jiaqi was the most fruitful scholar in this field. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Big Powers was the enlarged edition of Mao’s previous work History of Foreign Relations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In this book, Mao elaborated on two arguments: the first one was that the main purpose of Britain’s invasion of China at that time was to promote their commercial interests, including the opium trade and the trade of normal commodities, while the main purpose of Russia’s invasion of China was to encroach on our territory; the second one was that the primary fault in the foreign policy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was that they did not take advantage of the contradiction between the Qing Dynasty and the big powers to prevent them from colluding against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which could best be shown by the way they dealt with the Shanghai issue.44 Wang Qingcheng has made in-​depth analysis of the international perspective of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and held that it had close relations with their religious and ethical conceptions, and thus had a special meaning. Wang pointed out that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had no concept of state sovereignty of modern times in terms of foreign relations. From the religious belief that “all under heaven are of one family”, on one hand, they took a friendly attitude toward the Western countries and considered them as people having common goal in fighting against the Qing government; on the other hand, they still had the traditional thought of Celestial Empire and considered Hong Xiuquan as the “Universal God”, which was difficult for Western countries to understand and accept. Wang argued that even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had no defect in their international perspective, the big powers would not change their established opportunistic policy in diplomacy. The strong sense of mission of “recovering the whole territory and not abandoning even an inch of land” and “struggling for the whole territory of China” eventually directed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to achieve outstanding accomplishments in the anti-​aggression struggle.45 Continued progress has been made in the research on the economy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Guo Yisheng’s Economic History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been the most representative work in this field, which is a revised and enlarged edition of his previous work The Economic System of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This book analyzed the historical background of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s economic system and economic policies, Hong Xiuquan’s thoughts on economy, the content and nature of The Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom and New Treatise on Administration, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s “holy storage” system, the implementation of the policy of “paying taxes as before”, two parallel land policies in its later period, the system of “taxing the tenants directly”, land tax and the tax policy, the commercial policy, and the currency. The author expressed his own view on some controversial issues. For example, with regard to the system of “taxing the tenants directly”, the author pointed out that this policy had been put into practice in the early period, and in the later period, it was widely carried out in many counties and towns of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was

22  XIA Chuntao a historical creation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and an important characteristic differing from the land policies of the previous feudal dynasties. Since the tenants did not pay rent to landlords any more after paying the tax, and obtained the legal land ownership through the “land certificate”, this policy actually realized the goal of “giving land to the tillers” in a disguised form. Therefore, it brought about some destruction to the feudal landlordism.46 As for the research on culture of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, scholars discarded the claim that the anti-​Confucianism struggle of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was the herald of the movement to bring down Confucianism during the May 4th period. They gradually reached a consensus that Hong Xiuquan’s opposition to Confucianism was mainly motivated by his consideration of worshiping God exclusively and did not mean the deepening of his anti-​feudal struggle. Wang Qingcheng has made a detailed analysis of the evolution of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s attitude toward Confucianism and its consequences, and argued that in the very beginning, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not deny and try to bring down Confucius. On the contrary, they were quite respectful to Confucius and Confucianism; after establishing the capital at Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan turned to negate Confucianism and repel the ancient sages, and began to oppose Confucianism in form rather than in content, which might have something to do with his personal psychological experience and his attempt to create an unprecedented situation under the banner of worshiping God exclusively. After being opposed by Yang Xiuqing, Hong Xiuquan was forced to order to stop burning and banning ancient books, and declared that people were still allowed to read the “Four Books” (The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Confucian Analects, and The Works of Mencius) and the “Five Classics” (The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Changes, The Book of Rites and The Spring and Autumn Annals) after they were revised officially. After Yang’s death, though Hong’s stance on banning Confucianism changed a little, he basically carried this policy through firmly to the end, which made it difficult for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to attract intellectuals and caused its lack of talent, which became an important reason for its failure. Based on Zeng Guofan’s letter to Liu Rong saying that “the Cantonese bandits (the Taiping Army) were not suppressed in the last winter, and they became more aggravated. I  saw the ‘Four Books’ published by them, and send them to you”, some scholar made an assertion that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had published a revised version of the “Four Books”. Based on the fragments of Liu Rong’s deeds collected by the Hung On-​To Memorial Library of the University of Hong Kong, Wang Qingcheng verified that “I saw the ‘Four Books’ ” should be “I bet you four books”, and the four books were the bet of Zeng and Liu while betting on the current situation, which had nothing to do with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s publication of the “Four Books”. As a matter of fact, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had never published the “Four Books” and the Five Classics.47

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  23 1.3.7  Study on the laws and regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had a complete set of laws and regulations. Over the past 20 or 30 years, a great breakthrough has been made in related research. Li Chun’s Preliminary Exploration into the Laws and Regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Zhonghua Book Company, 1989, the revised edition) discussed many issues including the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s economic measures, military and civil bureaucracy, system of countryside officials, tax system, the supply system, the system of education and examination, the urban organization and so on, which has been a pioneering work on the laws and regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, it still had many omissions, especially in the research of the complicated bureaucratic system. Sheng Xun’s A Record of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Officials (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1999) largely made up for this shortcoming. This book examined the origin, evolution, and influence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s system of official titles and ranks, sorted out its officials, peerage, ranks and titles, and made a list of the official ranks and titles. By analyzing Chen Yucheng’s promotion in rank, Hua Guoliang analyzed the regular pattern of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s official system, and concluded that in the early period, the hierarchy of its official system was concise and officials’ promotion and transfer was institutionalized; in the late period, its official ranks became numerous and the promotion and transfer became disorganized; Hua verified that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s official hierarchy in its late period was divided into five ranks and 24 grades. There appeared the vicious circle between the increase in the official ranks and redundancy in the officials, which led to increasingly serious bureaucracy and low efficiency.48 Taboo on using the personal names of the emperors was not only an important ritual, but also a prevailing custom in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the study of this subject, Wu Liangzuo has been the most accomplished scholar in this field. Adopting a comprehensive approach integrating historiography with linguistics and folklore, Wu’s monograph Research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s System of Taboo on Using the Personal Names of Emperors explored the formation, development and termination of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s taboo on using the personal names of the emperors, discussed its classification, methods and practical implementation, and expounded on its role in the proofreading, explanation, interpretation and verification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s documents. The last chapter of this book listed more than 160 taboo words, which gave it the nature of a reference book. Wu held that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s taboo system was inherited from the past dynasties, but also had some characteristics of its own. Its strong feudal character and backwardness were self-​evident, but also dimly reflected the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s progressiveness in its cultural policy.49 Shi Shi’s Research on the Proper Words and Expressions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1993)  discussed

24  XIA Chuntao the origin, derivation and development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s proper words and expressions, and the purpose, methods, and practical effect of using proper words and expressions. The author also appended a glossary of more than 2000 terms to this book. Zhu Congbing and Cui Detian’s The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s System of Official Documents (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1993)  studied the development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s official document system, its related institutions and personnel, writing relationship, undertaking and operating mechanism, forms, style and linguistic features of the official documents, etc. They pointed out that the document system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had a certain positive effect on the foundation and development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but these documents also provided first-​hand information for the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty, which made the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s struggle much harder. Zhou Xinguo’s Research on the Criminal Law of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Wu Shanzhong’s Research on the Calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were published by Guangxi People’s Publishing House in one volume in 1993. Zhou’s work has been the first monograph on this topic in Mainland China. From the perspectives of history and law, it studied the historical evolution of the criminal law of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, its source and content, penalty and trial system, and made a comparative study of Hong Xiuquan and Hong Rengan’s thought on the criminal law, the criminal law of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty. The “Heavenly Calendar” (Tian Li) was a self-​created calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had been studied by previous researchers like Xie Xingyao, Guo Tingyi, Dong Zuobin, Luo Ergang, and Rong Mengyuan. On the basis of previous studies, Wu carried out a comprehensive and in-​depth study of the principle, creation and promulgation of the “Heavenly Calendar” as well as its characteristics and six festivals. He denied the saying that “the ‘Heavenly Calendar’ was an unprecedentedly progressive calendar in history” and argued that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s promulgation of the “Heavenly Calendar” was mainly out of political consideration and meant to deny the legitimacy of the Qing government by redefining the calendar. However, because this calendar paid no attention to the celestial phenomena, but only sought “evenness and completeness” and abstained from “deficiency”, its compilation was quite crude and thus was unsuitable for farming and had no merit in science and technology.50 Guo Cunxiao analyzed the engraving time and regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s official seals, and their types, functions and features; he also studied the occasions, musical instruments, supervisors, and institutions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s musical events.51 Guo’s other work, The Natural History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1997) accounted the monuments, historical remains and relics of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom one by one according to the national publication and collection, many of which also involved decrees and regulations. Zhang

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  25 Tiebao studied the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s regulations on painting, finding that its paintings were mainly about the auspicious birds and animals, landscape, flowers and plants, which might have something to do with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s prohibition against portraiture.52 Research on the geography of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been relatively weak. From the perspective of historical geography, Hua Qiang’s Record of The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Geography (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 1991) studied the whole geographic picture of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s territory. Mainly focusing on the seven provinces  –​ Jiangnan, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Tianpu, Sufu and Zhejiang –​and Tianjing, the capital city, where the regime construction was more complete, this book made detailed investigation into the issues like the geographical evolution and boundaries of the commanderies and counties, new provinces, commanderies and counties established by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, renaming of places for the sake of taboos, date of the Taiping Army’s conquering and withdrawing, the civil servants and the garrison officers of all the commanderies and counties. Ma Dingxiang and Ma Chuande’s Currencies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1983, 1st edition; 1994, 2nd edition) is a monograph on the monetary system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This book systematically studied the time and place of casting, circulation, devaluation, formats, features, amount, and authentication of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s currencies, and listed the currencies of the Heaven and Earth Society as an appendix. Some of these above-​mentioned studies have filled the research gaps, and some have furthered related research. 1.3.8  Research on the religious, regional, and social history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom started from religion and founded the kingdom based on religion. Therefore, religious issues could not be bypassed in the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, religion had always been regarded as people’s spiritual opium, which had made scholars avoid mentioning religion in the years when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was being eulogized blindly, and thus religion had become an invisible forbidden area in research. At the end of the 1970s, this topic began to attract scholars’ attention. Xia Chuntao’s The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Religion (Nanjing University Press, 1992) has been the first monograph on this topic in Mainland China. Soon afterwards, on the basis of this book, Xia wrote another book entitled The Fall of the Heavenly Kingdom:  Re-​study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Religion (Renmin University of China Press, 2006). This book made a detailed examination of the constructive process, teachings, classics and rites of the God Religion (Shang Di Jiao), its spread among the Taiping Army and the people, and its relationship with Chinese

26  XIA Chuntao folk religions and Confucianism, and Western Christianity in particular; this book also studied the influences of the religious theories on the domestic and foreign policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (international concept, the anti-​Confucianism policy, the women policy, etc.), and analyzed the social policy and political system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as well as its internal strife and corruption from the perspective of religion to explore the relationship between religion and the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As for the long-​debated question of whether the religious organization “God-​Worshipping Society” existed or not, and whether this name was a name they called themselves or were called by others, the author proposed that the “God-​Worshipping Society” did exist as a religious organization, and its exact name should be the “God Society” (Shang Di Hui), and the “God-​Worshipping Society” was a wrong name passed on by people. However, some scholars raised objections on the ground that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s documents had never mentioned the “God Society”; some scholars agreed with the wording of the “God Society”, while still thinking that the wording of “God-​Worshipping Society” was correct on the ground that these two names appeared in several materials at the same time. For this reason, the author wrote again pointing out that almost all the original Chinese and Western records, including the oral confession of the Taiping Army soldier Li Jinfu and the oral account of the Taiping Army’s messenger in Guangzhou, confirmed that the religious organization created by Feng Yunshan was called the “God Society”, which was a name they called themselves. The expression Bai Shang Di Hui (God-​Worshipping Society) did appear in some materials, but here the word Bai was used as a verb meaning “participation”. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had no formal name for its religion and sometimes called it “Heaven Religion” (Tian Jiao). The so-​ called “God Religion” was a name for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s religion given by later generations. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s religion worshiped God exclusively; therefore, “God Religion” should be the most proper name, and we should not add the verb “Bai” in front of it. It was inappropriate to derive the concept of “God-​Worshipping Religion” from the so-​called “God-​Worshipping Society” and confound the “God-​Worshipping Society” with the “God-​Worshipping Religion”.53 Dong Caishi’s The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Suzhou has been the most important work on the study of regional history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. With detailed and accurate data, Dong systematically investigated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s military-​political and economic measures for building up Sufu Province, the role played by the Suzhou gentry in the confluence of the domestic and foreign reactionary forces, the process of the Taiping Army’s battle to defend Suzhou and the reasons for its failure, and analyzed the relationship between the loss and capture of Sufu and the survival and downfall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which made up for the shortcomings of previous research. Dong pointed out that the establishment of Sufu Province quickly tackled the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  27 financial and economic crisis and supplemented its military forces. Though the Anhui base area was occupied by enemies after the failure of the Anqing War, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could still save the situation relying on the support of the Sufu base area, and then opened up the Zhejiang base area. It was because of the support from the Sufu and Zhejiang base areas that the Taiping Army could persist with the revolutionary war against the domestic and foreign enemies for another four years.54 In addition, Wang Tianjiang’s research on Henan, Xu Chuanyi’s research on Anhui, Du Defeng’s research on Jiangxi and Wang Xingfu’s research on Zhejiang all had scored some achievements. Li Wenhai and Liu Yangdong’s The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Social Customs (Renmin University of China Press, 1989)  made a survey of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s social conventions and local customs from nine aspects, to wit:  religious activities, dress and personal adornment, wedding and funeral etiquette, new year celebration, family structure, women’s style and features, prohibition of gambling, prohibition of opium and prostitution, and cultural mentality, which has been a pioneering work studying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the perspective of social history. In addition, Xing Fenglin discussed the relationship between Hakka and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Several works and papers on the issues like the Taiping Army’s marital status and sexual relations, the population and famines during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period have been published in succession,55 which reflected the development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research from one aspect. 1.3.9  The publication of a batch of large-​scale reference books and monographs on the general history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom In the early 1990s, with the deepening of research, two large-​scale monographs on the general history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were published in succession.56 Luo Ergang’s History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Zhonghua Book Company, 1991)  has 88 volumes which were further divided into 4 books (volumes). Luo has made a major stylistic innovation by combining five styles –​ introduction, chronicles, annals, records, and biographies. He summarized the whole book with an “introduction”, which overcame the flaw of the history presented in a series of biographies which meant that “the readers could not understand the outline and the main points clearly”; “chronicles” made records of the great events according to the detailed outline; “annals” marked the complicated historical facts clearly, and listed all uprisings of different societies and people of all ethnic groups, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s nobility, officials, and other important figures in detail; “records” collected all the laws, regulations and systems, including the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s economic system, religion, regime, bureaucracy, formation of the armies, criminal law, etiquette system, calendar, imperial examination system,

28  XIA Chuntao geography, transportation, medical care and health, architecture, art, classics and so on; “biographies” made records of historical figures, which abolished the biographic sketches of emperors with a strong emphasis on feudalism. It has been a great contribution of Luo Ergang to break the old styles and establish the new style of history books. The content of History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was extensive and meticulous. As an academic leader and a grand master of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research in contemporary times, Luo Ergang finished this great work in 1985 at the age of 84, bringing together all his achievements made in 50-​odd years of academic studies. It is also a conclusive work on Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research in contemporary times. This book has been widely praised since its publication. It has won the first prize of “The First Guo Moruo Prize for Chinese History” and has been praised as an immortal masterpiece in academic circles. The General History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom edited by Mao Jiaqi was also published in 1985 by Nanjing University Press. This book has five volumes and 22 chapters, which has been the thickest monograph written in chapters on the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom up to now. The introduction part of this book reviewed the historical studies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over the past 100 years and the situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s literature and historical relics, and included all the related monographs and historical materials as an appendix; the main body of this book discussed the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, including politics, economy, the military, diplomacy, bureaucratic and military system, historical events, evaluation of historical figures, ethnic issues, etc., and proposed many new ideas. For example, as for the causes for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s failure, the author proposed that the main reason was not the collusion and repression of the domestic and foreign reactionary forces, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s own mistakes and decline, such as the mistakes in strategic commanding, the serious disruption and internal friction and the isolated strategy and policy, the transformation of the religious function, which could be simply attributed to the limitations of the peasant class, but were not the inevitable generality of the peasant leaders.57 In the meantime, Book Series on the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom edited by Zhong Wendian were published by Guangxi People’s Publishing House in succession, including more than ten monographs, most of which were reviewing works. Dictionary of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom edited by Guo Yisheng and Shi Shi was published by China Social Sciences Press in 1995, being a professional and authoritative dictionary of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, collecting more than 4000 entries. However, it only collects the translated historical materials and monographs of foreign researchers, but not all the important foreign works. In addition, there are mistakes in some of its entries. The Collection of Historical Maps of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and History and Geography of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom edited by Guo Yisheng were published by SinoMaps Press in 1989. The former is

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  29 a specialized collection of maps with war as its mainline, consisting of four parts, to wit, 104 maps, 132 graphs of cultural relics, historical relics and landscape, illustrations with pictures and memorabilia; the latter is a companion volume to the former. The textual research of these two books is accurate and careful, which gives them high academic value. The graphs and their accompanying texts in Illustrated Treatise on Tianjing of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Tianjing (Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1986) edited by Nie Bochun and Han Pinzheng, are both excellent, making detailed textual criticisms and explanations of the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s capital. Jiang Bingzheng’s Comprehensive List of Works on the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Catalogs and Documentations Publishing House, 1984) collected more than 5000 entries, including all the data, monographs, and papers on Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research at home and abroad from 1853 to 1981, which were arranged into five categories: general history, critical biographies of historical figures, cultural relics, historical materials, academic ideas, and bibliography. It is more complete than The Catalog of Data on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957)  edited by Zhang Xiumin and Wang Huian, but has some defects in verifying the versions of the historical records and translating the names of the foreign works. All the works collected in this book were published before 1981, so the compilation of a catalog of the works on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over the past 30 years remains to be carried out. To sum up, through the joint efforts of several generations of scholars, research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the People’s Republic of China in 1949 has finally entered its mature and harvest stage and become the most abundant and best-​studied branch of the modern history of China.

1.4  The status of research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research had been flourishing for a period of time, and almost all the famous scholars in their eighties in the field of modern history in Mainland China had touched upon this field, and many of them had established their academic status by virtue of the achievements made in this field. The peasant war research with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as its main object had been regarded as one of the “five golden flowers” of the mainland historian circles for its great achievements. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research had even been crowned as “Tai Xue” and considered as a specialized branch of learning by the scholars in this field. However, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research had gradually become more and more neglected while it was still in the ascendant. Although a large number of conclusive works had been published, it was still impossible to curb this declining tendency. Especially in the past ten years, related academic activities have been greatly reduced, and the research team and related works have declined sharply. Scholars specializing in the history of the Taiping Heavenly

30  XIA Chuntao Kingdom have been rare and lack successors. In fact, it is an understandable and normal phenomenon that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research has evolved from a field that researchers had scrambled to join in to a neglected one, and the main reason for this phenomenon is the increase in research difficulty and the shift of researchers’ interest. As far as Mainland China is concerned, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research had been started early, and there had appeared many well-​known scholars in this field. As early as the early 1980s, some scholars had asserted that the research in this field was in its final stage. Because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been studied by many scholars, researchers have to work much harder to make some desirable achievements. For the newcomers, this means that they have to read and digest tens of millions of words of historical data and previous studies, a difficulty which they would shrink from. In addition, with the rise of new hot topics such as the history of modernization and social history, many scholars who originally specialized in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research have shifted their research directions, which has also aggravated the atrophy of the research team. At the same time, there has appeared a strange phenomenon that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research has become a hot topic for non-​ professional scholars while being neglected by the professional circles. In the past 20 years, some scholars who do not specialize in this field have carried out many related studies. Although their arguments are enlightening, they tend to be biased and negate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom completely and easily, and want to reverse the previous judgment on Zeng Guofan, revealing the tendency of overreacting to the previous over-​leftist research. In 2000, the maxi-​series The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was broadcast by the China Central Television (CCTV), causing people to pay more attention to the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom again. The exploration of history is an endless process. The deeper the research, the more abundant and in-​depth people’s understanding becomes. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research is a well-​studied field, it does not mean that there is no room for further study. Looking at the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research, it is not difficult to see that there were many extensive, low-​level, and redundant studies but few exhaustive and innovative studies. To be more specific, even the topics which had been studied most thoroughly still have a lot of unclear historical facts, and almost every topic has ambiguous or even blank points in varying degrees. Opinions on the evaluation of many specific problems are still widely divided, and no consensus has been reached. In this regard, almost all topics have room for further study, which are worth re-​studying and re-​understanding. If we want to continue our research, we must first take a scientific attitude and develop scientific methods. To re-​study and re-​understand does not mean to make a new start or one-​sidedly start the argumentation anew in order to be different, but to carry out rigorous and innovative research on the basis of previous research, historical materials, and historical facts. Needless to say,

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  31 some of the previous research had the complex of “daring not to violate the taboos of distinguished figures” more or less, and tended to replace or dilute the specific research with concepts, and thus could only acquire superficial understandings, which had left some room for following studies. However, we should not overdo rectifying behavior. Examining the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with the attitude of historical nihilism could not be considered as academic research, but will cause confusion to the research work. As the peak of the old-​style peasant revolts in Chinese history, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted to create a new dynasty, but could not go beyond the feudal system, which provided us with many things to think about. Its rights and wrongs, merits and faults could not be concluded or revealed with a simple affirmation or negation. Both Sun Yat-​sen and Mao Zedong had reflected on this period of history from the positive and negative aspects. Therefore, neither the deification nor the defamation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a scientific and serious attitude, which will make the research work over-​simplified and thus restrict the depth of the research. Second, we should work hard to expand the horizons of research. For example, studying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the social-​historical perspective still has plenty of room and there exist a number of topics worth exploring in depth. Some scholars have put forward specific ideas on this topic and proposed that we should consider the various figures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (from the leadership and generals to soldiers, grass-​roots officials, etc.) as the constituent elements of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and make an all-​round and comparative study of them, or we could choose a certain county or town of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to check whether its politics, economy, relations between the government and the people, daily lives and social customs changed or not before and after the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and whether they were different from those of the areas ruled by the Qing Dynasty or not?58 Undoubtedly, this kind of innovative research is conducive to broadening the horizons and deepening the understanding of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In addition, literature and data on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are of great quantity, but literature and data on a specific research topic is often lacking, which has been a problem that often perplexed the researchers. In order to study history with limited data, researchers should give full play to the initiative in analyzing and thinking and interpret historical phenomena as accurately as possible. Of course, there is still potential for unearthing historical materials. As far as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s official documents are concerned, some books like Collection of the Imperial Systems and Regulations and Record of the Imperial Inscriptions have not been discovered yet; it is still possible for us to discover new remaining documents. Western literature is a great treasure house of the historical data on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and many of their records have greatly made up for the shortcomings of the Chinese records. However, mainland scholars’ mining and utilization of Western literature has always been unsatisfactory, which

32  XIA Chuntao has limited the depth of the research. At last, we should attach importance to knowing and learning from the studies done by foreign scholars. For example, the study of the Hakka society in Guangxi on the eve of the Jintian Uprising made by Kikuchi Hidea, the new-​generation leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research in Japan, is worthy of our attention. Generally speaking, the current Taiping Heavenly Kingdom research has reached rock bottom, and there is absolutely no chance that it will return to its former prosperity. However, the importance of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will not be weakened or diminished. For the study of modern Chinese history, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a period of history of great concern that cannot be circumvented. Scholars’ upsurge in it has passed, but the scholars who really aspire to pursue this research should be able to endure loneliness. The study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom does not come to an end. As long as we continue to make efforts and improvements in the above aspects, a new harvest would be just around the corner.

Notes 1 The author is a researcher at The Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 2 Fan Wenlan. (1951). History of Modern China (Book 1 of Vol. 1, The Revised Edition). People’s Publishing House, 186 & 191–​192. 3 Hu Sheng. (1954). The Division of the Modern Chinese History. Historical Research, (1). 4 Guo Yisheng. (1957). On the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. Teaching and Research, (2). 5 Zhang Kaiyuan. (1958). Several Issues Concerning the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. Theoretical Front, (2). 6 Wu Yannan. (1958). On the Land System of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Historical Research, (2). 7 Wang Tianjiang. (1958). The Class Composition of the Countryside Officials in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Historical Research, (3); Dong Caishi. (1962). Were the Majority of the Countryside Officials in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom the Landlords? Journal of Jiangsu Normal University, (5). 8 Dai Yi. (1961). On the Causes for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. Guangming Daily, January 11. 9 Nian Zimin & Shu Shicheng. (1956). Discussions on the Authenticity of The Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Autography. Journal of East China Normal University, (4). 10 Luo Ergang. (1958). Textual Research on the Manuscript of Loyal King’s Autography and the related Proofs. Science Press. 11 Jin Yizhou. (1961). Review of the Research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Historical Research, (2). 12 Qi Longwei. (1957). A Brief Discussion on the Deviation in the Current Historical Study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the Perspective of the Preface to the Baoenbei Monumental Archway. Guangming Daily, May 23.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  33 13 Yuan Shuyi. (1961). A Brief Discussion on the Hero of the Peasant Revolution –​ Li Xiucheng. Beijing Daily, September 7. 14 Shen Jiarong. (1980). Equalitarianism and Feudalism –​The Fourth Discussion on the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime. People’s Forum, (4). 15 Sun Zuomin. (1981). Criteria for Determining the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime  –​the Fifth Discussion on the Issue of “Peasants’ Regime”. Academic Research, (5). 16 Duan Benluo. (1980). Characteristics of the Times and Future of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. Journal of Jiangsu Normal University, (2). 17 Sun Kefu & Guan Jie. (1981). Discussion on the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime. Social Science Journal, (1). 18 Dong Caishi. (1980). On the Characteristics and Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime. Journal of Jiangsu Normal University, (2). 19 Wang Tianjiang. (1981). The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Landlord Class –​Also on the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime. Academic Journal of Zhongzhou, (1). 20 Su Shuangbi. (1993). Review of the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 359. 21 Li Jinquan. (1981). On Hong Xiuquan’s Thought and the Dual Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime. Nan Fang Daily, March 3. 22 Sun Zuomin. (1980). Several Issues concerning the Research on the Nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Regime. The Northern Forum, (1). 23 We Must Advocate Authenticity and Scientificalness in Historical Research. Guangming Daily, October 27, 1979. 24 Mou Anshi. (1981). Could the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement Be Considered as a Revolution? Social Science Research, (1). 25 Luo Ergang. (1980). Re-​Investigation into the Date of the Jintian Uprising. Academic Forum, (3); Rong Mengyuan. (1981). Discussion on the Date of the Jintian Uprising. Social Science Research, (1); Mao Jiaqi. (1981). Questions about Several Issues concerning the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In: Proceedings of the Symposium on the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Zhonghua Book Company; Wang Qingcheng. (1983). On the Preparation, Facts and Date of the Jintian Uprising. In: Journal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Research (Vol. 1). Zhonghua Book Company; Jiang Tao. (1993). Investigation into the Historical Facts of Hong Xiuquan’s “Enthronement”. Historical Research, (1); Jiang Tao. (1996). Re-​Analysis of the Jintian Uprising. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 26 Wang Qingcheng. (1979). Hong Xiuquan’s Early Thought and Its Development. Historical Research, (8) & (9). 27 Su Shuangbi. (1986). A Critical Biography of Shi Dakai. Hebei People’s Publishing House, 89. 28 Xia Chuntao. (2007). From a Teacher in the Private School, a Christian to the King. Social Sciences Academic Press, 238, 240. 29 Wu Liangzuo. (1957). About the Heavenly Father’s Poems. Historical Research, (9). 30 Zhong Wendian (Ed.) (1999). Selected Works of Luo Ergang. Guangxi Normal University Press, 54. 31 Luo Ergang. (1980). Refuting the Statement that Du Wenxiu was a Traitor. Academic Monthly, (4).

34  XIA Chuntao 32 Wang Qingcheng. (1986). Heavenly Father’s Imperial Edicts, Heavenly Brother’s Imperial Edicts and the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 33 Guo Yuming. History of the Nian Army. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 588. 34 Fang Shiming & Liu Xiuming. (1979). The Social Basis and Historical Features of the Uprising of the Small Sword Society in Shanghai. Historiography, (3). 35 Luo Baoshan. The Collusion between the Domestic and Foreign Rival Forces during the Uprising of the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangdong. Journal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Research (Vol. 1). 36 Jia Shucun. (1991). The Landlord Class during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 549–​556. 37 Long Shengyun. (1990). History of the Xiang Army. Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 512–​513. 38 Dong Caishi. (1998). Selected Works of Dong Caishi. Suzhou University Press, 472–​485. 39 Zhang Shouchang. History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Northern Expedition,  1–​13. 40 Shen Weibin. Having Seen and Experienced Much (Ceng Jing Cang Hai). Shanghai Educational Publishing House, 155–​158. 41 Zhang Haipeng. (1988). Analysis of the Reasons for Hu’nan Army’s Victory in the Anqing Battle. Modern Chinese History, (5). 42 Wang Jianhua. (1995). Several Issues Concerning Taiping Army’s Breaking Through the Jiangnan Camp for the Second Time and Eastern Expedition to Suzhou and Changzhou. In:  History and Society (Vol. 1). Suzhou University Press, 180–​190. 43 Zhang Tiebao. (1986). A Brief Investigation into Dibaocheng of Tianjing. Jianghai Academic Journal, (3). 44 Mao Jiaqi. (1992). The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Big Powers. Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 315. 45 Wang Qingcheng. (1991). The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Foreign Relations and International Perspective. Historical Research, (1). 46 Guo Yisheng. (1991). The Economic History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 238–​282. 47 Wang Qingcheng. (1985). Documents and History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Zhonghua Book Company, 379–​398. 48 Hua Guoliang. (1987). A  Study of Chen Yuncheng’s Official Ranks and Titles. In:  Luo Ergang and the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences Press, 507–​519; Hua Guoliang. The Official Ranks of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In: Introduction to the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, 293–​309. 49 Wu Liangzuo. (1993). Research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s System of Taboo in Calling Names. Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 304. 50 Wu Shanzhong. Research on the Calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, 244–​256. 51 Guo Cunxiao. (1992). Research on the Official Seals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Military Historical Research, (2); Guo Cunxiao. Musical Events of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Journal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Research, (Vol. 2).

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement  35 52 Zhang Tiebao. (1986). Discussion on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Portraiture. Based on “The Painting of a Battle” Newly Discovered in Huangnigang of Nanjing. Cultural Relics, (4). 53 Xia Chuntao. (2009). Re-​Analysis of the “God-​Worshipping Society”. Fujian Forum, (2). 54 Dong Caishi. (1981). The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Suzhou. Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 139–​151. 55 Xing Fenglin. On the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Aborigine-​Hakka Issue. In: Collected Papers on the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; Zhong Wendian. (1991). Hakka and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. Journal of Guangxi Normal University, (1); Xia Chuantao. (2003). The Taiping Army’s Marital Status and Sexual Relations. Modern Chinese History Studies, (1); Jiang Tao. (1991). Population and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. Nanjing Social Sciences, (1); Xing Long. (1991). Demographic Change in the Jiangnan Area before and after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution and Its Influence. Studies in Chinese Economic History, (2); Cao Shuji. (2001). Demographic History of China (Vol. 5, Book 2). Fudan University Press; Kang Peizhu. (1995). Famine and the Failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution. The Northern Forum, (6); Yu Xinzhong. (2002). A Brief Survey of the Plagues during the Reign of Xianfeng and Tongzhi  –​Also on the Relation between War and Plagues. Modern Chinese History Studies, (5). 56 Monographs on the general history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom published before the 1990s mainly include Mao Jiaqi, Fang Zhiguang, and Tong Guanghua’s The Rise and Fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1980), Wang Rongsheng, Long Shengyun, Jia Shucun, and He Lingxiu’s The History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement (People’s Publishing House, 1986), and Rao Renkun, Lu Yangyuan, and Li Fuyan’s The Rise and Fall the Heavenly Kingdom (China Youth Publishing House, 1983), all of which had a length of about 300,000 characters. 57 Mao Jiaqi (Ed.) The General History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Book 2), 358–​393. 58 Wang Qingcheng. (1988). My Personal Experience and Understanding in Studying the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In:  Drawing Inspiration from Historical Study –​Experts’ Discussions on How to Study the History of Modern China. Tianjing Education Press, 118–​119.

2  Sun Yat-​sen studies WANG Jie

Sun Yat-​sen studies has a history of 60  years. Although it has experienced twists and turns, on the whole, it has kept developing and moving toward prosperity gradually. Up to the present, it is still renowned as a “distinguished school” and presents a picture of prosperity. Its stream of development is mainly manifested in the following four aspects:  (1) New historical data have been discovered continuously on the basis of the previous discoveries. Monographic data such as A Chronology of Sun Yat-​sen, Selected Works of Sun Yat-​sen, Selected Archives of Sun Yat-​ sen (Before and after the 1911 Revolution), Complete Works of Sun Yat-​sen, Biographical Chronicles of Sun Yat-​sen, Dictionary of Sun Yat-​sen, Annals of Guangdong Province –​Annals of Sun Yat-​sen, Selected Works of Sun Wen, The 1911 Revolution, New Collection of Historical Data on the 1911 Revolution, Memoirs of the 1911 Revolution have been published in succession. (2) Lots of related works and papers on various topics have been published: more than 200 monographs (including collected papers) and more than 2,000 papers, among which the book series (consisting of 10 books) edited by the Sun Yat-​ sen Foundation in 1996 are of the best quality. (3) Symposiums on Sun Yat-​ sen have enjoyed popularity throughout the world. From “The Symposium on Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in 1961 to the “Ph.D. Forum on Sun Yat-​sen and Chinese Society” held in 2008, more than 50 symposiums have already been held, among which the symposiums like “Sun Yat-​sen and His Era”, “Sun Yat-​sen and Asia”, “Review of Sun Yat-​ sen Research”, “Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the World”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the Revitalization of China” had evoked considerable repercussions. (4) Various academic groups (teams) have laid good foundations for the steady development of this research. The establishment of more than 30 research institutes and societies, the interaction between the national and local researchers have not only cultivated lots of researchers, but also gathered a large number of followers, which have strongly promoted the lasting prosperity of the research in this field. The research patterns generally present three characteristics:  first, qualitative analyses have been replaced by empirical studies and the research has

Sun Yat-sen studies  37 been deepened and refined gradually. At the beginning of the founding of New China, researchers attached more importance to the political and ideological studies, and preferred these to qualitative analysis. Since the 1980s, research topics have been greatly extended and the empirical approach has been widely adopted. Second, research topics have been closely linked with the themes of the times, which are of both academic and practical significance. For example, research topics like Sun Yat-​sen and Hong Kong, Sun Yat-​sen and modernization, Sun Yat-​sen and the world, Sun Yat-​sen and the revitalization of China, Sun Yat-​sen and the construction of the harmonious society, Sun Yat-​sen and the reform and opening up, all hold the pulse of the times and make no strained interpretations, which are conducive to learning from the history. Third, international academic exchanges have been expanded continuously. In 1990 “The Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia” was held jointly with overseas academic institutions for the first time. Since then, Chinese scholars have exchanged frequently with scholars from Russia, France, Korea, Britain, Australia, Germany and other countries as well as scholars from Taiwan Province, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region, which have built the academic bridge for introducing Sun Yat-​sen research to the world. The research history of the past 60  years can be divided into five stages: 1949–​1966, 1976–​1984, 1985–​1990, 1991–​1999, and 2000–​2009, which will be introduced respectively in the following sections.

2.1  An overview of the initial studies The period from 1949 to 1966 is the initial stage of Sun Yat-​sen research. During this stage, scholars had striven to make an objective and fair evaluation of Sun Yat-​sen’s revolutionary thought and contributions under the guidance of Marxism, which was a kind of exploration, and also the start of the qualitative research. In November 1956, Mao Zedong published an article entitled “To Commemorate Mr. Sun Yat-​sen”, which highly praised the great achievements of Sun Yat-​sen –​“a pioneer of China’s democratic revolution” –​in founding the Republic of China and advocating the KMT-​CPC cooperation and his influence on later generations, which had been regarded as the standard by academia and greatly inspired scholars’ interests in Sun Yat-​sen research. “The Symposium on Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in 1961 greatly promoted the development of Sun Yat-​sen research. From 1949 to 1966, mainland scholars published nearly 200 papers. Chen Xiqi’s monograph Sun Yat-​sen before the Establishment of the Chinese Revolutionary League was also published during this period. Sun Yat-​sen’s early thought and activities, the formation, connotation and meaning of Sun Yat-​sen’s Three People’s Principles, and Sun Yat-​sen’s philosophical thought were three issues discussed frequently during this period.

38  WANG Jie 2.1.1  Sun Yat-​sen’s early thoughts and activities Most scholars agreed that Sun Yat-​sen’s early thoughts were a mixture of “revolution” and “reform”. The debate revolved around two points:  First, which one was more dominant, the reformist factor or the revolutionary factor? Some scholar said that Sun Yat-​sen advocated innovating politics and developing capitalism, “which was a progressive thought at that time. Although still containing the reformist elements, it had broken away from the reformism and had the demand of revolution. Therefore, we could not conclude that he was a reformist before the Sino-​Japanese War just because some of his thoughts were similar to those of the reformists”.1 Another scholar said that Sun Yat-​ sen’s “reformist thought was more dominant” before 1895.2 Second, was Sun Yat-​sen’s revolutionary thought formed before or after the establishment of the Society to Restore China’s Prosperity (Xing Zhong Hui)? Some scholars thought that Sun Yat-​sen had already had the anti-​revolutionary thought before 1895, and the founding of the Society to Restore China’s Prosperity was the “beginning of his revolutionary activities”3; some other scholars argued that when the Society to Restore China’s Prosperity was founded, Sun’s “revolutionary thought accounted for a larger proportion than his reformist thought did”, but “his revolutionary thought did not achieve the overwhelmingly dominant position” until the Huizhou Uprising taking place in 1900.4 2.1.2  On the Three People’s Principles Most scholars agreed with Mao Zedong’s qualitative analysis of the Three People’s Principles, and held that it was the first systematic and explicit program for the bourgeois democratic revolution in modern Chinese history, and could be divided into two periods: the period of the Old Three People’s Principles and the period of the New Three People’s Principles. However, they still had different opinions concerning its formation, connotation and significance. (1)  The Principle of Nationalism Nationalism came into being “under the social conditions of the imperialist aggression and the Qing Dynasty’s national oppression”,5 reflecting people’s demand for the anti-​Qing and anti-​aggression national revolution. Did Sun Yat-​sen have anti-​imperialist thought during the period of the old democratic revolution? Some scholars thought that Sun’s anti-​imperialist thought was generated before the 1911 Revolution and was gradually formed through the revolutionary struggles after the Revolution;6 some scholars held that Sun’s nationalism during the 1911 Revolution lacked explicit, thorough and resolute content opposing imperialism and there were no strong anti-​imperialist programs and slogans. As for the “Great Asianism”, some scholars thought

Sun Yat-sen studies  39 that its assertion was to oppose imperialism and advocate a kind of concept opposite to the Western powers’ “hegemony culture”, which in essence did not have the narrow and limited nature of regionalism and ethnicity; however, its defect was that it still had illusions about the Japanese imperialists.7 Some other scholars argued that Sun’s attempt to ally China with Japan to resist the aggression of European and American powers with the help of the “Great Asianism” was like asking a tiger for its skin and revealed that he still did not recognize the aggressive nature of Japan clearly.8 Concerning the “anti-​Manchu” issue, some scholars thought that it reflected the tendency of Han chauvinism to some degree, and thus gave the revolution a racist tinge, which was a flaw of nationalism; some scholars held that the “anti-​Manchu movement had never been an independent movement” and the anti-​Manchu movement during the 1911 Revolution “was subject to the bourgeois democratic revolution”.9 (2)  The Principle of Democracy Scholars’ divergence focused on the evaluation of “The Constitution of Five Powers” and “Fundamentals of National Reconstruction”. Some scholars thought that Sun’s propositions of “founding the country in 3 steps” and “separating people’s rights from the government’s powers” were idealist views holding that the heroes create history and the masses could only be blind followers; “The Constitution of Five Powers” could not make up for the drawbacks of the separation of the three powers.10 Some other scholars argued that Sun’s democratic theory “had the serious defect of not relying on the masses, but its subjective purpose was good. This set of programs for establishing the Republic of China greatly improved revolutionist’ ideological level and solved the key issue of the revolutionary movement at that time”.11 (3)  The Principle of the People’s Livelihood Why did Sun Yat-​sen advocate “equalizing land rights”? Some scholars said it was “because of his sincere sympathy for Chinese peasants’ sufferings and the stimulus from the European socialist movements”.12 Some said that Sun hoped it could satisfy peasants’ requirements for land and stimulated people of the secret societies to participate in the revolution.13 Some others stressed that Sun was trying to solve the privilege problem caused by the private monopoly of land after the social development, so as to prevent the second revolution.14 As for the ideological origin of the Principle of People’s Livelihood, some scholars said that “the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s agricultural socialism land program and the reformists’ thought of developing capitalism in the 1990s were its most important and most direct ideological origins; Henry George’s ‘socialism’ almost became the specific content and methods of the Principle of the People’s Livelihood. In the meantime, we should also notice the impact of Marxism on Sun Yat-​sen”.15 Some scholars argued that its origin

40  WANG Jie was mainly the Western theories on land nationalization. It was based on Henry George’s theory and also absorbed John Mill’s programs.16 Some other scholars held that ancient China’s idea of Great Harmony undoubtedly had a considerable impact on it. As for the evaluation of Sun Yat-​sen’s program for equalizing land rights, most scholars took Lenin’s comments in China’s Democracy and Populism as the guideline, but while interpreting its nature and role, some scholar thought that “it was a kind of subjective socialism, reflecting not only the Chinese society’s objective need for developing modern industry, but also Chinese people’s good wishes for not taking Western countries’ capitalist road while developing modern industry”.17 It represented the interests of the Chinese modern bourgeois democrats and the lower working masses, and was the most revolutionary and radical proposition of the time. Some scholars argued that “it is absolutely impossible to solve the land problem without changing the land ownership of the feudal society”.18 With regard to the New Principle of People’s Livelihood, some scholars thought that it “sharply attributed the issue of developing China’s economy to the political issue of overthrowing the imperialism and abolishing the unequal treaties. The previously vacillating radical proposition of ‘giving land to the tillers’ was fully fixed at this time and became a specific political program”. “In terms of its international significance, it is the last utopian socialism but is closest to Marxism”.19 2.1.3  Philosophical thought It has been a consensus of researchers that Sun Yat-​sen’s philosophical thought was multifarious, disorderly, and full of contradictions, and contained elements of dialectical materialism in varying degrees. There had been much debate about whether the main part of Sun’s thought was materialism or idealism. Some scholars held that Sun’s philosophical thought was “quite close to materialism. Although it had the elements of idealism, but they were secondary after all”.20 Its distinctive feature of materialism was reflected by “its methodology whose main connotation was the general conception of evolutionary development, its view of nature with materialist elements formed on the basis of modern natural science, its epistemology with materialist elements whose main source was the direct experience from the revolutionary practices, and its historical view centering on people’s livelihood, which was a social and historical view with dualism characteristic”.21 Some scholars argued that its materialist thought and dialectical factors did not hold the dominant position, which were reflected in the following aspects: its world view was dualistic, or we could say it vacillated between materialism and idealism, and “often preferred to give play to idealism”;22 in answering the origin of the world and solving the basic philosophical problems, “Sun Yat-​sen would affirm matter, but emphasize spirit more” and “did not get out of the idealist circle”; Sun’s epistemology was “quite contradictory” and “fluctuating between materialism and idealism”.23 As for Sun Yat-​sen’s view of society and history, most

Sun Yat-sen studies  41 researchers agreed with Mao Zedong’s assertion that “the world view of the Three People’s Principles is the so-​called historical view centering on people’s livelihood. In essence, it is dualism or idealism”,24 but researchers’ opinions varied on the interpretation of its roles. Some researchers held that the principle of “human beings’ seeking to live on was an air castle without material base, which was divorced from the concrete and positive social form”.25 Some other researchers argued that “Sun’s viewpoint contained some materialist elements, and had its own validity, which had played a positive role under the historical conditions of that time”.26 The characteristics of Sun Yat-​sen research during this period can be roughly summarized as follows:  first, the research methodology guided by Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought was established; second, on the whole, most studies were qualitative, and there lacked quantitative analysis and comparative study, presenting the characteristic of sketching rough outlines; third, Sun’s ideology was studied more than his life story, which may be caused by the dominance of the “qualitative” study and the lack of exploration into the primary data.

2.2  Reflection and recovery Normal academic research had been interrupted during the period 1966 to 1976, so it hardly needs recounting here. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee, Sun Yat-​sen research developed from the period of reflection to the period of recovery. In general, this period was from 1976 to 1984. Triggered by the “Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the 1911 Revolution” held in Guangzhou in the winter of 1979 and promoted by the “Symposium on Commemorating the Seventieth Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” and the “Young Researchers’ Symposium on Commemorating the Seventieth Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in 1981, Sun Yat-​sen research became more and more lively, and a batch of works had been published in succession. This advance could be revealed by works like Wei Sunyun’s A Chronicle of Sun Yat-​sen, edited by the Historical Research Office of Guangdong Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences et al., Shang Mingxuan’s Biography of Sun Yat-​sen, Zhang Lei’s Research on Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought, Li Shiyue and Zhao Yiyuan’s Sun Yat-​sen and Chinese Democratic Revolution, Xiao Wanyuan’s Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought, Wei Jieting’s Study of Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought, Wang Zhiguang’s Sun Yat-​sen’s Anti-​Imperialist Thought, History of the 1911 Revolution edited by Zhang Kaiyuan and Lin Zengping, History of the Republic of China (Vol. 1) edited by Li Xin and Jin Chongji, Hu Shengwu’s Revolution of the 1911 (Book 1), and Hu Sheng’s From the Opium War to the May 4th Movement. There had also been a noticeable rise in the publication of related papers, which were more extensive and thorough in terms of the research field. The publication of Complete Works of Sun Yat-​sen (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981–​1986) had caused widespread

42  WANG Jie concern at home and abroad; a variety of related archives and collections of historical materials had been published. In addition, various national and local research institutes on Sun Yat-​sen research had been established. The major academic debates during this period could be summarized as follows: 2.2.1  On the Three People’s Principles (1)  The Principle of Nationalism Researchers emphasized that “nationalism was formed by renovating the traditional consciousness of the Chinese Nation (Hua Xia Min Zu) with the bourgeois ideology of Western Europe, the United States and Japan”. The nationalism of the new Three People’s Principles was formed by “absorbing Lenin’s ethnic theory and the national program of the Chinese Communist Party at that time”. As for the “anti-​Manchu” slogan which had been debated heatedly, some scholars pointed out that “anti-​Manchu … in fact had become a triple fighting slogan which was anti-​imperialism, anti-​feudalism and anti-​ monarchism”.27 And some other scholars proposed that “Sun Yat-​ sen’s attitude towards the ‘Republic of Five Nationalities’ was as follows:  in the beginning he doubted it, later he echoed it and finally he criticized it”, and his real stance was “to carry out the ethnic assimilation … marked with Han chauvinism obviously”.28 (2)  The Principle of Democracy Researchers attached more importance on Sun’s thought of the Democratic Republic and pointed out that it “not only reflected the historical characteristics of that era, but also made a great impact on it”. They thought it was “unfair” to consider The Constitution of Five Powers as a “negative factor”. As a matter of fact, the period of “political tutelage” of the three periods in founding the Republic of China had built a “bridge” between the revolutionary dictatorship and democratic constitutionalism.29 (3)  The Principle of People’s Livelihood Researchers held that Sun’s thought on economic construction had “the nature of independence, self-​reliance and national emancipation”,30 consisting of four principles –​“giving full scope to the talent, making full use of land, making the best use of resources and ensuring the smooth flow of goods”, two main purposes –​“equalizing land rights and controlling the capital”, and the twofold revolution –​“carrying out industrial revolution and political revolution (or social revolution) simultaneously”. Sun’s concrete measures were to “make national plan for building up the traffic first,… make use of foreign investment on the premise that our sovereignty could be ensured”,31 Sun’s thought on economic construction could be divided into two phases: before

Sun Yat-sen studies  43 1919, he was a utopian, subjective and emotional socialist; after the reorganization of the KMT, he became a “democratic socialist”.32 2.2.2  On Sun Yat-​sen’s philosophical thought The research focus of Sun’s philosophical thought has expanded from the analysis of its attributes to its specific content. As for the relationship between matter and spirit, some scholars held that Sun Yat-​sen thought they were “not ‘absolutely separated’, but formed a unity of opposites”.33 Some other scholars emphasized that Sun Yat-​sen’s world view was “the dualism laying equal stress on both matter and spirit”, and “was bound to fall into idealism”.34 As for Sun’s view of knowing and doing, some scholars thought that Sun Yat-​sen “proposed the epistemology and view of knowing and doing with dialectic factors to guide his behavior, which held that ‘fact comes before speech’ and we should ‘seek knowledge by doing and promote our doing with knowing’ ”, which was “a breakthrough for the conception of society and history in the traditional Chinese philosophy”.35 Some scholars pointed out that “Sun Yat-​sen always regarded ‘doing’ and ‘facts’ as the basis for the coming of thoughts, … which belonged to the reflectionism of the materialism”. Even Sun’s theory of “innate wisdom … conformed to practical scientific principles”, and “could not be rashly judged as idealism”.36 Some other scholars argued that Sun Yat-​sen’s epistemology and view of knowing and doing had the “serious flaw of being metaphysical”.37 2.2.3  Monographic studies (1)  Sun Yat-​sen’s relationship with the Wuchang Uprising Some researchers said that Sun Yat-​sen and other revolutionaries lacked proper ideological preparation for the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising and the coming of the revolutionary climax in a hurry.38 Some scholars analyzed Sun Yat-​sen’s leading and directing role in the Wuchang Uprising from several aspects like “the Wuchang Uprising regarded Sun as its revolutionary leader and called for and organized the masses in his name”, the uprising was led by Sun Yat-​sen “through the Chinese Revolutionary League”39 and the directing role of Sun’s thought, the program and strategies of the Chinese Revolutionary League in the Wuchang Uprising. (2)  Sun’s yielding to Yuan Shikai Some researchers thought that although Sun compromised with Yuan Shikai when he headed the provisional government, he had always adhered to the principle and position of overthrowing the monarchy and founding the Republic. “In terms of its essence and mainstream, it is not a history of compromise, but a history of revolutionary struggle”;40 some other scholars

44  WANG Jie said that “Sun’s yielding marked the final ending of the climax of the bourgeois democratic revolution”.41 As for the reasons for Sun Yat-​sen’s yielding, some researchers analyzed the objective conditions: “what plays the decisive role was the contrast between the forces. The revolutionary power was too weak whereas the counter-​revolution power was too strong”;42 some scholars stressed the subjective factors, arguing that Sun held the wrong policy of “achieving the success of the revolution by peaceful means”;43 some scholars thought that it was because Sun was tired of power and wealth; some scholars held that “it was a kind of flexible application of the revolutionary strategies in dealing with Yuan Shikai under the pressure of circumstance”.44 On the evaluation of the pros and cons of Sun’s yielding, some scholars said that “it caused great harm to the revolution”;45 some other scholars argued that “it was a mixture of right and wrong, success and failure”,46 and thus its merits equaled its demerits. (3)  “The Second Revolution”, Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Constitution Protection Movement Some scholars pointed out that “Sun was the first Party member to become politically awakened and advocate overthrowing Yuan Shikai by force” after the assassination of Song Jiaoren, and he was “the instigator and spiritual leader of the ‘Second Revolution’ ”.47 Sun’s anti-​Yuan choice was “a just war to defend the achievements of the 1911 Revolution and resist the Northern Warlord’s anti-​revolutionary violence”.48 Regarding the Chinese Revolutionary Party, researchers not only pointed out its flaws, but also affirmed that “it was more progressive than the KMT in term of its program and armed struggle, etc.” and “was a national revolutionary party representing the interests of the national bourgeois”.49 Some researchers held that the Chinese Revolutionary Party was “the banner of the anti-​Yuan movement when the revolution was at a low tide”, but “played a minor role in the climax of the anti-​Yuan movement”. Its shortcomings include: “in terms of the program, it lacked appealing power; in terms of the party affairs, it failed to unite the allies; in terms of military affairs, it did not rely on and mobilize the masses”. So, it was an “exclusive” revolutionary party “having the nature of the secret societies”.50 As for the role of the Chinese Revolutionary Party, some research said that “Sun Yat-​ sen was the standard-​bearer and spiritual leader of the National Protection Movement; the Chinese Revolutionary Party led by him was one of the most important political forces in the National Protection Movement”. But because its military power was limited, “it could not get hold of the leadership of the movement”.51 Some scholars said “it could only play the minor role”, whereas the members of the Progressive Party led by Liang Qichao “took the leading position in the anti-​Yuan movement”.52 Some other scholars thought that the Chinese Revolutionary Army and the National Protection Army were like “two carriages” of the great cause of anti-​Yuan movement

Sun Yat-sen studies  45 which “fought their own battle separately”53and went forward together. As for the Constitution Protection Movement, first, researchers affirmed the significance of Sun’s carrying the banner of constitution protection, maintaining the highest principle of “people’s sovereignty”, and opposing warlordism and warlord melee; second, researchers had in-​depth discussions on the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and other historical figures like Chen Jiongming, Tang Jiyao, Lu Rongting, Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin. (4)  The First National Congress of the KMT and the first the KMT-​CCP Cooperation Researchers praised Sun’s great feats of reorganizing the KMT, carrying out the KMT-​CCP Cooperation and reinterpreting the Three People’s Principles. They pointed out that the convening of the First National Congress of the KMT and the first KMT-​CCP Cooperation “conformed to the international trend and met the needs of the masses, which was a very important and wise strategic decision to get rid of the predicament, move forward and open up new dimension in revolution”; “An unprecedented great wave in the history of Chinese revolution had risen from then on”; “the KMT-​CCP Co-​operation was an effective form for our nation to unite and rise up with ardor”.54 The characteristics of research in this period were as follows:  first, compared with the previous studies, the evaluation of Sun’s historical status and role became more concrete and thorough; second, Sun’s thought was discussed in a broader context and from more perspectives; third, monographic studies became broader and deeper; fourth, a group of young and middle-​aged scholars came to the fore under the guidance and support of the predecessors. However, Sun’s different life stages have not been studied evenly, the existing studies were not deep enough, and the research teams were still in a spontaneous state. It is gratifying that these deficiencies have been noticed by insightful scholars, who have pointed out directions for future studies.

2.3  Moving toward prosperity The period from 1985 to 1990 can be called the prosperous period of Sun Yat-​ sen research in which scholars contended with each other in a relaxed atmosphere, climaxes were reached one after another and tremendous achievements were made. In “Retrospect and Prospect  –​The International Symposium on Reviewing Sun Yat-​sen Research” held in Zhuo Xian County of Hebei Province in 1985, Chinese and foreign scholars analyzed the current research situation jointly and put forward constructive suggestions for further in-​depth study, which can be considered as a milestone in the history of Sun Yat-​sen research. “The International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and His Era” held in 1986 covered a wide range of topics and most of the papers were monographic studies adopting methods like systematic analysis and comparative

46  WANG Jie study, which had broken through or deepened the research on some theoretical issues. “The International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia” held in 1990 created a platform for scholars at both sides of the Taiwan Straits to communicate face-​to-​face in the Chinese mainland, where scholars sought common ground while reserving differences and followed no set pattern in a spirit of mutual respect, which was of extraordinary significance. The main questions under debate during this period were as follows: 2.3.1  Sun Yat-​sen’s family background Concerning Sun’s ancestral home, there existed two opinions, to wit, Zi Jin and Dong Guan, before the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Based on a large number of reliable cultural relics and historical data, some researchers proved that Luo Xianglin’s opinion that “Sun’s ancestral home was at Zi Jin of Guangdong Province” did not hold water, and affirmed that the Sun clan in Cuiheng originated from Dongguan.55 However, there were scholars reasserting that “Sun Yat-​sen is a Hakka, and his ancestral home was in Zijin”. Judging by the facts, it should be said that the saying of “Dongguan” is more credible. 2.3.2  Three major policies On the proposition of the three major policies and the formation of their conceptions, there were several statements: “first, it was stirred by the inevitable trend of the formation of democratic united front of the oppressed classes”; “second, it was driven by the trend of the new era”;56 Sun had confirmed “the three issues of allying with Russia, co-​operating with the CPC and giving assistance to the peasants and workers when he drew up the declaration of ‘the First National Congress’ ”, but he “did not put them together, sum them up as ‘three major policies’ and put them out”. “This summarization was done by the Communists”,57 “but its formation was also influenced by the elements of the KMT’s discussions”.58 2.3.3  The Principle of People’s Livelihood (Socialism) Most researchers thought that the Principle of People’s Livelihood was a kind of subjective socialism, the formation of which was mainly influenced by Henry George and shared common characteristics with his doctrines: “first, on the whole, it did not affect the system of ownership of the means of production; second, it gave play to the state regulation to promote the rapid development of capitalism; third, it reformed the income distribution to avoid the expansion of the gap between rich and poor”.59 The dissidents argued that the Principle of People’s Livelihood, with “equalizing land rights” as its core, “was an eclectic, moderate reformist program, which was a kind of retrogression compared with Henry George’s thought”.60

Sun Yat-sen studies  47 2.3.4  Sun’s relationship with modern Chinese warlords This was a difficult point of the Sun Yat-​sen research. Some researchers pointed out that Sun’s understanding of the warlords went through a process from having no clear understanding of a certain warlord to gradually having a clear understanding of him and then to having a clear understanding of the entire warlord group. There were both illusions and strategies in Sun’s cooperation with the warlords. In the later period, Sun’s illusions about the warlords became fewer while his application of strategies began to seize such a dominant position that he advocated bringing down the warlords and the imperialists behind them, which reflected his complete awakening.61 Some researchers made a case study of the Southwest Warlords and pointed out that Sun did not shed his illusions about the Southwest Warlords and turn to seek new roads and forces until he had experienced many reversals and setbacks.62 2.3.5  Sun’s view of Asia and the world Sun’s view of Asia could be summarized as follows: first, the revival of Asia was an inevitable trend; second, it was Asian people’s responsibility to revitalize Asia; third, to solve China’s problems was the first step to revitalize Asia; fourth, special attention should be paid to “Sino-​Japanese cooperation” and “Sino-​Japanese alliance”.63 Sun’s view of the world was mainly composed of three levels: in ideology, it was oriented by the advanced theories and practical experiences of the developed countries; in strategy, it focused on striving for the big powers’ non-​interference in and even their support for Chinese revolution; in action, it laid stress on seeking the big powers’ material aid. This orientation centering on the big powers could bring the greatest convenience for Chinese revolution and contribute to the independence and liberation of all nations in the world. Therefore, Sun had always adhered to two principles, i.e., making use of the big powers to break the big powers and giving support to the anti-​imperialist struggle of the oppressed nations.64 As for the “Great Asianism”, some scholars praised it as “the general program of Sun’s doctrine on the oriental and western culture and the issue of Asia”, and held that “in essence, it was about the contradictions, conflicts and struggles between the Asian national liberation movements and the imperialists’ international colonial system”;65the dissidents argued that “this was a controversial legacy with both positive and negative meaning”,66 and was the core of Sun’s thought on the revitalization of Asia. Its essence was different from the Japanese nationalists’ point of view, but it was not a strict and complete anti-​ imperialist theoretical system. 2.3.6  Sun’s cultural thoughts There were wide divergences on this topic. On the characteristics of the constitution of Sun’s cultural thoughts, some scholars cited Sun Yat-​sen’s

48  WANG Jie self-​statement and summarized it as “following conventions and traditions”, “naturalization” and “innovation”. They pointed out that Sun’s comparison of Chinese and Western culture did not completely break away from the stereotype of “Chinese learning for the essential principles and Western learning for the practical applications”.67 Some researchers emphasized that Sun’s attitude toward traditional culture experienced a tortuous course from “running away from it” to “coming back to it”.68 This “coming back” was a process from one negation to another negation, which was a dialectical sublimation. His absorption and utilization of traditional Chinese thought and culture could be summarized as follows:  first, inheriting and carrying forward the people-​centered thought and the thought of valuing people in Confucianism; second, absorbing the “thought of Great Harmony” in Confucianism; third, inheriting, transforming and utilizing some fundamental ethical conceptions established by Confucianism.69 The dissidents pointed out that Sun had never been “the descendant of Confucius and Mencius” and his choice of some aspects of the traditional culture was of great practical nature, which could be considered as using “Chinese learning for the essential principles and Western learning for the practical applications”.70 Sun’s opinions on China’s inherent morality and old political philosophy expressed in his later years, “were extremely emotional, some of which were even improvised appeals and elaborations”.71 2.3.7  Sun’s thought on opening up and utilizing foreign investment Some scholars thought that Sun was “a master and pioneer in advocating opening up and utilizing foreign investment in the modern and contemporary history of China”.72 Sun put forward the conception of “opening up”, which “marked that the thought of opening up in modern China had reached a complete and mature stage”.73 Some scholars argued that “it was inappropriate for us to regard Sun Yat-​sen’s advocating opening up as a synonym for learning from the West and expanding its content to other aspects like politics, economy and ideology and culture, and even his view of ‘taking Russia as the teacher’ ”.74 The characteristics of the research during this stage were as follows: first, the research methods had been updated, including both systematic historical analysis and comparative research from multiple perspectives; second, the research field had been broadened, and some monographic studies had been deepened further; third, related works had been published on a large scale. During this stage, more than 900 papers and more than 50 monographs had been published; fourth, the academic atmosphere was relaxed and scholars could learn from each other by exchanging views. They could also objectively absorb and evaluate the works of scholars from Taiwan Province, which had raised the research to a higher level.

Sun Yat-sen studies  49

2.4  Deepening and expanding The period from 1991 to 1999 was the period during which Sun Yat-​sen research had been deepened and further expanded. Innovation is the most important thing to keep the vitality of the research. Since the 1990s, Sun Yat-​ sen research has been faced with the problem of how to further deepen and expand the research on the basis of previous studies. Scholars had reflected on this problem and opened a new path from the macro perspective to maintain its strong vitality and vigor. There were four hot issues during this stage. 2.4.1  Sun Yat-​sen and China’s modernization Integrating Sun Yat-​sen research with the research on China’s modernization has been a major feature of the research of this period. “The International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization” held in Guangdong in 1996 was a review of the studies on this topic. Some scholars pointed out that the Three People’s Principles were the most complete thought on modernization in China at that time, which reflected Sun’s idea of founding the nation-​ state “following” the European and American countries’ normal courses of modernization, and his idea of “surpassing” these countries by catching up with them in the social development while avoiding their drawbacks.75 Scholars emphasized that Sun’s thought on modernization was a complete system:  “breaking the twofold shackles of colonialism and feudalism was its premise; industrialization was the core of its program; democratic politics was the lever; science, education and culture should be the necessary conditions; the correct cultural orientation was the important key to the ideological orientation, spiritual motivation and intellectual support”. The basic goal of modernization “was to establish a New China of independence, unity, democracy and prosperity”.76 All the revolutionary activities and struggles of Sun Yat-​sen revolved around the two aims of the national emancipation and modernization. “His thought on modernization was the most advanced one among those of his contemporaries, and no or few people could surpass him”.77 With regard to Sun’s thought on political modernization, some scholars said that “Sun Yat-​sen was not only a great pioneer of the great democratic revolution who had been the first to put forward and always adhered to the implementation of the democratic constitutional system in China, but also a great forerunner in the spread of modern socialist thought in China”. He “was the first to propose the thought that the state power ‘should be shared by the common people’ and ‘led’ by the party formed by the union of the KMTand the CPC in the history of Chinese political thought”.78 Some scholars held that Sun’s thought represented the peak of modern political thought and declared the end of the dominance of the Confucianist political thought, which was a new construction of modern China’s system culture.79

50  WANG Jie As for Sun’s thought on the economic modernization, scholars thought that national capitalism and private capitalism constituted the economic model of Sun’s modernization program. To “rely on state power” and “let the government assume overall responsibility” was its method, and opening up and utilizing foreign investment were its important ways.80 The Principle of People’s Livelihood was the theoretical premise and logical starting point of its strategies to develop the economy, whose characteristics were as follows: the graded regional development strategy with three big ports as the growth poles and the coastal areas as the center; the point-​axis development mode with the ports as the points, and the railways, waterways and roads as the axes; the development strategy of industrialization focusing on the traffic, transportation, raw materials and living materials industry.81 Scholars also discussed Sun Yat-​sen’s thoughts on society, agriculture, education, law, science, the military and other aspects from the perspective of modernization.82 Research on Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Road of Modernization written by Lin Jiayou in 1999 is a masterpiece in this field. Taking modernization as the main line and Sun Yat-​sen’s reflection on Western modernization and China’s modernization as the point of penetration, this book analyzed the various models for China’s modernization and the causes for their failure, and explored the ideological origin, theoretical framework, and concrete practices of Sun Yat-​sen’s thought on modernization. It highlighted the superiority of Sun’s thought on modernization by comparing Sun’s “modernization” with those of the advocates of the Westernization Movement, the Reformers and the advocates of the New Deal of the late Qing Dynasty. 2.4.2  Sun Yat-​sen and Chinese and Western culture Research on this topic has been extended on the basis of the studies in the 1980s. Regarding the evolution of Sun’s thought, some scholars said that Sun’s attitudes toward Chinese and Western culture changed greatly with time. Before and after the 1911 Revolution, he advocated absorbing modern Western culture to transform the feudal culture thoroughly; after the “May 4th Movement”, he promoted the restoration of tradition. Some scholars said that the gist of his thought on culture was to integrate Chinese and Western culture, absorb the merits of different cultures and make cultural innovation. He was neither the advocate of complete Westernization who discarded the traditions totally, nor the cultural conservative who stuck to the traditions tenaciously. It is biased to say that Sun had the tendency to “return” to the traditional culture in his later years.83 As for Sun Yat-​sen and Western culture, some scholars thought that in the transformation of modern culture, Sun still remained at the level of advocating the adoption of Western modern science and technology and political and economic systems, but he seldom advocated absorbing the modern ideological theories based on the principle of individuality, which was at the

Sun Yat-sen studies  51 deeper level of the spiritual culture.84 As for Sun Yat-​sen and the traditional Chinese culture, some scholars said that Sun’s long-​term residence overseas determined that the tradition of Chinese culture in his mind had been “filtered” by the Western culture; although much of his thought was compatible with the traditional culture, but the phenomenon of Westernization was still inevitable. Throughout his whole life, he had the consistent belief in the traditional culture, but also had made some appropriate adaptations at times. It was this attitude that distinguished him from the anti-​traditionalists and cultural conservatives.85 2.4.3  Sun Yat-​sen and Japan Great progress has been made in this area. Research on the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Japan and Sun Yat-​sen and Japan chronologically explored the complex relationship between Sun and Japanese personages of all circles during various important periods. The authors of these two books held that “Sun Yat-​sen and the Chinese revolutionaries expected Japan’s aid to achieve their revolutionary goal, while the Japanese side, especially the Military Ministry and the ronin, were undoubtedly in a futile attempt to achieve their expansion in China by taking advantage of their dependents”.86 “The fundamental purposes of both sides had been antagonistic all the time. However, sometimes they had common interests on some issues, to wit, their means and methods for realizing their own purposes were sometimes identical under special historical conditions”.87 It reflected that Sun Yat-​sen was idealistic in politics, but in practice he was often pragmatic and opportunistic. The Chronicles of the Historical Events of Sun Yat-​sen and Japan was a highly informative book, which unveiled all kinds of conspiracies of the Japanese imperialists to take advantage of, manipulate, and suppress the Chinese revolutionary forces, and also revealed Sun Yat-​sen’s expectations and illusions about the Japanese authorities and the gradually improving process of his understanding.88 Another focus was the discussion on the authenticity of The Sino-​Japanese Treaty. Some researchers took a negative attitude toward “The Sino-​Japanese Treaty” and argued that it had the following flaws: its source was unknown; Sun Wen’s seal on it was a forged one; Sun Wen’s signature on it was an imitated one; February 5 was not the date of signing. It was only “a conspiracy organized by the Military Ministry of Japan to invade China, whose purpose was to use it as an argument for Japan’s plunder of China, and thus covered its ambition of invading China in the ‘Twenty-​One Demands’ ”. Sun Yat-​sen opposed the “Twenty-​One Demands” resolutely, and “he would neither mortgage China’s sovereignty for Japan’s aid to Chinese revolution, nor accept the so-​called ‘Sino-​Japanese Treaty’ which was equal to the Twenty-​ One Demands”.89 Some scholars held a neutral position on this issue and doubted both the view confirming the authenticity of “The Sino-​Japanese Treaty” and the view negating its authenticity.90

52  WANG Jie 2.4.4  Sun Yat-​sen and Soviet Russia Sun Yat-​sen’s relationship with Soviet Russia was also one of the focuses of research during this stage. Some scholars discussed the relationship among Sun Yat-​sen, Zhang Zuolin, and Soviet Russia. In order to achieve the purpose of cooperating with Soviet Russia, Sun Yat-​sen tried very hard to mediate the relationship between Zhang Zuolin and Soviet Russia, which “reflected that on the one hand, Sun Yat-​sen was determined to inaugurate a new phase of Chinese revolution with the help of Soviet Russia. On the other hand, his attempt to incorporate old ways and strategies of struggle into the new plan revealed the complexity of his thought on the revolutionary struggles in his later years”.91 Some scholars thought that in the early 1920s, Soviet Russia took its national interests as the starting point and ultimately decided to cooperate with Sun Yat-​sen. Soviet Russia’s China policy had a dual nature, aiming at not only promoting the Chinese revolution, but also establishing diplomatic relations with China to safeguard its interests in China. Soviet Russia initially chose Wu Peifu, who held the real power of the Beijing Government, as its cooperator. Soon afterwards, it strongly urged Wu Peifu and Sun Yat-​sen to establish a pro-​Russia government jointly, but finally they turned to Sun Yat-​ sen, whose strength and status had been rising constantly.92 Adolf Abramovich Joffe had played an important role in the secret negotiations prompting Sun Yat-​sen and Wu Peifu’s cooperation, and some scholars had made investigations into this issue based on the newly discovered and newly published historical data, holding that the failure of Joffe’s secret promotion of “Sun-​Wu cooperation” frustrated Soviet Russia’s wish to achieve the two goals of its China policy at the same time. Since then, Soviet Russia had to continue to deal with the two Chinese regimes in the North and the South respectively. However, the establishment of the cooperative relationship with Sun Yat-​sen made Soviet Russia gain great initiative in its diplomatic activities in China. “This unsuccessful secret negotiation was of great importance for Sun Yat-​sen’s political struggle in his later years”.93 It is particularly worth mentioning that the first book series of the Sun Yat-​ sen Foundation were published in October of 1996, including Jin Chongji’s Sun Yat-​sen and the 1911 Revolution, Zhang Lei’s Sun Yat-​sen: A Tough and Great Pioneer, Huang Yan’s Sun Yat-​sen Research and the Compilation of Historical Data, Jiang Yihua’s When the Great Tao Prevailed –​Study of Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought, Duan Yunzhang’s The Chronicles of the Historical Events of Sun Yat-​sen and Japan, Li Jikui’s Sun Yat-​sen and Japan, Lin Jiayou’s Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Revitalizing China, Qiu Jie’s The Revolutionary Movement Led by Sun Yat-​sen and Guangdong in the Late Qing Dynasty, Liu Manrong’s Sun Yat-​sen and the National Revolution of China, and Li Zhiye et  al.’s Sun Yat-​sen and Guangdong  –​Selected Translations of the Archives of the Customs Held in the Archive Library of Guangdong Province. All these books could be labeled as excellent works, reflecting the academic level and

Sun Yat-sen studies  53 new advancement of that time. Other works like Mo Shixiang’s History of the Constitution Protection Movement, Duan Yunzhang’s Sun Yat-​sen with the Whole World in View, Huang Mingtong and Lu Changjian’s Study of Sun Yat-​ sen’s Economic Thought, Zhou Xingliang’s Sun Yat-​sen’s Great Thought and Revolutionary Practice also had proposed many innovative views. In the 1990s, Sun Yat-​sen research had achieved results of high quality in three aspects: the first was the continuous expansion of research perspectives, involving many aspects like ideological trends and mentality research; the second was the breakthroughs in many difficult points, for example, several masterpieces on Sun Yat-​sen and Japan had been published, and the research on the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Soviet Russia had been deepened further; the third was the steady growth in the number of the research teams and works. However, there also existed some shortcomings: first, except for modernization, there were few highly controversial and original ideas, and few breakthroughs were made in major theoretical issues; second, some works were of low quality, filled with flattering words, plagiarism, and repetitions; third, the average age of the research team was supposed to become younger.

2.5  New progress Since the beginning of the 21st century, Sun Yat-​sen research has become more and more rational, continued to expand and achieved fruitful results on the basis of previous studies, and has still been one of the hot issues of modern and contemporary Chinese history. In 2008, the Sun Yat-​sen Foundation published its journal Sun Yat-​sen Research, providing a specialized forum for Sun Yat-​sen research. As the 90th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution was coming in 2001, Zhongshan University published the books series entitled Sun Yat-​sen and Modern China consisting of eight works:  Research on Sun Yat-​sen and the History of the 1911 Revolution –​Collected Papers to Celebrate Mr. Chen Xiqi’s 90th Birthday; Ideal, Morality and the Great Harmony  –​Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the World Peace; Sun Yat-​sen’s Examination of the Domestic Situation; Sun Yat-​sen’s Life and Career; Sun Yat-​sen’s Activities and Thoughts; Sun Yat-​sen and the Reunification of Our Motherland –​Proceedings of the International Symposium on Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution; Sun Yat-​sen and Modern China’s Democratic Revolution, and Sun Yat-​sen and the Awakening of Modern China. Annals of Guangdong Province: Sun Yat-​sen was published in 2004, which was the first annals on historical figures. It was divided into seven chapters: life story, thoughts, writings, family background and relatives, related figures, monument places, and research on Sun Yat-​sen. There were also appendices giving a brief introduction to related scholars and others. This book had more than 100 million words, giving both a static and dynamic display of Sun Yat-​ sen’s contributions and research, and it has been praised as a “small encyclopedia of Sun Yat-​sen research”.

54  WANG Jie Great progress has been made in the monographic studies and new works on the topics which had seldom been studied by previous scholars have been published, such as Sun Yat-​sen’s Revolution and the United States, Collection of Sun Yat-​sen’s Inscriptions, Sun Yat-​sen and Hong Kong, Study of Sun Yat-​ sen’s Political Psychology, Combination and Replacement:  Changes of the Three People’s Principles after Sun Yat-​sen, A New Examination of Sun Yat-​ sen and the History of the 1911 Revolution and Sun Yat-​sen and the Opening of Modern China. The themes of the symposiums held in these years include “Sun Yat-​ sen and the Social Changes of China in the 20th Century”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the World Peace”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the Peaceful Reunification of Our Motherland”, “The 1911 Revolution and China in the 20th Century”, “The 1911 Revolution and the Development of Contemporary Chinese Society”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the Social Changes in Modern China”, “Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the Rise of the Chinese Nation”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the World”, “Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought and the Economic Development of the Pan-​Pearl River Delta Region”, “Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Chinese Revolutionary League and the 80th Anniversary of Mr. Sun Yat-​sen’s Death”, “Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Revitalization”, “Sun Yat-​sen and the Harmonious Society”, “Sun Yat-​sen and Chinese Society” and so on. The hot spots of research included the following 3 issues. 2.5.1  Sun Yat-​sen and the world Scholars have carried out studies on Sun Yat-​sen’s world view, the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Japan, Soviet Russia (including the Communist International), the United States, Korea and so on. Some scholars thought that Sun Yat-​sen’s world view was “to fathom the world for the sake of China”. Sun advocated the sharing of civilization and joint development and held that the relations between countries must be equal and reciprocal. It has been stressed that “the transformation from the cultural world view to the national world view was the manifestation of Sun Yat-​sen’s awakening”.94 Some scholars pointed out that Sun Yat-​sen took the world view as an important theoretical pillar of the Republican Revolution and “the construction of New China”:  he advocated “absorbing the world culture”, “drawing widely upon other countries to make innovations”; he proposed that China should “make achievements in the field of world economy” and revitalize its industry, and insisted on taking “Europe and the United States as a model” to seek “balanced development” of the society, which reflected his view of cultural integration with the world vision and the consciousness of the times.95 Some scholars focused on the formation, development, connotation, and ideological basis of Sun Yat-​sen’s view on the trend of the world.96

Sun Yat-sen studies  55 As for Sun Yat-​sen’s idea of the Great Harmony, researchers thought that Sun Yat-​sen’s understanding of “the world” had experienced a process from the neighbor countries to the far-​off countries, from the small world to the large world, from the superficial understanding to the deep one, and his revolutionary ideal was also far different from the ancient doctrine of the Great Harmony because of his different view of the world. All kinds of frustrations and the dark realities after the 1911 Revolution made Sun Yat-​sen reflect on his thought of the Great Harmony seriously, and thus made a clearer discussion of it in his later years. “Only by taking the Chinese people as the basis of the Asian cosmopolitan first, could we then expand to achieve the cosmopolitanism of the entire human race, that is, the world of real Great Harmony –​ this was Sun Yat-​sen’s ideal world”.97 In order to verify the authenticity of the “Sino-​Japanese Treaty”, on December 26, 2000, 14 Guangdong scholars held a seminar at Zhongshan University, and they generally believed that the “Sino-​Japanese Treaty” was authentic.98 Some scholars pointed out that we should not exclude the possibility of the existence of the “Sino-​Japanese Treaty”. However, because the situation was quite complicated and some contradictory phenomena had not been explained reasonably, it should be kept as “a doubt remained to be verified” for the time being. Assuming that these documents did exist, they could be regarded as the revolutionary strategy adopted by Sun Yat-​sen, who started from the principle of placing the interests of the revolution above everything else in order to achieve the established revolutionary goals; this strategy made a compromise with Japan at the expense of our country’s important interests, which was closely related to the difficult revolutionary environment, Sun’s emphasis on using external forces, and his concept of sovereignty as well. In his late years, Sun Yat-​sen founded Whampoa Military Academy, which has been universally recognized as having been influenced by Soviet Russia. Scholars thought that Soviet Russia’s influence on Sun Yat-​sen was mainly manifested in the following aspects: in theory, Sun founded the army on the basis of doctrines and established the system for political work; he insisted that the army should be governed by the Party and established the system of party representatives, and emphasized the combination of military force and the masses. In practice, he founded the Whampoa Military Academy to cultivate the core team and set up the Party Army, transformed the old armies by the model of the Party Army and made them an integral part of the revolutionary army.99 Between 1879 and 1911, Sun Yat-​sen had visited the United States seven times, leaving many revolutionary historical sites. Some scholars made systematic analyses of issues like the impact of American political and economic thinkers and political systems on Sun Yat-​sen’s early thoughts, and the relationship between the Three People’s Principles and Lincolnism.100 Some scholars analyzed the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and the Wo Hing Society (Zhi Gong Tang) during the period of the Society to Restore China’s Prosperity.101

56  WANG Jie There has been a rise in the research on the relationship between Sun Yat-​ sen and Korea in recent years. Some scholars studied Sun Yat-​sen’s consistent support for Korea.102 Other scholars have studied the interactive relationship of mutual support between the Chinese revolution led by Sun Yat-​sen and the independence movement of Korea from the perspective of the Zhen Tan Weekly (a Chinese weekly published by the leader of the Korean Independent Movement in Shanghai in the 1920s).103 Some scholars compared Sun Yat-​sen and Kim Ok-​gyun’s relationship with Japan and analyzed the similarities and differences between their views on Japan.104 2.5.2  The relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and his contemporaries The study of the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and his contemporaries has been one of the most-​studied topics. Most studies analyzed the interactions between Sun and his contemporaries, but some studies adopted the wholistic perspective. Concerning the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and the intellectuals, some scholars pointed out that due to the impact of his social and historical background, Sun Yat-​sen never had any illusions about the old-​style scholar-​ officials of the intellectuals, but he had placed great hopes on the new-​style intellectuals, especially young students, considered them as the motive power for revolution, and always hoped that they could undertake the important mission of saving the country.105 As for the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and the New Culture School after the May 4th Movement, some scholars held that cosmopolitanism had gradually become a popular trend among the new youths worshiping the West since it had replaced the thought of Great Harmony dominated by the Tian Xia (under the heavens) ideal of a Sinocentric cosmos at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and formed the concept of “international nationalism” or “cosmopolitan country” through integrating with the rising patriotic sentiments under the oppression of foreign forces, which was different from the nationalism transformed by Sun Yat-​sen, but still had the basis for communication. More and more members of the New Culture School took the position of nation-​state again along with the national crisis becoming more and more serious.106 With regard to the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and modern women, some scholars pointed out that Sun Yat-​sen had spoken highly of the role played by women in the 1911 Revolution and undertook a long-​term struggle for the advancement of women’s status. He expressed his admiration for women’s request for participating in political affairs, but thought that it could not be implemented immediately. He stressed that we must attach importance to women’s education and strive to improve women’s cultural competence to set the stage for the equality of men’s and women and women’s participation in political affairs. In the theoretical framework of the New Three People’s Principles, Sun Yat-​sen’s view on women had been refined further.107

Sun Yat-sen studies  57 Research on the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Chen Jiongming has led to remarkable achievements in recent years. Centering on Sun and Chen and their related historical events, Chronicles of Sun Wen and Chen Jiongming demonstrated their interactive relationship in chronological order.108 Some scholars explored the observations and comments of the Communist International and Soviet Russia on the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Chen Jiongming, focusing on issues like the faiths of Sun and Chen and their differences, how to unify China and what kind of forces they relied on and whom they represented, and argued that the “observations and comments” of the Communist International and Soviet Russia were inconsistent and had internal disagreements, which had not become consistent until Chen Jiongming led a military mutiny against Sun Yat-​sen.109 The relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Liu Chengyu has come into researchers’ view in recent years. Scholars held that they began to contact each other in 1900. In 1902, Liu went to Japan for study under the support of the Hubei government and devoted himself to the anti-​Qing activities led by Sun Yat-​sen. In 1904, Liu went to the United States for study and took charge of the Datong Daily in San Francisco. Liu propagandized the revolution and Sun’s doctrines vigorously and introduced Sun Yat-​sen to the Hubei students in Europe. From 1912 (the first year of the Republic of China) to 1916 when Yuan Shikai died, the relationship between Sun and Liu developed from alienation to opposition. With the rise of the Constitution Protection Army, the relationship between Sun and Liu was restored and they maintained their close relationship till the death of Sun Yat-​sen. Sun Yat-​sen wrote prefaces to Liu’s Record of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s War and Narrative Poems about Yuan Shikai’s Imperial Movement.110 Some scholars explored the historical archives of China and Japan to analyze the evolution of the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Liu Xuexun, which revealed that during the period when Liu was executing the plan to “kill Kang Youwei with the help of Japan” in Tokyo, he had a “secret closed-​door talk” with Sun “in the quiet of night”. Sun tried to raise revolutionary funds through Liu Xuexun, but Liu had sinister motives and a different plot. Sun had too many illusions about Liu and cherished their countryman friendship too much, but lacked sufficient understanding of Liu’s nature of serving the Qing government and seeking nothing but profits. Therefore, Sun had been frustrated repeatedly.111 Concerning the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Wang Chonghui, some scholars thought that Wang had engaged in revolutionary activity in his early years, driven and influenced by Sun Yat-​sen, and become an important follower of Sun Yat-​sen’s revolutionary cause; during the period of the 1911 Revolution, they had the closest connection in politics, and Wang became Sun Yat-​sen’s right-​hand man in diplomacy and other aspects; after Yuan Shikai usurped the state power, Wang devoted himself to the political affairs of the Northern Warlords government, but they still kept close contact with each other.112

58  WANG Jie 2.5.3  Sun Yat-​sen and the construction of a harmonious society The perspective of “Sun Yat-​sen and the construction of a harmonious society” has been a major highlight of Sun Yat-​sen research in recent years. Related opinions have been embodied in the symposium on “Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought and the Harmonious Society” held in Zhongshan City of Guangdong Province in November 2007. Most scholars studied Sun Yat-​sen’s theory of the harmonious society from the perspective of “harmony”, stressing that the reunification of our motherland had always been Sun Yat-​sen’s long-​cherished wish to which he had devoted himself entirely, and his meritorious deeds of creating the democratic area, integrating the fragmented China, catching up with the trend of the times and his spirit of striving for the reunification of the motherland has been admired by the world. Sun Yat-​sen has always been the undisputed common spiritual bond of the Chinese people at home and abroad. His thought and practice of unifying China has inspired and enlightened the current great cause of reunification. Sun Yat-​sen’s cultural ideology had the “harmonizing” value. Some scholars held that Sun Yat-​sen put forward many insightful arguments concerning China’s cultural issues, which expounded his propositions about the inherent culture of China, Western culture and the creation of a new culture:  the inherent culture of China should be neither denied nor worshiped blindly; Sun proposed that we could absorb the Western culture, but should not copy it completely; he spoke highly of new culture and advocated cultural innovation; Sun adopted a correct attitude toward Western culture, which not only could be reflected by his arguments, but also by his Three People’s Principles. Regarding Western culture, it is not only manifested in the theory of the Three People’s Principles. Researchers stressed that Sun Yat-​sen attached great importance to the internalization of the traditional cultural spirit, advocated the restoration of the essence and spirit of the inherent culture and the improvement of national self-​esteem and self-​confidence. Sun Yat-​sen’s basic position, attitude and method integrating Chinese and Western cultures in dealing with the relations between Chinese and Western cultures has been worthy of emulation. Sun Yat-​sen’s cultural view of reconciling Chinese and Western cultures and emulating the best reflected the historical characteristics of modern times, which was a reasonable cultural orientation. Some scholars analyzed Sun Yat-​sen’s “theory of harmonizing” about the economy of people’s livelihoods, pointing out “ harmonizing” was epitomized in aspects like laying equal stress on economic freedom and the economic plan, the co-​existence of private property and public property and the co-​ existence of the private enterprises and state-​owned enterprises, making use of both the market function and the government regulation, laying equal stress on production and distribution, giving consideration to both individual economy and the macroeconomy and the coordination of the national economy and the state economy, which demonstrated the instructiveness and

Sun Yat-sen studies  59 perspectiveness of Sun Yat-​sen’s economic thought. From the overall reconciliation of relevant economic goals, we could see Sun’s expectations about the economy on many levels like “perspectiveness, balance, order, harmony and sustainability”. Some scholars went further and stated that Sun advocated harmonizing all his life, and the armed struggles were against his will; some other scholars emphasized that Sun advocated both class struggle and class reconciliation. His ideological orientation of reconciling contradictions and buffering struggles revealed the connotation of a harmonious society. Some scholars held the pulse of the times and explored the inspiration of Sun Yat-​sen’s thought on the construction of socialist harmonious society from different perspectives, holding that the ideal of Great Harmony had been Sun Yat-​sen’s unwavering goal and the Three People’s Principles’ complex about the society of Great Harmony had depicted a good blueprint of it. Sun had always stressed that the national interests should be shared by the people. If so, people could enjoy real happiness only if the national interests and people’s welfare were protected. The Principle of People’s Livelihood was to build a society which would give equal opportunities for the rich and the poor and ensure that the rich could not suppress the poor. It was a society of Great Harmony of the people, by the people and for the people, that is, a highly harmonious society where “the world could be shared by all the people”. Taking the interpretation of Plan for National Reconstruction as the point of departure, some scholars pointed out that Sun Yat-​sen advocated “mutual aid” to achieve the “Great Harmony”, which revealed the general laws of human evolution and reflected human beings’ highest ideal. Sun endowed the “Mutual Aid Theory” with fresh ideas and extended its meaning with the concepts like “patriotism”, “ruling by virtue”, “fraternity”, “service” and “coordination”, which could be regarded as the theoretical basis for building the harmonious society at present. Some scholars pointed out that the shining point of Sun Yat-​sen’s democratic political thought was to open the democratic era in which “all citizens are the rulers of the country”. The civil rights society was the democratic society. Sun Yat-​sen took the “separation of the power of the government and the people” as the construction of the democratic political system, whose essence was to create an omnipotent government with the “five powers” separated to limit its power. Meanwhile, “morality” was introduced as the lubricant in order to give full play to the role of “power separation”, eliminate the contradiction between the people and the government, establish a real harmonious society on the basis of equality, and thus attain the social ideal of “a world owned by all the people”. Scholars used to put nationalism, democracy, and the people’s livelihood into three different categories of “nationality”, “citizen” and “society” respectively. Therefore, Sun Yat-​sen’s political design had always been analyzed from the perspective of politics, which was biased. In fact, Sun Yat-​sen had long conceived the idea of accomplishing “political and social revolution at one

60  WANG Jie stroke”. His goals for political design and social construction were unified organically and interrelated. Researchers investigated into Sun Yat-​sen’s political proposals concerning local autonomy, revolutionary procedure, the doctrine of balancing central and local powers, etc., which were all related to polity and procedures, examined the social construction in Sun’s political design and revealed the great foresight and realistic orientation of his thought. It has been pointed out that Sun Yat-​sen designed the political model aiming at the social construction, and committed to the social transformation, which had promoted people’s awakening and the development of the democratic politics. As for the evaluation of Sun Yat-​sen’s theory about social construction, scholars stressed that the social construction theory proposed by Sun Yat-​sen taking the approach of system dialectics as its core was ahead of the time and full of modern significance. In terms of its theoretical form, the core of Sun’s theory about social construction was the systemic dialectics. It took “establishment” as its value orientation, which was the methodological foundation for building a harmonious society; in terms of the connotation of its theoretical features, it was all-​inclusive and integrated the essence of Eastern and Western cultures, which was an important treasure-​house of ideas for building a harmonious society; in terms of its theoretical perspective of the times, it inherited traditions, broke new ground for the future and highlighted the modern civilization, which had a lasting charm and inspiration for the construction of a harmonious society and the promotion of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. There were also scholars who explored the formation of Sun Yat-​sen’s thought on the Three People’s Principles and his spirit of fraternity and public servant, and its practical significance for the construction of a harmonious society, involving many aspects like Sun’s view of fraternity, view of oath, public servant spirit, political system, party chief’s centralization of powers, the Constitution of Five Powers, civil rights, view of evolution, social construction, land property.113 Concerning Sun Yat-​sen and the construction of a harmonious society, some scholars wrote a monograph entitled Study of Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Social Construction, making a systematic exposition of the theoretical construction of Sun Yat-​sen’s thought on social construction, his cognition and transformation of the traditional society, social political consciousness and social changes, pursuit of the welfare society, transformation of the religious spirit and Confucianism, ideal of Great Harmony and blueprint for the new social order and so on. The author expounded that the civilization, progress and harmony of a society was a process of dynamic construction and continuous reformation, reconstruction and gradual improvement. Sun Yat-​sen’s thought on social construction had significant contemporary significance for the above-​mentioned aspects.114 Some scholars explored Sun Yat-​ sen’s Principle of People’s Livelihood for its cultural connotation of harmony and interpreted his advocacy of harmony in fours aspects  –​harmonizing

Sun Yat-sen studies  61 international relations and building China’s socialism with the aid of foreign investment; harmonizing interregional relations and narrowing the gap between the developed regions and underdeveloped regions by developing traffic; harmonizing the classes and promoting the communion between the rich and the poor to secure people’s livelihood; harmonizing the interpersonal relations and advocating mutual trust, mutual assistance, and fraternity  –​ which expanded Sun’s cultural and psychological orientation from different dimensions. The author emphasized that although Sun had written no monograph on “harmonious society”, his theories such as “the world belonging to all the people”, “equal distribution of wealth”, “fraternity” and “mutual aid” undoubtedly had universal significance and contained the ideological elements of pursuing a harmonious society.115 Sun Yat-​ sen research during this period presented the following features: first, following the transformation in the research paradigm of modern Chinese history, it has transited from macro-​research to micro-​research and the combination of these two approaches; second, it has gradually got rid of the political shackles and the interference of subjective factors, and become more academic, focusing on political history and intellectual history and extending into other aspects like economic history, cultural history, and social history; third, its perspectives of research have covered a wide range. Sun Yat-​ sen’s thought and achievements have still been the focal points, but there has appeared an upsurge of interest in the topics like Sun Yat-​sen and the world, Sun Yat-​sen’s thought and the harmonious society as well; fourth, scholars have tended to make analyses rather than draw subjective conclusions and thus made new progress in the study of some “non-​mainstream” topics which had seldom been studied previously, such as the study of the conservatives and Sun Yat-​sen’s opposite sides; fifth, research methods have become diversified, and researchers have made useful attempts at adopting the comparative approach, psychological approach and the approach of combing the “dynamic and static” methods; sixth, in terms of the collection of historical data, on the basis of the traditional literature, researchers have broadened their scope and made new discoveries and findings in archives, newspapers, cultural and historical materials, calligraphy, photos and so on. However, there still existed many shortcomings, which could be summarized as follows: first, researchers have been enthusiastic about new topics and following the “fashion”. Most studies advertising themselves as “new argumentations”, “new ideas” and “new discoveries” and the like actually did not contain much new content; second, the “comparative study” has been used excessively and indiscriminately. In order to follow the fashion and take a shortcut, some researchers compared Sun Yat-​sen with the figures who had no comparability with him, which was far-​fetched; third, there still existed repetitions without any new content and wasteful duplication of effort and researchers’ fickleness should be worthy of serious consideration. Finally, the academic contention has declined and there was a lack of due debates, so the strong vitality of research could not be sustained.

62  WANG Jie

2.6  Suggestions for improvement Sun Yat-​sen research over the past 60 years has made gratifying achievements compared with other areas of modern history. But there still exist underlying apprehensions and deficiencies that should be dealt with quickly. First, we need to broaden our perspectives on the basis of rational understanding. Only in this way can we find breakthrough points and propose new ideas. For example, if we introduce the concept of “national conditions” to Sun Yat-​sen research, we should broaden our thinking from aspects like the social environment, interests of different groups and social psychology of that time and place Sun Yat-​sen under the large-​scale and multi-​level society of that time, that is, to examine the original appearance of his thoughts and deeds by analyzing “psychology” at the micro level, “group” at the meso level, and “environment” at the macro level. Taking the relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and the warlords for another example, Sun Yat-​sen had conflict with both the “individual warlord” and the “warlord group” and had contacts with both the “Southern” and the “Northern” warlords. The situations of Sun Yat-​sen’s early and later years were different and his mentality under the favorable circumstances and the unfavorable circumstances was also different, which was a mixture of “illusion” and “strategy”. How to “straighten out” Sun’s relations with the modern warlords? If we can make in-​depth exploration from the perspective of the “environment”, “group” and “psychology”, what we get will not be superficial. Speaking of the study of social psychology, Professor Zhang Kaiyuan was very experienced and he stated that the leaders of the Hundred Days’ Reform, the 1911 Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party had always had the sense of historic urgency and the revolutionary acute disease coming along with it. If we want to further our study, we have to explore the historical roots of such social psychology. Leaders often made big promises to win the masses who also had high expectations for the fulfillment of these promises, which created a strong psychological pressure on the leaders, and thus they would easily adopt radical and impractical policies. The radical policies were prone to failure, the result of which would inevitably be the radical replacement of the leadership and ideology. However, the new leadership and ideology often gave more and bigger promises to the masses and made them have higher and more urgent expectations for the new regime, and this invisible psychological pressure would make new leaders be more inclined to adopt radical and unrealistic policies. This negative cycle was the social and psychological root of the repeatedly frustrated Chinese revolution and modernization.116 If we look at Sun’s thought and practice from this perspective, we may make less far-​fetched understanding of some difficult points and doubtful points. Second, we still need to try the mode combining static and dynamic research in combination with our national conditions. Among the previous

Sun Yat-sen studies  63 studies on Sun Yat-​sen, there was much static research (from historical data to the theory they adopted) but little dynamic research (from theory to reality), and research combining the static and dynamic modes was rare. Carrying forward Sun’s thought and spirit is by no means to muse over things of the past, instead, it is to pass down and carry forward the great causes for which the great men had fought in the 20th century. Therefore, the evolutionary trend of different political schools after Sun’s death, that is, the interpretation of Sun Yat-​sen’s Three People’s Principles by Hu Hanmin, Dai Jitao, Zhou Fohai, Shao Yuanchong, Gan Naiguang, Yang Youjiong, Cui Shuqin, Ye Qing and others and its influence should be the object of study combining the static and dynamic methods. In recent years, although some scholars have made some achievements in this field, there is still much room left for further study. Third, our vision should not be limited to the times Sun Yat-​sen lived in and the specific issues of China he tried to solve. This can be understood from two aspects. First of all, independence, democracy and prosperity that Sun had strived for all his life are still the major issues faced by most countries in the world calling for democracy and progress. They are of practical significance and should be the guidelines followed by even the developed countries. The topic of independence has always existed, and democracy and prosperity are two topics which could never be studied exhaustively. Therefore, Sun Yat-​sen research was of inter-​temporal and transnational nature in terms of time and space. In the second place, Sun Yat-​sen is not only a great son of Chinese people but also an international personage, and even could be labelled a giant of the world. He never confined his ideas and activities to China and Asia but integrated them with the world, and his footprints and friends could be found all over the world. He incorporated his activities into the struggles of all oppressed nations and progressive mankind. His thought on integrating China and the West is in conformity with the tide of the current world better than Confucianism. If Confucianism, which was born in the agrarian society, can still have dialogue with the culture of the current world, Sun Yat-​sen’s concept of civilization, which was formed by “following” the East and “naturalizing” the West innovatively and whose “world value” is higher than Confucianism, ought to join the international academic forum and have dialogue with the world culture with a clear stand. Fourth, we should refine and deepen our research further. While conducting historical research, the first thing to make clear is “what is it” before asking “why”. Therefore, it has become a common view of scholars that making in-​depth study of small topics from a micro perspective and taking the road of refinement is not only fundamental but also inevitable. At present, we still have a lot of work to do to answer the “what” questions. For example, some researchers pointed out that Sun Yat-​sen’s thought was very profound and complicated. Who and whose works on earth had influenced him? There have been few specific and detailed researches on this

64  WANG Jie topic. There were some changes in his thought, and there existed some inherent contradictions in some aspects. A lot of in-​depth and detailed research need to be carried out to sort out these questions clearly. For another example, to study Sun Yat-​sen’s practice in allying with Russia and the evolution of his thought, we ought to make a study of the origin of Sun Yat-​sen’s alliance with Russia. Soon after the victory of the October Revolution in 1917, Sun Yat-​sen came up with the idea of allying with Russia and he once dispatched Cao Yabo as the chief diplomatic envoy to Russia. Cao followed his order and crossed the Mediterranean by ship and managed to arrive in Germany by way of Italy and Switzerland in about January 1918, which took more than a month. Cao couldn’t go to Russia by way of Germany during his two-​month staying in Germany, so he had to return to China to report his mission soon after. This event was meant to be a trivial matter. Although the causes and consequences of Cao’s mission, the difficulties and obstacles in negotiating with Germany, and the reasons for the failure in the alliance with Russia are still not clear, it has shown that Sun’s choice and practice in allying with Russia could be traced back to the late 1917 and early 1918. Sun Yat-​sen research is like a grand academic hall with inexhaustible heritages remaining to be explored ceaselessly, which is just like what Sun said in his last teaching: “The revolution has not yet been successful, and the comrades still have to work hard”.

Notes 1 Chen Xiqi. (1957). Sun Yat-​sen’s Revolutionary Thought and Activities before the Establishment of the Chinese Revolutionary League. Journal of Zhongshan University, (1). 2 Duan Yunzhang. (1962). The Class Basis of Sun Yat-​sen’ Early Revolutionary Thought. Journal of Zhongshan University, (3). 3 Li Shiyue. (1956). Sun Yat-​sen’s Road. Collected Papers of History Studies, (2). 4 Qin Rufan. (1962). The Development of Sun Yat-​sen’s Political Thought before the Twentieth Century. Journal of Zhongshan University, (1). 5 Hou Wailu (ed.) (1957). Outline of Chinese Intellectual History (Book 2). People’s Publishing House, 322. 6 Jiang Haicheng. (1962). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Anti-​Imperialist Ideology. Journal of Shandong University, (1). 7 Zhang Lei. (1957). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Principle of Nationalism. Journal of Peking University, (4). 8 Li Guangcan. (1956). On Sun Yat-​ sen’s Principle of Nationalism. New Construction, (12). 9 Liu Danian. (1961). The 1911 Revolution and Anti-​Manchu Issues. Historical Research, (5). 10 Li Guangcan. (1962). Sun Yat-​ sen’s Principle of Democracy. Historical Research, (6). 11 Li Shiyue. (1956). Sun Yat-​sen’s Road. Collected Papers of History Studies, (2).

Sun Yat-sen studies  65 12 Chen Xiqi. (1957). Sun Yat-​sen’s Revolutionary Thought and Activities before the Establishment of the Chinese Revolutionary League. Journal of Zhongshan University, (1). 13 Yuan Shiyi. (1955). Sun Yat-​sen’s Three People’s Principles during the Period of Chinese Revolutionary League, History Teaching, (8). 14 Wu Yuzhang. (1961). The 1911 Revolution, People’s Publishing House, 16. 15 Li Zehou. (1956). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Principle of the People’s Livelihood People’s Livelihood. Historical Research, (11). 16 Li Shiyue. (1955). The Formation and Development of Sun Yat-​sen’s Program for Equalizing Land Rights. Guangming Daily, Oct. 27. 17 Lai Xinxia. (1955). Chinese Revolutionary League and Its Political Program. History Teaching, (6). 18 Li Guangcan. (1956). On Sun Yat-​ sen’s Principle of Nationalism. New Construction, (12). 19 Li Zehou. (1956). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Principle of the People’s Livelihood. Historical Research, (11). 20 Hou Wailu. (1957). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought and Its Relationship with His Political Thought. Historical Research, (2). 21 Zhang Lei. (1957). On Sun Yat-​ sen’s Social and Historical View. Academic Research, (2). 22 Zheng Hesheng. (1954). On the Development Path of Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought. Journal of Literature, History & Philosophy, (4). 23 Yang Zhengdian. (1957). Mr. Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought. Teaching and Research, (1). 24 Mao Zedong. (1955). Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Vol. 2). People’s Publishing House, 681. 25 Li Guangcan & Guo Yunpeng. (1962). Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought. Philosophical Research, (4). 26 He Liancheng. (1957). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Social and Economic Thought. Journal of Northwest University, (2). 27 Zhang Kaiyuan. (1981). Anti-​Manchu and the Nationalist Movements. Modern Chinese History Studies, (3). 28 Zhang Zhengming et  al. (1983). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Nationalism. In:  Collected Papers of the Symposium on Commemorating the Seventieth Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution (Vol. 2). Zhonghua Book Company. 29 Li Huaxing. (1982). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought of Democracy. In: On the Chinese Society during the late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China. Fudan University Press. 30 Chen Keqing. (1980). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Economic Construction. Economic Research, (2). 31 Zhu Bokang. (1982). Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on the Economic Construction. In: On the Chinese Society during the late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China. Fudan University Press. 32 He Zhendong. (1981). Comment on Sun Yat-​sen’s Socialist Doctrine. Journal of Xuzhou Normal University, (4). 33 Wei Jieting. (1981). Research on Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought. Hu’nan People’s Publishing House, 201. 34 Hou Wailu (Ed.) (1978). History of Modern Chinese Philosophy. People’s Publishing House, 395–​396.

66  WANG Jie 35 Xiao Wanyuan. (1981). Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought. China Social Sciences Press, 56. 36 Yuan Weishi. (1979). Materialistic Monism Serving for the National Democratic Revolution. Journal of Zhongshan University, (4). 37 Fang Keli. (1982). Views on Knowing and Doing in the History of Chinese philosophy. People’s Publishing House, 340–​341. 38 Li Baisong. (1981). On the Leadership of the Wuchang Uprising. Jianghan Forum, (5). 39 Peng Ming. (1981). On the Nanjing Provisional Government. Modern Chinese History Studies, (3). 40 Chen Shenglin. (1979). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Struggle while Founding the Nanjing Provisional Government. Journal of Zhongshan University, (4). 41 Xu Boliang. (1980). “Sun Yat-​sen’s Yielding” Should Be Re-​Evaluated. Social Science Front, (4). 42 Jin Chongji & Hu Shengwu. (1980). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Struggle during the Nanjing Provisional Government Period. Historical Research, (2). 43 Bao Chengguan. (1983). On the Peace Talk between the South and the North and Sun Yat-​sen’s Yield. In: Collected Papers of the Symposium on Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution (Vol. 1). Zhonghua Book Company. 44 Shang Mingxuan. (1981). Biography of Sun Yat-​ sen. People’s Publishing House, 174. 45 Xiao Wanyuan. (1981). Sun Yat-​sen’s Philosophical Thought. China Social Sciences Press, 56. 46 Peng Dayong. (1983). The Ideological Basis of Sun Yat-​sen’s Yielding to Yuan Shikai. Guangming Daily, April 6. 47 Zhang Kaiyuan & Lin Zengping. (1981). History of the 1911 Revolution (Book 2). People’s Publishing House, 459. 48 Zhao Shiyuan. (1981). Sun Yat-​sen during the Period from the 1911 Revolution to the “Second Revolution”. Journal of Northeast Normal University, (5). 49 Zhang Kaiyuan & Lin Zengping. (1981). History of the 1911 Revolution (Book 2). People’s Publishing House, 489–​491. 50 Wang Jie. A  Brief Account of the Chinese Revolutionary Party. In:  Collected Papers of the Youth Symposium on Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution (Vol. 2). 51 Xie Benshu, et al. (1984). History of the National Protection Movement. Guizhou People’s Publishing House, 91. 52 Hu Sheng. (1982). From the Opium War to the May 4th Movement (Vol. II). People’s Publishing House, 928. 53 The General Office of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC & The Cultural and Historical Data Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC (eds.). (2009). Well-​Known Historians of Lingnan. China Culture and History Press, 118. 54 Lu Ren. (1984). Historical Inevitability and Revolutionary Need. In:  Collected Papers on Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the First National Congress of the KMT, China Social Sciences Press; Liu Danian. (1984). Preface. In: Collected Papers on Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the First National Congress of the KMT, China Social Sciences Press. 55 Qiu Jie & Li Boxin. (1986). On the Issue of Sun Yat-​sen’s Ancestral Home, Journal of Zhongshan University, (4).

Sun Yat-sen studies  67 56 Lin Jiayou & Zhou Xingliang. (1988). Sun Yat-​sen and the First KMT-​CCP Co-​ operation. Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 111 & 113. 57 Huang Yan. (1989). On Several Issues Concerning the Declaration of The First National Congress of the KMT. In: Sun Yat-​sen and His Era (Vol. 2). Zhonghua Book Company, 1236–​1237. 58 Lu Zhenxiang. (1986). On Several Issues in the Studies of Sun Yat-​sen’s Three Major Policies. Journal of Beijing Normal University, (6). 59 Xia Liangcai. (1986). Sun Yat-​sen and Henry George. Modern Chinese History Studies, (6). 60 Yang Tianshi. (1989). Sun Yat-​sen and the Future of the Chinese Revolution. In: Sun Yat-​sen and His Era (Vol. 1). Zhonghua Book Company. 61 Duan Yunzhang & Qiu Jie. (1990). Sun Yat-​sen and Modern Chinese Warlords. Sichuan People’s Publishing House. 62 Xie Benshu. Sun Yat-​sen and the Southwest Warlords. Yunnan Social Sciences, (3). 63 Chen Xiqi. (1990). Outline of Sun Yat-​sen’s View of Asia. Modern Chinese History Studies, (6). 64 Sang Bing. (1994). On Sun Yat-​sen’s View of Asia and the World. In: Collected Papers of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia. Zhongshan University Press. 65 Tang Shangyi. (1994). Outline of Sun Yat-​sen’s Great Asianism. In:  Collected Papers of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia. Zhongshan University Press. 66 Li Jikui. (1994). On the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen’s thought on the Revitalization of Asia and Japan. In:  Collected Papers of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia. Zhongshan University Press. 67 Chen Xulu. (1989). “Following Conventions and Traditions”, “Naturalization” and “Innovation”  –​Outline of Sun Yat-​ sen’s View of Chinese and Western Culture. In: Sun Yat-​sen and His Era (Vol. 2). Zhonghua Book Company. 68 Zhang Kaiyuan. (1989). From Running away to Coming back  –​On the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Traditional Culture. In: Sun Yat-​sen and His Era (Vol. 2). Zhonghua Book Company. 69 Li Kan. (1989). Sun Yat-​sen and the Traditional Confucianism. In: Sun Yat-​sen and His Era (Vol. 2). Zhonghua Book Company. 70 Zhou Xingliang. (1994). Absorption, Digesting and Innovation  –​On the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Chinese and Western Cultures. In: Collected Papers of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia. Zhongshan University Press. 71 Li Shiyue. (1994). Review of the International Symposium on “Sun Yat-​sen and Asia”. Collected Papers of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and Asia. Zhongshan University Press. 72 Cao Junwei. (1985). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Utilizing Foreign Investment. Social Sciences, (1). 73 Zheng Xueyi. (1989). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Opening Up. Journal of Peking University Press, (6). 74 Huang Yan. (1988). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Opening Up. Guangdong Social Sciences, (4). 75 Liu Xuezhao. (1999). “Following” and “Surpassing”: Characteristics of Sun Yat-​ sen’s Thought on Modernization. In: Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House.

68  WANG Jie 76 Zhang Lei. (1999). Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization. In: Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House. 77 Liu Dainan. (1999). On the Research of Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization. In: Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House. 78 Wei Jieting. (1999). On the Historical Status of Sun Yat-​sen’s Three People’s Principles. In:  Sun Yat-​ sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House. 79 Chen Huaxin. (1999). On the Status and Function of Sun Yat-​sen’s Political Thought. In:  Sun Yat-​ sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House. 80 Xian Yuhao & Tian Yongxiu. (1999). On Sun Yat-​sen’s Program for Economic Modernization. In:  Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House. 81 Guo Can. (1999). Re-​Understanding of Sun Yat-​sen’s Strategy for Economic Development. In:  Sun Yat-​ sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House. 82 Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Modernization (Vol. 1). 83 Zhao Chunchen. (1999). Re-​Discussion of Sun Yat-​sen’s Cultural Thought in His Later Years. Guangdong Social Sciences, (1). 84 Wang Lei. (1995). Traditional Confucianism and Sun Yat-​sen’s Understanding of China’s National Culture. Social Science Research, (3). 85 Sang Bing. (1995). Three Questions concerning Sun Yat-​sen and the Traditional Culture. Modern Chinese History Studies, (3). 86 Li Jikui. (1996). Sun Yat-​sen and Japan. Guangdong People’s Publishing House, 3. 87 Yu Xintun. (1996). Research on the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Japan. People’s Publishing House, 2. 88 Duan Yunzhang. (1996). The Chronicles of the Historical Events of Sun Yat-​sen and Japan. Guangdong People’s Publishing House. 89 Wang Gengxiong. (1997). The Truth of Sun Yat-​sen and “The Sino-​Japanese Treaty”. Historical Archives, (3). 90 Yu Xintun. (1997). On the Issue of Sun Yat-​sen and “The Sino-​Japanese Treaty”. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 91 Qiu Jie. (1997). The Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Zhang Zuolin and “The Sun Wen-​Joffe Declaration”. Historical Research, (2). 92 Yang Yuguo. (1999). National Interests: Soviet Russia’s Choice of Cooperators in China. Historical Research, (4). 93 Qiu Jie. (1998). Joffe and the So-​ Called “Sun-​ Wu Cooperation”. Historical Research, (3). 94 Lin Jiayou. (2005). Re-​Analysis of Sun Yat-​sen’s World View. In: Lin Jiayou & Li Ming (eds.). Seeing the World Clearly and Looking at China Squarely –​Collected Papers of “the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the World”. Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House. 95 Liu Xuezhao. (2004). Analysis of Sun Yat-​sen’s World View. Journal of Tianjin Normal University, (6). 96 Zhao Chunchen. (2005). On Sun Yat-​sen’s View on the Trend of the World. In: Lin Jiayou & Li Ming (eds.). Seeing the World Clearly and Looking at China Squarely –​ Collected Papers of “the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the World”. Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House.

Sun Yat-sen studies  69 97 Zhang Kaiyuan. (2000). The Kingly Way and the Tyrannical Way –​On Sun Yat-​ sen’s Thought of the Great Harmony. Zhejiang Social Sciences, (3). 98 Huang Yan et al. (eds.). (2001). Summary of the Seminar of Guangdong Scholars on the Authenticity of the “Sino-​ Japanese Treaty”. In:  Lin Jiayou & Gao Qiaoqiang (Japan) (eds.). Ideal, Morality and the Great Harmony –​Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the World Peace. Zhongshan University Press. 99 Liu Manrong. (2004). On the Theory and Practice of Sun Yat-​ sen’s Army Construction Learned from the Soviet Russian Model. Guangdong Social Sciences, (3). 100 Hao Ping. (2000). Sun Yat-​ sen’s Revolution and the United States. Peking University Press. 101 Shao Yong. (2005). The Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Wo Hing Temple during the Period of the Society to Restore China’s Prosperity. In: Modern China (Vol.15). Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press. 102 Zhang Xiaomeng. (2001). Sun Yat-​ sen and the National Independence Movement of Korean. In:  Xu Wanmin (Ed.) Collected Papers on Sun Yat-​sen Research –​Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. Beijing Library Press. 103 Zhang Jinchao. (2009). Looking at the Relationship between the Chinese Revolution and the Korean Independence Movement through the Zhen Tan Weekly. Guangdong Social Sciences, (4). 104 Yu Xintun. (2005). Comparison of Sun Yat-sen and Kim Ok-gyun’s Relationship with Japan. In:  Seeing the World Clearly and Looking at China Squarely  – Collected Papers of “the International Symposium on Sun Yat-sen and the World”. Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House. 105 Qiu Jie. (2000). Sun Yat-sen and Modern Chinese Intellectuals. Guangdong Social Sciences, (1). 106 Sang Bing. (2003). Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism – Sun Yat-sen’s Response to the New Culture School. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 107 Shao Yong. (2002). Sun Yat-​sen and the Issue of Modern Women. Journal of Guangxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), (3). 108 Duan Yunzhang & Shen Xiaomin (eds.). (2003). Chronicles of Historical Facts Involving Sun Wen and Chen Jiongming. Guangdong People’s Publishing House. 109 Duan Yunzhang. (2000). Observations and Comments of the Communist International and the Soviet Russia on the Split between Sun Yat-​sen and Chen Jiongming. Zhongshan University Forum (Social Sciences Edition), (3). 110 Li Jikui. (2000). Sun Yat-​sen and Liu Chengyu. Zhongshan University Forum (Social Sciences Edition), (3). 111 Kong Xiangji. (2005). Analysis of the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Liu Xuexun before and after the Reform Movement in 1898. Guangdong Social Sciences, (2). 112 Liu Baodong. (2002). Wang Chonghui and Sun Yat-​sen. Journal of Historical Science, (7). 113 Wang Jie. (2008). New Extensions in the Sun Yat-​sen Research –​ Review of the Symposium on “Sun Yat-​ sen’s Thought and the Harmonious Society”. Guangdong Social Sciences, (3).

70  WANG Jie 114 Lin Jiayou et  al. (2009). Research on Sun Yat-​ sen’s Thought about Social Construction. Zhongshan University Press. 115 Wang Jie. 2009. Harmony and Integration: Cultural Allusion of Sun Yat-​sen’s Principle of People’s Livelihood. Guangdong Social Sciences, (3). 116 Zhang Kaiyuan. (1996). Thinking on the Sun Yat-​sen Research. Huazhong Normal University Press; Zhang Kaiyuan. (1996). A Continuation of the Collected Essays on the Historical Facts before and after the 1911 Revolution. Huazhong Normal University Press.

3  History of the 1911 Revolution ZHANG Kaiyuan

The 1911 Revolution overthrew the imperial monarchy which had lasted for more than 2000 years in China and established the first republic in Asia. Its influence is not only extremely far-​reaching in our country, but also extends to the colonial and semi-​colonial countries of Asia and Africa in varying degrees. Historical studies of the 1911 Revolution in the past 60 years have already developed into one of the important branches of historiography with international features. Recalling the past, the compilation and publication of works on the history of the 1911 Revolution in Mainland China started almost in the same year as the 1911 Revolution, which has already had a history of more than a hundred years so far. Before 1949, Su Sheng’s History of the Chinese Revolution was the earliest historical work on the 1911 Revolution named after the history of the Chinese revolutions, which was published shortly after the Wuchang Uprising (i.e. in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, 1911). Since then, about 15 kinds of historical works with the same or similar names have been published, among which Guo Xiaocheng’s Chronicles of Chinese Revolution published by the Commercial Press in 1912 has been known well and quoted frequently by researchers because of its coherent organization and concise narration. The earliest historical work named after the history of the 1911 Revolution, as far as the author is concerned, was Bo Hai Shou Min’s Chronicles of the 1911 Revolution published in June 1912. It was in fact an incomplete collection of newspaper clippings published from January 20 to December 25 of 1911. Later on, about another ten works on the history of the 1911 Revolution written by Bei Hua, Gao Lao, Guo Zhen, and Zuo Shunsheng and others came out, most of which were published in the 1920s and 1930s, among which works of Zuo Shunsheng and others had become more academic. Works on the history of the Republic of China also touched upon the 1911 Revolution, among which the first one with reference value is The Founding History of the Republic of China published by Taidong Bookstore in 1914, which was edited by Gu Zhongxiu, a senator from the Zhili Consultancy Bureau of the late Qing Dynasty and a Congressional senator in the early days of the Republic. The earliest chronicle of events was The Chronicle of

72  ZHANG Kaiyuan Events of the Republic of China edited by Tian Xiaosheng and published by Shanghai Youzheng Publishing House in 1912. Altogether about 20 works had been published during this period. As for the biographies, biographical chronicles and the like of Sun Yat-​sen, there had been over 40 or 50 works published before 1949. It would be too numerous to enumerate if we included all sorts of collected works, calligraphy, materials, and memoirs. There are also chronicles and biographies giving accounts of various regions, events, and characters of the 1911 Revolution, so it is difficult to provide complete statistics. Reviewing the early works on the history of the 1911 Revolution, we can find that most of the works published before the 1920s are just historical records enumerating materials roughly and superficially. Due to the different political views of the authors, it is inevitable that they may get rid of those with dissenting opinions and even distort facts. For example, although the narrative of Shang Binghe’s Historical Records of the Period between 1911 and 1912, published in 1924, was well-​defined and some of its contents were rarely known by the outside, its overtone was filled with hatred and attack against the Revolution. By the 1930s, the KMT government had established its national domination. The history of the 1911 Revolution was basically included in the history of the KMT to serve the Jiang Jieshi Group in promoting its orthodoxy. Many historical records were concealed and altered, so much so that past events were distorted beyond recognition. However, several works published after the mid-​1940s were of better reference value, such as Historical Records beyond the History of the 1911 Revolution (Ge Ming Yi Shi) (Commercial Press, 1945–​1947) written by Feng Ziyou, a veteran member of the Chinese Revolutionary League and the former director of the Ji Xun Ju (Bureau of Merits Investigation); History of the KMT (Commercial Press, 1944) by Zou Lu, a veteran of the KMT and the former president of Zhongshan University, and The College Days of Sun Yat-​sen (Chongqing Independent Publishing House, 1945)  by Luo Xianglin, a well-​ known historian. Some of them prevailed in collecting materials, some were expert with rigorous style, and some gave long-​term commitment to the close examination of several historical events. All these works had been valued by historians at that time and in recent years. However, strictly speaking, these authors were still not immune to partisan prejudices and some of them even had an official background, which had limited their academic achievements. Marxists have always attached great importance to the history of the 1911 Revolution. Almost immediately after the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution, Lenin spoke highly of it and its leaders. After the 1920s, Mao Zedong and China’s proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation also made a series of brilliant expositions on the 1911 Revolution. It is only because of the frequent and urgent revolutionary war and the constraints of various objective conditions that few academic works on the history of the 1911 Revolution under the guidance of Marxism had been published. Li Shu’s The 1911

History of the 1911 Revolution  73 Revolution and Yuan Shikai published by Life Bookstore in 1948 (revised as Chinese Politics around the 1911 Revolution and published by People’s Publishing House in 1954) may be the only groundbreaking achievement in this field. In short, before 1949, except for the publication of a large number of materials on the history of the 1911 Revolution, the academic research in this field was still far from satisfactory.

3.1  The initial stage (1949–​1966) After 1949, due to the change of state power and the fact that researchers on the history of the 1911 Revolution, who were few in number originally, moved to Hong Kong and Taiwan, research on the history of the 1911 Revolution in Mainland China became less and less prosperous, and thus couldn’t be selected as one of the “five golden flowers” heatedly debated by historians like the research on the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the periodization of modern Chinese history. In 1956, our government solemnly commemorated the 90th anniversary of Sun Yat-​sen’s birth, and Mao Zedong published a paper entitled Commemorate Mr. Sun Yat-​sen sparkling with the glory of historical dialectic, in which he gave a high appraisal of Sun Yat-​sen and the 1911 Revolution. Other proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation also had many profound discussions. Later, the photoprint of Min Bao (People’s Daily)was published as a volume of the 8-​volume The 1911 Revolution which was one of the series entitled Data Collections of Modern Chinese History, providing convenience to researchers on the history of the 1911 Revolution. According to incomplete statistics, from the second half of 1956 to the first half of 1957, more than 200 articles on Sun Yat-​sen and the history of the 1911 Revolution were published. However, this brief boom could not show that the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution has embarked on the academic road smoothly, because many of the works still belonged to the commemorative writings of newspapers and periodicals, and thus lacked the necessary academic foundation. Moreover, due to the interference of the movements like “Great Leap Forward” and “Educational Revolution”, studies on Sun Yat-​sen and the 1911 Revolution declined sharply and only about ten occasional articles on Sun Yat-​sen were published during the three years from 1958 to 1960. After 1961, promoted by the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution, especially the re-​implementation of the “Double Hundreds Policy” (the CPC’s policy for art and literature, to wit, let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend), study on the history of the 1911 Revolution became active again. “Symposium Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution”, which was held in Wuchang and sponsored by the Association of Chinese Historians and Hubei Federation of Philosophy and Social Sciences, attracted more than 100 scholars such as Wu Yuzhang and Fan Wenlan and 40 papers all over the country. Since this

74  ZHANG Kaiyuan was the first national academic conference themed on the 1911 Revolution, the participants attached great importance to it and their discussions were also quite heated,1 from which we could see a good atmosphere of seeking truth from facts and free debate emerging initially. Articles like Liu Danian’s The 1911 Revolution and Anti-​Manchus Issues, Chen Xulu’s The New Army in the Late Qing Dynasty and the 1911 Revolution, Li Wenhai’s The 1911 Revolution and the Secret Societies, Xu Lun’s Zhang Jian’s Political Activities in the 1911 Revolution, Zhang Kaiyuan’s Wuchang Uprising and Revolutionary Movements in Hubei and Wei Yingtao’s The Railway Project Crisis have all been received well by the participants. After the conference, The Symposium Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution was published by Zhonghua Book Company, collecting 32 papers from both inside and outside the conference and consisting of 500,000 characters, which has been regarded as one of the important achievements in the historical studies of the 1911 Revolution since 1949, and valued by Chinese and foreign scholars up to the present. As for Wu Yuzhang’s The 1911 Revolution published by People’s Publishing House, the author not only was an important figure participating in the 1911 Revolution, but also had very high theoretical accomplishments and rich social experiences, so he could profoundly and skillfully expound the whole process of the 1911 Revolution from the Marxist viewpoint. Therefore, the significance of this book goes beyond the scope of personal memoirs and has won considerable attention from the historian circles. In addition, collecting memoirs and various documents and materials has also grown into a general trend and should also be regarded as an important outcome of this commemorative event. The successive publication of The Memoirs of the 1911 Revolution (six volumes and later another two volumes were supplemented) edited by the History and Literature Committee of the CPPCC, the data selections of the memoirs of the 1911 Revolution compiled by the relevant departments of various provinces and cities (as well as some counties), and Selected Commentaries on Current Events during the Ten Years before the 1911 Revolution provided researchers with a lot of valuable materials. Seen from the situation in the early 1960s, historical studies of the 1911 Revolution could and should make a big breakthrough. However, due to the interference of the well-​known “leftist” ideological trend and the following “ten years of chaos”, the burgeoning research on the history of the 1911 Revolution was severely damaged. There have already been many discussions about this issue in the past, so in this article we will not repeat them again. As a matter of fact, even among the 17 years from 1949 to 1966, there were only four or five years when historical scholars could actually focus on the history of the 1911 Revolution. Therefore, research on the history of the 1911 Revolution before 1966 can only be regarded as the initial stage, and we shouldn’t be overcritical. However, research on the history of the 1911 Revolution at this stage represented a new look and distinguished itself from the old historical studies before 1949.

History of the 1911 Revolution  75 Research on the history of the 1911 Revolution before 1949 only focused on the account of isolated political events and covered up their essence of class struggle consciously or unconsciously. However, studies after 1949 emphasized the discussions on the economic background and class relations, and regarded the 1911 Revolution as the product of the intensification of the major social conflicts in the late Qing Dynasty. Concerning studies like that of the national capitalist industry, the character of the national bourgeoisie, the distinction of the bourgeoisie’s internal stratum, the peasantry issue, the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the peasantry, the class attribute of some important historical figures and political groups, only by grasping the clue of class struggle could we see through various historical phenomena that appeared to be vague and chaotic during the 1911 Revolution and the various complicated intentions intertwined with each other in particular to analyze the material living conditions of different classes and strata, and thus gradually obtain some regular genuine understandings. Research on the history of the 1911 Revolution before 1949 tended to focus on the personal activities of a few prominent personalities, with little or no reference to the status and role of the masses. Research after the founding of New China paid more attention to the wishes and actions of the masses. To rectify the deep-​rooted corrupt practices of old Chinese historiography, many scholars have worked very hard on the exploration and collation of the materials on mass struggles. All the studies on the tax-​resistance agitations, the struggles against foreign churches, food riots, the anti-​Qing rebellion, the anti-​France and anti-​Russia movements, the anti-​American boycott, the rights recovery movement, the railway project crisis, the rebel movements led by the revolutionaries throughout the country during the 1911 Revolution, and even the monographic studies on the New Army and the secret societies have enriched the history of the 1911 Revolution, which would help to restore the true colors of history. According to incomplete statistics, from October 1949 to June 1966, 50-​ odd books, 30-​odd kinds of materials and about 500 articles on the 1911 Revolution were published in Mainland China. Through more than ten years of hard work, a small but highly capable research team was formed in the field of the history of the 1911 Revolution, which laid a solid foundation for the future academic development. However, there is no denying that research on the history of the 1911 Revolution before 1966 was not mature enough in general, and still had obvious limitations. Most of the works published during this period were small and medium-​sized informative readings with little academic depth. Some of the published papers were of considerable academic value, but they laid particular stress on the study of historical figures, especially the political thoughts and practices of several revolutionary leaders, and thus could not make major breakthroughs in general. Besides the fact that research on the history of the 1911 Revolution itself was not well developed in the past and most of our researchers were still very young, another more important reason for the existence of the

76  ZHANG Kaiyuan above-​mentioned limitations is the interference from the “Left” deviation. The ultra-​leftist thought caused a temporary clamor in the so-​called “revolution in historiography” in 1958. It had shown some restraint for a short time in the early 1960s, but re-​emerged through the discussions on the so-​called “evaluation of Li Xiucheng” in 1964, taking a more radical way and mixing up the academic issues with political issues completely. The expanding momentum of the “Left” deviation kept building up, that is, a set of ideological shackles confining the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution and even all the bourgeois revolutions all over the world, which took “focusing on criticism” as its guiding principle and the so-​called “bourgeois-​centrism”, “bourgeois determinism” and the theory holding that “the bourgeois are wiser” as its means of intimidation. It was the unchecked spread of ultra-​leftist thought and the framework of the struggle between the Confucianist line and the Legalist line pieced together by the “Gang of Four” for political purpose which distorted the history of the 1911 Revolution and completely interrupted the normal academic research on it.

3.2  The revival and rising stage (1976–​1990) After 1976, research on the history of the 1911 Revolution and the study of the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were two branches of modern Chinese history which were restored earlier and developed more quickly. The preliminary work of the multi-​volume History of the 1911 Revolution co-​edited by Zhang Kaiyuan and Lin Zengping began as early as 1976. In 1977, the compilation group was formally established, including members from Hubei, Hu’nan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Henan provinces. By the end of 1978, the Research Committee of Central and South China on the History of the 1911 Revolution (including Hu’nan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi and Henan provinces) was established. Although this academic organization was small in scale, it received much concern and support from many scholars in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai. Therefore, it could play a certain role in promoting research on the history of the 1911 Revolution in China. In November 1979, the Research Committee of Central and South China on the History of the 1911 Revolution, Zhongshan University and the Society of Historical Research of Guangdong Province jointly held the Symposium on Sun Yat-​ sen and the 1911 Revolution in Guangzhou. It received 84 papers and was attended by 145 delegates, among whom there were four scholars from the United States, Japan and Hong Kong of China. This conference was the first international symposium on the 1911 Revolution held in Mainland China. The atmosphere of this conference was warm and lively, so people called it “the first swallow in the spring”. The revival of the study on the history of the 1911 Revolution, first of all, benefited from the opening up and reform of the Mainland. However, the external world preliminarily known through opening up posed a severe

History of the 1911 Revolution  77 challenge to our study of the history of the 1911 Revolution. This was because when the study of the history of the 1911 Revolution was being trapped during 1966–​1976 and accomplished nothing, scholars from North America, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan of China had made considerable strides in it and made this study become one of the hot spots of historical studies in the late 1970s. Many well-​known experts and masterpieces came forth in large numbers, which contrasted sharply with the years of silence in the historian circles. However, this challenge did not make us pessimistic and disappointed. Instead, it played a significant role in promoting our study on the history of the 1911 Revolution in the following three aspects: first, it encouraged us to work hard to change the backward state and catch up with the international academic trend; second, inspired by the trend of interdisciplinary integration (or multidisciplinary interpenetration) in the overseas research on the history of the 1911 Revolution, we had begun to make some changes in our research method; third, mutual understanding and cooperation among Chinese and foreign scholars had been enhanced gradually through increasingly frequent exchanges, so they could jointly develop the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution into an internationally famous subject. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China officially entered a new era of reform and opening up, and advocated a new style of studying, to wit, emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts. As in many other professions, the suppressed and accumulated enthusiasm in the academia of historical research spurted out suddenly like the rich spring buried underground. Researchers on the history of the 1911 Revolution did not devote much effort to criticizing the “Leftist” thought and the innuendo historiography of the “Gang of Four”, because those shallow and ridiculous hodgepodges, which had been on a rampage in the historian circles by virtue of temporary authority, were not worth refuting at all. Instead, they conducted serious reflection on our past academic work in order to find new ways and make new progress through practical academic practice in the new historical period. The progress we have made has attracted worldwide attention. From the very beginning of the 1980s, three large-​scale monographs on the 1911 Revolution have been published successively. History of the 1911 Revolution (three volumes, 1.2  million characters) compiled by Zhang Kaiyuan, Lin Zengping, and other scholars from five different provinces was first published by People’s Publishing House in 1980–​1981; then History of the Republic of China (Book I  and Book II of Vol. 1)  edited by Li Xin was published by Zhonghua Book Company from 1980 to 1982; History of the 1911 Revolution (Vol. 1) co-​authored by Jin Chongji and Hu Shengwu was also published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 1980. Although most parts of these three books were written after 1976, but they were the accumulation of individual and collective research lasting more than ten years and thus could represent the respective strengths and characteristics of the authors.

78  ZHANG Kaiyuan Comparatively speaking, History of the 1911 Revolution focused more on the social environment, especially the development of capitalist economy and the status of the bourgeoisie. Its detailed expositions of the Railway Project Crisis and other mass struggles were also beyond the reach of previous works. Its expositions of the conditions of each class, stratum, and political party and the relationship between them could also reflect the broad and complex social landscape of that time. Therefore, Japanese scholars praised this work as a brilliant work on the general history of the 1911 Revolution. The book, edited by Li Xin, is the result of a long-​term collective study conducted by the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with many chronicles of events, biographies, and data series published in succession as its solid basis. Although the first volume was written as the background of the history of the Republic of China, its concise exposition, rigorous structure, and coherence made it an independent work on the general history of the 1911 Revolution. Jin Chongji and Hu Shengwu are old partners who had cooperated for more than 20 years, so they could fathom and help each other perfectly. History of the 1911 Revolution focused especially on the exposition of the bourgeois revolutionaries represented by Sun Yat-​sen. It also gave a systematic introduction to the intelligentsia and ideological trends of that time. Making use of newspapers, periodicals, and many other news materials was another feature of this book. At the same time, since it was published later and could absorb more new achievements, this book even excelled its predecessors in some aspects. In addition to these three large-​scale general works, the majority of the monographs on the 1911 Revolution published after 1976 were research on the historical figures. According to incomplete statistics, there were almost 80 monographs of this sort by the end of the 1980s. Among them, works on Sun Yat-​sen research still held the leading position. A Chronicle of Sun Yat-​ sen (Zhonghua Book Company, 1980) and On Sun Yat-​sen written by Zhang Lei (Guangdong People’s Publishing House, 1986) were the results of long-​ term collective or individual hard work. There were also many monographs on the study of Sun Yat-​sen’s thought, in which the authors all had their own unique insights and systems. Research on other revolutionary figures such as Huang Xing, Qiu Jin, and Song Jiaoren were developed continuously and deepened gradually. Among them, A Chronicle of Huang Xing (Hu’nan People’s Publishing House, 1980) compiled by Mao Zhuqing was informative and rigorous and thus well received by Chinese and foreign scholars. The progress made in the study of Zhang Taiyan was more remarkable, and six monographs had been published by the end of 1980s. Tang Zhijun’s A Chronicle of Zhang Taiyan (Zhonghua Book Company, 1979) and other relevant works such as Jiang Yihua’s Study of Zhang Taiyan’s Thought (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1985), Tang Wenquan and Luo Fuhui’s Study of Zhang Taiyan’s Thought (Huazhong Normal University Press, 1986) were all masterpieces with distinctive features, the result of an accumulation of long-​ term studies. The deep exploration into Zhang Taiyan’s academic thoughts

History of the 1911 Revolution  79 (including philosophy, Buddhism, historiography, study of Confucian classics, study of Pre-​Qin scholars and linguistics) had enriched the study of the history of the 1911 Revolution and also promoted research on the modern Chinese history of academic culture. The rise of the research on Zhang Jian in the mid-​1980s attracted people’s attention. In the early 1960s, discussions on Zhang Jian were mainly confined to the political level, and the focus of debates was his class attribute, few of which were in-​depth studies. From the 1980s, due to the importance attached by the relevant departments of Nantong City and Jiangsu Province, research on Zhang Jian had grown into a general trend and the exchanges with relevant scholars from Japan, North America, and Europe had been strengthened. Japanese scholars’ rigorousness in their empirical study of historical facts and Western scholars’ broad scope of vision and accurate overall understanding all exerted good influence on Zhang Jian studies in China. The publication of Zhang Kaiyuan’s Footprint of Pioneers –​A Biography of Zhang Jian (Zhonghua Book Company) in 1986 and the opening of the first international symposium on Zhang Jian in Nanjing in 1987 marked that the study of Zhang Jian had entered a new phase of academic standards. The book Footprint of Pioneers –​A Biography of Zhang Jian brought the study of Zhang Jian into the research on the transformation of social groups, and Zhang also repeatedly advocated the research on social environment, social groups and social mentality in his other works, which have injected some fresh vitality into the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution. China is a large country with a vast territory and a large population, so regional studies are an indispensable premise and basis for overall research. Since the 1980s, research on the 1911 Revolution in many provinces and cities has been developed in varying degrees. The History of Wuchang Uprising, the First Uprising of the 1911 Revolution, The 1911 Revolution in Hubei, The 1911 Revolution in Hu’nan, The 1911 Revolution in Guizhou, The 1911 Revolution in Henan, The 1911 Revolution in Shanxi, The 1911 Revolution in Zhejiang, The 1911 Revolution in Xinjiang and other new works had been published in succession. Although the length of these works was not the same, most of them gave a relatively detailed narration and analysis of the social conditions of all the provinces, the propaganda and armed struggles of revolutionary groups, and the establishment and characteristics of the new governments in the early 20th century, which not only revealed that the 1911 Revolution was a national-​ scale political movement, but also showed the different characteristics and imbalance of the revolution in various regions, and thus enhanced people’s understanding of the 1911 Revolution to varying degrees. In regional studies, Wei Yingtao’s History of Sichuan Railway Project Crisis (Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1981) was a masterpiece based on long-​term painstaking research. This book proposed new and profound views on the characteristics of the capital accumulation of the Sichuan-​Hankou Railway (such as “rents as shares”), the transformation of the landlord class of Sichuan into capitalists to varying degrees, the political role played by

80  ZHANG Kaiyuan the Chinese Revolutionary League in Sichuan, etc. Therefore, this book not only gave a truthful account of the entire incident, but also provided some inspiration to the readers in explanating the history of the 1911 Revolution. In addition, Lin Jiayou’s The 1911 Revolution and the Minorities (Henan Publishing House, 1981) had filled a big gap left by previous research on the 1911 Revolution. After working for more than ten years at the Institute of Nationality Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the author was invited to write the sections about the minorities in all the volumes of History of the 1911 Revolution after 1976, based on which he finished this work. The author collected widely and expounded the heroic struggles of the Manchu and other minorities against the Qing dynasty in detail, which proved more forcefully that the 1911 Revolution was not a racial struggle between Han and Manchu. During this period, researchers on the 1911 Revolution also worked hard to edit and publish a large number of important documents. Collected works of important figures included Complete Works of Sun Yat-​sen (11 Volumes), Selected Works of Huang Xing, Selected Works of Song Jiaoren, Selected Works of Zhang Taiyan, Selected Works of Cai Songpo, Selected Works of Qin Lishan, Selected Works of Chen Tianhua, Selected Works of Ning Tiaoyuan, and Series of Collected Works of Historical Figures before and after the 1911 Revolution edited by Zhang Kaiyuan and Tang Wenquan (including Selected Works of Lei Tieya, Selected Works of Jing Yuanshan, Selected Works of Ju Zheng and Selected Works of Wu Luzhen which were published before 1989). Important archives included Bulletins of the Provisional Government, Compilation of Archival Data on the Republic of China, Compilation of Documents on Hubei Military Government, Selections of Archival Data on Wuchang Uprising and Archival Data Series on the Late Qing Dynasty and so on. Some important monographic data, such as the archives of Sheng Xuanhuai, the collation and publication of Zhang Jian’s unpublished correspondence, Archival Data on the Civil Commotions during the Decade Before the 1911 Revolution, Archival Data on the Preparations for the Constitution in the Late Qing Dynasty, Historical Data on the Late Qing’s Navy, Historical Data on the Anti-​Russian Movement, Compilation of Material on the Uprisings in Pingxiang, Liuyang and Liling, as well as the documents of some provinces and cities in the 1911 Revolution were published successively. Selected Translations of Japanese Diplomatic Documents –​About the 1911 Revolution and Materials on the 1911 Revolution in the Blue Books of Britain and other translated materials were published one after another. A Chronicle of Liang Qichao was also compiled and published. The important works, newspapers and periodicals in old times such as Historical Records beyond the History of the Revolution, A True History of Wuchang Uprising, Shun Pao, Ta Kung Pao and The Eastern Miscellany were photocopied or reprinted. The publication of these important materials had provided great convenience for the study of the 1911 Revolution and promoted the development of some new topics.

History of the 1911 Revolution  81 The frequent convening of the academic conferences themed on the 1911 Revolution was also a unique feature of the studies during this period. As for the domestic meetings, only a symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution had been held in Wuchang from 1949 to 1978, but from 1979, various conferences have been held continuously. In addition to the annual conference of the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution (held alternately by five central and South provinces with a few scholars from Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai also invited), many other conferences had been held during this period, such as the above-​mentioned “Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the 1911 Revolution” held in Guangzhou in November 1979, “Symposium on the History of the 1911 Revolution” held in Changsha in November 1980 (jointly held by the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution and the Association of Hu’nan Historians), “Symposium on the Chinese Society in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China” held in Shanghai in August 1981 (held by Fudan University with the 1911 Revolution as its focus), “Symposium of Young Researchers in commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in Changsha in 1981 (jointly held by the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution and the Association of Hu’nan Historians), “Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of the National Protection Movement” (jointly held by Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences and the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution) held in Kunming in December 1985, “Symposium of Scholars from Hu’nan and Hubei Provinces to Commemorate Sun Yat-​sen’s 120th Birthday and the 75th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in Wuchang in September 1986 (held by Hubei Association for Social Sciences, the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution, etc.).2 As for the international conferences, there were “International Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” in Wuchang in 1981(jointly held by Association of Chinese Historians and Hubei Association for Social Sciences), “Symposium on the Study of Sun Yat-​sen” in Guangzhou in 1984 (jointly held by Zhongshan University and the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution), “International Symposium on Reviewing Sun Yat-​sen Research” in Zhuoxian County in March 1985 (held by the Research Society of Sun Yat-​sen), “International Symposium on the Study of Sun Yat-​sen” in Zhongshan City in November 1986 (held by the Research Society of Sun Yat-​ sen), “Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of Zhang Taiyan’s Death” held in Hangzhou in June 1986 (jointly organized by the Association of Chinese Historians and the CPPCC of Zhejiang Province), “Symposium on the Study of Huangxing” in Changsha in December 1988 (jointly held by the CPPCC of Hu’nan Province and Hu’nan Association for Social Sciences) and so on. All the above academic conferences were distributed all over the country and had different sizes and themes, but they all had their own characteristics and presented a vibrant new atmosphere in the study of the history of the

82  ZHANG Kaiyuan 1911 Revolution. Among these conferences, “Symposium on the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” and “International Symposium on the Study of Sun Yat-​sen” were the largest and of the highest academic level. The former took “the 1911 Revolution and the Bourgeoisie” as its theme and attracted 127 participants from all provinces and cities in Mainland China and 44 participants from 17 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Australia, and Hong Kong of China. This conference received 106 papers, 25 of which were from overseas scholars. It was the first international conference on the 1911 Revolution that had been held officially in China and also a veritable international academic event because of the enthusiastic attendance of renowned researchers from all over the world. The latter took “Sun Yat-​sen and His Era” as its theme and attracted 109 scholars from Mainland China and 38 scholars from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Hong Kong of China, and received 76 papers, including more than 30 papers from overseas scholars. The number of well-​known overseas scholars attending the conference increased again (e.g., Тихвинский, Сергей Леонидович from the Soviet Union and Clarence Martin Wilbur from the United States). The rise of young and middle-​aged mainland scholars had also attracted great attention. On the whole, the quality of conference papers had improved significantly as well. Through these two symposia, we not only enhanced the exchanges with overseas historians, but also fully demonstrated the rapid development of the research on the history of the Chinese Revolution of 1911 during 1966–​1976, which could be seen from the number of talented researchers and achievements that attracted worldwide attention. Even some overseas scholars who had long held prejudices against us could not but change their erroneous views. In addition, the scale of the “International Symposium on Reviewing Sun Yat-​sen Research” was modest (49 participants in total, including 16 overseas scholars), but most of the attendees were experienced scholars and the symposium was for reviewing and prospective significance, so the exchanges on this symposium were more comprehensive and in-​depth. Our scholars had also been constantly invited to attend seminars on the 1911 Revolution held abroad. The first overseas international conference attended by Chinese researchers on the 1911 Revolution (headed by Hu Sheng) was the “International Symposium in Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in Tokyo in late October 1981. After that, the Asia Society of North America held its 34th annual conference in Chicago in April 1982, during which a seminar on the 1911 Revolution was organized specially for China and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait were invited. The delegation from Mainland China was led by Hu Sheng and the delegation from Taiwan was led by Qin Xiaoyi. Both sides had sent a strong team of scholars. This was the first official discussion on the history of the 1911 Revolution held by the historians from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, so it had aroused the close attention of many overseas media. In 1985, the Society for Sun Yat-​sen Studies held the

History of the 1911 Revolution  83 “Sino-​Japanese International Academic Symposium on the Study of Sun Yat-​sen” in Tokyo and Kobe. In 1986, the Soviet Academy of Sciences held the “Symposium Commemorating the 120th Birthday of Sun Yat-​sen, a Great Chinese Revolutionary Democrat and Friend of the Soviet Union” in Moscow. In the same year, the University of Sydney in Australia and the Association of Asian Scholars held the “Symposium on Sun Yat-​sen and the 1911 Revolution” in Sydney and Singapore respectively, and our scholars have been invited to participate individually or in a group. In addition, over these ten years, the number of visits, lectures, or joint research between Chinese and foreign researchers on the 1911 Revolution had also been increased, which had further increased the scale and depth of exchanges. The translation and introduction of overseas masterpieces on the 1911 Revolution was also an important part of the academic exchanges during this period. Since the late 1970s, Yang Shenzhi has continuously translated American scholar Xue Jundu’s Huang Xing and the Chinese Revolution (Hu’nan People’s Publishing House, Hong Kong Branch of the SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1980), Zhou Xirui’s Reformation and Revolution –​the 1911 Revolution in Hu’nan and Hubei Provinces (Zhonghua Book Company, 1982), and Martin Wilbur’s A Patriot with His Lofty Aspirations Unrealized –​ Sun Yat-​sen (Zhongshan University Press, 1986), which were all influential works in the West. Yang’s translations were rigorous, elegant, and faithful, and thus played a good leading role for later translators. Shi Fulin’s Sun Yat-​sen and the Origin of the Chinese Revolution (China Social Sciences Press, 1981), translated by Qiu Quanzheng and Fu Zhixing, has increased people’s concern with the overseas studies on the history of the 1911 Revolution in terms of both research methods and information. In addition, the Research Association of Central and South China on the 1911 Revolution and other organizations had compiled and printed Newsletter of the Research Association on the 1911 Revolution, Research Trends in the Overseas Historical Studies in the 1911 Revolution and other occasional publications, in which translations and reviews of relevant overseas works and papers were published frequently, and overseas scholars’ comments on the works and academic conferences on the history of the 1911 Revolution were introduced in a timely fashion. After the mid-​1980s, the channels for Sino-​foreign academic exchanges became open and smooth. Overseas books and periodicals on the history of the 1911 Revolution could be bought from the import and export companies, or given as gifts to our scholars by foreign scholars, which had provided unprecedentedly favorable conditions for researchers. It was because of the increasing growth in the number of these subjective and objective positive factors that the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution presented an unprecedented prosperity. As far as the number of papers is concerned, according to incomplete statistics, 75 papers were published in 1979, 176 in 1980, 1224 in 1981, 593 in 1982, 432 in 1983, 398

84  ZHANG Kaiyuan in 1984, 420 in 1985, 614 in 1986, 672 in 1987, 368 in 1988, and 350 in 1989. A total of 5,300 papers were published during these ten years, which was ten times the number of papers published during the period from 1949 to 1978.3 In addition to the rapid growth in the number of published papers, many papers also reflected the improvement and innovation in the historical studies of the 1911 Revolution in terms of theory, methods and data mining. The following is a brief introduction to their main points. First, among these 5,000-​ odd papers, though papers on Sun Yat-​ sen studies still accounted for about 20 per cent, the explorations into various aspects of Sun Yat-​sen’s thought that had been neglected before, especially the deep analysis of his personality, psychology, leader quality and cultural structure, were strengthened. In the meantime, systematic and in-​depth studies of other historical figures, especially those who had opposed Sun Yat-​sen in history, were also strengthened. The study of revolutionary organizations was also extended to many other organizations other than the Society to Restore China’s Prosperity and Chinese Revolutionary League (including the constitutional groups and constitutional movements), and most of them sought to expound objectively and impartially, so the long-​standing old “Sun Yat-​sen-​ centered” framework and the shackles of the orthodox view of history were broken. Second, although there were still a large number of articles on the history of politics, the history of armed revolutions and the history of mass struggles, studies on economy, culture, education, Sino-​foreign relations, customs, women’s status, and others were significantly enhanced as well. Due to the rise of the “cultural craze” in the 1980s and people’s growing concern over the theories and practices of modernization, the issue of the relationship between traditional culture and modernization had also become one of the hot topics in the 1911 Revolution studies. Studies on the ideological trends had extended from only focusing on the national democracy with “the Three People’s Principles” as its theme to the studies on nationalism, anarchism and early socialism, which had gradually deepened the understanding of the diversity and complexity of the ideology and culture during the 1911 Revolution period. Third, discussions on the nature of the 1911 Revolution had long been based solely on Mao Zedong’s related discussions. Since the 1980s, people had noticed that the domestic analyses of this issue were greatly different from, and even antagonistic to the foreign ones. These opinions could be roughly summarized into three types: the first one regarded it as the bourgeois revolution (represented by Chinese scholars and some Japanese scholars), the second one regarded it as the mass revolution (represented by scholars from Taiwan of China), and the third one regarding it as the movement of social elite or gentlemen (represented by Western scholars). Scholars holding the former two opinions both affirmed that the 1911Revolution was a revolution of great significance, and their differences lay in the opinions on its main driving force:  the first one considered the bourgeoisie as the main driving

History of the 1911 Revolution  85 force while the second one considered the mass as the main driving force; the third one emphasized the rise and leading role of the new social elite and even denied that the 1911 Revolution was a social revolution. The reform and opening up had provided opportunities for Chinese and foreign scholars and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to communicate with each other directly. The collision and controversy between different opinions was not only inevitable, but also very necessary for promoting academic development. It was through continuous discussion and debate that scholars at home and abroad had strengthened their mutual communication and understanding. Although there were still many differences in their arguments, the reasons for this diversity had been gradually found out in terms of theoretical concepts, research methods, the use of data and so on, thus providing a basis for communication, eliminating past preconceptions, and enabling scholars at home and abroad to learn more and more from each other, which could also be seen as a success achieved in the international academic exchanges about the history of the 1911 Revolution. Fourth, the controversy over the nature of the 1911 Revolution had promoted the study of the early bourgeoisie. “Symposium Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” held in Wuchang in 1981 took it as the theme of the conference and there appeared a fierce debate between Chinese and foreign scholars. After this conference, in order to promote mutual exchanges between Chinese and foreign scholars, Prof. Chen Zhirang, a famous Chinese Canadian scholar, translated five submitted papers written by Chinese scholars into English in person and got them published as a special issue in Chinese Studies in History in the United States,4 which enabled Western scholars to have a direct understanding of Chinese scholars’ viewpoints, methods, and historical facts. In the meantime, there appeared “an argument between ZhangYufa and Zhang Kaiyuan”, to wit, the debate over whether the nature of the 1911 Revolution should be a mass revolution or the bourgeois revolution, at the Chicago Conference in April 1982. Due to the time constraints at the conference, speakers in this argument could not speak out their opinions freely. Moreover, many newspapers and periodicals in Taiwan of China even published distorted and aggressive reports after the conference. So, Zhang Kaiyuan responded by writing the long article entitled Responding to Taipei Scholars on the Nature of the 1911 Revolution and got it published in the first issue of Modern Chinese History Studies in 1983. In this article, the author fully explained the large number of historical facts and the theories and methods applied in regarding the 1911 Revolution as the bourgeois revolution, enabling scholars from Hong Kong and Taiwan of China to directly understand our academic insights at a higher level. Through these disputes and mutual communication, many overseas scholars gradually reduced their academic bias (even political prejudice) against the 1911 Revolution studies in Mainland China, and conducted academic exchanges and even some cooperative research with us in an objective and friendly manner. As early as the early 1980s, Hong Kong researchers on

86  ZHANG Kaiyuan the 1911 Revolution studies, represented by Wang Dezhao, Wulun Nixia and others, had started to communicate with mainland scholars frequently. By the mid-​1980s, the more fruitful Taiwan research group on the 1911 Revolution studies, represented by Jiang Yongjing, Zhang Pengyuan, Zhang Yufa and others gradually strengthened their concerns over and exchanges with the mainland researchers. The friendly cooperation among the researchers on the 1911 Revolution from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong had made the research in this field more prosperous and developed.

3.3  The stage of sustainable development (1991–​1999) Needless to say, studies on the history of the 1911 Revolution in China had shown a clear downward trend in the late 1980s, which could be seen from the number of papers published on this topic as mentioned above. The main reasons could be summarized as follows: first, the cultural history studies fever and modernization studies had distracted some researchers from the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution; second, research on the history of the 1911 Revolution had already reached a fairly high level (the so-​called “academic plateau phenomenon”); it would need time to re-​accumulate and explore to produce further developments and major breakthroughs; third, scholars’ living in poverty and other social causes had urged some young and middle-​ aged scholars to seek development in other professions; fourth, the lack of funds had exerted a direct impact on the timely publication of relevant works, data and academic journals. However, the situation was not entirely pessimistic. There were still many positive factors hidden in the downtrend. First, some large-​scale academic projects started in the 1980s had still been carried on. For example, Chen Xiqi’s A Chronicle of Sun Yat-​sen (three volumes and 1.55 million characters, Zhonghua Book Company, 1991), Jin Chongji and Hu Shengwu’s History of the 1911 Revolution (Volumes 2–​4. The whole book series consists of more than 1.5 million characters and was published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 1991)  and Continuation of Data on the 1911 Revolution, a volume of The Data Collections of Modern Chinese History, edited by Zhang Kaiyuan and Lin Zengping who were commissioned by Zhonghua Book Company (it has about 300 million characters and mainly consists of Chinese, English, French and Japanese archives, it was compiled but not published in time because of financial issues). In the 1990s, Series of Collected Works of the Historical Figures in the 1911 Revolution also published Collected Works of Dai Jitao (one million characters) edited by Sang Bing and Tang Wenquan, Collected Works of Liu Kuiyi edited by Rao Huaimin and Collected Works of Zhou Xuexi edited by Yu Heping. The publication of the Dictionary of the 1911 Revolution (Wuhan Publishing House, 1991), collectively compiled by scholars from Wuhan, was also one of the major achievements in the study of the 1911 Revolution. Second, as early as 1984, Zhang Kaiyuan proposed that the study of the 1911 Revolution must “be extended both longitudinally and horizontally”.5

History of the 1911 Revolution  87 In the late 1980s, relevant studies had actually developed toward this direction quietly. History is a continuous process of movement from a longitudinal perspective and a complete multi-​layered social structure and even an international structure from a horizontal perspective. Any important historical event must not be discussed in isolation, but should be discussed in the historical process and social system so as to have a broad research space and a lasting academic life. After the mid-​1980s, a batch of hard-​working researchers on the history of the 1911 Revolution made turns in their studies, which was actually bringing or was about to bring the research on history of the 1911 Revolution to a new level. For example, Tang Zhijun had always been known for Zhang Taiyan studies, but his new book Study of Confucian Classics in Modern Times and the Politics (Zhonghua Book Company, 1989) embodied such extension and mastery, which not only summarized the author’s years of research on the study of Confucian classics, but also enhanced our understanding of the 1911 Revolution and historical figures like Zhang Taiyan from the aspect of relations between academic studies and politics. From the mid-​1980s, Zhang Kaiyuan, Luo Fuhui and other scholars turned to research on the history of cultural thought and China’s modernization, edited and published Series on the Comparative Studies of Modernizations in China and Foreign Countries. However, they did not completely depart from the 1911 Revolution studies, but led it to the paths of cultural history studies and comparative studies of modernization from different perspectives and thus enabled it to have broader perspectives and deeper thinking. Third, the more obvious result of this extension and mastery was the rise of the historical studies of chambers of commerce and social groups. In 1982, Zhang Kaiyuan had made it clear at the Chicago Conference that the archives of chambers of commerce were indispensable materials for the study of Chinese bourgeoisie, which had attracted many scholars’ attention at home and abroad. Since then, the Institute of Historical Studies of Huazhong Normal University (now renamed Institute of Modern History of China) and the Suzhou Archives, the Institute of Historical Studies of Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences and Tianjin Federation of Industry and Commerce had invested a large amount of manpower in editing and publishing Series on Archives of Chambers of Commerce in Suzhou (Vol. 1, 117 million characters, Huazhong Normal University Press, 1991)  and Archives of Chambers of Commerce in Tianjin (2 Volumes, 87  million characters, Tianjin People’s Publishing House, 1989) respectively. In response to these works, more and more doctoral dissertations took the chambers of commerce in China as research object at home and abroad, large-​scale academic conferences themed on the history of chambers of commerce in China were held, and the Research Institute of Chamber of Commerce History was established. The study of chamber of commerce history not only facilitated the analysis of the actual status, role and function of the bourgeoisie in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, but also provided a new perspective and vision for major issues like “civil society” and “public space” which were being heatedly

88  ZHANG Kaiyuan discussed then. Historical studies of chambers of commerce was accompanied by the studies of various social groups, such as gentry-​merchants group, associations of merchants, students, governor-​generals and inspector-​generals, publishers, and even the Japanese ronin in Mainland China and so on. The project “Studies of Modern Officials, Gentry, Merchants and Students”, a key project listed in the “Ninth Five-​Year Plan for the Social Sciences” was a collection of these studies. The hosts and participants of this project hoped they would not only open up a new field for the study of the 1911 Revolution, but also provide a new key for interpreting modern Chinese history. Fourth, the generational renewal of the research team for the 1911 Revolution studies had proceeded normally. In the last decade of the 20th century, there appeared the phenomenon of generational renewal in history circles all over the world. Even the small field of the 1911 Revolution studies was no exception. As early as the mid-​1980s, especially in the international symposium commemorating the 120th birthday of Sun Yat-​sen held in 1986, a batch of high-​spirited young scholars sprang up. From the 1990s, whether in the symposium commemorating the 80th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution and the international symposium commemorating the 130th birthday of Sun Yat-​sen, or in various academic exchanges and the writing of important works, we could see that scholars of the middle and new generations had gradually replaced the elder scholars’ important positions. Most of these newly risen academic backbones had received systematic postgraduate education after 1976 and thus had a good professional foundation and methodological training. They were also innovative in theory and methodology through academic exchanges and had more sources of data and information than ever before. Most of their dissertations were results of long-​term accumulation and rigorous training, so they could always make some breakthroughs and innovations in a certain aspect, and even lay the initial foundation for opening up new fields. For example, Ma Min’s Between the Officials and Merchants:  the Modern Gentry-​Merchants in the Social Upheaval (Tianjin People’s Publishing House, 1995), Zhu Ying’s The Society and the State during the Transition Period –​From the Perspective of Chambers of Commerce in Modern China (Huazhong Normal University Press, 1997), Yu Heping’s Chambers of Commerce and Early Modernization of China (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1993), Sang Bing’s Students at the Schools of the Late Qing Dynasty and the Social Changes (Taiwan Rice Township Press, 1991), Le Zheng’s The Social Mentality of Modern Shanghai People (1860–​1910) (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1991), Zhao Jun’s The 1911 Revolution and Japanese Ronin in Mainland China (China Encyclopedia Press, 1991), He Jianming’s The Modern Adjustment of the Buddhist Concepts (Guangdong People’s Publishing House, 1998), Qiu Jie’s The Revolutionary Movements Led by Sun Yat-​sen and Guangdong in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China (Guangdong People’s Publishing House, 1996) and others were all groundbreaking works of varying degrees. It was precisely because of the emergence of a group of outstanding young and middle-​aged scholars, and

History of the 1911 Revolution  89 many older scholars’ sticking to their research work that the 1911 Revolution studies could develop continuously under rather unfavorable circumstances.

3.4  The deepening of research at the beginning of the 21st century (2000–​2009) After more than half a century’s exploration, accumulation and inheritance by several generations of Chinese scholars, the study of the history of the 1911 Revolution has gained a series of landmark achievements and has become a branch subject with international influence. At the same time as the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution became a “famous subject”, it also gradually entered the “plateau” of academic research. The discovery of new historical materials, the proposition of new arguments and the breakthrough of the inherent thinking mode all faced challenges. Fortunately, the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution could still make some advance in several aspects on a higher academic platform from 2000 to 2009 because of the following reasons: First, the former research teams and individuals who were experts in the 1911 Revolution studies still regarded this field as their mission and persisted in it. The Institute of Modern History of China of Huazhong Normal University published Officials, Gentry, Merchants and Scholars in Modern Chinese History (edited by Zhang Kaiyuan, Hubei People’s Publishing House, 2000) in 2000 and also published a series of achievements in 2001, including Zhang Kaiyuan and Tian Tong’s Zhang Jian and Modern Society, Ma Min’s Evolution of the Merchants’ Spirit –​A Study of the Spiritual Concepts of Modern Chinese Merchants, Zhu Ying’s Modern Chinese Merchants and the Society, Yan Changhong and Xu Xiaoqing’s Long Live the Year of Guimao –​Revolutionary Thought and Revolutionary Movements in 1903 and Luo Fuhui’s Research on the Elite Culture during the Period of the 1911 Revolution (all published by Huazhong Normal University Press, 2001). The 1911 Revolution and the Political Development of China (Huazhong Normal University Press, 2005)  edited by Zhang Kaiyuan and Yan Changhong in 2005 gave a more complete and systematic account of the relationship between the 1911 Revolution and the political situations in China and highlighted the historical position and role of the 1911 Revolution from the aspects of the evolution of political thought, national identity, party politics, institution building, regime construction, constitutionalism and diplomacy. The Institute of Modern History of China of Huazhong Normal University also continued its publication of “Series of Collected Works of the Historical Figures in the 1911 Revolution” and published Collected Works of Zongyang Shangren (Shangren is a courtesy title for a Buddhist monk) (edited by Shen Qian, Huazhong Normal University Press, 2000) and Collected Works of Zhang Nanxian (edited by Yan Changhong & Zhang Mingyu, et al. Huazhong

90  ZHANG Kaiyuan Normal University Press, 2005). In 2001, Wuhan Publishing House published A Governor, A City and A Revolution written by Pi Mingxiu, an expert on the study of the 1911 Revolution, and the Research Institute of the History of the 1911 Revolution and the Wuchang Research Center for the 1911 Revolution continued to edit and publish Series on the History of the 1911 Revolution and Research Trends in the 1911 Revolution Studies. In the same year, Zhongshan University Press published a book series named “Sun Yat-​sen and Academic Studies in Modern China” written by scholars at the Department of History of Zhongshan University, mainly including Sang Bing’s Sun Yat-​sen’s Activities and Thoughts, Duan Yunzhang’s Sun Yat-​sen’s Examination of the Domestic Situations, Li Jikui’s The Life and Work of Sun Yat-​sen, Zhou Xingliang’s Sun Yat-​sen and the Democratic Revolution in Modern China and Lin Jiayou’s Sun Yat-​sen and the Awakening of Modern China. Researchers at the Institute of Sun Yat-​ sen Studies of Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences published a collection of their papers entitled The 1911 Revolution and the Democratic Process of China (Beijing Yanshan Press, 2001). Other fine works included Yu Xintun’s Sino-​Japanese Diplomatic History during the 1911 Revolution Period (Tianjin People’s Publishing House, 2000), Wang Linmao’s History of the 1911 Revolution in Zhejiang Province (Zhejiang University Press, 2001), Hu Guoshu’s The Restoration Society and the 1911 Revolution in Zhejiang Province (Hangzhou Press, 2002), Sang Bing’s The Rescue of the King in 1900 and the Political Situation of the Late Qing Dynasty (Peking University Press, 2004), Wu Jianjie’s A Chronicle of Zhang Zhidong (Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, 2009), and Lin Jiayou et al.’s Research on Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Social Construction. (Zhongshan University Press, 2009) It is gratifying to note that the history of the 1911 Revolution was still one of the topics for doctoral dissertations. Dissertations themed on “the 1911 Revolution” included Revolutionary Movements in Hu’nan and Hubei Provinces during the 1911 Revolution (written by Huo Xiuyong, Hu’nan Normal University, 2002), Modern Capitalist Development in Hu’nan and the 1911 Revolution (written by Chen Xi, Hu’nan Normal University, 2002), Manchu Studies before and after the 1911 Revolution (written by Chang Shuhong, Beijing Normal University, 2003), Study of the 1911 Revolution in Jiangsu (written by Wang Peiliang, Hu’nan Normal University, 2004), Concepts of Political Parties during the 1911 Revolution (written by Wen Li, Fudan University, 2006) and The 1911 Revolution and the Urban Space (written by Qu Jun, East China Normal University, 2007). Second, a series of commemorative academic activities held for the 1911 Revolution promoted the ongoing discussions on related issues. On the 90th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Association of Chinese Historians, Hubei Federation of Social Sciences and Wuchang Research Center for the 1911 Revolution jointly held the

History of the 1911 Revolution  91 “International Symposium in Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution” in mid-​October 2001. Scholars both at home and abroad submitted 102 papers and had discussions on the political situation and political groups during the 1911 Revolution, revolutionary movements and uprisings, historical figures, Chinese national identity, the 1911 Revolution and the international community, industrial and commercial activities, state and society, ideology and culture, and the academic history of the 1911 Revolution studies and other issues.6 This symposium was the first review of the 1911 Revolution studies in the 21st century. Before and after this symposium, several provinces and cities held various academic conferences of different ranks in succession. Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, Chengdu Academy of Social Sciences, Sichuan University and others jointly held the “Symposium on Revolution and Modernization of China”. Nankai University held a seminar to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution, discussing the overall assessment of the 1911 Revolution, related topics on Tianjin and the 1911 Revolution, the impact of the 1911 Revolution on the society of the early Republic of China and other issues. The Department of History of Hong Kong Baptist University sponsored the “International Symposium on 1911 Revolution, Sun Yat-​sen and the 21st Century China”, whose topics included historical evaluation of the 1911 Revolution, the 1911 Revolution and the political and social changes in modern China, overseas Chinese and foreign relations of China. The “Symposium on the 1911 Revolution and Social Development in Contemporary China”, sponsored by Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences and other institutions and held by the Institute for Sun Yat-​ sen Studies of Zhongshan University and other institutes, received 94 papers themed on “the 1911 Revolution and contemporary social changes”, “Sun Yat-​sen’s thought and great cause of national reunification” and “The character of advancing with the times reflected by the historical figures in the 1911 Revolution and the development of contemporary Chinese society”.7 In 2004, Zhongshan University and Guangdong Museum of Revolution jointly held an international symposium entitled “Sun Yat-​sen and the World”. In 2005, Anhui Normal University, Anhui University and other institutions hosted the “International Symposium on the 1911 Revolution and the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River and the Centennial Anniversary of the Chinese Revolutionary League and the Yuewanghui Association”. Apart from discussing associations such as the Chinese Revolutionary League and the Yuewanghui Association, the delegates of this symposium also paid attention to the political, economic, and social changes in Anhui before and after the 1911 Revolution.8 Third, related academic research had also touched upon the 1911 Revolution. The Institute of Chinese Modern History at Central China Normal University held the “International Symposium on Modern Chinese Social Groups and Economic Organizations”, the “Symposium on China’s Road:  Historical Exploration and Comparison”, the “Symposium on the Economy and Society of China after the Late Qing Dynasty” and the

92  ZHANG Kaiyuan “Symposium on Social Groups and Social Changes in Modern China” in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. The Institute of Qing History Studies at Renmin University of China held the “International Symposium on the Famines and Chinese Society in the Qing Dynasty”, the “International Symposium on Western Learning and the Culture of the Qing Dynasty” (co-​sponsored with the National Committee on the Compilation of Qing History) and the “International Symposium on the Social Surveys in Late Qing and Republic of China and the Rise of Modern Social Sciences” in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2006, “The First International Symposium on the State and Society of the Late Qing Dynasty” was co-​sponsored by the Research Office of Political History in Late Qing Dynasty of the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the School of Sociology College at Suzhou University and jointly held by seven institutions including the National Committee on the Compilation of Qing History, the Institute of Historical Studies of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and so on. The Research Center for Traditional Chinese Culture of Wuhan University, Research Center for Economic History of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, and Research Institute of Urban Studies of Jianghan University jointly held the “International Symposium on Zhang Zhidong and Chinese Modernization” in September 2009. At all these conferences, there were researchers taking the historical facts before and after the 1911 Revolution as topics. The third, fourth and fifth international symposia on Zhang Jian jointly held by the Association of Chinese Historians and other institutions in 2000, 2006 and 2009 respectively all discussed Zhang Jian and the political situations in the late Qing Dynasty. Fourth, the Project on the Qing History provided a publishing platform for the 1911 Revolution studies. This project was started in August 2002. It invited more than a thousand experienced experts to conduct collective research. At the same time, it also attached importance to basic research. It set up the documents group, archives group, the compilation and translation group, the editorial board of the research series, the publication group, and allocated special funds for the publication of four series, to wit: the “Documents Series”, the “Archives Series”, the “Compilation and Translation Series” and the “Research Series”. By the end of 2006, a total of 40 kinds and 380 volumes of books had been published. It had also published five volumes of five series on photo catalogues, two volumes of two kinds of catalogues of works on the Qing history and five volumes of five series of translations on the Qing history.9 Some of these works were literature and research related to the 1911 Revolution and representative ones included Yun Yuding’s Diaries in Cheng Zhai edited by Shi Xiaofeng (Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 2004), the eight-​volume A New Compilation of Data on the 1911 Revolution edited by Zhang Kaiyuan, Luo Fuhui, and Yan Changhong (Hubei People’s Publishing House, 2008), the two-​ volume Collections of Archives of the Business Groups in Suzhou edited by the Institute of Chinese Modern History of Central China Normal University and Suzhou Archives (Bashu Publishing

History of the 1911 Revolution  93 House, 2007), the 18-​volume Collection of Qing Archives of the Incident of 1900 edited by China’s first historical archives (Renmin University Press, 2003), the 18-​volume Qing Archives of Rehe edited by China’s First Historical Archives and the Bureau of Cultural Relics and Landscape Architecture of Chengde (China Archives Press, 2003), the 30-​volume Archives of Zhongnanhai in the Qing Dynasty edited by China’s First Historical Archives (National Microcopy Center, 2004), the 40-​volume Collection of Telegraph Files of the Grand Council of the Qing Dynasty edited by China’s First Historical Archives (Renmin University Press, 2005), the 12-​volume Complete Works of Zhang Zhidong edited by Zhao Dexin (Wuhan Publishing House, 2008), Thirty Years in Mukden (1883–​1913) written by Dugald Christie from Britain (Hubei People’s Publishing House, 2007), The Little-​Known Sino-​Japanese Alliance and Others written by Kong Xiangji and Murata Yujiro (Bashu Publishing House, 2004) and Zhang Jian –​The Precursor of Early Modernization in China edited by Yu Heping (Jilin Literature and History Press, 2004). Fifth, Western analytical frameworks had been localized by Chinese scholars. The “state-​society” model has exerted a profound impact on historiography in the recent ten-​odd years. Since the mid-​1990s, some scholars such as Ma Min and Zhu Ying had not been entangled with the dispute over the connotation of this analysis framework, but focused on the empirical research. Under the influence of these scholars, a large number of relevant studies had consciously or unconsciously cut into the relevant studies on the history of the 1911 Revolution within this framework, in other words, this analytical framework had already been “internalized” as researchers’ thinking orientation. Scholars studying the New Deal of the late Qing Dynasty and Qiu Jie, Guo Qin, Li Ming, Liu Zenghe, Wang Di, Li Deying, Xu Jilin, Cheng Meibao and Ma Xiangyuan and others all tried to summarize China’s characteristics differently from the Western binary opposition of “state and society” and explore the characterization and essence of modern “civil society” and the “public sphere”.10 Among them, the assertion that the mass media, academies and schools formed the “public domain” independently was a good follow-​up to the thinking of the research on the chambers of commerce. Sang Bing’s “consciousness of the middle society” summarized from the historical facts provided an explanation for this analytical model.11 Studies carried out at the beginning of the 21st century had deepened the previous research in the following aspects: First, textual research on historical facts such as the mystery of Guangxu’s death. Emperor Guangxu died at the age of 38 in the Yingtai Hanyuan Hall of Zhongnanhai on November 14, 1908. Coincidentally, when Guangxu was dying, Cixi was also incurably sick and died within 24 hours later on November 15 during the period between 1:00  p.m. and 3:  00  p.m. The relation between Cixi and Guangxu had worsened because of the Reform Movement of 1898, so there appeared rumors, speculation and comments about Guangxu’s death both at home and abroad. Some said that Cixi

94  ZHANG Kaiyuan had killed Guangxu, some said that Li Lianying had forced Guangxu to commit suicide, and some said that Yuan Shikai had murdered him, which made this issue complicated and confusing. Historians had also made many studies on this issue. Since the 1980s, there had published as many as 100 papers and dozens of books. Based on the imperial diagnostic records and prescriptions, most scholars tended to believe that Guangxu’s death was actually the result of his long-​term deterioration in health, and it was a purely natural death rather than a murder committed by Cixi. It was just a coincidence that Guangxu and Cixi died one after the other.12 With the support of the National Committee on the Compilation of Qing History, the research group on the cause of Emperor Guangxu’s death took five years to deduce that Guangxu died from arsenic poisoning by means of a variety of scientific detection,13 and this conclusion was made public by the National Committee on the Compilation of Qing History in November 2008. Of course, if we could ascertain the death date of Emperor Guangxu together with Cixi’s physical condition, cause of death and date of death, we would further confirm the conclusion that Cixi poisoned Guangxu. No matter how Guangxu died or who murdered him, all kinds of rumors about Guangxu’s death are enough to reflect the contradictions between the emperor and the empress dowager, between the emperor and the ministers and among the ministers, and the turbulent political situation in the late Qing Dynasty. Second, collation and compilation of documents. A New Compilation of Data on the 1911 Revolution was divided into eight volumes with a total of 5.1  million characters according to the categories of documents, including collections of works by people of the time, chronologies of historical figures, biographies and diaries, archives of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jilin and Yunnan provinces, selections from Singapore’s Zhongxing Daily and Nanyang Zong Hui Xin Bao, and lots of rare unpublished documents such as the documents of France’s War Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Britain’s Foreign Office. The publication of the diaries of important historical figures and emperors’ intimate officials, such as Yun Yuding’s Diaries in Cheng Zhai of YunYuding, the imperial diarist of Qing, and Self-​Narration in Yizhai of Wang Xitong, one of Yuan Shikai’s staff members after 1909 (punctuated and annotated by Zheng Yongfu and Lv Meiyi, Henan University Press, 2001), had provided an excellent perspective for observing the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China and evaluating Emperor Guangxu and Yuan Shikai. The 39-​volume Complete Works of Li Hongzhang edited by Gu Tinglong and Dai Yi (Anhui Education Press, 2007) collected scattered and lost documents in Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui and others based on Wu Rulun’s Complete Works of Li Hongzhang, nearly two-​thirds of which were open to the public for the first time.

History of the 1911 Revolution  95 Third, the research paradigm and the evaluation standard of the 1911 Revolution. Different paradigms hinged on different value orientations. Both the revolution paradigm and the modernization paradigm had their own followers, which involved the overall evaluation of the New Deal of the late Qing Dynasty and the 1911 Revolution. There was a typical conflict between these two paradigms at the beginning of 2006. Yuan Weishi published the article “Modernization and History Textbook” (The Bingdian Weekly of China Youth Daily, January 11, 2006) to oppose blind patriotism like the Boxers in the Boxer Uprising, remind Chinese people to reflect on the “revolution” like the Boxer Uprising, call on people to “get rid of the cultural mentality of vulgarized revolution” and advocate looking at the “revolutions” in modern China in the world process of modernization. The direct impact of the modernization paradigm on the history of the 1911 Revolution was to negate the historical facts of the 1911 Revolution, overstate the contribution of the New Deal of the late Qing Dynasty, and even claim that the 1911 Revolution had interrupted the modernization process opened by the New Deal. Yuan Weishi thought that the 1911 Revolution “did not make much contribution”, but acknowledged that “it had accelerated the reform in ideology” and affirmed that “the 1911 Revolution was the real starting point of the New Culture Movement”; Yuan emphasized that “on the eve of the 1911 Revolution, the Qing Dynasty was being transformed into a constitutional regime” whereas most of the governments claiming to be republic were authoritarian regimes, and “on the eve of the revolution, the Qing government was more likely to complete the transition to democratic and law-​governing system than the following governments of the warlord era”.14 Zhang Haipeng wrote “Anti-​ Imperialism and Anti-​Feudalism Are the Themes of Modern Chinese History” and “Re-​Discussion on Modernization and History Textbook” (The Bingdian Weekly of China Youth Daily, March 1, 2006) in response to the paradigmatic mistake in Yuan Wen’s article, emphasizing that historical studies should not be divorced from historical facts and historical scenes and pointing out that revolution is the theme of history and the premise of modernization. Zhang insisted on making use of the merits of these two paradigms:  “writing the modern history of China within the ‘revolutionary history paradigm’ would confine ourselves to the perspective of revolutionary history and thus pay inadequate attention to social and economic development and social changes. If we could take the perspective of ‘modernization paradigm’ under the guidance of the ‘revolutionary history paradigm’ and pay more attention to the development of social economy, the social changes and their reaction to the revolutionary process from the perspective of modernization theory, we would perfect some shortcomings of the ‘revolutionary history paradigm’. In turn, if we do not pay attention to the dominance of the ‘revolutionary history paradigm’ and simply analyze and write China’s modern history within the ‘modernization paradigm’, we may change and rewrite China’s modern history”.15

96  ZHANG Kaiyuan Although the evaluation of the 1911 Revolution had experienced a change from the perspective of revolutionary history to the perspective of modernization history, the mainstream evaluation still advocated an objective approach to history. In his paper “Internal Relations between the 1911 Revolution and the ‘New Deal’ of the Late Qing Dynasty and Others” (Academic Research, No. 9, 2002), Guo Shiyou pointed out that there existed a causal relationship between the 1911 Revolution and the New Deal which depended on each other, restricted each other and provided historical conditions for each other; Guo also emphasized that the financial difficulties, broken political authority and weak governance of the late Qing Dynasty doomed the failure of the New Deal and the dynastic rule. The success of the 1911 Revolution was also not the result of the unilateral efforts of the revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-​ sen, that is, “the 1911 anti-​Manchu chorus came into being when the objective conditions for the revolution were ripe whereas the subjective conditions were not ripe yet”. Zhang Haipeng and Li Xizhu also held the same view in their New Deal, Constitutionalism and the 1911 Revolution (1901–​1912), the fifth volume of General History of Modern China (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2006). Fourth, the nature of the 1911 Revolution. The nature of the 1911 Revolution is closely related to its subject, motive force, goal and result. The existing assertion that the 1911 Revolution is a “bourgeois revolution” has been questioned by the academia. After analyzing the motivation, supporters and goals of the 1911 Revolution, Zhang Xianwen pointed out that “the 1911 Revolution should not be defined as a bourgeois revolution” but a national democratic revolution. Zhang also negated the failure of the 1911 Revolution, saying that the 1911 Revolution had completed the task of overthrowing the autocratic rule of the Qing Dynasty and establishing a democratic republic. “As for the more complex task of social transformation faced by people of that time, it was by no means a task that could be accomplished by the Wuchang Uprising or the revolutionaries in a short time”. So, we should not judge the revolutionary pioneers too harshly.16 Similarly, Guo Shiyou proposed that “in terms of the essence or nature of the 1911 Revolution, it is not so much a bourgeois revolution as an organic combination of the domestic national revolution with the theme of anti-​Manchu and the political revolution to replace the monarchy with the democracy”. Guo’s arguments are as follows: (1) the question whether Sun Yat-​sen, who advocated controlling the private capital, could represent the bourgeoisie is uncertain; (2) few of the revolutionary leaders including Sun Yat-​sen sympathized with equality and human rights; (3) whether the revolution was actually conducive to the participation of the bourgeoisie in politics needs to be examined. For example, The Election Law for Members of the House of Representatives, which was passed by the Provisional Senate with Chinese Revolutionary League as its backbone in 1912, contained a number of provisions that were not conducive to the participation of the majority of capitalists in the regime of the Republic of China; (4) If the “New Deal”

History of the 1911 Revolution  97 is recognized as a reform of a capitalist nature and the 1911 Revolution was believed to open the way for the development of capitalism, does the 1911 Revolution still have revolutionary nature and necessity? These points are a comprehensive reflection on the bourgeois nature of the 1911 Revolution.17 Zhu Zongzhen judged the 1911 Revolution by its direct consequences, success and failure. He argued that the social foundation of China had not changed fundamentally after the 1911 Revolution. “Theoretically speaking, the 1911 Revolution should be a national revolution, … but in fact, its practice did not reach the level of a national revolution, so it is still a bourgeois revolution”. The “essence” of the 1911 Revolution “is still a movement for the replacement of dynasties, but in terms of direction, it had started the most preliminary and therefore the most extensive exploration for building a modern country”.18 Ding Youwen et  al. reviewed the existing studies and proposed that the concept of “bourgeoisie” must be clarified first. If we understand it from the broad perspective of Western bourgeois democracy, Sun Yat-​sen and other revolutionary leaders had the bourgeois attributes. If the “bourgeoisie” is limited to commercial and industrial capitalists, the anti-​Qing revolution lacked class basis compared with the movement for a constitutional monarchy of the same period. They pointed out that the class attribute of revolutionaries and the class attribute of revolutionary movements should be a pair of concepts which have connections with but are different from each other. If we hold that the 1911 Revolution is a bourgeois revolution, we not only have to prove that the class represented by the leaders and participants of the revolution is the bourgeois class, but also how the majority of capitalists who are represented by this revolution actively responded to and participated in the revolutionary struggle … Although Sun Yat-​sen and others had received enthusiastic support from some capitalists in the long-​term preparation and launching process, these capitalists, after all, were only a minority and lacked proper representation. Sun Yat-​sen and others did not mainly rely on the support of these capitalists, but on their own long-​term struggle to usher in the climax of the anti-​Qing revolution. The mass of capitalists didn’t begin to draw closer to the revolutionary ranks until the climax of the anti-​Qing revolution arrived. They stressed that “first, the revolutionaries are the political spokesmen of the bourgeoisie, their thoughts and programs are the revolutionary thoughts and programs of the bourgeoisie, and their class attribute is the bourgeoisie; second, capitalists, as the main body and basic entity of the bourgeoisie, did not give enough support to the 1911 Revolution from beginning to end, and the class foundation of the Revolution was very weak”. Ding Youwen et al. also held that Sun Yat-​sen’s “controlling of the private capital”, the program for people’s livelihood, is not conducive to mobilizing capitalists’ revolutionary enthusiasm. Therefore, it is unconvincing to assert that Sun Yat-​sen represented the middle and lower classes of the bourgeoisie and that the 1911 Revolution is a bourgeois revolution.19 Fifth, the study of the New Deal of the late Qing Dynasty had become a common topic for history, political science, and the science of law and

98  ZHANG Kaiyuan produced fruitful results, the representative ones of which include Guan Xiaohong’s Research on the Ministry of Education of the Late Qing Dynasty (Guangdong Education Press, 2000), Shang Xiaoming’s Students Studying in Japan and the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty (Jiangxi Education Press, 2003), Li Xizhu’s Research on Zhang Zhidong and the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty (Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2003), Liu Wei’s The Politics of Governors and Governors-​General in the Late Qing Dynasty: Research on the Relationship between Central and Local Authorities (Hubei Education Press, 2003), Zhao Yuntian’s Research on the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty:  The Frontier of China in the Early 20th Century (Heilongjiang Education Press, 2004), Liu Zenghe’s The Opium Tax and the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2005), and Su Quanyou’s Research on the Ministry of Posts and Communication of the Late Qing Dynasty (Zhonghua Book Company, 2005), Zhang Hailin’s Duanfang and the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty (Nanjing University Press, 2007), and Li Xizhu and Zhang Haipeng’s New Deal, Constitutionalism and the 1911 Revolution (1901–​1912), the fifth volume of General History of Modern China (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2006). A large proportion of these works are on constitutionalism and legal reform, such as Ma Xiaoquan’s The State and the Society: Local Autonomy and Constitutional Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty (Henan University Press, 200), Zhao Xiaohua’s Social Investigation into the Judicial System of the Late Qing Dynasty (Renmin University Press, 2001), Cheng Liaoyuan’s World of the Legal Officials in the Late Qing Dynasty (Law Press, 2003), Gao Wang’s Political Transformation in the Late Qing Dynasty  –​Centering on the Constitutional Reform of the Late Qing Dynasty (China Social Sciences Press, 2003), Bian Xiuquan’s The Thought of Constitutionalism and Legal Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty (China Social Sciences Press, 2003), You Zhian’s Research on the Reform in Criminal Justice System of the Late Qing Dynasty (Publishing House of People’s Public Security University of China, 2004), Shen Xiaomin’s Staying Unchanged and Seeking Change: The Provincial Assembly and Provincial Council of Zhejiang Province in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2005), Zhou Songqing’s Research on Local Autonomy in Shanghai (1905–​1927) (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 2005), and Chen Yu’s Bureau of Law Revision in the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty (China University of Political Science and Law Press, 2009). Most of the above studies highlighted that scholars not only recognized the historical fact that the New Deal and the 1911 Revolution derived from and interacted with each other at the same time, but also sympathized with the value orientation that brought the New Deal into the category of political revolution.

3.5  Retrospect and prospect Sixty years is only an instant in history. After many ups and downs and twists and turns, the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution has finally

History of the 1911 Revolution  99 developed to the current level from small to large, from low to high and from weak to strong. Its great popularity, numerous experts and long-​term continuity have all been recognized by historians at home and abroad. The reasons for these achievements can be summarized as follows: First, the 1911 Revolution studies have received much care and support from the government and the society. Large-​scale academic conferences have been held every 10  years to commemorate the 1911 Revolution and Sun Yat-​sen’s birthday, and the interval between these two anniversaries is five years. Academic research is similar to sports and they both need incentive mechanisms in various forms and at different levels, and the five-​year cycle is generally in line with the pace of progress in historical research. However, when seeking support from the government and the society, scholars must maintain the independent nature of academic research and conform to their own norms, and should not confuse research with political propaganda or the so-​called “serving the economic development”. The reason why the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution can increasingly improve its academic quality and win wide acclaim from overseas scholars is precisely because it has gradually formed a fine tradition in this respect. Second, much attention has been paid to the cultivation and support of young scholars. The restoration of the degree in education had provided a good opportunity to select and train higher-​level researchers for the 1911 Revolution studies. National academic conferences for young researchers on the 1911 Revolution and Sun Yat-​sen were held successively, and senior scholars were invited to select outstanding papers carefully and summarize their merits and demerits, which was an effective way to encourage young scholars to accelerate their growth. We can see that many of the academic backbones who are active in the research frontier of the 1911 Revolution at present used to be participants and winners of the conferences for young researchers. Of course, it is not difficult for us to find the painstaking efforts and good influence of the older generation of scholars in these new forces. In addition, it is also one of the reasons why the research team of the 1911 Revolution studies has been growing stronger and stronger so that new researchers have been identified and helped without any restriction to participate in academic activities. Third, international academic exchanges have been strengthened continuously. After 1976, compared with other studies, the 1911 Revolution research received foreign senior scholars to study in China earlier (for example, in 1978, American Professor Michael Gasster worked as a visiting scholar in the Research Department of History of Central China Normal University for one year) and our scholars on this subject were also invited to conduct academic exchanges abroad earlier (for example, Zhang Kaiyuan and Xiao Zhizhi gave lectures in and paid visits to the United States and Japan successively in 1979). After nearly 40  years of frequent exchanges, we have established

100  ZHANG Kaiyuan stable communication with the Research Association on the 1911 Revolution in Tokyo and several important research institutions in North America and Western Europe, and exchanged our personnel and materials continuously. Many internationally renowned scholars (such as Shimada Kenji from Japan, Clarence Martin Wilbur and Joseph W. Esherick from America, Marie Claire Bergere and Marianne Bastid Bruguière from France and Min Tu-​ki from South Korea) have forged deep friendship with us, and this academic bond has gradually extended to the middle and new generations. The increasing internationalization, to wit, introducing the world’s research on the 1911 Revolution to China and China’s research on the 1911 Revolution to the world, is one of the important driving forces for pushing forward the 1911 Revolution studies. The purpose of looking back on the history of the 1911 Revolution studies is to advance the research further. In recent years, Yan Changhong and Ma Min,20 Guo Shiyou,21 Zhang Yanhua and Zhang Murong,22 Li Yu,23 Cui Zhihai,24 Du Jidong,25 Li Xizhu,26 Guo Shaomin27 and others all put forward valuable opinions on the basis of reviewing the latest studies. Some of them advocated clarifying the connotation of the 1911 Revolution and the Democracy proposed by Sun Yat-​sen, some advocated turning our attention to local history, some advocated strengthening the comparison with the political revolutions or reforms in various countries all over the world, and some advocating empirical research. Among them, the proposal of combining political history with social history aroused wide interest and was recognized by other scholars. Mao Haijian pointed out that political history focused on the “changed”, while social history focused on describing the “unchanged” in social structure and social life (here it means the changes are small, or some changes are merely in appearances rather than substance); Mao emphasized that both of them had the defect that they cannot fully reflect the historical facts by taking only some regions and some people as the points of their observation, so he advocated integrating these two kinds of research and proposed that we should not begin our exploration into the restriction of Chinese social factors on the political revolution until we had clarified the following questions: “Has Chinese society changed?” “What has changed and what has not?” “Is the changed part superficial or substantial?” Only by doing so could we explore the Western resources of the political revolution, clarify the Chinese elements in the social structure and social life, and truly grasp the “changed” and “unchanged” of modern China as well as the relationship between them and the overall trend of modern China.28 Thus we can make a more objective judgment on the arguments over the merits, success and failure of the 1911 Revolution and whether it should be a political revolution or a social revolution. This is the research path that should be followed to deeply explore the history of the 1911 Revolution. Of course, since “politics” is the core and main axis of social life, it is necessary to correct the social history thinking that overemphasizes the so-​called “daily lives of the lower class”.

History of the 1911 Revolution  101 This is also the crux of Yang Nianqun’s proposition to bring up the “political history” again.29 How to strengthen the interaction between political history and social history? First, the 1911 Revolution is undoubtedly a “fracture” in Chinese politics. However, is this political “fracture” also the result of the overall disintegration and disorder of the social structure consisting of four classes, to wit, intellectuals, peasants, workers, and merchants, and the tense relationship between the Manchus and Han people? The so-​called revolutionaries and constitutionalists both belong to the category of Western constitutionalism, so there is no fundamental theoretical conflict between them. Their distinctions lie in the huge difference between social status and social identity. What is the root of the struggle between the two parties? These are all questions we need to think about further. Second, we should strengthen macro-​thinking and learn from Western scholars. The California School is good at starting from a region first, then reasoning at a macro level, and finally comparing China with foreign countries and summing up their differences to highlight Chinese characteristics through comparing with and verifying Western experience. Due to the unbalanced development of various regions in Chinese society and the imbalance between the revolutionary process and social change, we should further compare the revolutions in various regions and explore their commonality and individuality on the basis of continuing to strengthen the research on the history of the 1911 Revolution in various regions. We should continue to compare the 1911 Revolution with the French and British revolutions to “restore” and reasonably explain the social changes in modern China. Historical studies cannot be separated from the examination and explanation of “small issues”, but we should guard against raising the “small” issues to the “big” issues, which will lead to “false issues” and turn unimportant historical facts into “historical events”. We can think about the following questions: (1) The 1911 Revolution is a bourgeois revolution in terms of the subjective motives and goals of the bourgeois revolutionaries and the characteristic that the gentry and merchants acted as the main body of the revolution in some regions (such as the Southeast China); however, in terms of the actual participants and the responses of more regions to the Revolution, the 1911 Revolution is also a national revolution. If we consider that the developed areas have a demonstration and leading role for the backward areas, and that capitalism and the bourgeoisie are symbols of the traditional society’s moving toward modern society and could represent the mainstream “discourse” of the society, can we cover the backward areas with the bourgeois revolution in the developed areas? (2)  Whose interests did the revolutionaries represent? Who was the class foundation of the revolution? (3) According to the analysis of “middle society”, can bourgeois revolutionaries exist independently as a new type of social group without their capitalist economic matrix (capitalists)? (4)  The social stratification of overseas Chinese and the political attributes of the

102  ZHANG Kaiyuan mainland bourgeoisie. (5) The 1911 Revolution and the 20th century. In his Power Shift (CITIC Press, 2006), Alvin Toffler attributed the power shifts before the 21st century to the struggle between violence (of the government), capital, and knowledge. Can we use this model to deepen the study of China? In short, we need to constantly put forward new frameworks of interpretation for the history of the 1911 Revolution. Although historical research is not the construction of historical framework, research lacking theoretical exploration would be feeble. The history of the 1911 Revolution should be interpreted within a multidimensional scope. The paradigms of modernization, revolutionary history, and cultural history (artifact-​system-​ideology) had deepened the 1911 Revolution studies in different periods and produced a number of representative works and assertions respectively. However, just as each model has its merits, each model also has its innate defect of single perspective. We should stop the arbitrary thinking of using one explanation mode to deny other ones and unilaterally holding only one explanation mode. Some scholars have pointed out that the modernization model, just like the narrative of revolutionary history it criticized, “abandoned the details and focused on the historical trends and directions, and thus ‘people’ disappeared in this macroscopic study”.30 From the macroscopic perspective, historiography is humanism, roughly including the basic aspects such as religion, philosophy, and thought which are metaphysical, and social composition, systems, and economic foundation which are physical. It is the people and the complex social relations which integrate the metaphysical aspects with the physical aspects. The study of the history of the 1911 Revolution should take “people” as its main body to not only reveal the social trends but also demonstrate “people’s” activities from multiple perspectives. The interpretation based on any kind of model is not the expression of the whole historical facts. Similarly, viewing history from a cultural perspective may also lead to irrational conclusions. From a cultural perspective, we must bear in mind that the same understanding of cultural factors shared by different political parties and social classes does not mean that they hold same values, not to mention that there exist political tolerance and inclusiveness among them, and vice versa. We should neither seek common ground in differences nor seek differences in similarities painstakingly, so as to stay away from the historical facts which look the same, but in fact are different and vice versa. It is proper to use the cultural perspective to show the complexity of culture and thought, but it is wrong to make up historical facts on that ground. Finally, we should “de-​familiarize” and break the conventional thinking pattern. Why could foreign scholars often deduce original opinions from what we regard as “common sense”? On the one hand, they have their own interpretation tools and knowledge background; on the other hand, it should not be ignored that they are “unfamiliar” with China and thus would not give up tracing back to the root of any problems. For example, Professor Edward J.M. Rhoads of the University of Texas provided us

History of the 1911 Revolution  103 with an example in the interpretation of Manchu-​Chinese relations. He did not take Manchu or Manchurian as an established concept to analyze the relationship between Manchu and Han during the 1911 Revolution, but traced the evolution of “ethnic group” (which is not only a “race” but also a division between groups formed by cultural, economic, social, linguistic, and political factors) to examine the formation process of “Manchu” as a “nation”, pointing out that the early Manchu Chinese did not refer to any ethnic groups or political status, but different occupations taken up by Han people as well. It was not until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century when the concept of nation-​state was introduced to China that “Manchu” began to transform from a professional identity into an ethnic group with corresponding political status. He emphasized that revolutionaries generally used the term “Manchu” while the authorities would use “Bannermen” instead.31 Edward Rhoads had answered the question of “who is Manchurian and who is Chinese” and the boundary between them to a certain extent. Of course, we would like to know more about the judgment about “Manchu” and its internal value by people other than the Manchus. Edward Rhoads studied the words we were “familiar” with as “unfamiliar” words and proposed some new ideas. In essence, Edward Rhoads’ approach belongs to the Western “semantic” analysis method, which has been and is being adopted by Chinese scholars. This method can help Chinese scholars complete their “de-​familiarization” so as to think without or with fewer subjective presuppositions. The study of revolutionary leaders also needs “unfamiliarization” and we should study the historical characters within the historical context rather than put “labels” on them, that is, describe the development and growth of historical figures in an all-​round way. There have been many studies on revolutionary leaders, many of them made harsh criticisms that were divorced from historical context. In fact, even Sun Yat-​sen was not born a great man but had to start from scratch. Meanwhile, great men are not “perfect”, so researchers should not beatify Sun Yat-​sen with a preconceived inclination to regard him as a “great man” or “perfect man”. It should be the most basic research method to sort out the leaders and their social relations and analyze their thoughts and psychology. Correspondingly, we can’t use the mature Western political party model to judge the revolutionary parties of China and measure the 1911 Revolution by the Western bourgeois revolution. The 60 years of research on the history of the 1911 Revolution have been fruitful. The achievements of the 1911 Revolution are not limited to the “first shot”, but more importantly, it took the “first step” toward democratic politics. The basic principles of a democratic republic and a modern state established by the 1911 Revolution (people-​oriented, rule of law, and people-​ run state) are still the yardstick and goal of social progress to this day. We believe that there will be more aspiring scholars who will make more outstanding achievements in the future.

104  ZHANG Kaiyuan

Notes 1 At the conference, issues like the New Army, the anti-​Qing secret societies, Zhang Jian’s class attribute, the main social contradictions during the 1911 period and the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the peasants were discussed more. 2 During this period, academic conferences of different scales had also been held by various provinces and cities all over the country, such as the Regional Symposiums in Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution, Symposium in Commemoration of Qiu Jin and Tao Chengzhang, Symposium on the Evaluation of Cai E, Symposium in Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Restoration Society, Symposium in Commemoration of the 100th Birthday of Zou Rong, Symposium Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Uprisings in Pingxiang, Liuyang and Liling, Symposium on Historical Data of Tang Shaoyi, Symposium in Commemoration of the 105th Birthday of Song Jiaoren, Symposium in Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of Jiang Yiwu’s Death, Symposium on Tang Shaoyi, etc. We cannot list them all since space is limited. 3 The statistic is mainly based on the catalogue of papers published over the years in Newsletter of the Research Association on the 1911 Revolution, so it is incomplete, and some of these papers are commemorative articles with less academic value. 4 These five papers are Zhang Kaiyuan’s “The 1911 Revolution and the Bourgeois in Jiangsu and Zhejiang”, Ding Richu’s “The Capitalist Class in Shanghai before the 1911 Revolution”, Pi Mingxiu’s “Chambers of Commerce and Business Groups in the Wuchang Uprising”, Qiu Jie’s “Guangdong Businessmen and the 1911 Revolution”, and Huang Yiping’s “Promotion of the 1911 Revolution to the National Capitalist Industry”. Chen Zhirang’s translations were all published in Chinese Studies in History (Spring and Summer, 1985). 5 Zhang Kaiyuan. (1984). How to Deepen the Research on the History of the 1911 Revolution. Modern Chinese History Studies, (5). 6 The Academic Section of the International Symposium Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. (2002). Review of the International Symposium Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. Modern Chinese History Studies, (1). 7 Shan Qu. (2001). “Symposium on the 1911 Revolution and Social Development in Contemporary China” was held in Cuiheng Village, Zhongshan City. Social Sciences in Guangdong, (6). 8 Ma Linghe. (2005). Review of the International Symposium on the 1911 Revolution and the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River. Journal of Anhui Normal University, (5). 9 Xu Jiajun & Luo Zheng. (2007). The National Project on the Compilation of the Qing History Achieved Fruitful Results: 396 Volumes of 55 Kinds of Books Were Published in Four Years. Wenhui Book Review, February 2. 10 Zhu Ying. (2006). “Society and State” in Modern China –​Research Review and Reflection. Jiangsu Social Sciences, (4). 11 Sang Bing. (2004). Anti-​Russia Movement and the Consciousness of Middle Society. Modern Chinese History Studies, (4). 12 Zhu Jinfu. (1982). Discussions on Emperor Guangxu’s Death Based on the Imperial Medical Records of the Qing Dynasty. Palace Museum Journal, (3); Zhou Wenquan. (1985). On Cixi’s Death. Palace Museum Journal, (4); Ma Zhongwen. (2006). Guangxu and Cixi’s Death in the Diaries of People of the Time. Social

History of the 1911 Revolution  105 Sciences in Guangdong, (5); Yehenala Genzheng. (2005). The Empress Dowager Cixi I Knew. Jincheng Press; Qu Weiying. (2007). Royal Medical Affairs: Uncovering the Secrets behind the Imperial Medical Records of the Qing Dynasty. International Culture Press; Li Rongguo. (2004). Uncovering the Secrets behind the Archives of the Court of the Qing Dynasty. China Youth Publishing House. 13 Dai Yi. (2008). Death of Guangxu. Studies in Qing History, (4). 14 Yuan Weishi. (2001). The Rights and Wrongs of the 1911 Revolution. 21st Century, (12). 15 Zhang Haipeng. (2005). Exploration into the Disciplinary System of Modern Chinese History in the 20th Century. Modern Chinese History Studies, (1). 16 Zhang Xianwen. (2008). Re-​Discussions on Several Important Issues in the Study of the History of the Republic of China. Jianghai Academic Journal, (5). 17 Guo Shiyou. (2003). The Historical End and Essence of the 1911 Revolution. In:  Society for Sun Yat-​ sen Studies (Ed.) The Multiple Construction of the 1911 Revolution –​Proceedings of the Kobe International Symposium on the 90th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. Kyuko Academy. 18 Zhu Zongzhen. (2009). Looking at the Changes in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China from a Broad Perspective. Xinhua Press, 180–​186. 19 Ding Youwen & Cha Jinxue. (2001). Looking at the Essence of the 1911 Revolution from the Performance of the Capitalist Class in the Revolution. Jiangxi Social Sciences, (8). 20 Yan Changhong & Ma Min. (2000). Research on the History of the 1911 Revolution in the 20th Century. Historical Research, (3). 21 Guo Shiyou. (2000). A Review of Studies on Sun Zhong’s Nationalism during the 1911 Revolution by Mainland Scholars in the Past 50 Years. Southeast Academic Research, (4). 22 Zhang Yanhua & Zhang Murong. (2001). A  Summary of Studies on the 1911 Revolution in the Past 20 Years. Journal of Historical Science, (4). 23 Li Yu. (2001). A  Review of Chinese Revolutionary League Studies in China. Jiangsu Social Sciences, (6). 24 Cui Zhihai. (2003). Review of Monographs on the New Deal of the Late Qing Dynasty. Modern Chinese History Studies, (4). 25 Du Jidong. (2005). A Review of Sun Yat-​sen’s Relations with Japan in Mainland China. Modern Chinese History Studies, (3). 26 Li Xizhu. A Review of Research on the Political History of the Late Qing Dynasty in Recent Five Years. Management and Review of Social Sciences, (4). 27 Guo Shaomin. (2008). Limitations and Reflection: A Review of Domestic Studies on the Constitutional History of the Late Qing Dynasty in Recent Ten Years. In: Zhou Yongkun (Ed.) Suzhou Law Review. China Legal Publishing House. 28 Mao Haijian. (2006). Challenges Facing Modern Chinese Political History and My Reflection. Historical Review, (6). 29 Yang Nianqun. (2004). Why Should We Bring up “Political History” Studies Again? Historical Research, (4). 30 Yang Nianqun. (2002). What Can We Do in the 21st Century after the Publication of New Historiography? Zhejiang Academic Journal, (2). 31 Wang Di. (2002). Edward J. M. Rhoads’ Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–​1928. Historical Research, (4).

4  History of the Northern Warlords ZHANG Jianjun1

The Northern Warlords had been an important political and military group in the modern history of China. It originated from the “New Army” which was recruited and trained by Yuan Shikai on the order of the Qing court at the Tianjin station in 1895. This “New Army” was initially under the command of the commissioner for the Northern ports and Yuan Shikai, who succeeded to this position in 1901. It had been called the “Beiyang Army”, which was a new armed force adopting a modern military system and equipped with modern military hardware. After the Qing Dynasty was overthrown by the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, relying on this army, Yuan Shikai took over the political power of republican China from Sun Yat-​sen and ascended to the provisional presidency in Beijing. From then to 1928, China had been under the regime of the Northern Warlords, whose military and political power had been successively controlled by Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai’s Anhui Clique headed by Duan Qirui and the Zhili Clique headed by Feng Guozhang, and Zhang Zuolin’s Fengtian Warlords which did not originate from Yuan Shikai’s clique but joined him latterly. Thus, the history of the Northern Warlords regime has its narrow and broad senses. In its narrow sense, it only refers to the history of Yuan Shikai’s Northern Warlords, as well as Duan Qirui’s Anhui Warlords and Feng Guozhang, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu’s Zhili Warlords, which were all direct cliques of Yuan Shikai’s Northern Warlords. In its broad sense, the history of the Northern Warlords should also include Zhang Zuolin’s Fengtian Warlords, which was not Yuan Shikai’s direct clique originally but cooperated with him latterly. Since the Northern Warlords used to be the target of Chinese people’s revolution, after the founding of New China, due to the influence of the political situation at that time, the study of the Northern Warlords’ history had been regarded as a forbidden area for a long period of time, and only two monographs had been published in the 1950s. One is Tao Juyin’s History of the Reign of the Northern Warlords (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1957), and the other is Lai Xinxia’s A Brief History of the Northern Warlords (Hubei People’s Publishing House, 1957). They criticized that like Yuan Shikai and Zhang Xun’s restoration, the purpose of Lin Biao’s advocacy of the doctrine of Confucius and Mencius was also to “restore the counterrevolutionary

History of the Northern Warlords  107 monarchy”. Since the beginning of China’s reform and opening up in the 1980s, with the continuous emancipation of people’s minds and the increasingly practical and realistic academic atmosphere, research on the history of the Northern Warlords has started to develop prosperously, and lots of research papers and works had come out, which surpassed the previous studies in terms of both quantity and quality. This paper will make a general review of and introduction to the research on the history of the Northern Warlords over the past 60 years since the founding of New China.

4.1  Theoretical issues Theoretical discussions of the history of the warlords mainly focused upon the following issues: 4.1.1  What is a warlord? What are the Northern Warlords? For the former question, Li Xin explained that a warlord must have a private army, a territory and his military government, and the military rule is the most important criterion to distinguish warlords and non-​warlords. As for the latter question, Li thought it has the following four features:  (1) it adopted the foreign military system; (2)  its finance did not completely rely on the feudal economy, but mainly on the revenue from the tariff, salt tax, the Railway Bureau, Steamboat Bureau and other government enterprises, as well as the government bonds and foreign loans; (3) it adopted the enlisting system, and its recruits were mainly from bankrupt farmers and other poor laboring people; (4) it had split unceasingly and even developed into different cliques which had their own territory and contended with each other endlessly.2 Lai Xinxia’s view on the features of the Northern Warlords was similar to that of Li Xin’s whereas Zhang Huateng had a different view. He proposed that we should use a neutral term “The Northern Group” to refer to the Beiyang Forces led by Yuan Shikai, so that we could see its history of evolution more clearly: “The Northern Group grew up in the late Qing Dynasty and developed in the early years of the Republic. After Yuan Shikai claimed to be the emperor in 1915, the Northern Group evolved into the Northern Warlords. The Northern Group gave birth to the Northern Warlords, and the Northern Warlords were the last developmental stage of the Northern Group, in which the Northern Group was heading for its extinction”. Zhang held that “this statement may be more scientific”.3 4.1.2  The origin, the time limit and the cause of the modern warlord politics Luo Ergang thought that the modern warlord politics originated from Zeng Guofan’s Hu’nan Army (Xiang Jun), but Li Xinchi had different opinions and argued that the most basic criterion of the so-​called warlord was that his army was private, so Zeng Guofan and others could not be regarded as the beginning

108  ZHANG Jianjun of modern warlords in China. Even Yuan Shikai could not be called a warlord before the 1911 Revolution. Only after the Qing emperor abdicated and Yuan Shikai gained the national power was the Beiyang army completely owned by him. In this sense, the Wuchang Uprising had contributed to the formation of Yuan Shikai’s Northern Warlords.4 As for the upper and lower limits of the history of modern warlords, some scholars have concluded that from the 1980s the academics mainly have had the following views: (1) it started from Li Hongzhang and ended with Jiang Jieshi; (2) the typical warlord era was from 1916 to 1928; (3) After the beginning of the all-​out War of Resistance against Japan in 1937, there were no warlords any longer in China. That is to say, the beginning of the all-​out War of Resistance against Japan in 1937 was the lower limit of the history of modern warlords in China; (4) it started from the establishment of the Northern Warlords government ruled by Yuan Shikai and ended in 1949 when the new warlords of KMT fell from power.5 With regard to the causes of the formation of modern warlords politics, a heated discussion has been carried out in academic circles. Some scholars believed that it was caused by the different training systems of the Northern and Southern new armies in the late Qing Dynasty. Some scholars believed that it was caused by cultural reasons, and some other scholars believed that it was the product of localism and militarism. There were also scholars who argued that we should find the causes from the perspective of the political power, economic structure and cultural structure. There were even scholars who argued that it was caused by the split of the three-​dimensional system of feudal society in modern times  –​the regime ruled by the emperor, the traditional culture dominated by the Confucian orthodoxy, and the society regulated by the clan system.6 4.1.3  The class basis of the Northern Warlords and the nature of its regime There were great controversies over this issue in academic circles. Peng Ming held that the Northern Warlords were the representative of the landlord class, standing for the most backward and most reactionary relations of production. The direct consequence of its coming to power was the re-​strengthening of the feudal forces, maintaining and consolidating the feudal rule of the landlord class to the peasantry.7 In view of the fact that the capitalist economy had developed to some extent during the reign of the Northern Warlords, Lai Xinxia argued that it did not only represent the landlord class, but also had the bourgeois coloration in some aspects or during some certain period.8 After investigating some warlords’ private capitalist economic activities, Wei Ming pointed out that some of the warlord bureaucrats were quite different from the former ruling classes, and they basically separated themselves from the feudal production relations or made some transformations, which meant that the nature of the Northern Warlords regime also became different.9 Lai Xinxia stressed that it was acceptable to say that the Northern Warlords Group contained the bourgeois nature, but we should pay attention to the

History of the Northern Warlords  109 problems of time and stage. Generally speaking, the Northern Warlords Group’s bourgeois features appeared from the later period of the First World War, we should not put these two stages together. Therefore, it was worthwhile to study how much the Northern Warlords represented the interests of the bourgeoisie.10 However, some scholars questioned Lai’s opinion. Pan Min thought that the Northern Warlords neither served the landlord class nor maintained the interests of the bourgeoisie but were a “Bonapartism regime” getting beyond the interests of a particular class. The Northern Warlords regime only had the relationship of mutual utilization with the bourgeoisie and the landlord class. Perhaps the fundamental reason for the rapid collapse of the Beiyang Government was that it did not have its class basis.11 Tang Xuefeng thought that the real social foundation of warlord particularism is not the feudal landlord class, but the bankrupt farmers and the unemployed, which reflected the morbidity of the old Chinese society.12 4.1.4  The historical status and role of the Northern Warlords Group It is generally believed that the Northern Warlords not only destroyed the bourgeois democracy and set up autocratic dictatorship, but also destroyed our country’s road to modernization. First, it stubbornly operated the policy of fawning on foreign powers and crazily bartered away our country’s rights and interests, thus hindering China’s development. Second, the incessant warlord melee spelt disaster for our country’s economy. Third, it levied exorbitant taxes on people and embezzled a lot of social wealth, which seriously damaged the industrial and agricultural reproduction. Fourth, with the reactionary regime, it struggled to maintain the production relations of the feudal comprador and seriously hampered the development of the social productive forces. For example, based on lots of historical facts, Wang Fangzhong exposed the direct damage to traffic and commerce caused by several important battles among warlords in the 1920s, and pointed out that the warlord melee had made the national businesses stray from the path of smooth development and go on a cranky, tortuous road.13 Many scholars also studied the Northern Warlords’ damage to the local economy. For example, Zhang Xiaohui discussed the harms caused by the warlord melee to the Guangdong economy, and Ren Nianwen et  al. investigated the Northern Warlords’ scramble for and damages to Shanghai.14 However, some scholars represented by Lai Xinxia argued that we should not deny the historical status and role of the Beiyang Group simply and completely, and pointed out that the Beiyang Group was not only the backbone of the late Qing Dynasty regime in its last ten years, but also the main military force for the transfer of power during the 1911 Revolution. It had made the Chinese military system get rid of the old backward state, and its Beiyang Government had represented the Republic of China at home and abroad after the 1911 Revolution. It had also paved the way for China’s transition from unification to reunification.15 Guo Jianlin also proposed that the modern warlords had played a role in promoting China’s

110  ZHANG Jianjun modernization. For a long time, the historian circles have ascribed the development of industry and mining industry in the early years of the Republic of China to the First World War. Some scholars argued that this is not the case and stressed that we must never ignore the important internal cause for the Beiyang Government’s policy orientation.16 However, some scholars also pointed out that the development of the social economy at that time was not all caused by the government’s behavior but was facilitated by various social factors at the beginning of the 20th century, including the historical achievements of the 1911 Revolution, the new changes in the international market, the Northern Warlords Government’s implementation of economic policies, the local autonomy, the patriotic movement of the masses, the migration of population, etc.17 It should be said that this view is far more comprehensive than the one ascribing the economic development during this period only to the policy orientation of the Beiyang Government. The scholars who considered that the behavior of the Beiyang Government had promoted the economic development should at least show us the influence of the government’s actions when the economic development was hindered, rather than just vaguely listing some laws and regulations; because there were laws to abide by did not always mean all laws would be obeyed. 4.1.5  The relationship between the Northern Warlords and the imperialist powers Before the 1980s, studies on this problem always argued from the perspective of the Northern Warlords’ collusion with the imperialist powers and had the obvious stereotyped tendency, so they had drawn simple conclusions that the imperialist powers were the Northern Warlords’ patrons and backstage supporters, and the Northern Warlords were the imperialist powers’ tools and running dogs. Some scholars even held that working as the imperialist powers’ tools for their colonial domination of China should be a main feature of the Northern Warlords. In fact, the relationship between the Northern Warlords and the imperialist powers was very complicated and changeful. Sun Sibai pointed out that simply regarding the Northern Warlords as the “running dogs” and “tools” of imperialism was not in line with the actual situation and the relationship between them was often varied at different times and places. So, it was not proper to apply the fixed and unchangeable formula mechanically.18 With the deepening of research, the above-​mentioned oversimplified method and one-​sided conclusion have been gradually corrected. Many scholars have noticed that betraying China and fawning on foreign powers was only part of the relationship between the Northern Warlords and the imperialist powers, there also existed contradictions between them, which had been proved by the historical facts. For example, Yu Xintun’s “Japan’s Dual Diplomatic Policy on the Zhili-​Fengtian War” (the 4th Issue of the Nankai Journal, 1982), analyzed the causes and consequences of the different attitudes of the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the Japanese Army

History of the Northern Warlords  111 to the Zhili-​Fengtian War, and indirectly exposed the treacherous and changeable means of imperialist invasion. Lou Xiangzhe’s “On the Relationship between the Zhili Government, England and America” (the 1st issue of the Journal of Tianjin Normal University, 1986)  pointed out that England and America did not support the Zhili Government clearly. Lai Xinxia’s “The Northern Warlords and Japan: Chinese Scholars’ Research at the end of the 20th Century” (the 8th issue of the Academic Monthly, 2004) further pointed out that the so-​called and stereotyped Japanese support for the Anhui clique and Fengtian clique, and Britain and America’s support for the Zhili clique did not exist. These three main cliques of the Northern Warlords –​the Zhili clique, the Anhui clique and the Fengtian clique –​all had different forms and degrees of explicit or implicit collusion with Britain, the United States, Japan, and other big powers. To maximize their interests in China and maintain their sphere of influence, the big powers also made deals with the different cliques of the Northern Warlords in different ways such as economic aids and political intervention. Because of historical and geographical reasons, and the Western powers’ inability to attend to China during the First World War, the relations between the Northern Warlords Group and Japan were closer, and Japan’s manipulation and influence on all aspects of China’s political situation became more obvious as well.

4.2  Studies on Yuan Shikai’s construction of the Beiyang Army and his reign over China Yuan Shikai was the founder of the Northern Warlords. After the 1911 Revolution, as the President of the Republic of China, Yuan held the ruling power of the central government of Beijing and promoted the Northern Warlords to the height of their prosperity. However, this period of prosperity did not last long. In December 1915, Yuan Shikai claimed to be the emperor flagrantly, which was opposed by the opposition factions with different positions including the Southwest National Protection Army (Hu Guo Jun). Yuan had to end his reign in a flurry and died in June 1916. Li Zongyi’s The Biography of Yuan Shikai (Zhonghua Book Company, 1980), Li Xinzong’s History of the Republic of China (Volume of 1912–​1916) (Zhonghua Book Company, 1981), Hou Yijie’s The Lifetime of Yuan Shikai (Henan People’s Publishing House, 1982)  and other monographs made systematic, comprehensive and pertinent records of this historic stage. The monographic studies of this period mainly focused on the following aspects: 4.2.1  The process and evaluation of Yuan Shikai’s founding of the Beiyang Army Lai Xinxia pointed out that Yuan Shikai’s founding of the Beiyang Army had roughly gone through four stages: The New Army, the Wuwei Right Army, the Beiyang Standing Army and the Beiyang Six Divisions. But Deng Yibing held

112  ZHANG Jianjun that the stage division of the Beiyang Army building process should reflect the gradual development of the Beiyang Army from a general New Army of the late Qing Dynasty (there was the Self-​Strengthening Army in the South then) into a military group. Therefore, Yuan Shikai’s Beiyang Army building process should be divided into three stages: the first one is the New Army stage, the second one is the stage of the Wuwei Army and its vanguard, and the third one is the Beiyang Army stage.19 As for Yuan Shikai’s role in the formation of the Northern Warlords, Lai Xinxia held that it was mainly embodied in three important events: the organization of manpower, the establishment of rules and regulations for the army building and being skilled in seizing the opportunity for combat. As for the evaluation of Yuan Shikai’s Beiyang Army, Wu Zhaoqing proposed that we should not confuse the military system reform of the Beiyang New Army with the Northern Warlords’ crimes which had wrecked our country and ruined our people, and we should not deny the progressiveness of the Northern Warlords because of its crimes, which replaced the feudalist military system with the capitalist military system; the admission of the position of the Beiyang New Army’s military system reform in the history of China’s military development did not mean that we would deny the Beiyang New Army’s reactionary nature and its reactionary role in the history.20 4.2.2  The reasons why Yuan Shikai succeeded Sun Yat-​sen as Provisional President of the Republic of China Most scholars ascribed this historical outcome to the following four reasons: first, Yuan had the Beiyang Army as his strong pillar; second, Yuan had the imperialist powers as his backstage supporter; third, constitutional monarchists had played a role in this event; fourth, Yuan Shikai was skilled in using conspiratorial means. But Zhou Yan and Chang Zonghu did not agree with this view. Zhou Yan thought Sun Yat-​sen gave his place to Yuan Shikai voluntarily. Chang Zonghu held that the reasons why Yuan Shikai could become the provisional president were as follows: (1) the Nanjing provisional government had expected Yuan Shikai’s return from its preparatory period; (2) the provisional government was a bourgeois republic regime which could not survive, and Yuan was well able to overthrow it. So, it was unnecessary for him to usurp it. (3) the bourgeoisie and imperialism –​the two main factors of China’s social development then  –​chose Yuan as the core of the new regime. It was thus evident that the provisional presidency was not usurped by Yuan Shikai but was given to him by the historical opportunity and the bourgeoisie’s surrender.21 4.2.3  Yuan Shikai’s negotiation with Japan on the “Twenty-​one Demands” China’s negotiation with Japan on the “Twenty-​one Demands” had always been considered by the academy as a typical “traitorous diplomatic affair”

History of the Northern Warlords  113 and had been related to Yuan Shikai’s imperial movement. Researchers thought that Yuan accepted the “Twenty-​one Demands” voluntarily in order to win Japan’s support for his ascending the throne. But Luo Zhitian pointed out that during the months-​long negotiation after Japan had put forward the “Twenty-​one Demands”, the government of Yuan Shikai changed its past way of secret diplomacy and consciously disclosed Japan’s demands and the content of negotiations to the British embassy, the American embassy, and the Chinese and foreign press, in order to seek support from Britain and America.22 Lv Shenhua also pointed out that in the negotiation process, Yuan Shikai decided to use delaying tactics as the basic strategy, supplemented with many other auxiliary strategies such as replacing the chief diplomat, staying in touch with Britain, America and other related countries, applying publicity strategy, encouraging people’s anti-​Japanese sentiment, and taking advantage of Japan’s internal contradictions to strengthen Chinese government’s position of rejecting the “Twenty-​one Demands”. In general, except for the expected international interference, all Yuan Shikai’s other negotiation strategies had been implemented successfully. Because of the gap between China and Japan’s national power and the unfavorable international situation, China was bound to lose some economic rights in the negotiations. However, owing to the successful application of Yuan Shikai’s negotiation strategies, China’s losses had been minimized as far as possible, so, comparatively speaking, it could be regarded as a limited success. Zhang Guoping et al. thought that the negotiations on the “Twenty-​one Demands” between China and Japan had nothing to do with Yuan’s imperial intentions. Zhu Shuguang thought that during the negotiations, though Yuan banged the table many times to express his anger, the internal and external environment determined that Yuan could not refuse Japan’s demands, saying that “after this disaster, we must recognize the fact that it is an unprecedented shame and humiliation to satisfy Japan’s requirements. We must endure hardships to be enthusiastic and press on. Su Quanyou proposed that Japan had the plan of invading China and eliminating Yuan’s powers from China while proposing the “Twenty-​one Demands”.23 4.2.4  Yuan Shikai and the modernization of China’s economy Su Quanyou et al. investigated Yuan Shikai’s thought of exalting agriculture, and his thought on opening up and finance, and held that Yuan Shikai had put agriculture in the first place in the strategy of China’s economic modernization and proposed that China should learn advanced agricultural experiences from the developed countries, establish agricultural schools, and stress the agricultural experiments to combine the agricultural theory and practices effectively. Su et al. pointed out that Yuan Shikai’s thoughts on opening up were mainly reflected in two aspects: one was to actively open “special zones” for foreign trade to expand the scope of opening; the other was to courageously absorb foreign investment and overseas Chinese investment to promote economic development. Su et al. thought that Yuan Shikai had made

114  ZHANG Jianjun an important contribution to the financial modernization of China.24 Zhu Ying focused on Yuan Shikai’s mercantilism and fully approved of his economic thoughts and relevant measures. Zhu pointed out that in terms of the actual effects, compared with the reformers’ relevant theories, Yuan Shikai’s thoughts of stressing and protecting commerce, developing agriculture and industry were more effective. Zhang Buxian thought that the core of Yuan Shikai’s economic thought was to develop industry and was mainly reflected in four aspects: (1) contending against the foreign powers rationally; (2) promoting native products and rejecting foreign products to create a favorable atmosphere for industrial development; (3) absorbing foreign capital to accumulate funds for industrial development; (4)  importing and popularizing machines to support the development of national industry. Zhou Xia held that Yuan Shikai’s rectification of tax revenue alleviated the financial crisis at that time and promoted the development of commerce and foreign trade to some extent.25 In addition, most scholars believed that Yuan Shikai’s many actions had promoted the development of modern China’s traffic, such as supervising the construction of the Beijing-​Zhangjiakou Railway, negotiating for regaining the rights of the Beijing-​Fengtian Railway and the Beijing-​ Hankou Railway rights, preparing for the loan agreements on the Tianjin-​ Zhenjiang Railway and the Suzhou-​Hangzhou-​Ningbo Railway together with Zhang Zhidong.26 However, in the early years of the Republic, since Yuan Shikai continued to carry out the late Qing’s policy of “nationalizing trunk lines” and signed the “Sino-​Japanese Treaty of 1915” (Min Si Tiao Yue) with Japan, which was a treaty of national betrayal and humiliation and contained a number of items relating to the railways, more and more scholars started to take an attitude of criticism and negation toward Yuan Shikai. For example, Mi Rucheng et  al. pointed out that in order to nationalize the trunk lines, the government of Yuan Shikai either used coercive methods or bought over the senior members of these railway companies by offering them high official posts; in order to remove obstacles to imperialists’ grabbing for China’s railway rights, the government of Yuan Shikai implemented the policy of abolishing non-​government railway companies and banning national capital from participating in railway companies. Yuan Shikai not only deprived the gentry and merchants (Shen-​Shang) all over the country of their railway construction right obtained in late-​Qing China, but also pillaged private capital in the form of bonds, which hindered the development of China’s railway business.27 4.2.5  The problem of Yuan Shikai’s class attribution and evaluation There are two main opinions about Yuan Shikai’s class attribution. One is that he was a very important representative of the large landlord and comprador class in modern Chinese history, and a feudal autocrat who disguised himself as a reformer.28 The other is that Yuan Shikai, like Sun Yat-​sen and Zhang

History of the Northern Warlords  115 Jian, belonged to the Chinese capitalist class, but under the semi-​colonial and semi-​feudal condition, the way through which Yuan Shikai became a capitalist was different from that of Sun and Zhang. Yuan Shikai and Sun Yat-​ sen had the same historical background  –​the national crisis caused by the invasion of foreign capitalism, and the same goal –​to save the nation from subjugation and ensure its survival and prosperity, which meant that there existed weak or strong ties of interests between them. But the degree and timing sequence of their bourgeois transformation was utterly different, and their social status was also markedly different. It was this very contradiction among all levels of the bourgeoisie which made them go on the road of political conflict.29 Regarding the evaluation of Yuan Shikai, there was a significant change before and after the 1980s. Before the 1980s, influenced by the book Yuan Shikai  –​the Arch Usurper of State Power first published in 1946 by Chen Boda, academics generally took a negative and critical attitude toward Yuan Shikai. After the 1980s, with the reform and opening up of China and the implementation of the principle of seeking truth from facts, most scholars believed that the development of social history has its objectivity, stage, and inevitability. Therefore, the study of historical figures should be carried out in the process of historical development. As a historical figure during the period of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Yuan Shikai did play a negative role in some aspects, such as the restoration of monarchy. However, his positive role in the modernization of China’s politics, military, economy, culture, diplomacy, education and other aspects should be acknowledged, and we should not simply consider him as an arch usurper of state power. This cognitive change created a good academic research condition and atmosphere for the accurate and comprehensive evaluation of Yuan Shikai. Many scholars confirmed Yuan Shikai’s contributions to the politics, economy, and other aspects of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.30 From the perspective that “weak countries have no diplomacy”, scholars also attempted to give a more reasonable explanation to his “traitorous” diplomatic behavior, such as signing the “Sino-​Japanese Treaty of 1915” with Japan which was a revised draft of the “Twenty-​one Demands” and a treaty of national betrayal and humiliation.31

4.3  Studies on the Anhui Warlords The Anhui Warlords headed by Duan Qirui mainly composed of three parts, the military commanders of Duan Qirui’s factions in the Northern Warlords, the Anfu Warlord Clique and bureaucrats and politicians of the Anfu Parliament, and the New Communications Clique, which was the financial mainstay. Duan Qirui and the Anhui Warlords edited by Huang Zheng et al. (Henan People’s Publishing House, 1990) gave a complete introduction to the basic situation of the Anhui Warlords. Monographic research on the Anhui Warlords mainly focused on the following aspects:

116  ZHANG Jianjun 4.3.1  The formation of the Anhui Warlords Scholars have different views on this issue. Some believe that after the failure of Yuan Shikai’s imperial movement in 1916, the Northern Warlords split into two military group, one was the Anhui Clique headed by Duan Qirui and the other was the Zhili Clique headed by Feng Guozhang. Some scholars believe that the conflict between Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui in 1917 and 1918 tended to cause the factional rivalry, but the conflict then did not have a clear dividing line and rigid organization and could only be considered as the principal leaders’ conflict over the leadership before the split of the Northern Warlords. The rivalry between the Zhili Clique and the Anhui Clique started from the times of Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, but not that of Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui.32 Mo Jianlai revealed the reasons for the formation the Anhui Warlords and its formation process from the aspects of the specific social and historical background of modern China, Duan Qirui’s personal factors and the contradictions and struggles among the various forces at the end of the Qing Dynasty.33 Based on his study on the subjective and objective reasons, process and features of the Anhui Warlords’ control over the centralized administration, Zhou Junqi pointed out that it was the various talents encompassed by the Anhui Warlords Group, the army and territory of considerable size controlled by it, together with Duan Qirui’s personal factors, and the favorable objective situation for its struggle for central government which helped the Anhui Warlords Group win the competition for the control of the central government, so that it could gain Japan’s support and seek their own interest with all kinds of excuses on behalf of the legal government, and thus kept its advantage over other cliques in the development of their own forces.34 4.3.2  The relationship between the Anhui Warlords and Japan Academia has been unanimous that the Anhui Warlords were a pro-​Japanese force under the aegis of Japan and the foreign and domestic policies of its Beijing Government were complete obedient to the needs of Japanese imperialism. Because Japan seized a lot of political and economic privileges by aggression, it had been Japan’s consistent China policy to support the Anhui Warlords from the Terauchi Cabinet to the Hara Kei Cabinet. Zhang Bofeng successively published “The Relationship between the Anhui Warlords and the Japanese Imperialism” (the 6th issue of Historical Research, 1982), “Japan and the War between the Zhili Clique and the Anhui Clique” (the 6th issue of Modern Chinese History Studies, 1987) and several other articles, and published a monograph The Anhui Warlords and Japan in 1988 (Sichuan People’s Publishing House). In these works, Zhang made in-​depth analyses of the relationship between Duan Qirui and Japan and touched upon many historical events during this period. Based on solid facts, he convincingly pointed out that the ruling of the Anhui Warlords mainly relied on the support and

History of the Northern Warlords  117 assistance of Japan. Its huge military and political costs were mainly covered by the Japanese loans arranged by the New Communications Clique. In order to trade for Japan’s substantial assistance, Duan Qirui auctioned all kinds of national sovereignty and national interests at a low price and mortgaged railways, mines, factories, and various taxes for his borrowing from Japan under different names. He was much more capable of selling out our country than his predecessor Yuan Shikai and other Beiyang cliques. Pei Changhong made an in-​depth study of Terauchi Cabinet’s China policy and the relationship between the Nishihara loans and the factional struggles of the Chinese warlords. Pei pointed out that in politics, the Terauchi Cabinet’s strategy was to support the pro-​Japanese Duan Qirui’s warlord forces by means of all kinds of loans based on the Nishihara loans to unify Southwest China by force, support one fraction of the Northern Warlords and suppress the other, and make use of the faithful and obedient political tool of Duan Qirui to exclude the anti-​Japanese political forces, so as to achieve its purpose of controlling Chinese government alone. It can be said that there was an inseparable relationship between the factional struggles of the Chinese warlords before and after 1917 and 1918 and the role of the Nishihara loans.35 4.3.3  Activities of the key members of the Anhui Warlords The first key member of course was Duan Qirui, the head of the Anhui Warlords. Mo Jianlai thought that in consideration of the Chinese military system getting rid of the previous backward and obsolete state, Duan Qirui’s role in training the Beiyang Army, presiding over all types of military schools and compiling and translating various training regulations, drill and books on the art of war, and his status in the history of the founding of the Beiyang Army should be affirmed. But Duan should also be blamed for the political and social unrest in the early Republic which was mainly caused by the privatization of the armies.36 As for the evaluation of Duan Qirui’s opposition to Yuan Shikai’s monarchical intentions, Ding Xianjun held that though Duan Qirui’s view on republic was not the same as the Revolutionaries’, it was still praiseworthy for him –​a commander who had grown up under the influence of feudal morals of faithfulness, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness –​to break off his 20-​year working relationship and close personal friendship with Yuan Shikai and determinedly oppose Yuan’s imperial movement.37 Li Kaidi argued that Duan Qirui was just a political speculator who had always been capricious for the sake of selfish interests.38 As for Duan Qirui’s role in Zhang Xun’s coup, Hu Xiao et al. held that his deeds far outweighed his faults, and his historical achievement of crushing the restoration and defending the Republic should be affirmed and praised. But after he re-​controlled the Beijing regime, in the light of the Southern camp’s North Expedition and Eastward March under the banner of “Constitution Protection” and in consideration of maintaining the overall interests of the Beiyang Group, his dealing with the aftermath of the Zhang Xun’s coup was compromised and incomplete, and

118  ZHANG Jianjun his treatment of the imperial family’s involvement in the coup was especially over-​tolerant. Though it was the result of political factors and the external environment, it was also the result of his class stand and ideology.39 Previous studies had always ascribed Duan Qirui’s active proposition of participating in the First World War to the conflicts between the presidential office and the State Council. Some scholars put forward new opinions arguing that it was beneficial to break off diplomatic relations with Germany and declare war on it, which was the only necessary choice to make based on the immediate and long-​term economic and political interests.40 About the reasons why Duan Qirui carried out the policy of “unifying China by force”, Zhou Junqi thought that one reason was that unifying the world had been one of the most ambitious political goals in the long history of China; the second reason was the need for the survival of the central government controlled by the Anhui Clique.41 As for the reasons why Duan Qirui failed to win in the Zhili-​Anhui War, Wang Huabin thought that Duan Qirui’s political isolation and military errors were the important reasons. Some other scholars argued that the Anfu Clique was the real culprit of the Anhui Clique’s failure.42 Regarding the main reasons for Duan Qirui’s taking office as the “provisional chief executive”, academics generally thought that it was the result of reconciliation among various political forces’ contradictions and conflicts. However, Yang Decai did not agree with this view which only looked at this issue from the outside and argued that it was mainly the result of Duan Qirui’s own efforts. He discussed Duan Qirui’s backstage activities before his return to office from three aspects: one was to set aside the previous conflicts and drew over Zhang Zuolin to form the Fengtian-​Anhui coalition; the second was to lobby Sun Yat-​sen to establish the anti-​Zhili alliance; the third was to instigate Feng Yuxiang to bring down the Zhili Clique.43 In addition, scholars have also studied Xu Shuzheng, the number two of the Anhui Warlords, and other important members. Liao Dawei and Xi Pengbiao pointed out that Xu Shuzheng’s actions had a direct and direct strong connection with the rise and fall of the Anhui Warlords. In a sense, the rise and fall of the Anhui warlords was all caused by him. Liu Lanchang analyzed the relationship between Xu Shuzheng’s dealing with the Northwestern frontier affairs and the political disputes of the Northern Warlords.44 Chen Changhe published several papers on Qu Tongfeng’s life, industrial activities and the inside story about his capture in the Zhili-​Anhui War.45 In addition, Chen also conducted thorough investigations into the Anhui Warlords’ leading general Wu Guangxin’s activities in the Zhili-​Anhui War. At the same time, the research on Ni Sichong also made some achievements. As pointed out by Su Quanyou et al., studies on Ni Sichong could be roughly divided into two categories: one was the research within the constraints of the modernization paradigm, including Ni Sichong’s administration of Anhui, his investment on the modern industry and developing the Northeast border region; the other was the research within the constraints of the historical reconstruction orientation, involving Ni Sichong and the politics and military of the early Republic,

History of the Northern Warlords  119 the dispute over Ni Sichong’s commemorative silver coin, the enigma of his stay in the apartment of Tianjin, and the enigma of Ni Sichong’s migration to Bengbu. Of course, these studies also had some shortcomings:  the data mining was not enough; there lacked longitudinal connection and horizontal comparison in terms of the research content; the evaluation of the Northern Warlords did not completely get rid of the influence of the traditional complex, and always drew the one-​sided conclusion that the Northern Warlords were a bane to the country and the people, and thus lacked objectivity.46

4.4  Studies on the Zhili Warlords Feng Guozhang’s Zhili Warlords were one of the direct cliques of the Northern Warlords, which grew strong gradually after the death of Yuan Shikai. The Zhili Warlords mainly exerted their influence on the political situation of the Republic of China during the era of Cao Kun and Wu Peifu after the Zhili-​Anhui War. Gongsun Hong’s The Whole History of the Zhili Warlords (the 22nd Volume of Cultural and Historical Data of Hebei, 1987)  and A Chronicle of Feng Guozhang’s Life (Hebei People’s Publishing House, 1989), Lv Weijun and Wang Degang’s Feng Guozhang and the Zhili Warlords (Henan People’s Publishing House, 1993), Pan Rong et  al.’s The Feng Guozhang Family (Jincheng Press, 2000) and Zheng Zhiting et al.’s A Brief History of the Zhili Warlords (People’s Publishing House, 2007)  introduced the development of the Zhili Warlords briefly. The book A Brief History of the Zhili Warlords revealed the historical origin of the Zhili Warlords, first discussed the important role of the graduates of Baoding Military Academy in the formation of the Zhili Warlords, highlighted their integrity and continuity, and objectively evaluated their historical status and role, which was of high academic value. Studies on the Zhili Warlords mainly focused on the following aspects: 4.4.1  The reasons for the Zhili Warlords’ defeat in the Zhili-​Fengtian War Guo Jianlin compared the first and second Zhili-​Fengtian War from the aspects of politics, military, strategies, and tactics, finances and so on, and analyzed the reasons for the two parties’ victory and defeat in the war.47 Li Jun thought that the Zhili Warlords’ failure was caused by the internal crisis and the joint attack of the external anti-​Zhili forces. The fierce struggle and differentiation caused by the scrambles for power and profit led to the internal disorganization of the Zhili Warlords. In addition, the unsolvable financial crisis and military corruption, together with the bankruptcy of Wu Peifu’s policy of “unifying China by force” created the objective situation that was conducive to the anti-​Zhili forces. So, the decline of the Zhili Warlords was inevitable even without the external attacks. As for the external environment, the Zhili Warlords’ brutal suppression of the workers’ movement and Cao Kun’s bribery scandal opposed by people from all walks of life made Zhili Warlords

120  ZHANG Jianjun the first domestic enemy of China, and Sun Yat-​sen, Duan Qirui and Zhang Zuolin formed the anti-​Zhili alliance, which were the main external factors contributing to the Zhili Warlords’ failure. The frustration of the British and American forces in China and Japan’s support for the Fengtian Warlords created the conditions for their victory in the war.48 Lou Xiangzhe and Lai Xinxia argued that the financial crash caused by the lack of domestic and foreign loans was one of the major reasons for the Zhili Warlords’ failure.49 4.4.2  The relationship between the Zhili Warlords and Britain, America and other big powers Zhang Bofeng et  al. believed that unlike the barefaced Japan-​Anhui and Japan-​Fengtian relationship, the relationship between the Zhili Warlords and Britain and America was more covert, but it was an indisputable fact that Britain and America supported the Zhili Warlords to resist the expansion of Japan’s aggressive influences in China. When there were sharp contradictions and struggles between the Zhili and Anhui Warlords and even after the Zhili warlord defeated the Anhui Warlords in the Zhili-​Anhui War, Britain and America had always supported Wu Peifu actively, as they considered Wu as their suitable agent in China and the Zhili Warlords also considered Britain and America as their allies. When the Beijing Government ruled by the Zhili Warlords was in financial straits, Britain and America actively arranged loans for them but Japan strongly opposed it, which clearly reflected Japan’s hostility toward the Zhili Warlords supported by Britain and America.50 However, Guo Jianlin and Su Quanyou thought that Wu Peifu did not belong to the pro-​British and American group and thus was not their agent in China.51 Wang Jiacheng and Wang Jianhua thought that history has always been complicated. Britain and America had gone through a changing process from having high hopes and supporting Cao and Wu actively to feeling disappointed and refusing to support them. Cao and Wu’s begging for Britain and America’s assistance was largely unsuccessful. The choices of both sides were benefit-​oriented, and there were no fixed features.52 Lou Xiangzhe also believed that except for Japan who supported Zhang Zuolin with a large number of arms, armed the Fentian warlords’ brigades freely and provided them the necessitous ammunition at the crucial moment of the war, which could not be explained from the perspective of pure profit-​seeking business, in most cases, the purpose of other big powers, especially Britain, America, and other countries’ selling firearms to different cliques of the Northern Warlords was to make profits and dump their obsolete and surplus materials, whose commercial properties outweighed their political color. Though the Zhili Warlords were aware of the true attitude of Britain and the United States, they still expected to receive assistance from them. However, as the old saying goes, “while the dropping flowers pine for love, the heartless brook babbles on”, the Zhili warlord regime did not get any “assistance” from Britain and America when they were in financial difficulties, and they did not get any

History of the Northern Warlords  121 support from them either in the second Zhili-​Fengtian War which was vital to their fate.53 4.4.3  Cao Kun and his related activities Zhang Hongxiang et  al.’s President Cao Kun Rising from the Commoners (Jilin Literary and History Publishing House, 1995), Yue Qianhou’s The Cao Kun Family (Jincheng Press, 2000), Zhang Xiangbin’s A Biography of Cao Kun (Jilin University Press, 2010)  and Zhou Yuhe’s A Complete Biography of Cao Kun (Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House, 2001)  systematically introduced the historical events of Cao Kun and his family. The monographic research mainly focused on Cao Kun’s bribery in the election and his attitude to the “February 7th Strike of 1923”. Some scholars proposed that we should evaluate Cao Kun’s ruling objectively and positively.54 But after studying the “Constitution” issued by means of Cao Kun’s coercion and bribery, Hou Qiang pointed out that the “Constitution of the Republic of China” issued by the government of Cao Kun had double historical effects: on the one hand, the Zhili Warlords’ issue of this so-​called “Constitution” betrayed the Provisional Constitution again, so from the very beginning of its promulgation, this “Constitution” had been shadowed by bribery and criticized bitterly; on the other hand, the “Constitution” itself comprehensively reflected the Western constitutional theories and principles, and the Republican China’s political practices and legislative experiences in its past ten years. In this sense, the Zhili Warlords’ government in the period of rapid social transformation had in fact acted as an “historical tool” unconsciously in the process of modern China’s legal system modernization. However, Hou Qiang hoped that we should not over-​estimate its so-​called “positive effects”.55 About Cao Kun’s attitude to the “February 7th Strike of 1923”, Su Quanyou thought that Cao Kun, Wu Peifu, Xiao Yaonan and other warlords should be responsible for the repression of the strike, and Cao Kun was the commander in front of and behind the scenes.56 4.4.4  Wu Peifu and his Luoyang Warlord Group There were more than 40 biographies of Wu Peifu, such as Jiang Ziqiang et al.’s Wu Peifu (Shandong People’s Publishing House, 1985), Zhang Jungu’s Biography of Wu Peifu (Xinhua Press, 1987) and Guo Jianlin’s Biography of Wu Peifu (Beijing Library Press, 2006). Among these biographies, Zhang Jungu’s book described Wu Peifu’s life, career, and thoughts comprehensively, in the meantime, it also introduced Wu Peifu’s military, political, and social activities and the related historical background and figures, which made it an important work for the studies of Wu Peifu and his times. The monographic papers on Wu Peifu mainly dealt with the following topics: (1) Wu Peifu’s performance in the May 4th Movement of 1919. Guo Jianlin believed that Wu Peifu’s words and deeds during this period helped

122  ZHANG Jianjun to achieve the two goals of “defending China’s sovereignty against the big powers’ aggression and purifying the nation of traitors” and boosted the emergence and development of the May 4th Movement.57 Tan Rong held that Wu Peifu was still a warlord with national integrity.58 As for Wu Peifu’s action of putting forward the secret military agreement on the “conditions of the National Salvation Alliance” before the May 4th Movement and becoming the Southwest warlords’ “ally”, Xie Benshu thought that his purpose was to jointly deal with the Anhui Warlords in the North and fight off Sun Yat-​sen and suppress the revolution in the South.59 (2)  Wu Peifu’s activities during his occupation of Luoyang. Lin Quanmin investigated the formation and development of Wu Peifu’s Luoyang Warlord Group from the four aspects of army constitution, territory, finance, and bureaucracy.60 Guo Jianlin and Su Quanyou analyzed Wu Peifu’s mu-​fu, training of armies, and diplomatic activities during his occupation of Luoyang and argued that Wu’s practices of recruiting talent and devotion to training soldiers were meritorious. Because of his reaction against the imperialist aggression in terms of foreign relations, Wu could yet be regarded as a patriotic soldier. But his opposition to the labor and peasant movements and the national revolution, the suppression of the “February 7th Strike” was a historical stain and reactionary guilt that could not be forgiven.61 Zheng Zhiting and Li Fengwei further pointed out that the February 7th tragedy made by Wu Peifu had relations with the changes in the Communist International and Soviet Russia’s policies, but the fundamental reason was that the Hankou-​Beijing Railway Strike directly harmed the main economic source of his provisions.62 Wang Jiacheng et  al. thought that the Cao and Wu group plundered recklessly, abused military force and fought with other warlords for years on end, which not only trapped them in financial bankruptcy and unsuccessful militarism, but also made our nation suffer disaster and people live on the edge of starvation.63 Lai Xinxia held that the purpose of Wu Peifu’s establishment of his mu-​fu in Luoyang was to achieve his dream of “unifying China by force”. However, because his military strength was not strong enough and the Fengtian forces resisted, Wu Peifu’s plan was doomed to fail.64 (3)  Wu Peifu’s activities after his escaping to Sichuan in 1927. Wang Anping et  al. thought that Wu Peifu was the direct cause and accelerator of the third chaos caused by war in Sichuan.65 (4) Wu Peifu’s performance during the War of Resistance against Japan. Guo Jianlin and Wang Hongmei held that it was praiseworthy for Wu Peifu to keep thinking highly of the national interest and refuse to be a traitor and puppet in the times of national crisis and dangerous environment.66 Some other scholars analyzed the reasons for Wu Peifu’s refusing to be a traitor and proposed that there were three reasons:  the first reason was that Wu Peifu had the complex of nationalism; the second reason was that the rising anti-​Japanese national movements all over China, and the sincere advice and exhortation from the Counter-​Japanese National United Front of KMT and the Communist Party of China made him dare not to be a traitor and go against the whole country; the third reason was that there were contradictions and gaps between Japan

History of the Northern Warlords  123 and Wu Peifu’s conditions for his return to office.67 (5) The cause of Wu Peifu’s death. Most scholars believed that Wu Peifu was murdered by the Japanese.68 Liang Rongchun pointed out that the reasons why Wu Peifu was finally murdered was that the Japanese were unsatisfied with his bargaining and decided to murder him as a warning to others.69 But there were also different views, for example, Su Quanyou thought that Wu Peifu died of illness, and argued that whether he was murdered by the Japanese or not would not affect his integrity of refusing to be a traitor in his later years.70 4.4.5  Feng Yuxiang and the evaluation of him More than ten biographies of Feng Yuxiang had been published, such as Wang Huacen et al.’s Legend of General Feng Yuxiang (Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House, 1983), Guo Xuyin et al.’s Patriotic General Feng Yuxiang (Henan People’s Publishing House, 1987), Feng Xingren et al.’s Biography of Feng Yuxiang (Anhui People’s Publishing House, 1998), Yu Huaxin’s Legendary General Feng Yuxiang (Academy Press, 2009), Liu Jingzhong’s The First Half of Feng Yuxiang’s Life –​Comment on Feng Yuxiang’s Autobiography My Life (People’s Publishing House, 2009) and Zhang Chuanhua’s Democratic Fighter Feng Yuxiang’s Biography (Unity Press, 2000). Most of them were mainly based on Feng Yuxiang’s account in his own words like My Life. Only Liu Jingzhong’s book differentiated and analyzed his account in My Life, which was of high academic value. In general, the academic circles’ evaluation of Feng Yuxiang’s life was consistent, considering him as a patriotic general who had kept pursuing progress all his life and a long-​term friend of the CPC. However, there were some disagreements in the process of his ideological change. Gao Defu et al. believed that the May Thirtieth Tragedy in 1925 was the turning point of Feng’s political thought, when he began to change from a patriotic general of the warlord camp to a revolutionary general.71 And Liu Jingzhong believed that for a long period of time after the “Beijing Coup”, Feng Yuxiang had not completely freed himself from the warlord class. Until the Nankou War broke out from April to August of 1926, with the help of the Communist Party of China, Feng Yuxiang changed his goal from maintaining his own clique’s interests to national revolution.72 Liu Manrong argued that the Wuyuan Pledge in the September of 1926 was the turning point of Feng Yuxiang’s revolutionary transformation, which marked that Feng Yuxiang, a general of the Northern Warlords, started to formally and publicly participate in the national revolution led by the KMT-​CPC coalition.73 Wang Zonghua et al. proposed in The History of the National Army (Wuhan University Press, 1996) that after the National Army occupied Tianjin in the first half of 1926, Feng Yuxiang’s peace talks with the Zhili and Fengtian Warlords were a reflection of his “wavering” and “compromising” in politics, but it was also a “strategy” to disunite his enemies. Lin Fengsheng and Lv Shu’e thought that from 1926 to the breaking out of the Nankou War, whether the purpose of the National Army’s peace

124  ZHANG Jianjun talks with the Zhili and Fengtian Warlords was to pretend to reconcile with the Fengtian Warlords to gain time or to really ally with the Zhili Warlords to fight against the Fengtian Warlords, they all demonstrated Feng Yuxiang’s attempts to stay in the Beiyang Warlord Group and his essence as a warlord.74 Researchers had different opinions on the relationship between Feng Yuxiang and Cao Kun’s bribery at the election. Most scholars followed Feng Yuxiang’s own statement that he was “unsatisfied” with Cao Kun’s bribery and Wu Peifu’s policy of unifying China by force.75 Liu Jingzhong was more objective and thought that we could not simply draw the conclusion of “yes” and “no”, and the reality should be that Feng Yuxiang was partially involved in this political scandal but did not support the Cao Kun’s concrete bribery at the election.76 4.4.6  Sun Chuanfang and his governance of Jiangsu and Zhejiang There were many biographies of Sun Chuanfang, such as Lv Weijun and Wang Degang’s Sun Chuanfang (Shandong University Press, 1996), He Yi and Pan Rong’s General of the Alliance of Five Provinces –​Sun Chuanfang (Lanzhou University Press, 1997), He Deqian’s Biography of Sun Chuanfang (Liaoning Ancient Books Press, 1997), Wang Xiaohua’s An Ambitious General of the Northern Warlords  –​Sun Chuanfang (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000), Shao Weiguo’s A Complete Biography of Sun Chuanfang (Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House, 2001)  and Chen Jie’s The Biography of Sun Chuanfang (Jilin University Press, 2010). Fu Youling believed that during his governance of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Sun Chuanfang took some political and economic measures which were beneficial to the recovery and development of the local economy. But as a feudal warlord, the internal contradictions and disintegration were inevitable, and it was difficult for him to resist the violent attack of the Northern Expedition, so Sun Chuanfang eventually lost his territory of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which he had painstakingly built up for many years.77 However, Wang Xiaohua thought that Sun Chuanfang represented the interests of the decadent, reactionary and declining Northern Warlords, and his so-​called “protection of the territory and people” was actually the feudal separationist rule, which was against the trend of revolution and unity. Therefore, under the brave attack of the Northern Expedition, its failure was inevitable.78 4.4.7  Wang Zhanyuan’s rule over Hubei History of the Northern Warlords’ Ruling over Hubei (Hubei People’s Publishing House, 1989) edited by Ni Zhongwen, systematically discussed the Northern Warlords’ rule over Hubei. Scholars had two kinds of opinions on the study of Hubei people’s movement to expel Wang Zhanyuan from Hubei. One is that the previous researchers included this movement in the Hu’nan-​ Hubei War and Sichan-​Hubei War and studied it only from the perspective

History of the Northern Warlords  125 of warlord melee but ignored the fundamental forces for the movement, and thus limited their studies to the competitions and private disputes among the tyrants. The other was to equate the “movement of Hubei people administering Hubei” aiming to expel Wang with the “autonomy” movement of Hu’nan, Zhejiang and other places, and considered it as a Westernization movement. Li Chongyi thought that both these two kinds of opinions were biased. He highly appraised the movement of expelling Wang Zhanyuan from Hubei and considered it as an example in which the civil rights revolution defeated the warlords, but not a war between warlords to protect their local forces or a Westernization movement emulating the Western “federal autonomy”. It was a struggle between the alliance of various classes of Hubei and the warlords, and the first cooperation between the KMT and the Communists, providing experience for the establishment of the united revolutionary front.79

4.5  Studies on the Fengtian Warlords Strictly speaking, Zhang Zuolin’s Fengtian Warlords did not belong to Yuan Shikai’s orthodox Northern Warlords, but they cooperated with the Northern Warlords and took control of the Beijing central government through wars with the Anhui and Zhili cliques of the Beiyang Warlords. Therefore, the Fengtian Warlords had been an important subject of academia, especially the researchers studying the local history of Northeast China. Major comprehensive works on the Fengtian Warlords include the Serial Works on the Fengtian Warlords (Liaohai Publishing House, 2001)  edited by Hu Yuhai and A Chronicle of Events of the Fengtian Warlords (Liaoning Nationality Press, 2005) edited by Hu Yuhai and Li Rong. The former consisted of six volumes:  A General Introduction to the Fengtian Warlords, The Fengtian Warlords’ Economy, The Fengtian Warlords’ Military, The Fengtian Warlords’ Education, The Fengtian Warlords’ Foreign Relations and The Fengtian Warlords’ Figures, which was a pioneering work and laid good foundation for the following studies. The latter gave an account of the Fengtian Warlords’ activities from 1894 to 1931 ranging from Zhang Zuolin’s rise, the unification of the Northeast, reorganizing the army and strengthening the military power, fighting for territory in the central China, taking control of the Beijing regime, the assassination in Huanggutun that led to Zhang Xueliang’s inheritance of his father’s career, stabilizing the political situation of the Northeast, the Northeast Flag Replacement and the September 18th Incident. Most of the monographic papers laid stress on the Fengtian Warlords’ activities in its later period and mainly focused on the following aspects: 4.5.1  The formation and characteristics of the Fengtian Warlords Hu Yuhai thought that the Fengtian Warlord Group was formed in the early period of the Republic of China. Only after Zhang Zuolin became the commander of the 27th Division of the Beiyang Army by appointment from the

126  ZHANG Jianjun president of the Republic of China Yuan Shikai, did he change from serving the Qing court loyally as a soldier to controlling the political situation, pushing his superiors aside, colluding with local gentry and merchants and no longer obeying the orders of the Beijing Government, reflecting that he had completed the transformation from a soldier to a warlord. Prior to this, although he was included in the Beiyang Warlord system, became the largest faction dominating the political situation of Fengtian, and formed the organizational network of private soldiers and commanders, he only constituted a basis for the warlord evolution, but was not a real warlord yet.80 Zhang Wei thought the characteristics of the Fengtian Warlords can be summarized as the following four points: the first was that they had never formed a clear and unified political ideology; the second was that they had the unique geographical advantage; the third was that their internal governance was very stable and cohesive; the fourth was that they could maintain the social stability and economic development in their territory.81 Hu Yuhai thought that we should add one more point, namely, most of their core leaders had the experience of being a bandit. Liu Yinghong thought that the Fengtian Warlords’ expansion inside the Shanhai Pass experienced the following three periods: from 1918 to 1922, the Fengtian Warlords took up arms to enter inside the Shanhaiguan Pass, and controlled the Beijing regime jointly with the Zhili Warlords; from 1922 to 1924, the Fengtian Warlords built their strength, forged alliances and awaited the opportune moment; in 1925, the Fengtian Warlords’ forces expanded most rampantly and reached their highest point and then started to decline. Liu Yinghong also pointed out the Fengtian Warlords’ expansion inside the Shanhaiguan Pass was essentially the warlord melee.82 4.5.2  The relationship between the Fengtian Warlords and Japan Since the founding of New China, the military warlords had been recognized by academia as a tool of Japan’s invasion of China. Scholars didn’t put forward any different views until the 1980s. For example, Pan Xiting et al. held that it was too one-​sided to say that Zhang Zuolin and Japan only colluded with and made use of each other. The fact was that they not only colluded with and made use of each other, but also conflicted with each other.83 He Yinghui made it clear that the relationship between Zhang Zuolin and Japan was complicated. Zhang Zuolin had said some humiliating words and done some humiliating deeds, but he had also performed some actions to safeguard the sovereignty of our country.84 Chen Chongqiao and Hu Yuhai further pointed out that the relationship between Zhang Zuolin and Japan should be divided into three stages: in the beginning, they were on very intimate terms with each other, then they mainly colluded with each other, and finally there appeared aggravated contradictions between them.85 History of the Northeast China (Jilin Literary and History Publishing House,1998) edited by Tong Dong used specific examples to prove that Zhang Zuolin also struggled against Japan’s greedy demands while colluding with them. Hu Yuhai even thought

History of the Northern Warlords  127 that the Fengtian Warlords’ compromise with Japan was only a strategy to survive, and struggling against them was the essence of their thoughts.86 Luo Zhitian put forward new opinions that the relationship between the Fengtian warlords and Japan in their later period was quite similar to that of the KMT and the Soviet Union, and argued the Fengtian Warlords had realized then that it was necessary for them to move closer to the United States and the United Kingdom, and they actually did it. They also tried to get closer to Russia. The Fengtian Warlords’ behavior caught the attention of some young Japanese military officers. Knowing this diplomatic tendency of the Fengtian Warlords was very crucial for us to understand why the Japanese murdered Zhang Zuolin later.87 Luo Zhitian’s opinion was quite original, but it was regrettable that no empirical research had been carried out as yet. 4.5.3  The politics, military and economy of the Fengtian warlords In terms of politics, Ding Yongnian thought that Zhang Zuolin made contributions to the repression of the Zongshe Party’s restoration activities and unifying the Northeast. But more scholars were concerned about the mutual collusion and utilization between the Fengtian Warlords and other warlords, and the means adopted by them in this process. For example, Mo Jianlai pointed out that the Fengtian Warlords stirred up trouble between the Anhui and Zhili warlords and directly took part in the Zhili-​Anhui War, which exerted considerable influences on the outbreak and the ending of the war. Liu Yinghong also thought that in the expansion inside the Shanhaiguan Pass, Zhang Zuolin made use of various political tricks and means to make full use of the contradiction between the Anhui and Zhili warlords, organize alliances for many times, obtain the support of all parties, differentiate and isolate his opponents and attained himself the dominant strategic position.88 In terms of the Fengtian Warlords’ military affairs, besides their military activities, scholars like Gao Lecai and Liu Bin also studied the Fengtian Warlords’ construction of the sea forces and held that although the Northeastern Navy acted as the Fengtian Warlords’ tool of ruling and civil war, it also played a certain role in foreign wars and thus occupied a certain position in the history of modern China’s sea forces. Xu Chaoying studied the development of the air forces in the Northeast.89 In terms of economy, Wang Depeng investigated the Fengtian Warlords’ taxes, banking business, industry, commerce and foreign trade and pointed out that the taxes were the source of the Fengtian Warlords’ economic strength, the rapid development of the banking business provided them with huge profits, and the increasingly developed industrial and commerce consolidated their economic foundation. The increasing foreign trade enhanced their economic strength and the issuance of bonds in large numbers and opium growing alleviated their economic difficulties.90 After studying the Fengtian Warlords’ issue of paper money, Yao Huiyuan pointed out that the notes issued by the Fengtian Warlords played an important role in their expansion. However, the notes were also a double-​edged sword. Under

128  ZHANG Jianjun the pressure of huge military expenditure in their later period, the Fengtian Warlords had to print a large number of notes, causing vicious inflation and leading to the economic depression.91 4.5.4  Zhang Zuolin and his important staff members As the number one of the Fengtian Warlords, Zhang Zuolin naturally became scholars’ key research object. Since the 1980s, there had been published more than ten monographs on him including Chang Cheng’s Zhang Zuolin (Liaoning People’s Publishing House, 1980), Chen Chongqiao et al.’s Zhang Zuolin  –​From a Greenwood Hero to the Generalissimo (Liaoning People’s Publishing House, 1991), Xu Liting’s Biography of Zhang Zuolin (Harbin Institute of Technology Press, 1994), Xu Che & Xu Yue’s Biography of Zhang Zuolin (International Culture Publishing Company, 2010), Zhang Xiangbin’s Biography of Zhang Zuolin (Jilin University Press, 2010)  and so on. More monographic papers had been published. All these works showed two distinct views on Zhang Zuolin’s overall evaluation. Some scholars believed that all his life, Zhang Zuolin was reactionary and was a bane to the country and the people. There are three reasons: the first reason was that Zhang had thrown himself into the lap of Japanese imperialism for many years, colluded with Japan and they had made use of each other; the second reason was that he had exhausted all resources to build up his military power and fought with other warlords endlessly, which brought grave disaster to the people; the third reason was that Zhang had committed numerous reactionary crimes in the 1911 Revolution, the May 4th Movement, the May 30th Movement and the Northern Expedition, especially his crazy suppression of the Communists and killing of Li Dazhao by hanging, which were unforgivable monstrous crimes.92 However, more and more scholars thought that this opinion was too one-​sided. For example, Che Weihan pointed out that in the negotiations on the Zhengjiatun Incident, Zhang Zuolin took an attitude of resistance to Japan’s demands violating Chinese sovereignty in the Northeast. No matter what his subjective motive was, his attitude was conducive to the just cause of Chinese people’s rebelling against aggression.93 Wang Haichen also pointed out that in the face of Japan’s diplomatic offensive requesting for the fulfillment of the “Twenty-​one Demands” in the Northeast, Zhang Zuolin had taken an attitude of resistance from beginning to end; he also resolutely resisted Japan’s requirement of establishing consuls and deploying military police in the Northeast, and took timely and effective measures.94 On the death of Zhang Zuolin, most scholars believed that it was Zhang Zuolin’s policy of resisting Japan which resulted in his assassination by the Guandong Army. However, Xu Ling did not agree with this opinion and argued that it was Japan’s internal conflicts between the faction of forceful occupation and the faction of economic aggression which caused Zhang’s assassination, meaning that it was Zhang Zuolin’s compromise behavior while signing the Xinwulu Treaty caused his assassination.95 Chen Chongqiao analyzed Zhang

History of the Northern Warlords  129 Zuolin’s attitude toward intellectuals and stressed that as a feudal warlord, Zhang Zuolin was courteous and respectful to the learned, which should be acknowledged.96 Scholars also paid close attention to Guo Songling, a progressive commander of the Fengtian Warlords trying to get rid of the feudal camp. Wan Jiaxing thought that Guo Songling was a progressive patriotic general and an unyielding warrior fighting against imperialism and feudalism.97 Mao Lvping and Gao Hongxia pointed out that Japan’s intervention was the primary cause of Guo Songling’s defeat.98 Liu Jingzhong thought that the National Army’s breach of covenant was also an important cause for Guo Songling’s defeat.99 In addition, Zhou Licheng made comprehensive analysis of the dark rule of Zhu Yupu in Tianjin in the later period of the Beiyang regime.100 Other important members of the Fengtian Warlords, such as Wang Yongjiang, Wu Junsheng, Sun Liechen, Tang Yulin, Li Jinglin, Yang Yuting, were also studied by scholars and some achievements have been made.

4.6  Several noteworthy problems Over the past 60-​odd years after the founding of New China, the study of the Northern Warlords’ history has gone through some twists and turns. In the first 30 years, few scholars engaged in this research. It was not until the end of 1970s that the embarrassing situation was broken after the reform and opening up, and since then studies in this field have entered a period of great development lasting for 30 years. However, the existing achievements do not mean that the study of the Northern Warlords is perfect and needs no further improvement. In fact, in order to better promote the healthy development of this research field, there are still some noteworthy problems that cannot be ignored: 4.6.1  Too much imitation but little innovation Since the reform and opening up, the study of the Northern Warlords’ history has shown a noticeable feature, that is, highlighting the study of the Northern Warlords and Chinese modernization, and fully affirming the role played by the Northern Warlords in achieving China’s modernization. Some scholars have pointed out that, from this point of view, the warlord politics was a kind of progress compared with the feudal autocratic politics, and it was a special transitional form from the feudal autocracy to the bourgeois democracy.101 Why did so many scholars tend to study the Northern Warlords’ contributions to China’s modernization? There are two kinds of reasons, internal and external. In terms of the internal reason, since the reform and opening up, the policy of “class struggle as the key link” has been refuted totally and the central position of economic construction aiming at modernization has been established, so it has been the practical need of the society to focus on China’s modernization; the external reason is the influence of the

130  ZHANG Jianjun theories and methods of the overseas histography. Many scholars accept all their theories and methods and practices without any discrimination thinking that this is what “innovation” means. Science is without borders. To improve the level of China’s historical studies, it is right and even necessary for us to adopt some overseas theories and methods of historiography which can help us to correctly interpret Chinese history, including the history of the Northern Warlords. The key is that we must integrate with China’s historical reality and have our own creation rather than only imitate others. Simple imitation is not innovation, and even the best imitation is still an unpresentable forgery. Moreover, many scholars’ studies only remained at the level of recording the surface phenomena of a Beiyang warlord clique’s or personage’s so-​called “modernization” thought, policy and so on, but did not make in-​ depth analysis of questions like why these thoughts were generated, why these policies were published, what the proportion of these thoughts and policies was in all of their thoughts and policies, what the practical results there were, and whether their damage to modernization outweighed their contributions or not? Some scholars even evaded the Northern Warlords’ damage to China’s modernization to highlight their “contributions” and the positive side. While commenting on the military and political activities of the Northern Warlords, some scholars copied the theories and ideas of overseas scholars and held that the warlord disputes and militarism were carried out under the principle of one-​China policy and paid close attention to the significance of the Northern Warlords’ military and political activities to Chinese people’s national identity but did not mention their endless fighting for their own interests. This kind of study was only a copycat and had no relevance to the innovation, which had limited contribution to the in-​depth development of the Northern Warlords history studies. 4.6.2  Too many repeated works This problem is mainly shown in the following three aspects:  the repeated research topic, the identical research ideas and conclusions, and the parallel publications, i.e., the same paper was published in more than one journal or newspaper, or published under different authors, or even published in the same journal or newspaper again many years later. There were many examples of these three aspects. I  will only give two examples on the second aspects due to the space limitation. One is about the relationship between the Anhui Warlords and the Research Clique. As early as 1992, some scholars had already published a paper on this topic and pointed out that “the Anhui Warlords and the Research Clique formed an alliance based on mutual utilization. Duan Qirui’s Anhui Warlords made use of the Research Cliques’ bubble reputation to decorate their facade, which was more skillful than other warlords who only worshiped forces; The Research Clique wanted to take advantage of the Anhui Warlords’ forces to secure Liang Qichao’s practical dominant position in the cabinet on the false pretenses of Duan Qirui’s leadership, so as

History of the Northern Warlords  131 to reach their goal of party politics, which was like asking a tiger for its skin. Once they were no longer of use to each other, they would go their separate ways immediately. After they were abandoned by the Anhui Warlords, the Research Clique attacked the Anhui Warlords violently and accelerated the decline of the Anhui Warlords, but they still took the undeniable responsibility for the frequent political struggles and long-​term antagonism between the North and the South. All these activities had shown us a living drama of modern warlord politics”.102 However, after a lapse of six or seven years, some other scholar published an article saying that after the National Protection War, Liang Qichao and “Duan Qirui’s Anhui Warlords formed an alliance based on mutual utilization. Duan Qirui’s Anhui Warlords made use of the Research Cliques’ bubble reputation to decorate their facade, and the Research Clique wanted to take advantage of the Anhui Warlords’ forces to reform the parliament to reach their political goals. Once they were no longer of use to each other, they would go their separate ways immediately. Liang Qichao’s change from pro-​Duan to anti-​Duan had a great impact on the political situation at that time and directed a new historical living drama of allying with warlords to realize his constitutional ideal”.103 Except for the replacement of “the Research Clique” with “Liang Qichao” and reversing the position of these two names in the title, this paper’s ideas and conclusions, even the words used in the conclusion part were almost the same as the previous research. The second example is about the process of Zhang Xueliang’s Northeast Flag Replacement. As early as 1991, some scholar had published a paper pointing out that the Northeast Flag Replacement experienced four steps, to wit: the Flag Replacement of Beijing and Tianjin, the Flag Replacement of Rehe, the Flag Replacement of Luandong, and the Flag Replacement of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.104 Regardless of whether this article’s ideas and conclusions were in line with the reality of history or not, as pointed by some scholar,105 what was more surprising was that nine years later, a paper with the same ideas and conclusions was published and the author even specially marked in its title that this was a “new analysis” of this issue.106 From these examples we can see that in the study of the Northern Warlords’ history, problems like this that need to be overcome are quite common. 4.6.3  Researchers seldom check or even do not check the reliability of the historical data There are lots of historical data about the history of the Northern Warlords. Besides the archives left by themselves, the reports and comments of the Northern Warlords published by the journals and newspapers at that time and the memories of the relevant parties, there are also lots of works on the history of the Northern Warlords written by different people in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the History of the Zhili-​Anhui War (Shanghai Peace Press) edited by Zhang Yilin, Historical Romance of Wu Peifu’s Crusade against the Rebels (Shanghai Minqiang Bookstore) edited by Wuxia Qinhe Xianguan

132  ZHANG Jianjun and proofread by Nandu Tianlu Jiuzhu, Laijiang Zhuowu’s The True Stories of Wu Peifu (Shanghai Central Editorial Office of National History) and Biography of Wu Peifu edited by Guangwen Editorial Office (Shanghai World Publishing House) and China’s Washington  –​Political History of Wu Peifu (Shanghai Minqiang Bookstore). These works are all recorded by the people of that time or even the parties involved in these events, which are important materials for the current study of the history of the Northern Warlords. But because of the differences in the editor’s identity and status, the historical facts they recorded are not the same in terms of details, choice of accounting and even the attitude toward the same people or event, for example, Historical Romance of Wu Peifu’s Crusade against the Rebels aimed to endorse Wu Peifu, and The True Stories of Wu Peifu also had many flattering words about Wu Peifu. China’s Washington –​Political History of Wu Peifu made clear its extremely flattering stance toward Wu Peifu through its title, whereas some works written by people with Pro-​Anhui Warlord orientation held totally the opposite attitude and position. Therefore, for the researchers of the Northern Warlords history, it is a good thing to have rich historical data, but they also must undertake the complicated and difficult task of verifying these data. If we do not check the reliability and objectivity of these data which are different from each other in terms of positions and understandings and just take what we need, it would be impossible for us to provide readers with objective and impartial works on the real history of the Northern Warlords. Although there are lots of works on the history of the Northern Warlords, most of them are just modifications to previous works. Except for some new concepts of the new times, there is no difference in the historical materials used by these works. I will give two typical examples: one is about Wu Peifu and the other one is about Feng Yuxiang. Some scholar published a mediocre paper entitled “Wu Peifu  –​a Warlord Who is More Likely to Be the Ruler of China” (the 1st issue of the History of World, 2010), which did not verify any historical data, or make a comprehensive study on Wu Peifu’s life, but only put all sorts of supportive materials together in the light of his presupposition. However, some other scholar published his impression of this paper on the same issue saying that this paper had made him have a comprehensive, complete, and objective impression about Wu Peifu and his life for the first time. Since the 1960s, works on Feng Yuxiang have been published constantly, and there have appeared more than ten kinds of Feng’s biographies. Most of these biographies did not differentiate and analyze the historical data they used, but directly adopted the accounts by Feng Yuxiang in his memoirs like My Life, so there were always some accounts which were different from or even contrary to the historical facts. It is thus clear that many scholars working on the history of the Northern Warlords do not have a consciousness of verifying the materials they are using. Of course, there are some exceptions. For example, in his monograph entitled The First Half of Feng Yuxiang’s Life –​Comment on Feng Yuxiang’s Autobiography “My Life” (People’s Publishing House, 2009), Liu Jingzhong discriminated and verified

History of the Northern Warlords  133 some of Feng Yuxiang’s unfounded words, which provided a foundation for further discussion. In this regard, Liu Jingzhong’s book is a rare attempt on the historical philology in the field of the Northern Warlords history. 4.6.4  Many case studies but few wholistic studies Another notable feature of the study of the Northern Warlords’ history after the reform and opening up is that the continuous expansion of the research field and the case studies have been stressed increasingly. This change provides us with a certain possibility to fathom the whole picture of this historical period more comprehensively and thoroughly, which, of course, is also a sign of progress in the study of the Northern Warlords’ history. However, if we examine the actual situation carefully, it seems that it still has some problems. For example, with the expansion of the research field, studies in the political and military fields have shrunk gradually; with the prevalence of the of specific case studies, few scholars have shown any interest in the macro research. Though the research questions have become more and more specific and detailed, the conclusions have always been very broad and researchers have been apt to say that the Northern Warlords had made important contributions to a certain field. Indeed, for historical research, it is necessary to expand the research area from many perspectives and many sides to make clear the details of specific problems, so that we can have an objective or close understanding of the history. However, everything is always interrelated with and conditioned by each other. This is especially true for the historical issues: no matter how many sides and perspectives they have, how small and concrete they are, they would never exist in isolation and are always interrelated with and condition each other. If we do not link them up for comprehensive study and only study a specific field, a specific problem or a specific detail, it would be difficult for us to reveal the fact and essence of the history. The conclusions drawn from the case studies may be correct and valid in terms of a certain field, a certain problem or a certain detail, but are likely to be untenable in terms of the whole. Let’s take the Northern Warlords’ role in Chinese modernization as an example, if we only look at certain of their economic thoughts and policies, or certain of their activities in economic construction, but do not make comparative studies on issues like how many of China’s rights and interests they sold to the big powers, how much damages and losses the warlord melee caused to China’s modernization, it is obviously unilateral to say that they have made great contributions to China’s modernization. It is thus clear that it is not enough to solely conduct isolated studies on the specific problems in a certain field. Only when we conduct comprehensive and wholistic studies at the same time can we find out the facts about the history. Otherwise we will be like a blind man who feels an elephant –​we have figured out every part of the elephant, but still do not know exactly what the elephant is like. In a word, human history is a science. Since it is a science, it should follow the law of science itself, to wit, the spirit of seeking truth from facts. “In

134  ZHANG Jianjun historical studies, we can do nothing if we only believe in the formulas”.107 In order to further advance the study of the Northern Warlords’ history, we must clear up the above-​mentioned problems and carry through the spirit of seeking truth from facts to the end.

Notes 1 Professor at School of History and Culture of Inner Mongolia Normal University. 2 Li Xin. (1985). On the Warlords. Journal of Historical Science, (1); Li Xin. (1985). On the Rise and Fall of the Northern Warlords. Journal of Historical Science, (3). 3 Zhang Huateng. (2008). On the Origin of the Term “the Northern Warlords” –​ The Use of “The Northern Warlord” and “The Northern Group”. Historical Review, (3). 4 Li Xin. (1985). On the Rise and Fall of the Northern Warlords. Journal of Historical Science, (3). 5 Han Jianfu. (1988). Several Issues about the Historical Research on Modern Chinese Warlords. Social Sciences in Guangdong, (3). 6 Ren Hengjun. (1990). Differences in the New Armies and the Formation of the Northern and Southern Warlords. Journal of Literature, History & Philosophy, (4); Liu Jiangchuan. (1994). On the Cultural Reasons for the Warlordism in the Early Republic of China. Republican Archives, (3); Gao Haiyan. (1998). Localism and Militarism –​On the Causes of the Warlord Politics in Modern China. Collected Papers of History Studies, (3); Jiu Yulin. (1999). On the Causes of the Warlord Politics in Modern China. Learning and Exploration, (1); Wang Zhenyu & Wang Xiangyu. (2000). The Social Structure of Modern China and the Causes for the Formation of the Warlords. Journal of Nanjing Tech University (Social Science Edition), (4); Hu Yuhai. (2003). On the Formation and Features of the Warlord Politics in Modern China. Social Science Journal, (1). 7 Peng Ming. (1980). Research Outline of the Northern Warlords. Teaching and Research, (5). 8 Lai Xinxia. (1982). Several Issues about the Northern Warlords Study. Academic Monthly, (4). 9 Wei Ming. (1985). On the Northern Warlords Bureaucrats’ Private Capitalist Economic Activities. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 10 Lai Xinxia. (1985). On the Historical Study of the Republican Warlords. Academic Monthly, (1). 11 Pan Min. (1999). Re-​Discussion on the Nature of the Northern Warlords Regime. Journal of Huanggang Normal University, (1). 12 Tang Xuefeng. (1990). On the Social Foundation of the Warlord Particularism. Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Sciences), (4). 13 Wang Fangzhong. (1994). Damages Caused by the Warlord Melee to Traffic and Commerce from 1920 to 1930. Modern Chinese History Studies, (5). 14 Zhang Xiaohui. (1997). On the Influences of the Warlord Melee to Guangzhou’s Economy in the Early Republic. Social Sciences in Guangdong, (6); Ren Nianwen & Li Guolin. (2003). Wars between Warlords in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Inchoation of Shanghai Special Administrative City. Journal of Taiyuan Normal University (Social Sciences Edition), (1).

History of the Northern Warlords  135 15 Lai Xinxia et  al. (2000). History of the Northern Warlords. Nankai University Press,  32–​33. 16 Guo Jianlin. (1991). The Modern Chinese Warlords and Modernization of China. Academic Research, (3). Su Quanyou & Zhang Jianhai. (2001). Government Behavior and Industrial Development during Beiyang Warlord Regime. Journal of Nanhua University (Social Sciences Edition), (4). 17 Xu Zhanchun. (2008). Analysis of the Causes for China’s Economic Development during the Beiyang Government Period. Journal of Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute (Social Sciences Edition), (1). 18 Sun Sibai. (1982). On the Study of the History of Warlords and Some Related Problems. Social Sciences in Guizhou, (6). 19 Lai Xinxia. (1983). The Origin of the Northern Warlords. Chinese Literature and History, (1); Deng Yibing. (1983). On Yuan Shikai’s Army Building Practice. The Northern Forum, (3). 20 Lai Xinxia. (1985). On the Historical Study of the Republican Warlords. Academic Monthly, (1); Wu Zhaoqing. (1987). On Yuan Shikai’s New Army Training and Military Reform and its Historical Status. Historical Archives, (1). 21 Shan Bao. (1984). On the Reasons for Yuan Shikai’s Usurpation of the Regime. Journal of Historical Science, (5); Zhou Yan. (1991). My Personal Views on the Peace Talk between South and North and Sun Yat-​sen’s Abdication. Study and Exploration, (5); Chang Zonghu. (1992). On the Right and Wrong of Yuan Shikai’s Ascending to the Provisional Presidency. The Journal of Humanities, (1). 22 Luo Zhitian. (2001). Underflow in the Troubled Times: Nationalism and the Politics of the Republic of China. Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 61. 23 Lv Shenhua. (2006). Yuan Shikai’s Diplomatic Strategy. Fudan University Press; Jin Guangyao. (2006). Chinese Diplomacy during the Beiyang Period. Fudan University Press, 356; Zhang Guoping & Wu Peilin. (2003). Re-​ discussion on Relationship between the Sino-​ Japanese Negotiations on the “Twenty-​ one Demands” and Yuan Shikai’s Imperial Intentions. Journal of Changchun Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (2); Zhu Shuguang. (2004). Analysis of Yuan Shikai’s Merits and Faults. Academic Contending, (1); Su Quanyou. (2005). New Discussions on Yuan Shikai and the “Twenty-​one Demands”. Chuanshan Journal, (4). 24 Su Quanyou & Zhu Xuangong. (1994). Yuan Shikai and the Modernization of China’s Economy  –​Yuan’s Thoughts of Exalting Agriculture, Industry and Business. Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (4); Su Quanyou. (1998). On Yuan Shikai’s Thoughts of Opening up. Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (2); Su Quanyou et  al. (1996). On Yuan Shikai’s Theory and Practices of Finance. Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 25 Zhu Ying. (1991). Yuan Shikai’s Economic Thought and Related Policies and Measures in the Late Qing Dynasty. Tianjin Social Sciences, (2); Zhang Buxian et  al. (2002). Yuan Shikai and the Industrial Development in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China. Journal of Shanxi Normal University (Social Sciences Edition), (3); Zhou Xia. (2002). Yuan Shikai’s Thought of Taxes and Related Policies. Guangxi Social Sciences, (1). 26 Wang Yan. (1992). Yuan Shikai and Modern Railways. Social Science Research, (5). 27 Mi Rucheng. (1980). The Imperialism and China’s Railways. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 224–​227; Liu Qiqiang. (2004). Evolution of the Contradictory

136  ZHANG Jianjun Roles –​Yuan Shikai and China’s Railway Construction in the Early 1920s. Journal of Baoshan Normal University, (3). 28 Li Zongyi. (1980). The Biography of Yuan Shikai. Zhonghua Book Company, 1. 29 Han Ming. (1986). New Discussions on the Reasons for Sun Yat-​sen’s Giving Way to Yuan Shikai. Historical Research, (5). 30 Hou Yijie, Ren Hengjun. (1986). Review of Yuan Shikai’s New Deal. Journal of Hebei Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (3); Hou Yijie, Ren Hengjun. (1987). Review of Yuan Shikai’s New Deal. Journal of Hebei Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1); Shen Jiawu. (1984). Looking at the Development of the National Capitalism During the Beiyang Period from the Perspective of the Registrations at the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. Historical Archives, (4); Liu Guiwu. (1982). An Overview of the “Communications Clique”. Social Science Front, (3); Zhang Xueji. (1991). On the Industrial and Commercial Policies of Yuan Shikai’s Government. Studies in Chinese Economic History, (1); Zhu Zongzhen. (1989). Yuan Shikai’s Currency Reform. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 31 Zhang Shengen. (1993). Analysis of Studies on Yuan Shikai at Home and Abroad. Journal of Historical Science, (3). 32 Ding Changqing. (1994). The Feng-​Duan Conflict in 1917 and 1918 was not the Conflict between the Zhili Clique and the Anhui Clique. Hebei Academic Journal, (2). 33 Mo Jianlai. (2006). On the Formation of the Anhui Warlords. Historical Research in Anhui, (1). 34 Zhou Junqi. (1989). Analysis of the Reasons for the Anhui Warlords’ Control of the Central Government and the Features of its Regime. Historical Research in Anhui, (3). 35 Pei Changhong. (1982). The Nishihara Loans and the Terauchi Cabinet’s China Policy. Historical Research, (5); Pei Changhong. (1983). The Nishihara Loans and the Fractional Struggles among the Chinese Warlords. Hebei Academic Journal, (4). 36 Mo Jianlai. (1991). On Duan Qirui’s Role in the Founding of the Beiyang Army. Historical Archives, (1); Mo Jianlai. (1992). Analysis of the Relationship between the Anhui Warlords and the Research Clique. Historical Archives, (1). 37 Ding Xianjun. (1988). On Duan Qirui’s Creation of the Republic for Three Times. Historical Archives, (3). 38 Li Kaidi. (1986). Review of Duan Qirui’s Creation of the Republic for Three Times. Historical Research in Anhui, (1). 39 Hu Xiao. (2003). Duan Qirui and Zhang Xun’s Coup. Jianghuai Tribune, (7); Cai Sheng. (2010). Re-​ Discussion on the Relation between Duan Qirui and Zhang Xun’s Coup. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University (Social Sciences Edition), (6). 40 Yuan Jicheng & Wang Hailin. (1990). On China’s Participation in the First World War and the Paris Peace Conference. Modern Chinese History Studies, (6); Lv Maobing. (1991). New Discussion on the Reasons of China’s Participation in the First World War. Academic Contending, (1). 41 Zhou Junqi. (1989).Discussion on the Anhui Warlords’ Policy of Unifying China by Force. History Teaching, (12). 42 Wang Huabin. (1986). On the Reasons and Results of Zhili’s Victory and Anhui’s Failure in the Zhili-​Anhui War. Academic Monthly, (1); Zhang Xuzhong. (2004).

History of the Northern Warlords  137 New Analysis of the Reasons for Anhui’s Failure in the Zhili-​Anhui War. Journal of Guizhou Normal University (Social Sciences Edition), (3). 43 Yang Decai. (1993). Main Reasons for Duan Qirui’s Return to Office. Historical Research in Anhui, (1). 44 Liao Dawei & Xi Pengbiao. (1994). Xu Shuzheng and the Rise and Fall of the Northern Warlords. Historical Review, (1); Liu Lanchang. (1991). Xu Shuzheng’s Dealing with the Northwestern Frontier Affairs and the Factional Politics of the Northern Warlords. Journal of the Yantai Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 45 Chen Changhe. (2000). Qu Tongfeng’s Industrial Activities. History of the Republic of China, (3); Chen Changhe. (2001). How was Qu Tongfeng Captured in the Zhili-​Anhui War? History of the Republic of China, (5); Chen Changhe. (1984). Qu Tongfeng in the Zhili-​Anhui War. History Teaching, (1); Chen Changhe. (3). Wu Guangxin in the Zhili-​Anhui War. Historical Research in Anhui, (3). 46 Su Quanyou & He Yali. (2012). Review of and Reflection on the Studies of Ni Sichong. Journal of the Luoyang Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 47 Guo Jianlin. (1987). Comparison of the First and Second Zhili-​Fengtian War. Historical Archives, (3). 48 Li Jun. (1985). On the Reasons for the Zhili Warlords’ Failure in the Second Zhili-​ Fengtian War. Modern Chinese History Studies, (2). 49 Lou Xiangzhe. (1984). The Financial Bankruptcy and Collapse of the Zhili Warlord Regime. Academic Monthly, (2); Lai Xinxia. (1985). On the Historical Study of the Republican Warlords. Academic Monthly, (1). 50 Zhang Bofeng & Li Zongyi (Eds.) (1990). The Northern Warlords. Wuhan Publishing House, 10–​11. 51 Guo Jianlin, Su Quanyou. (1994).Was Wu Peifu the Agent of Britain and America? Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (6). 52 Wang Jiacheng & Wang Jianhua. (2003). On the Cao Kun and Wu Peifu Group of the Zhili Warlords. Hebei Academic Journal, (2). 53 Lou Xiangzhe. (1986). Preliminary Analysis of the Relationship between Zhili Warlord Regime and Britain and America. Journal of Tianjin Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 54 Zhang Xin. (2004). Looking at the Temporal Features of the Warlord Politics from Cao Kun’s Ruling Activities. Journal of Taizhou College (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (2). 55 Hou Qiang. (2005). Cao Kun’s “Constitution” and its Evaluation. Journal of Chongqing College of Education (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 56 Su Quanyou. (2004). Cao Kun and the “Strike of February 7th, 1923”. Journal of Historical Science, (9). 57 Guo Jianlin. (1985). Wu Peifu during the May 4thMovement Period. Academic Monthly, (11). 58 Tan Rong. (1988). Wu Peifu during the May 4th Movement Period. Journal of the Tianjin Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (5). 59 Xie Benshu. (1983). Wu Peifu’s Collusion with the Southwest Warlords. Social Sciences in Guizhou, (5). 60 Lin Quanmin. (1994). The Formation of the Luoyang Warlords’ Bureaucracy. Military Historical Research, (4); Lin Quanmin. (1995). The Reactionary Rule of the Luoyang Warlords’ Bureaucracy. Military Historical Research, (2).

138  ZHANG Jianjun 61 Guo Jianlin & Su Quanyou. (1997). Analysis of Wu Peifu during the Luoyang Period. Journal of Historical Science, (5). 62 Zheng Zhiting & Li Fengwei. (2003). Discussions on the Background of Wu Peifu’s Making of the February 7th Tragedy. History Teaching, (8). 63 Wang Jiacheng. (2003). On the Cao Kun & Wu Peifu Group of the Zhili Warlords. Hebei Academic Journal, (2). 64 Lai Xinxia. (2003). On Wu Peifu’s Establishment of Mu-​fu. Jianghai Academic Journal, (1). 65 Wang Anping & Liu Limin. (2001). The Whole Story of Wu Peifu’s Life in Sichuan in His Later Years. Journal of Sichuan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (5). 66 Guo Jianlin. (1992). Wu Peifu and the Anti-​Japanese War. Social Science Front, (2); Wang Hongmei. Wu Peifu during the Anti-​Japanese War Period. Journal of Adult Education College of Hebei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (4). 67 Zhang Hongguang. (2006). On the Reasons for Wu Peifu’s Refusing to be a Traitor. Vicissitudes, (5). 68 An Guo. (1997). Japanese Invaders’ Lure and Wu Peifu’s Death. The Essence of Literature and History, (2); Miao Tijun. How Did Japanese Murdered Wu Peifu. Literature and History, (2). 69 Liang Rongchun. (1984). Objections to the Saying that “Wu Peifu Refused to Be a Traitor to Keep His Integrity in His Later Years”. Academic Forum, (2); Wu Genliang. (1982). Doihara’s “Wu Peifu Plan” and Its Failure. Modern Chinese History Studies, (3). 70 Su Quanyou. (2003). The Mystery about Wu Peifu’s Death. Century, (9). 71 Gao Defu. (1982). Feng Yuxiang and the National Army (Guo Min Jun). Journal of Nankai University, (2); Xiong Jianhua. (1986). Looking at Feng Yuxiang’s Attitude toward the May 30th Movement from Min Bao. Modern Chinese History Studies, (5); Hai Zhenzhong. (1989). From a Christian General to a Believer of the Three People’s Principles –​Feng Yuxiang’s Changes during the Great Revolution Period. The Northern Forum, (1). 72 Liu Jingzhong. (1984). Feng Yuxiang and the Nankou War. History Teaching, (3). 73 Liu Manrong. (1988). On Feng Yuxiang’s Change from a Beiyang Warlord to a Participator of the National Revolution. Journal of Wuhan University, (2). 74 Lin Fengsheng & Lv Shu’e. (2003). On the National Army’s Peace Talks with the Zhili and Fengtian Warlords from 1926 to the Nankou War. Journal of Adult Education College of Hebei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (4). 75 Guo Xuyin & Chen Xingtang. (1987). Patriotic General Feng Yuxiang. Henan People’s Publishing House, 64. 76 Liu Jingzhong. (1990). Feng Yuxiang and Cao Kun’s Bribery at the Election. Journal of Hebei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 77 Fu Youling. (2004). A  Brief Discussion on Sun Chuanfang’s Management of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Journal of Xuzhou Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (4). 78 Wang Xiaohua. (1986). Analysis of the Reasons for Sun Chuanfang’s Failure in the Northern Expedition War. Zhejiang Academic Journal, (6).

History of the Northern Warlords  139 79 Li Chongyi. (1991). Wang Zhanyuan’s Governance of Zhengzhou and the Movement of Expelling Wang Zhanyun. Journal of Hubei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 80 Hu Yuhai. (2008). On the Fengtian Warlords. History and Geography of Northeast China, (2). 81 Zhang Wei. (2001). On the Characteristics of the Fengtian Warlords. Journal of Liaoning University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (3). 82 Liu Yinghong. (1991). Analysis of the Fengtian Warlords’ Expansion inside the Shanhai Pass. Seeking Truth, (5). 83 Pan Xiting. (1980). The relationship between Zhang Zuolin and Japan. Study and Exploration, (2); Bai Hufu. (1980). A Brief Biography of Zhang Zuolin. Journal of Liaoning University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (3) & (4). 84 He Yinghui. (2000). On the Relationship between Zhang Zuolin and Japan. Journal of Heilongjiang Education College (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (4). 85 Chen Chongqiao & Hu Yuhai. (1990). Zhang Zuolin and Japan. Japan Studies, (1). 86 Hu Yuhia. (2008). On the Fengtian Warlords. History and Geography of Northeast China, (2). 87 Luo Zhitian. (1996). The Jinan Incident and the Turn of Sino-​ American Relationship. Historical Research, (2). 88 Ding Yongnian. (1982). We Should Be Objective in the Evaluation of Zhang Zuolin. Seeking Truth, (5); Mo Jianlai. (1989). The Fengtian Warlords and Zhili-​Anhui War. Academic Monthly, (3); Liu Yinghong. (1991). Analysis of the Fengtian Warlords’ Expansion inside the Shanhai Pass. Seeking Truth, (5). 89 Gao Lecai & Liu Bin. (2006). The Fengtian Warlords and the Construction of the Northeastern Sea Forces. Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (5). 90 Wang Depeng & Hua Zhengwei. (2000). On the Formation of the Fengtian Warlords’ Economic Power. Journal of Liaoning University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (2). 91 Yao Huiyuan. (2002). Issuance of Paper Money in Liaoning during the Regime of the Fengtian Warlords. China Numismatics, (4). 92 Cheng (Ed.) (1980). Zhang Zuolin. Liaoning People’s Publishing House. 93 Che Weihan. (1992). Zhang Zuolin and the Zhengjiatun Incident. Modern Chinese History Studies, (5). 94 Wang Haichen. (2002). Zhang Zuolin and the Negotiations on the Twenty-​one Demands. Historical Research, (2); Wang Haichen. (2004). Looking at Zhang Zuolin’s Strategies on Japan from the Negotiations on Manchuria and Mongolia. Journal of Historical Science, (8). 95 Xu Ling. (1985). Looking at Zhang Zuolin’s Death from Machino’s Memoirs. Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (1). 96 Chen Chongqiao. (1986). The Fengtian Warlords and the Intellectuals. Journal of Liaoning University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (3). 97 Wan Jiaxing. (1999). Argument for Guo Songling. Social Science Front, (3). 98 Mao Lvping. (1982). On the Nature of Guo Songling’s Uprising and the Reasons for His Defeat. Academic Monthly, (5); Gao Hongxia. (1987). Analysis of Guo Songling’s Defeat. Academic Monthly, (12).

140  ZHANG Jianjun 99 Liu Jingzhong. (2005). Feng Yuxiang and Guo Songling’s Defeat in His Anti-​ Fengtian War. Journal of Hebei Institute of Architectural Science and Technology (Social Sciences Edition), (1). 100 Zhou Licheng. (1997). A  Brief Account of Zhu Yupu’s Crimes in Tianjin. Historical Archives, (3). 101 Li Daien. (1997). China’s Early Modernization and Warlordism of the Early Republican China. Journal of Southeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), (6). 102 Mo Jianlai. (1992). Analysis of the Relationship between the Anhui Warlords and the Research Clique. Historical Archives, (1). 103 Liang Ribo. (1999). Analysis of the Relationship between Liang Qichao and the Anhui Warlords. Journal of Gannan Normal University, (4). 104 Cong Guangyu. (1991). Discussion on Zhang Xueliang’s Northeast Flag Replacement. Journal of Liaoning Educational Administration Institute (Social Sciences Edition), (2). 105 Zeng Yeying. (2003). On the Northeast Flag Replacement of 1928. Historical Research, (2). 106 Qian Jin. (2000). New Analysis of Zhang Xueliang’s Northeast Flag Replacement. Republican Archives, (4). 107 Marx, Karl. (1996). The Metaphysics of Political Economics (the 2nd Chapter of “The Poverty of Philosophy”). In: Selected Works of Marx and Engels (Vol. 1). People’s Publishing House, 123.

5 The Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression1 RONG Wei-​mu2

The Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression is the only national liberation war that ended with the complete victory of the Chinese nation in modern Chinese history. During the war, a bond of close cooperation was built up between the government and people, political factions, all ethnic groups, domestic citizens, and overseas compatriots, showing unprecedented national cohesion since modern times. The Japanese invasion brought unparalleled disaster to the Chinese nation, and the loss suffered by the country and Chinese people was worse than that caused by any foreign invasion in modern times. After the war, both the comparison of domestic political forces and status of China in the international community underwent great changes, which finally contributed to the founding of the People’s Republic of China that ended modern Chinese history. The history of Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression has played a crucial role in modern Chinese history. Since the founding of new China, significant progress has been made in the study of the history of Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression, several issues of which will be discussed below in this chapter.

5.1  The relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party during the Anti-​Japanese War The relationship between the KMT (short for Kuomintang) and the CPC (short for Communist Party of China) after the full-​scale Anti-​Japanese War has always been ascribed great importance by academia. The exposition of this aspect can be found in works during 1950s ̶ 1970s about the CPC’s history and revolution history, all of which share an obvious characteristic: emphasizing CPC’s revolutionary tactics while excluding the cooperation between the KMT and the CPC. With the advent of the research boom in the history of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japan in the 1980s, the history of the second cooperation between the KMT and the CPC has aroused widespread concern. For several years, more than 100 academic papers concerning the relations between the KMT and the CPC during the period of Comprehensive Anti-​Japanese War were published and several

142  RONG Wei-mu books successively on cooperation history between the KMT and the CPC. Among them Li Haiwen (1985a, 1985b)3 and Li Kun (1985)4 disclosed, for the first time, some details of the secret contacts between the KMT and the CPC in 1936. In addition, other related research results also contributed to the study of the KMT-​CPC relationship. For instance, in the study of Sino-​US relations, Zi Zhong-​yun (1987)5 and Niu Jun (1989),6 described in detail the reasons, process and results of US’s mediation of the contradictions between the KMT and the CPC during the later period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Since the 1990s, new progress has been made in the study of the KMT-​CPC relationship due to the fact that more historical materials were uncovered. For instance, Yang Kui-​song (1995)7 revealed a handful of little-​known historical facts about the relationship between Chang Hsueh-​liang and the CPC during the secret talk between the KMT and the CPC in 1936, verifying and correcting several specific details of the former studies. The important views of this book are listed as follows: in the Yan’an Talks, it was the CPC that exerted an effect on Chang Hsueh-​liang, not otherwise; prior to the Xi’an Incident, Chang Hsueh-​liang once held the anti-​Chiang Kai-​shek attitude, preparing to unite the Soviet Union and the CPC to establish his own realm and not hesitating to use force to break up with Chiang Kai-​shek. Some research also studied the CPC’s changing attitudes toward Chiang Kai-​shek in the Xi’an Incident, and maintained that the CPC’s “peaceful approach” was proposed after Chow En-​Lai’s arrival in Xi’an, before which the majority of the CPC suggested “bringing Chiang Kai-​shek to trial” and “leading the whole country with Xi’an as the center”.8 As to the change of the CPC’s attitudes, some researchers suggested that Zhang Wen-​tian played a significant role.9 There are some other researchers who noticed the influence of people other than the KMT and the CPC members on the Xi’an Incident, for instance, Luo Jian (2000)10 maintained that Li Tian-​cai (a former communist and key member of the Special Central Committee) and several other people who have almost been forgotten did play important roles in the Xi’an Incident. As to the research on the change of China’s political situation between the September 18th Incident and the July 7th Incident, former researchers mainly focused on Chiang Kai-​shek’s policy of “resisting foreign aggression after stabilizing the country” and the CPC’s policy of “establishing national counter-​Japanese united front”, while some people provided a different view that the reality of division and trend of unity coexisting was the real feature of China’s political situation of that period.11 In addition to studies on the Xi’an Incident, other researches have improved significantly as well. For instance, Ma Zhong-​lian (1996)12 was the first study on the KMT and CPC forces’ cooperative engagement. Xi Wu-​ yi (1996),13 Yang Kui-​song (1993),14 Yang Kui-​song (2002),15 Yang Kui-​song (2003),16 Li Liang-​zhi (1994),17 Tang Yu-​bing (2004),18 Deng Ye (2008),19 and Jin Chong-​ji (1995)20 etc. studied the evolution of the KMT-​CPC relationship from different angles. What’s more, a variety of books of studies on the

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  143 history of the KMT-​CPC relationship were published during this period, for example, Li Liang-​zhi(1993),21 Yang Kui-​song(1992),22 Ma Qi-​bin (1995),23 Mao Lei & Fan Xiao-​fang (1996),24 Huang Xiu-​rong (2002),25 etc. In spite of some inevitable flaws, the books mentioned above have boosted studies on the KMT-​CPC relationship during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to a new stage.

5.2  Battlefield behind enemy lines The battlefield behind the enemy lines is also generally called the “Liberation Area Battlefield”. From the point of view of military strategy, it refers to the anti-​Japanese battlefield behind the Japanese army’s front advancement line. Here only according to the general practice, the anti-​Japanese battlefield led by the Communist Party is regarded as the battlefield behind the enemy lines and the following is a brief review of its research status. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, before the 1980s, the study of the Anti-​Japanese War in the Mainland was actually the study of the battlefield behind the enemy lines. A  number of monographs were published, such as Ye Huo-​sheng (1956),26 Wu Tian-​ji (1956),27 The Political Department of Hebei Military District (1958),28 Qi Wu (1957),29 and the internal publications of the People’s Liberation Army30 including The 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the War History of Shanxi-​Suiyuan Base, The 129th Division and the War History of Shanxi-​Hebei-​Shandong-​ Henan Base, The War History of Shanxi-​Chahar-​Hebei Military District, The War History of Shandong Military District, The War History of Hebei-​Rehe-​ Liaoning Military District, The War History of the New Fourth Army, and so on. The basic views of these works are the same, that is, the battlefield behind the enemy lines is the main battlefield of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it was fought against the majority of the Japanese army and almost all the puppet troops, playing a decisive role in the final victory of the Anti-​Japanese War; it adhered to the route of total resistance, adopted the strategy of guerrilla attacks and the people’s war; the people’s forces continued to grow and develop in battlefield behind the enemy lines, which accumulated the revolutionary forces for the establishment of the new China after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, etc. Because of the emphasis on the Communist Party’s policy of independence and its political and military struggle with the Kuomintang, there is not sufficient research on the relationship between the rear battlefield and the front battlefield and the strategic battle cooperation between the two battlefields, and the evaluation of some figures and events are not objective. The research results in the last 30 years of the 20th century have greatly exceeded the number and level of its previous 30 years. In terms of historical materials, there are publications of selections and collected military works of high-​level figures of the Chinese Communist Party, government, and military, such as Mao Tse-​tung, Liu Shao-​qi, Chow En-​Lai, Zhu De, Deng Xiao-​ping,

144  RONG Wei-mu Ren Bi-​shi, and Peng De-​huai, Xu Xiang-​qian, Ye jian-​ying, Chen Yi, and Su Yu, etc., and a series of historical material books of armies and various anti-​Japanese base areas including the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, the Northeast Anti-​Japanese Coalition Forces, the Shanxi New Army, the Dongjiang Columns, etc. Memoirs mainly include military commanders’, such as the memoirs of Peng De-​huai, Nie Rong-​zhen, Xu Xiang-​qian, Yang Cheng-​wu, Chen Zai-​dao, Xiao Ke, Yang De-​zhi, Huang Ke-​cheng, and Xu Shi-​you, as well as the historical data of word-​of-​mouth contained in the literature and history materials. The research publications during this period mainly included Wang Qi’s The Midstream Pillar:  Battlefields in the Liberated Area during the Anti-​ Japanese War, Liu Jia-​guo’s Blood Fighting –​Anti-​Japanese Heroes the Eighth Route Army, and Tian Xuan’s Iron Army –​The New Fourth Army Fighting in Central China, Le Si-​ping’s Guild War in North China –​Hundred Regiments Offensive Shocking the World (both published by Guangxi Normal University Press in 1995), and Wang Fu-​yi’s A Brief History of the New Fourth Army (CCP History Publishing House, 1997), etc. In the other works of general history of Anti-​Japanese War, the research on the battlefield behind the enemy lines also account for a large proportion. For example, Zhang Xian-​wen’s The History of China’s Anti-​Japanese War (Nanjing University Press, 2001), Fan Ji-​hou and others’ The History of Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in North China (Shanxi People’s Publishing House, 2005), Wang Xiu-​xin & Guo De-​hong’s The History of the Chinese National Anti-​Japanese War (The CPC History Press, 2005), He Li’s The History of the Chinese People’s Anti-​Japanese War (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2005), and so on. All devoted a great many words to discussing the battlefield behind the enemy lines. There are more than 500 research papers concerning the opening up and development of it, its strategic guidelines, the role it plays and its historical position, the relationship between the rear battlefield and the front battlefield, and the analysis and evaluation of battles and characters, etc. Compared with previous studies, the characteristics of these studies can be summarized as follows: the scope gradually wider, the understanding gradually deeper, and more contention. In regard to the strategic guideline for the battlefield behind the enemy lines, it was previously considered to be an independent mountain guerrilla warfare, or a basic guerrilla warfare, and a mobile warfare without abandoning favorable conditions. This strategic guideline was proposed in the Luochuan Conference of the Chinese Communist Party in August 1937. Today, some people believe that it was put forward as early as in 1935 in the Wayaobao Manifesto. There are also people who believe that not until the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was it accepted by the whole party, before that there was a great disagreement within the Chinese Communist Party.31 With regard to the transformation of the CPC’s military strategy from civil war to the anti-​Japanese war, the previous studies focused more on the role played by Mao Tse-​tung. Recently,

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  145 some people think that Zhang Wen-​tian, who was then the head of the CPC, made major contributions to the realization of this historic transformation.32 The issue related to this question is whether or not there is a general strategic guideline in the Chinese Anti-​Japanese War. In the past, it was considered that the Kuomintang only had a “quick victory theory” under the guidance of the one-​sided anti-​Japanese war route. Now it is generally acknowledged that the long-​lasting strategy is the consensus of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and most people in the country. However, there are still different opinions on how much the CCP’s long-​lasting strategy differs from the Kuomintang’s long-​lasting attrition strategy. With regard to the issue of the time of the formation of the battlefield behind enemy lines, in the past, it was according to Mao Tse-​tung’s statements that China’s Anti-​Japanese War was initially divided into two battlefields. Now some people suggest that when the War of Resistance Against Japan began, there was only one battlefield in China, that is the frontal battlefield of the Kuomintang, and the earliest time that China was divided into two battlefields could be only after 1938. This view is mainly based on the performance of the strategic role of the battlefield behind the enemy lines. That is, it was only after the arrival of the stage of anti-​Japanese strategic stalemate that the independent strategic role of the battlefield behind the enemy lines was played more apparently. This involves the issue of the main battlefield of China’s Anti-​Japanese War. Some people think that from 1938 to 1940, the military situation of the Chinese battlefield was a phase of transition from strategic defense to strategic stalemate, and it was not a phase of stalemate completely. The offensive focus of the Japanese military is still on the frontal battlefield of the KMT, and the Kuomintang’s military is still fighting hard and actively on the whole. As for the reason for the formation of the battlefield behind the enemy lines, some believe that it can be summarized as three points. First is the established split command of the KMT and the CPC at the beginning of the War of Resistance; second is the evolution of the war situation and the different choices of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party for the battlefield; the third is that the basic characteristics of the Sino-​ Japanese war determined that the CCP’s military could not engage in regular warfare on the front, but only guerrilla warfare behind the enemy. With regard to the relationship between the battlefield behind the enemy lines and the front battlefield, most people now believe that the two battlefields are interdependent, collaborative, and cooperative. China’s resistance could not be maintained without each of them. About the status and role of the battlefield behind the enemy lines, there are great disagreements. Some people surveyed the issue mainly from the Japanese invasion strategy and the scale of China’s anti-​Japanese warfare. They believe that even in the phase of strategic stalemate, the Japanese military did not completely abandon the frontal attack, and the scale far exceeded the battlefield behind. It can be seen that in the Chinese battlefield, the main battle line against Japan is the front battlefield. Those who disagree with the

146  RONG Wei-mu view believe that after the arrival of the stage of strategic stalemate, active fighting in the battlefield behind became an important factor of slowing front advancement of the Japanese army. The main battle targets of the Japanese military were forced to shift to the rear of the advancement line, so the battlefield behind the enemy lines rose to become the main battlefield of China’s Anti-​Japanese War. The role of the battlefield behind the enemy lines cannot be judged by the scale of the battle but the actual effect. According to some statistics, in the eight-​year comprehensive war of resistance, the Japanese casualties were 1.33  million, of which 520,000 were smashed in the battlefield behind the enemy lines, accounting for 40 per cent of the total number of people who were destroyed. In terms of the proportion of the number of military army, the per capita enemies destroyed by the military army in the battlefield behind the enemy lines is twice the number of enemies destroyed in the front battlefield.33 There are two opposing views on whether there was a strategic counterattack phase in battlefield behind the enemy lines. The deniers believe that the important condition for the implementation of the strategic counter-​offensive is that we generally gain an advantage in the comparison of the strength of both sides. In fact, until not long before the Japanese surrendered, the situation of the enemy’s strong forces and our weak forces had not changed, and therefore there was no strategic counterattack but attacks of campaigns and battles. The large-​scale counterattack operation in the battlefield behind the enemy lines after Japan’s surrender was actually a struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party for the victory of the Anti-​Japanese War. It cannot be regarded as a strategic counterattack of the Anti-​Japanese War. The agree side believe that the strength and weakness of the comparison between the enemy and us is not absolute. The Chinese Anti-​Japanese War is an integral part of the world anti-​fascist war. Seen from the situation after 1943, Japan’s power throughout the world is already at a disadvantage compared with the allies including China. Later, even in the Chinese battlefield, the Japanese military’s advantage is relative. In some regions, China has achieved a partial advantage. Therefore, it is a natural choice that China implements a strategic counter-​offensive.

5.3  Front battlefield The so-​called front battlefield refers to the battlefield where Chinese armies engaged Japanese armies in the advance line of Japanese aggression against China. It is mainly located near the large-​and medium-​sized cities, on both sides of traffic lines, and in other strategic locations where China and Japan face military confrontation. As the Chinese army fighting in this battlefield is mainly the KMT’s army, it is said to be the KMT’s front battlefield. After the founding of New China, and for quite a long period of time, in stark contrast to the fact that the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) authorities in Taiwan belittled the role of the Communist Party in the war of resistance,

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  147 the mainland emphasized that the Communist Party was the leader of the Chinese Anti-​Japanese War, and at the same time it hold an understated attitude toward the history of the Kuomintang troops’ combat against Japan. After the 1980s, research on the front battlefield began to heat up. First came the publication of historical materials. The documentary sources include The Diary of the Kuomintang Military Secret Warfare during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (Archives Press, 1995) edited by the Second Historical Archives of China and The Front Battlefield of the Anti-​ Japanese War (Phoenix Press, 2005)  which is expanded and re-​edited, etc. The special historical materials include The Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the Beiping-​Tianjin Anti-​Japanese Campaign (printed in 1985) edited by the Party History Teaching and Research Section of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, The Selected Works of the August Thirteen Anti-​ Japanese Historical Materials (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1986) edited by the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and The Selected Works of Wuhan Anti-​Japanese War Materials (printed in 1985) edited by Wuhan University Archives, etc. The oral historical materials include The Personal Experiences of the Original Kuomintang Generals in the Anti-​Japanese War edited by the Literature and History Data Editing Committee of the CPPCC. The well-​rounded works on the front battlefield mainly include Guo Xiong’s Introduction to the Important Battle of the KMT’s Front Battlefield during the War of Resistance Against Japan (Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1985, reprinted in 2005), Ma Zhen-​du’s The Splendour of Blood Dying –​the Realistic Writing of the Front Battlefield in Anti-​ Japanese War (Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993)  and so on. Regarding the specific case study of the campaign, there are books like Great Victory–​Taierzhuang Battle Record (Lin Zhi-​bo & Zhao Guo-​zhang), Wonders of Soldiers and Fire–​Wuhan Defence War (Ao Wenwei), Iron and Blood Expedition–​Chinese Expeditionary Army Fighting the Japanese in India and Myanmar (Tian Xuan) published successively by Guangxi Normal University Publishing House after 1996. There is also Luo Yu-​ming’s Hunan Battlefield during the War of Resistance Against Japan (Xuelin Publishing House, 2002). The study of the front battlefield mainly focuses on the following issues: First, whether the National Government had strategic preparations for resisting the Japanese before the outbreak of the comprehensive war of resistance. Before the 1980s, it was agreed that the National Government did not have any strategic preparations. Later, opinions are divided. Some believe that the Kuomintang had already begun preparations for the anti-​Japanese activities shortly after the September 18th Incident, such as dividing the national defense zones, formulating and implementing the national defense construction plan, establishing the National Defense Design Committee, and conducting investigation on military strength, strategy resources, military production, transportation, logistics and seeking solutions, etc.34 Huang Dao-​xuan (2000)35 believed that behind Chiang Kai-​shek’s proposed policy

148  RONG Wei-mu there were complications in which while such a policy “was against the will of the general public for its passive resistance, it was almost a last resort under the circumstances at the time and on the basis of weighing against the overall national power; and there were also mixed motivations in which Chiang Kai-​shek and Kuomingtang's urgent demand for internal suppression of communists by force was interfused with a determination to resist at the last moment. It was a helpless choice made by the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-​shek to deal with the situation at the time under the domestic and foreign difficulties”. Yang Tian-​shi (2001)36 proposed that the “suppressing the Communists” war carried out by Chiang Kai-​shek at that time is a measure taken as a cover of anti-​Japanese in the process of “governing the southwest base area” for “preparing for the war of resistance”. The second is about the Kuomintang’s strategic approach. Most of people believe that the Kuomintang’s strategic policy was “a long-​lasting war of attrition”, and its basic content was “to exchange space for time and accumulate small victories into larger ones”. Regarding the similarities and differences between the Kuomintang’s “long-​lasting war of attrition” and the Communist Party’s “protracted war”, people who think they are different emphasize the essential difference, that is, the “lasting war of attrition” is a negative strategy; while people who think they are the same emphasize that they “have no fundamental difference in principle”, and it is the basis of military cooperation for the KMT and the CPC.37 The third is whether the Kuomintang has carried out guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area. Most believe the Kuomintang had carried out guerrilla warfare. For example, Qi Hou-​jie (1990)38 believes that at the end of 1938, the Kuomintang had proposed the issue of “turn[ing] the frontal defensive warfare into guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area” at the Nanyue military conference. Some people also studied the implementation of the Kuomintang guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area. For example, Luo Yu-​ming believes that “the total amount of Kuomintang’s troops carrying out guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear is about more than 500,000. The guerrilla-​formed regular army established base areas in the enemy’s rear area and cooperated with the Kuomintang in frontal battlefields, which pinned down a large number of Japanese troops and greatly threatened the Japanese rear base and supply lines”.39 The opposite opinion holds that in the early days of the Anti-​ Japanese War, the Kuomintang did not plan to deploy guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area. A few troops carrying out guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area was the result of cooperation with the Communist Party against the orders of Chiang Kai-​shek. These troops later all participated in the Eighth Route Army; after the fall of Wuhan, though the Kuomintang established the Hebei-​Chahar war zone and the Jiangsu-​Shandong war zone and began to attach importance to the guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area, its main purpose was to gain the regular army operations support and cooperation from the guerrilla warfare, and to limit and undermine the development of the Communist Party’s base areas in the enemy’s rear area. Therefore, the

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  149 Kuomintang cannot be considered to have a guerrilla battlefield in the enemy’s rear area.40 There are also some people who compared the guerrilla warfare between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and then proposed that during the period of the full-​scale anti-​Japanese war, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party tried and worked hard on the issue of guerrilla warfare. The Kuomintang’s guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear area is mainly an auxiliary warfare to cooperate with the frontal battlefield operations. The guerrilla warfare of the Communist Party has independent strategic significance and value. Due to the rigid warfare methods, coupled with the lack of support and cooperation from the broad masses of people, the Kuomintang’s guerrillas found it difficult to combat the Japanese army for a long time, but were also unable to compete with the Communist Party’s armed forced in the enemy’s rear area.41 The fourth is when the frontal battlefield began a passive war of resistance. After the 1980s, some people proposed that the period of time from November 1938 to the summer of 1940 was the stage of the transition from strategic defense to strategic confrontation in the Chinese anti-​Japanese battlefield. The Japanese military’s offensive focus remained on the frontal battlefield, and the Kuomintang had not yet passively resisted the war. But after the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the Kuomintang completely pinned its hopes for victory on the US-​British allied forces and began a passive war of resistance.42 It has also been suggested that the Kuomintang’s negative resistance did not begin after the fall of Guangzhou and Wuhan, nor the outbreak of the Pacific War, but after the failure of the winter offensive in the frontal battlefield in 1940.43 The fifth is the case study of battles in frontal battlefields. Regarding the attitude of the National Government in the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, some people think that it didn’t mean to engage in war. The underlying reason is that it feared that making war against Japan would weaken its military power and provide opportunities for the Soviet Union and the CCP. Therefore, “Chiang Kai-​shek pretended to fight while trying to avoid war after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident”.44 Regarding the relationship between the strategic intentions of the National Government and the Battle of Shanghai, it was suggested that the Battle of Shanghai had been planned in advance by the National Government, and it intended to lead the Japanese force to change its main attack direction from North China to East China, and afterward, Japanese began to attack the Chinese army from the east to the west along the Yangtze River, thus smashing the attempt of the Japanese to suppress the Chinese army to the east of the Pinghan line and conquer it. The realization of this strategic intention is of great significance to China’s war of resistance.45 There are other people who disagreed with this view, saying that not only did the National Government not have the strategy to actively induce the Japanese military to change the attack direction, but the results of the battle did not change the Japanese offensive direction.46 There are still people who believe that the Battle of Shanghai was a preemptive military strike to prevent

150  RONG Wei-mu the Japanese from going south along the Ping-​Han line to Wuhan, with the intention of changing the offensive direction of the Japanese.47 Regarding the Battle of Wuhan, some people compared the plan of China and Japan and concluded that: “Compared with the two sides, China’s combat guidance is successful, while that of the Japanese army is a failure”.48 On the operation of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, Huang Dao-​xuan (2001)49 clearly pointed out that Stilwell should bear the main responsibility for the failure in the Burma campaign for his reckless offensive without taking the actual situation of the battlefield into consideration. Chiang Kai-​shek should also bear some responsibilities for making a compromise with Stilwell during the middle and late period of the campaign, for fear of offending the United States. Regarding the Battle of Hunan, Wang Qi-​sheng (2004)50 believed it was the longest battle in the “No. 1 Combat” in 1944 and the National Revolutionary Army resisted the most tenaciously. However, due to the fact that the National Government’s military commanding department’s judgment on the enemy’s situation and its deployment were obviously flawed, the troops were not well-​adjusted, the coordination ability was poor, and the military’s combat effectiveness was weak, they didn’t win at last.

5.4  Enemy-​occupied areas and puppet regimes Studies of enemy-​ occupied areas and puppet regimes have attracted the attention of researchers after the founding of New China. According to statistics, during the 17  years from the 1950s to1970s, the research on the enemy-​occupied areas and puppet regimes included more than 40 papers and five or six monographs. These writings refer to the ruling policy of the Japanese puppet regimes in the enemy-​occupied areas and their crimes. On the whole, the research at this time is still at the stage of general historical description and data compilation. After the 1980s, research in this field had made great progress. According to statistics, by the end of the 1990s, more than 500 papers, 60 academic monographs, and 30 publication materials were published, and more than ten foreign-​related works, historical materials, and memoirs were translated and published. In the last ten years, a lot more treatises have come out. Regarding books and materials about Wang Ching-​wei’s puppet regime, Chronicle of Wang Ching-​ wei’s Puppet National Government (China Social Sciences Press, 1982) written by Cai De-​jin and Li Hui-​xian was an earlier publication. The content of Wang Ching-​wei Group’s Surrender to the Enemy, Set-​up of Wang Ching-​wei’s National Government (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1984) and The “Qingxiang Movement” of Wang Ching-​ wei’s National Government (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1985), compiled by Yu Zi-​dao and Huang Mei-​zhen is quite rich. In addition, there are Wang puppet Government’s National Government Bulletin (Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1992) and The Meeting Minutes of Wang Puppet Government Executive Yuan (Archives Publishing House,

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  151 1992)  compiled by China’s second historical archives and The Record of Interrogation of Wang Puppet Traitors (Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1992)  selected and compiled by Nanjing Municipal Archives, and so on. Historical materials of figures include Zhou Fo-​hai’s Diary edited and annotated by Cai de-​jin (China Social Sciences Press, 1986), Zhou Fo-​ hai’s Diary in Prison edited and annotated by the Archives of the Ministry of Public Security (China Literature and History Publishing House, 1991), Wang Ching-​wei’s Life Chronicle written and edited by Cai de-​jin and Wang Sheng (China Literature and History Publishing House, 1993), and Records of Puppet Government selected and edited by Huang Mei-​ zhen (China Literature and History Publishing House, 1991). The research works on Wang Ching-​wei’s puppet regime mainly include Cai De-​jin’s The Freak of History  –​Wang Ching-​ wei National Government (Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993), The Whole History of Wang Ching-​wei Puppet Regime (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2006) written by Yu Zi-​dao, Cao Zhen-​ wei and others. Monographic studies mainly include Huang Mei-​zhen and Zhang Yun’s Records of Wang Ching-​wei’s Betrayal of the Country and Defection to the Enemy, Huang You-​lan’s “Peace Movement” in the Period of Anti-​Japanese War”(PLA Press, 1988), Cai De-​jin and Shang Yue’s The Den of Monsters –​Headquarters of Wang Puppet Agents No. 76 (China Literature and History Publishing House, 1986) and Zhang Sheng’s Research on Relations of Japanese and Puppet:  Centered on East China Region (Nanjing Publishing House, 2003), etc. In addition, a large number of papers have studied the political, military, economic, cultural, and ideological aspects of Wang’s puppet regime respectively. The more noticeable research hotspots are the reasons for Wang puppet group’s treason and surrender to the enemy, the internal power struggle, and Wang-​Japan’s contradictions. The research works mainly include Jiang Nian-​dong’s The History of Puppet Manchukuo (Jilin People’s Publishing House, 1980), which is the first general treatise on the puppet Manchukuo regime. After that, there were Xie Xue-​shi’s The Cancer of History  –​Rise and Fall of the Puppet Manchuria Regime (Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993)  and New Compilation of the History of the Puppet Manchukuo (People’s Press, 1995, reprinted in 2007). There are other monographs including Che Ji-​hong’s Research on the Grass-​ roots Regime of the Puppet Manchukuo (Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House Press, 2000), Wang Sheng-​jin’s Study on the Migration in Northeast China During the Puppet Manchukuo Period: A Discussion on the Immigration Aggression Carried Out by Japanese Imperialism (China Social Science Press, 2005), Liu Jing-​hui’s Nationality, Sex and Class –​King’s Way and Politics During the Puppet Manchuria Period (Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2004), Li Shu-​juan’s Northeast Rural Areas Under the Rule of Japanese Puppet Regime (1931 –​1945) (Contemporary China Publishing House, 2005), Manchurian Railway and Chinese Laborers (Social Science literature Publishing House, 2003)  edited chiefly by Xie Xue-​shi and Gaofu

152  RONG Wei-mu Matsumura (Japanese), and Wang xi-​liang’s History of Colonial Education in Occupied Areas of Northeast China (Heilongjiang People’s Publishing House, 2008), etc. As for the occupied area of North China, the historical materials include Five Security Enhancement Campaigns of the Japanese puppet regime in Beijing and Beijing New People Society of the Japanese puppet regime (Beijing Yanshan press, 1987) selected and compiled by Beijing Municipal Archives, and Japan’s Plunder and Control of North China’s Economy edited by Ju Zhi-​ fen (Beijing press, 1995), etc. Relevant research works include Lu Ming-​hui’s The Beginning and End of Mongolian “Self-​Government Movement” (China Book Bureau, 1980), The Japanese Puppet Regime in East Hebei (Archives Publishing House, 1992) by Zhang Hong-​xiang and others, and The Historical Manuscripts of the Puppet Regime in North China:  From “Temporary Government” to “North China Government Affairs Committee” (Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2007), etc. Regarding the economy of the occupied areas, in the puppet “Manchukuo State”, researchers paid more attention to the study of the formation process and characteristics of the colonial form, believing that Japan had established a relatively complete colonial economic system in the northeast. The scale of its investment and the amount of looted goods exceeded that of any other occupied area. Regarding the colonial economic form in northeast China, some people suggested that the feudal economy used by Japan was still an important part of the colonial rural economy until the collapse of the Japanese controlled economy.51 After analyzing the national capital in northeast China, some people think that the national capital dominated by various textile industries had generally declined since 1937.52 Regarding the puppet Manchukuo economy, it is generally believed that it was in a dependency position in the “planned economy of Japan and Manchukuo as a whole”. Some people also pointed out that by the end of the Anti-​Japanese war, the total amount of capital of Puppet Manchukuo had exceeded Japan’s investment in the northeast, but this capital was not what is usually called bureaucratic capital or state monopoly capital but a colonial capital. Regarding the economy of the occupied areas of North China, some people have suggested that “China Joint Preparatory Bank” plundered financially in the occupied areas of North China by means of monopolizing the right to issue currency, implementing inflation policies and controlling exchange rates, etc., which resulted in the impoverishment of North China’s population, the decline of national industries, the bankruptcy of the rural economy and other serious consequences. It is especially pointed out that the Japanese puppet regime is the culprit of the bankruptcy of the rural economy in the occupied areas of North China.53 Regarding the economy in the occupied areas of central China, some people believe that the controlled economy of the Wang puppet government was not only an accessory to the Japan-​controlled economy, but also inherited the basic characteristics of China’s semi-​colonial and

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  153 semi-​feudal economy.54 There are also other people who have verified the devastation of sericulture, forestry, cotton, fishery, and handicrafts in the rural areas of the Jiangnan region during the war and the tragic situation of the affected peasants, and believe that the Japanese invasion of China interrupted the modernization process, blocking the improvement and social development of the rural areas in the south of the Yangtze river.55 As for the culture of the occupied areas, the study is mainly focused on the problems of the Japanese puppet regime’s education, press and publication, the “East Asian Association Campaign” and the “New National Movement” etc., pointing out that the occupied areas are carrying out colonial enslaving education policies. Its aim is to cultivate slaves for Japan’s invasion of China and to eliminate the anti-​Japanese will of the people in the occupied areas. However, there has been a great debate in the literature research in the occupied areas. Zhang Quan put forward in the article “Research on Literature in Occupied Areas Should Adhere to the Principle of History  –​on the Accuracy of Historical Facts and Political Correctness in the Evaluation of literature in Occupied Areas” (The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2002, 1 ): “There seems to be no literature or only the traitor literature in the occupied areas” is an error of previous studies. He believed that classifying the works of “Pen Troops” composed by Japanese writers who served the war of aggression as Chinese literature in the occupied areas confused the national boundaries. “Japanization Literature” is a companion of “the Kominka Movement” in the period when Japan occupied Taiwan, but literature in the occupied areas of the mainland does not include these contents. The portrayal of Eileen Chang as a “cultural traitor” or a “writer clinging to enemies and puppets” has also resulted in a large number of historical errors. Zhang Quan’s view has aroused strong opposition from the academic circle. After examining the Maintenance Association of 22 counties in Jiangsu province, in “Study on the ‘Maintenance Association’ of Counties and Towns of Jiangsu Province during the Japanese Puppet Regime” (Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2002, 3), Pan Min concluded that the upper class people in the Maintenance Association were basically prominent local figures, or powerful and influential people, but their motives for entering the Maintenance Association are complicated. Some people “cooperate” with the Japanese in order to protect themselves or bring peace and protect the people. Of course, there are also some people who are determined to work for the Japanese. It is precisely because of this that the contradictions between the Chinese and the Japanese in the Maintenance Association are repeated, and the weak position of the Chinese forces them to resist passively only by retreating. The personnel changed frequently in the Maintenance Association of some places, therefore its ability to absorb resources was getting stronger and stronger, while the function of maintaining order was getting weaker and weaker, thereby resulting in chaos in the society.

154  RONG Wei-mu

5.5  Diplomacy during the Anti-​Japanese War Wartime diplomacy is an important content in the study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese war. However, from the 1950s to the end of 1970s, the research on wartime diplomacy with the national government as its main body was very weak. Since the 1980s, the study of wartime diplomacy has gradually attracted the attention of academic circles. As far as monographs are concerned, there are Tao Wen-​zhao’s China’s Foreign Relations during the Anti-​Japanese War (CPC History Publishing House, 1995), Wang Jian-​ lang’s Far East International Relations in the Early Days of Anti-​Japanese War (Taiwan’s Dongda Book Company, 1996), Wang Qi’s From Neutrality to Alliance –​U.S. Policy toward China during the Anti-​Japanese War, Wang Zhen’s Alliance in Turbulence –​Sino-​Soviet Relations during the Anti-​Japanese War, Li Jia-​gu’s Cooperation and Conflict –​Sino-​Soviet Relations in 1931 –​1945, Cao Zhen-​wei’s Aggression and Self-​Defense  –​Sino-​Japan Relations during the Comprehensive Anti-​Japanese War. Ma Zhen-​du and Qi Ru-​gao’s Friend? Enemy? War of Resistance of Germany and China (the above monographs were included in the History of Anti-​ Japanese War Series published by Guangxi Normal University Press in 1993–​ 1996), Xu Lan’s Britain and Sino-​Japanese War (1931 –​1941) (Beijing Normal College Press, 1991), Li Shi-​an’s Sino-​British Relations during the Pacific War (China Social Sciences Press, 1994), etc. Special works include Huang You-​lan’s “Peaceful Work” in the War of Resistance Against Japan (People’s Liberation Army Press, 1988), Xu Wan-​min’s Lifeline of War –​International Traffic and Eight Years of Anti-​ Japanese War, Wang Zhen’s Battleline Without Smoke –​Chinese Communist Party Diplomacy in the War of Resistance Against Japan (both of which were published by Guangxi Normal University Press, 1995), Niu Jun’s From Hurley to Marshall –​the Whole Story of U.S. Mediation of Contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party (Fujian People’s Publishing House, 1988), Chen Yan’s Research on China’s Diplomatic System in the War of Resistance Against Japan (Fudan University Press, 2002), and Chen Ren-​xia’s Research on the Triangle Relations Among China, Germany and Japan (1936 –​ 1938) (Life, Reading, New Knowledge, Sanlian Bookstore, 2003), etc. The research on wartime diplomacy mainly focuses on the following aspects. 5.5.1  Sino-​Japanese relations As for the cause of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, it was believed in the past that Japan’s “Sato Diplomacy” before the incident was a smokescreen thrown up for peace. Some people now point out that in June 1937, Japanese policy makers had already decided to “revise the withdrawal color of Sato Diplomacy” and the Japanese cabinet reached an agreement on the “first strike against China” the day before the incident. The rest of the problem was to choose the time and place to make excuses to implement it.56 Some

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  155 people also pointed out the absurdity of Japan’s fabricated statements about the causes of the war, such as the firing of the first shot by soldiers of No. 29 Army, the firing of guns in central areas sent by the Chinese Communist Party, and the disappearance of Japanese soldiers. And according to Japanese data, they proved the incident was not “accidental”, but a conspiracy jointly planned by Japan’s North China garrison, Japan’s spy agency in Beiping-​ Tianjin area and radicals of Japan’s invasion of China.57 There are also some people who think that Japan had adopted different strategies in the local negotiation and the Nanjing negotiation in order to split North China and prepare for a large-​scale war.58 In recent years, there have been some differences in understanding about the secret negotiations between China and Japan during the war. For example, some people think that the secret negotiation of the national government with Japan was a vacillation of resisting against Japan. Only after the US adopted an active aid policy to China in early 1941 did the national government not easily condescend to Japan. “In recent years, some arguments of affirming that Chiang Kai-​shek’s compromise with Japan on the condition of ‘restoring the status quo before the July 7th Incident’ is ‘appropriate’ and ‘had basic principles’ are untenable”.59 Some other people think that compromise is not equal to surrender. The key is what the conditions for compromise are. In his negotiations, Chiang Kai-​shek had always insisted on restoring the state before the July 7th Incident and opposed Japan’s troops stationed to guard against communist parties, which shows that he had basic principles.60 In addition to differences of opinion, there are also some common views, that is, the two sides have their own intentions. Japan wants to win without fighting and to draw troops from China to advance north or south; Chiang Kai-​shek’s strategy is either to delay the Japanese attack, or to prevent Wang Ching-​wei from establishing a puppet regime, or to press Britain and America for more aid.61 Yang Tian-​shi (2005)62 also pointed out that the “peace” talks between Japan and the national government in 1940, also called “Tung Work”, is only the tactics used by Juntong spies to pry for information for China’s side. Because of the status of the delegate, Chiang Kai-​shek’s handwritten documents and many Chinese opinions are false. 5.5.2  Sino-​German relations Previous studies suggested that Germany and Japan were in cahoots from the very beginning, and Germany assisted Japan in sabotaging China’s Anti-​ Japanese war. Now some people point out that Japan’s war of aggression against China does not conform to Germany’s strategic interests. In the “Trautmann Mediation”, Germany hopes that both China and Japan will make compromises and reach an armistice instead of forcing China to surrender from Japan’s standpoint.63 Others believe that Germany’s foreign policy was completely reversed to Japan only after the failure of “Trautmann Mediation”, but the barter trade between China and Germany was still going on in the dark. It was not until

156  RONG Wei-mu 1941 when Germany announced its recognition of the Wang puppet regime that the national government announced that it severed diplomatic relations with Germany.64 However, there are also some people who believe that from the September 18th Incident until the Sino-​Japanese war broke out in an all-​ round way, Germany and Japan both put Germany-​Japan relations above their relations with China. Germany’s intention to persuade China to yield to Japan is very clear, including the mediation by Trautmann. There is no expectation of compromise between China and Japan.65 5.5.3  Sino-​Soviet Relation Regarding the Sino-​Soviet Non-​aggression Treaty, China was once regarded as a unilateral beneficiary. Now some people suggest that as an additional condition to the treaty, China had promised not to sign a “Common Anti-​ Community Agreement” with a third country, thus easing the Soviet Union’s worries about Japan’s alliance with China to crack down on the Soviet Union. Therefore, this treaty is also beneficial to the Soviet Union.66 Scholars unanimously affirmed the Soviet Union’s material assistance to China. However, some scholars have clarified some errors in the past regarding the amount and use of Soviet material aid to China. Others pointed out that the Soviet Union also benefited greatly from its assistance to China because China’s Anti-​Japanese war greatly relieved Japan’s pressure on the Soviet union.67 As for the Soviet-​Japan Neutrality Treaty, some people think that it divided Japan-​Germany relations and was conducive to the overall situation of the world anti-​fascist war. However, the Soviet Union and Japan promised each other to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of the so-​called “Manchukuo” and “Mongolian People’s Republic”, which is also an infringement of China’s territorial sovereignty. Of course, it also urged the United States and Britain to adopt a tough policy in the Far East and actively assist China in the war of resistance against Japan. There are also others believing that the pact reflects the Soviet Union’s intention to push Japan south, thus it is the product of appeasement policy where the Soviet Union sacrificed China for its own interests.68 As for the Sino-​Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, for quite a long period of time, academia held a positive attitude toward it. While the new research holds that this treaty should not be fully affirmed, because the Soviet Union not only assisted China in its war against Japan, but also restored the rights and interests that Russia lost in the Japanese-​Russian War. There are also others who clearly point out that it is an unequal treaty, in which the contents of Lvshun, Dalian, northeast railway and Outer Mongolia have seriously infringed upon China’s sovereignty.69 5.5.4  China’s relations with Britain and the United States Regarding the Munich scheme in the Far East and the appeasement policy of Britain and America: most believed that the British and American policies

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  157 toward China and Japan in the early days of the Anti-​Japanese War were twofold: one was to compromise with Japan, and the other was to aid China and restrict Japan. With the passage of time, aiding China and restricting Japan gradually became the mainstream. But there are different views on the issue of whether there is a Munich scheme in the Far East. The traditional view is that Britain, the United States and other countries did have the scheme of selling China and the proposed “Pacific Conference” is evidence. In recent years, some people have put forward different opinions that the compromise made by Britain and the United States to Japan in the Far East cannot be compared with Munich scheme in Europe in terms of motivation, degree and consequences. The “Pacific Conference” was actively promoted by the national government rather than the US and UK. Its aim was to unite the US and UK to restrict Japan. Therefore, it cannot be described as a Munich-​style conference that sells China.70 About the 1943 new treaties that Britain and the United States agreed to sign with China on the basis of abolishing the unequal treaties. Some scholars have fully affirmed that the concluding of the new treaties is the result of all Chinese people, including the Chinese Communist Party, fighting bravely against Japan in terms of legal principles. Therefore, the affirmation of the new treaties is not only a tribute to the national government, but also an affirmation of the anti-​Japanese achievements of all Chinese soldiers and civilians.71 Some scholars also pointed out that the attitude of the US and British governments in the negotiations with China was different, which was one of the main reasons for the cold Sino-​British relations and the close Sino-​ American relations since then.72 What is controversial is that some people think that withdrawal of state sovereignty in the new treaties should be regarded as a sign that China has got rid of its semi-​colonial status,73 while dissenters believe that the new treaties do not mean that China had already got rid of its semi-​colonial status, because after the signing of the new treaties, Britain and the United States did not really treat China with an equal attitude. The Yalta Meeting is proof of this.74 On the US policy of supporting Chiang Kai-​shek and suppressing the communists in the last period of Anti-​Japanese war:  in the past, it was believed that the United States was involved in China’s internal affairs in the late period of the Anti-​Japanese War and implemented the policy of aiding Chiang Kai-​shek and the anti-​communists. Through the study of the Stilwell Incident, now some people suggest that the United States, with the primary goal of defeating Japan, had attempted to strengthen the communist forces to combat the Japanese, advocating for the Kuomintang to carry out reforms and strengthen the KMT-​ CPC cooperation; while Chiang Kai-​ shek was determined to preserve his strength and unwilling to actively fight against Japan for the purpose of preparing for war with the Chinese Communist Party after the war, which was the root cause of differences between Stilwell and Jiang.75 Regarding Hurley’s receiving five proposals put forward by the Chinese Communist Party during his visit to Yan’an, most people think

158  RONG Wei-mu that Hurley was serious and there are other reasons for his later changing his mind to support Chiang Kai-​shek’s three counter-​proposals. However, he has sometimes gone further than the US government in helping Chiang Kai-​ shek and suppressing the communists, which has contributed to the change of U.S. policy.76 There are others who believe that the US policy toward China before and after the victory of the Anti-​Japanese War was to promote KMT-​ CPC cooperation and form a coalition government headed by Chiang Kai-​ shek.77 There are still others who suggest that during the Anti-​Japanese war, the main function of the Sino-​US cooperation institute was to train guerrilla cadres behind enemy lines and to form Sino-​US joint guerrilla units instead of anti-​communist.78 On the Chinese Communist Party’s wartime policy toward the United States. Some people pointed out that in the late stage of the war, the United States excluded Chiang Kai-​ shek’s interference and sought to establish cooperative relations with the Chinese Communist Party because of the need to counterattack Japan, while the Chinese Communist Party also responded positively, supporting Stilwell and cooperating with US troops in formulating and implementing landing plans. However, the long-​term strategic goal of the United States was to make China a pro-​American nation led by Chiang Kai-​shek to oppose the Soviet Union’s expansion attempt in the Far East. Therefore, although Roosevelt advocated adopting a relatively flexible policy between the Kuomintang and the communist party, Hurley insisted on supporting Chiang Kai-​shek unconditionally, thus failing to achieve the expected goals of both sides. Cooperation was replaced by confrontation.79 There are others who pointed out that there were three main reasons for the failure of the Chinese Communist Party to win US aid, namely, ideological differences, the gradual loss of common interests, and Chiang Kai-​ shek’s obstruction. However, some gains have been made through this move, that is, showing the Anti-​Japanese performance behind enemy lines to the United States and the world, gradually realizing the essence of the US policy toward China, accumulating diplomatic experience with the United States and attracting some Americans who were friendly to the Chinese Communist Party.80 About the Sino-​British negotiations on the Hong Kong issue. Some people pointed out that in the Sino-​British new treaty negotiations, Britain stubbornly insisted on colonialism and refused to discuss with China the surrender of leased land in the New Territories. The national government finally backed down before the Sino-​British new treaty was established.81 At the end of the War of Resistance against Japan, Britain reoccupied Hong Kong. The main reasons for this were that the British stubbornly insisted on their old colonial stance; the attitude of the United States had changed; and the national government lacked the spirit of self-​reliance and adopted the policy of “Anti-​ communist Priority”.82 On the issue of Tibet. Some people suggested that because of China’s strategic partnership with its allies during the war and its connection with the

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  159 Hong Kong issue, Britain did not accept its obligation to recognize China’s sovereignty over Tibet but it advocated maintaining the current situation in Tibet. The United States, on the other hand, believed that in any relations with the Tibetan authorities, it should avoid offending the Chinese government inadvertently. Nevertheless, both Britain and the United States had ties with the separatist forces in Tibet to different degrees during the war. However, after the war, the United States and Britain both attempted to interfere in Tibet, while the United States was more active and adopted the policy of “Controlling China through Tibet” to meet the needs of its global cold war strategy,83 Some people also pointed out that Song Ziwen successfully defended China’s sovereignty over Tibet.84 5.5.5  Sino-​French relations Some people suggest that during the Anti-​Japanese war, although the Chinese Kuomintang implemented certain policies and measures to aid Vietnam, expressing the Chinese government’s deep sympathy for the Vietnamese independence movement, due to the fact that the maximization of national interests was still its ultimate goal, the actual results of the aid for Vietnam were not obvious.85 There are others who discuss France’s policy toward China in the early days of the Anti-​Japanese War believing that it restricted and affected the exertion of China’s capability of fighting against Japan when China requested France to transport strategic materials through Vietnam in accordance with the relevant Sino-​French treaties and France ignored China’s demands. However, due to France’s sympathy for China to a certain extent during the implementation of the tailgating policy, the transportation of materials through Vietnam had in fact not been interrupted. Such a policy feature has had a certain positive influence on China’s Anti-​Japanese war objectively.86 There are still others who pointed out that since China and France were both invaded by fascists during the war and both have puppet regimes that cooperated with Japan during the war, the relations between the two countries were relatively complicated. That is, Sino-​French relations at any stage of the war were established and developed on the basis of mutual utilization.87

5.6  Economy during the Anti-​Japanese war As early as the 1950s, as part of the study of China’s modern economic history, the economic research about the Anti-​Japanese War began. Since the end of the 1970s, it has gradually received attention and a large number of research materials, monographs and papers were published. Among them, the economic research of the “Kuomintang-​controlled areas” is especially favored by scholars and has achieved the most results. The monographs successively published include Huang Li-​ren’s Research on Economic History of the Rear Areas during the Anti-​Japanese War (China Archives Publishing House, 1998),

160  RONG Wei-mu Sun Bao-​gen’s Research on Anti-​smuggling of the National Government during the Anti-​Japanese War (1931  –​1945) (China Archives Publishing House, 2006), and many others. From the 1950s to the end of the 1970s, few people paid attention to the national character of the wartime economy of the KMT-​controlled areas. Therefore, in the overall evaluation, most people hold a negative attitude to the war-​time economy in the KMT-​controlled areas. After the 1980s, some people suggested that the economic policies of the national government in the early days of the Anti-​Japanese War generally conformed to the trend of the national war of resistance and promoted economic development in southwest China, which was conducive to getting rid of the passive situation at the beginning of the Anti-​Japanese War.88 Regarding the controlled economy, some people also believe that the formulation and implementation of the controlled economy policy was the need of the war against aggression. Not only public enterprises developed under this policy but some private enterprises also developed.89 There are also others who believe that the serious economic recession after 1942 was caused by changes in the conditions of war and had nothing to do with the control policy.90 In addition, there are people who studied the specific socioeconomic policies of the national government, like He You-​liang who, after conducting an in-​depth study on Jiang Jing-​ guo’s “New Deal” proposition and practice in Southern Jiangxi, suggested that Jiang Jing-​guo’s social reform in Southern Jiangxi, which aimed at “five haves” (everyone has a job, food, clothing, housing and books), was rarely seen in the war-​time Kuomintang-​controlled areas. The ideological origin of his “New Deal” is not in fact completely “in the Soviet model”. Among them there are Sun Yat-​sen’s Three People’s Principles, Chiang Kai-​shek’s Three People’s Principles, the experience of ancient politicians, and the political theories of the modern bourgeoisie. Of course, it also includes the ideological achievements of Soviet socialism. From a practical point of view, its social reform had indeed achieved some results. However, due to the profound contradictions between his reform objectives and the reality of the war-​time environment and social conditions, especially the Kuomintang’s system and ruling, it was still difficult to realize them after all.91 The research on agricultural economy in the KMT-​controlled areas is also making progress. In addition to some people’s insistence that the national government’s agricultural policies at this time had a great negative impact, there are also others who believe that the national government had played a positive role in the agricultural development of the rear area through adopting measures such as adjusting agricultural institutions, increasing investment, promoting new technologies, encouraging reclamation and building water conservancy. There are also some others who believe that the implementation of these policies, coupled with the impact of factors such as industrial relocation, resulted in a larger increase in the output of agricultural products and the development of the commodity economy in the rear area.92 There are also others who pointed out, “if getting rid of the discourse analysis of either

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  161 ‘revolution’ or ‘improvement’ which are seen as being opposite to each other, we will find that the general direction and practical content of rural construction in the Republic of China period are in line with the laws of rural modernization and the historical trend”.93 Research on the national government’s wartime monetary and financial system and foreign debts. Some people investigated the formation causes, operation and results of this system, believing that although it had many drawbacks, it played a material guarantee role in the war of resistance against Japan and pushed China’s financial and monetary system into the capitalist era.94 Regarding the foreign debt situation of the national government during the war, some people pointed out that: “The necessity and rationality of China’s borrowing and using foreign debts should be basically affirmed”, “China has not incurred any new major loss of national sovereignty due to the foreign debt problem and China’s position on the issue of foreign debt is also superior to that of any other period. These are closely related to the important position of China’s Anti-​Japanese War in the world anti-​fascist war and the formation of a new pattern of Sino-​foreign relations”.95 Other relevant studies include Jin Zheng-​ xian’s On the National Government’s Policy of Stabilizing the Value of French Currency and its Role in the War of Resistance against Japan (Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2004, 4)  and Wang Hong-​man’s The Headquarter of Four-​ joint-​banks and the Financial Network in Southwest Region (Research on China’s Social and Economic History, 2004, 4), etc. The economy of the base areas under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is another focus of economic research in wartime. In terms of historical materials, since the 1980s, various sets of financial and economic historical materials have been successively published in Anti-​Japanese base areas such as the Shaanxi-​Gansu-​Ningxia area, Shanxi-​Chahaer-​Hebei area, Shanxi-​Hebei-​Shandong-​Henan area, Shandong, Anhui, Central China area and Dongjiang River area, etc. The monographs mainly include The Long Draft of Financial and Economic History of the Central Revolutionary Base Area (People’s Publishing House, 1982) chiefly edited by Xu Yi; Zhu Shao-​nan and others’ The Draft of Financial and Economic History of Northern Huaihe Anti-​ Japanese Base Area (Anhui People’s Publishing House, 1985); The Draft of Financial and Economic History of Shanxi-​Chahaer-​Hebei Anti-​Japanese Base Area (Archives Publishing House, 1985) edited chiefly by Wei Hongyuan; The Draft of Financial and Economic History of Wanjiang Anti-​Japanese Base Area (Anhui People’s Publishing House, 1985) edited by Ying Zhao-​lin; The Draft of Shanxi-​Gansu-​Ningxia Border Region’s Financial and Economic History during the Anti-​Japanese War (Northwestern University Press, 1988)  edited chiefly by Xing Guang and Zhang Yang; The Shanxi-​Hebei-​Shandong-​Henan Border Region’s Financial and Economic History during the Anti-​Japanese War (China Financial and Economic Press, 1995)  edited chiefly by Zhao Xiu-​ shan; Xie Zhong-​hou’s The Rudiment of a New Democratic Society:  Peng Zhen’s Thoughts and Practice on the Construction of Shanxi-​Chahaer-​Hebei

162  RONG Wei-mu Anti-​Japanese Base Areas (People’s Publishing House, 2002); Li Mao-​sheng’s Economic Research on Anti-​Japanese base areas in north China (Central literature Publishing House, 2003), Chen Ting-​xuan’s The Economic History of Anti-​Japanese Base Areas (Social Science literature Publishing House, 2007), etc. As for research papers, there have been no fewer than hundreds in the past 30 years. These studies involve the CPC’s economic policies, land reform, reduction of rent and interest rate, fiscal and tax revenues, financial currencies, mass production movements, industrial, commercial and transportation industries, etc. Land reform and reduction of rent and interest rates have always been the main contents of economic research in the base areas. Some people think that during the Anti-​Japanese War, the Chinese Communist Party’s land policy was a combination of revolution and improvement and was an integral part of the general policy of the Anti-​Japanese National United Front.96 There are also some people who believe that although the reduction of rent and interest rates had historical limitations, it strengthened the material and mass bases of the base areas.97 There are still others who believe that the reduction of rent and interest rates dispersed the land into the hands of the middle and poor peasants; the class structure shows a trend of two poles flowing into the middle; rural life, especially that of the poor and lower-​middle peasants, has been improved, thus enhancing the peasants’ awareness of political participation. This change has a profound impact on the historical trend of China’s rural society.98 On the issue of tax and people’s burden, most people believe that under the premise of complying with the need of resistance to Japan, the tax policy in the base area is based on the principle of reasonable burden, plus few taxes and a low tax rate, which takes care of the interests of the majority of the people. Some people also believe that when implementing the reasonable burden policy, some areas have shown a “left-​leaning” tendency and the tax progressive rate is too high, which affects the unity among all strata of Anti-​ Japanese society and is not conducive to the consolidation of the united front. After discovering the problem, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China corrected it and obviously expanded the scope of tax burden. Some regions have also changed the uniform progressive tax to an agricultural progressive tax and an industrial and commercial progressive tax, and implemented different measure methods to make the burden more reasonable.99 There are also others who believe that the mass production campaign is an important reason to relieve the dissatisfaction of the masses caused by the heavy burden in the base areas. Regarding monetary finance, most people hold positive opinions on the circulation of border currencies. Some people think that the policy of the base area is “to issue and consolidate border currency, protect legal currency, crack down on counterfeit currency and eliminate miscellaneous currency”.100 Research related to this is the research on agricultural loans in the base areas.

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  163 Li Jin-​zheng introduced for the first time the formulation of an agricultural loans policy, the object and purpose of agricultural loans, the interest rate and repayment of agricultural loans in the North China base area, and pointed out the implementation of an agricultural loans policy has played a certain role in promoting the recovery and development of the economy in the base areas. However, in practice, there have also been erroneous tendencies such as average and scattered loans, corruption by cadres for personal gain, difficulties for poor peasants to borrow, untimely loans and failure to use them in production, and having no repay loans, etc.101 Regarding industrial and commercial trade, what attracts attention is the research on rural fair trade and the trade war against the enemy. Taking Shanxi-​ Hebei-​ Shandong-​ Henan base areas as an example, some people suggest that rural fair trade played important roles in stimulating production in the base areas, providing military supplies, regulating people’s material contacts, defeating counterfeit currencies, supporting anti-​Japanese currencies, and promoting economic prosperity. It was an indispensable link in the construction of base areas.102 There are also some people who analyzed the evolution of the foreign trade policy in the base areas, believing that the early break-​off of the enemy economy resulted in the negative consequences of the prevalence of smuggling. After that, some management measures were implemented such as a unified tariff protection system, unified import and export management, barter trade, import and export, etc. and the passive situation was gradually reversed.103 There are still others who suggested that the large-​scale salt transportation and sale activities initiated by the government of the Shaanxi-​Gansu-​Ningxia border region played an important role in breaking the economic blockade imposed by the Kuomintang authorities on the border region, developing the social economy of the border region and overcoming economic difficulties.104 There are also others who pointed out that although the number of public businesses in the Shaanxi-​Gansu-​Ningxia border region is limited, they had played a key role in ensuring supply and stabilizing the market as required by the government. After the Southern Anhui Incident, although transformed from supply-​type to operation-​type and there were many problems in the actual operation, they had achieved considerable economic results and played a great role in overcoming economic and financial difficulties.105 In addition, there are also some people who studied the mass production movement, the labor cooperation movement, the public and private enterprises, the family handicraft industry, the resettlement of refugees, social security and other issues in the various base areas. The prominent among them are Huang Zheng-​lin’s The Economic Policies and Economic Legislation in the Shaanxi-​Gansu-​Ningxia Border Region during the Anti-​Japanese War (Modern Chinese History Studies, 2001, 1), and The Integration of Agricultural Labor Resources in the Shaanxi-​Gansu-​Ningxia Border Region during the Anti-​ Japanese War (China’s Agricultural History, 2004, 1), etc.

164  RONG Wei-mu

5.7  Ideology and culture during the Anti-​Japanese War As for the role of intellectuals during the Anti-​Japanese war, not enough attention has been paid in the past. Only in the past 20 years have scholars systematically studied their various activities and their influences. Some people suggested that since the September 18th Incident, China’s first enlightened intellectuals had been in the forefront of resisting Japan and saving the nation. Throughout the Anti-​Japanese War, the number of intellectuals-​dominated anti-​ Japanese mass organizations, books, newspapers, literature and art works that spread the ideology of anti-​Japanese and saving the nation from extinction was so large and their influence was so great that they are beyond any other period in modern China. No matter in the liberated areas under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, or in areas under Kuomintang rule or enemy-​occupied areas, there are groups of intellectuals who carried out anti-​Japanese and national salvation activities, demonstrating the strong character of Chinese intellectuals in resisting the enemy and saving the nation.106 Some people also studied the main representatives of intellectuals during the Anti-​Japanese War. For example, regarding Hu Shi, some people suggested that in September 1937 before Hu Shi was ordered to go to the United States for the anti-​Japanese propaganda he had already told all the people in the “Low Key Club” that his attitude had changed. Later, he became a diplomatic envoy to fight against Japan. It would be biased to judge him as pro-​Japanese because of his “Low-​key Proposition”.107 Through the analysis of Qian Mu, Zhang Qi-​yun and Sa Meng-​wu’s thoughts, some people have reviewed the “Theory of National Cultural Superiority” during the Anti-​Japanese war, believing that their advocating of the essence of ancient culture was in fact a remolding of ancient Chinese cultural patterns by drawing lessons from the western modernization model and combining with the actual needs of the war of resistance against Japan.108 About the shift of the focus of Chinese culture education. It is generally believed that the internal relocation of colleges and universities during the war broke the imbalance in the development of Chinese culture, which not only strongly promoted the development of the anti-​Japanese national salvation movement, but also made a historic contribution to the development of Chinese culture and education in the southwest mainland. Regarding the various reasons in the process of the recovery and development of university education in wartime, some people pointed out after studying that the national government’s emphasis on higher education and some reasonable policies promulgated have played a certain role in promoting the development of higher education in wartime.109 Studies of schools of thought in wartime. After analyzing the ideological origins and political opinions of the Zhanguo-​ce Clique (the clique was named after a magazine and members of the clique promoted national supremacy in the 1940s), some people pointed out that it is impossible for the Zhanguo-​ce Clique and the Kuomintang authorities to be close to each other. The former

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  165 opposed traditional culture in order to eliminate what they believed to be false benevolence and false righteousness existing in Confucian morality and advocated martialism and fighting to the end. This kind of irrational nationalism has an inherent problem that is hard to cure, that is achieving a country standard based on the philosophy of individual standards, which is a paradox from the very beginning.110 There are also some people who pointed out that Chen Li-​fu’s “Origin of Life” theory was not a pure philosophical proposition, but to promote the idealist world outlook to safeguard the Kuomintang’s one-​ party autocratic rule in political practice. Therefore, it is essentially idealism. As for Chiang Kai-​shek’s so-​called practice philosophy, there is also little new in theory, but only a hash of Wang Yang-​ming’s “Unity of Knowledge and Practice” and Sun Yat-​sen’s “To know is difficult but to do is easy”. It is also idealism in essence just like the “Origin of Life” theory.111 As for the case studies of the traditional and eastern cultural schools, there are monographs like Wang Jian-​ping’s Feng Youlan’s Philosophical Thought Research (Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1988), Ma Yong’s Liang Shuming Critical Biography (Anhui People’s Publishing House, 1991)  and Zheng Da-​hua’s Zhang Jun-​mai Biography (Zhonghua Book Company, 1997), etc. Chen Tu-​ hsiu put forward some original ideas independently of various schools of thought in his later years, and most scholars hold positive opinions.112 About the national government’s literature and art policy. Some people suggest that the national government’s literary and artistic policies during the Anti-​Japanese War were, on the whole, an obstinate implementation of cultural despotism, but they were also different at different stages:  There was a period of temporary relaxation in the early days of the Anti-​Japanese War; From July 1938 to the end of 1940, some preventive measures were taken to control progressive literature and art of the communist party, and just out of concern for the signboard of the Anti-​Japanese National United Front, they dare not carry out the policy of cultural despotism overtly; From the beginning of 1941 until the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, due to the intensification of Kuomintang-​Communist friction, the Kuomintang began to carry out authoritarian cultural policies in order to cooperate with the political and military anti-​communist upsurge.113 Regarding the establishment and development of Guilin cultural city, many people think that the communists, especially Chow En-​lai, played a great role in promoting it.114 Regarding the contribution of Guilin cultural city, most people think that Guilin’s Anti-​Japanese culture had developed a new culture since the May 4th Movement, pushing the Anti-​Japanese cultural movement in the Kuomintang areas to a new stage and leaving a glorious chapter in the history of modern Chinese culture.115 In addition, several monographs on Guilin’s Anti-​Japanese war culture have been published, such as Deng Qun’s The Chinese Communist Party and Guilin’s Anti-​Japanese War Culture (Guangxi People’s Publishing House, 2005)  and Wei Hua-​ ling’s A Unique Historical Phenomenon: Guilin’s Anti-​Japanese War Culture (Lijiang Publishing House, 2008), etc.

166  RONG Wei-mu Great importance has been attached to the research on the new democratic cultural thought since the founding of new China. However, some people also think that Mao Tse-​tung’s famous neo-​democratic cultural proposition of “national, scientific and popular culture” from the perspective of the revival of eastern culture is a comprehensive cultural integration and creation; it is the banner of Marxism in China. Although it refutes the views of Neo-​ Confucianism and westernization liberals, there are still many connections in the depths of its system that jointly form the modern humanistic foundation represented by the three major ideological trends of neo-​Confucianism, westernization liberals and Marxism.116 There are also others who have suggested that there are obvious differences in the ideological understanding of the new democratic culture among the communists. Apart from Mao Tse-​ tung’s “national, scientific and popular” cultural orientation, Zhang Wen-​tian also proposed the “democratic” orientation. Mao Tse-​tung did not mention “democratic” and only included the democratic direction of cultural development with “popular”, which makes no sense in principle.117 In addition, some people also study the ideological trend of the Chinese Communist Party during the Anti-​Japanese War, such as Wang Gui-​lin put forward:  Since modern times, the two trends of integration into the world and turning to national traditions have always existed, especially during the Anti-​Japanese War. The Chinese Communist Party has adapted to these two trends. Originally it was only operating within the limits defined by the Communist International and took a firm stand against the imperialist countries, but at this moment it was actively dealing with the United States and Britain, believing that “China has been closely linked with the world”. It “has been fiercely anti-​traditional for a long time and even claimed that ‘May 4th … was buried in the grave of history’ ”. At this time, it turned to propose critically inheriting Chinese traditional culture and advocating “sinicization of Marxism”, “national form”, “Chinese style and Chinese manner”. These are “major changes in the history of the Chinese Communist Party”, and “this change has great significance to China”,118

5.8  Japanese Policy of invasion of China and problems left over from the war In the study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War, the evolution and implementation of Japan’s invasion policy, the crimes and atrocities committed by the Japanese army, the post-​war trials and the legacy of the war and other major issues also attracted great attention from scholars. Regarding Japan’s policy of invading China, from the end of the 1970s onwards, the “Collection of Materials of the Republic of China” published by Zhonghua Book Company and edited by the Research Office of the History of the Republic of China at the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have been published one after another, a batch of historical materials were translated mainly from the War History

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  167 Office of the Defense Research Institute of Japan’s Defense Agency. Before and after this, memoirs of former Japanese officials who participated in the War of Aggression against China and participated in the formulation of the policy of aggression against China at different levels have also been translated into Chinese. Among them are Shigemitsu’s Inside Story of Aggression against China (The People’s Liberation Army Press, 1987), Dohihara Secret Record (Zhonghua Book Company, 1980)  and Memoirs of Imai (China Literature and History Press, 1987). These translated historical materials provide access for Chinese scholars to study Japan’s strategy of invading China. Research monographs include Zang Yun-​hu’s Japan’s Policy toward China before the July 7th Incident (Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2000), Guan Jie’s Japan’s Invasion Policy and Institutions (Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2002), Shen Yu’s History of Japanese Mainland Policy (1868 –​1945) (Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2005), Mi Qing-​yu’s Modern Japan’s East Asian Strategy and Policy (People’s Publishing House, 2006), etc. Generally speaking, there is no difference of opinion among Chinese scholars, while the difference with Japanese scholars is rather obvious on whether there is a consistent feature of Japan’s invasion policy. Books published about studies on Japanese crimes and atrocities mainly include:  Nanjing Massacre Atrocities Photo Collection of Japanese Invaders (Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985) edited by Nanjing Massacre Historical Material Editing Committee, Selected Files of Japanese Imperialism Invasion of China –​Nanjing Massacre (Zhonghua Book Company, 1995) edited by Central Archives and China’s Second Historical Archives, Zhu Cheng-​ shan’s Testimony Collection of Survivors of Nanjing Massacre of Japanese Invaders (Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1994), Zhang Kai-​ yuan’s Historical Witness of Nanjing Massacre (Hubei People’s Publishing House, 1995), Crime Evidence of Japanese Aggression against China (People’s Publishing House, 1995) edited by Beijing Archives, and Li Bing-​xin’s General Record of Japanese Aggression against China (Hebei People’s Publishing House, 1995). In the last 20  years, related writings have emerged one after another, such as Zhang Kai-​yuan’s From Yale to Tokyo: Taking Evidence for the Nanjing Massacre (Guangdong People’s Publishing House, 2003); Chen Xian-​chu’s Subversion of Humanity:  A Study of the Japanese Invasion of Hunan (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2004); and Regions Without Human Settlements on the Great Wall Line (Central Compilation Publishing House, 2005) compiled by the party history research office of Hebei Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China. The Archives of Crimes of Japanese Aggression against North China (Hebei People’s Publishing House, 2007) compiled by the Central Archives, China’s Second Historical Archives and Hebei Academy of Social Sciences; The Truth of the Nanjing Massacre (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2007) compiled by Zhang Xian-​wen and Lv Jing and The Collection of Historical Materials on the Nanjing Massacre (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 1–​29 episodes published in 2005, 30–​55 episodes in 2007) edited by Zhang Xian-​wen, etc.

168  RONG Wei-mu After the 1990s, the problems left over from the war began to become a new content in the study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War. These mainly include the issue of sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, the fact that Chinese workers and comfort women were victimized, the issue of the use of chemical and biological weapons by Japanese troops against China, the issue of Hong Kong military votes, the issue of compensation for Chinese civilian victims in the war, and so on. Here, the general situation of the research on the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands and the comfort women will be introduced. The Diaoyu Islands have been China’s inherent territory since ancient times. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese government has repeatedly claimed its sovereignty over the islands. In the 1990s, people demonstrated with a large number of documents that as early as the 15th century, China had discovered and named Diaoyu Island. Over the next few centuries, the Japanese map not only used China’s name for Diaoyu Island and its nearby islands, but also explicitly included them in China’s waters. Several kinds of Ming and Qing documents prove that after the Diaoyu Islands were included in China’s territory, they were successively placed in Fujian and Taiwan coastal defense areas. Although Japan annexed the Diaoyu Islands after the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, according to the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation, Japan should return them to China.119 There are also people who use Japanese literature to demonstrate that before Japan actually occupied the Diaoyu Islands after the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, the consensus of the Japanese government and the public was: “Diaoyu islands belong to the Qing Dynasty near Taiwan”.120 The relevant books published in recent years include Ju De-​yuan’s Origin of Japan’s Land Stealing: Debate on the Sovereignty of Diaoyu Islands (Capital Normal University Press, 2001)  and The Rectification of Diaoyu Islands:  Historical Sovereignty and Origin of International Law of Diaoyu Islands (Kunlun Press, 2006)  and Zheng Hai-​lin’s Research on the History and Jurisprudence of Diaoyu Islands (Zhonghua Book Company, 2007) etc. On the issue of comfort women, research works published mainly include Su Zhi-​liang’s Study on Comfort Women (Shanghai Bookstore, 1999)  and Japanese Troops’ Sexual Slaves:  The Truth of “Comfort Women” in China (People’s Publishing House, 2000) and Monstrous Sins: the Japanese “Comfort Women” System during World War II (Xuelin Publishing House, 2000), Chen Qing-​gang’s Blood Pains:  Complaints of 26 Comfort Women (Beijing Publishing House, 2005), and Su Zhi-​liang, Chen Li-​fei and Yao Fei’s Record of Japanese Troops’ Comfort Offices in Shanghai (Shanghai Joint Publishing Press, 2005), etc. In terms of the papers, some people suggested that the comfort women system was not a commercial act, but a decision made by the Japanese army for the purpose of waging a war of aggression; Chinese comfort women came from snatching, capturing, luring and forcing prostitutes; of the 360,00 –​410,000 comfort women, the majority are Korean and Chinese women.121 Some people also disclosed a group of files about the Japanese military’s forced recruitment of comfort women in Tianjin, including the

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  169 Japanese military’s establishment of an organization for forced recruitment of comfort women from China, the order to recruit comfort women to the puppet-​government, the number of forced recruitments, the management measures, and so on.122

5.9  Prospects for the future China’s modern history was once divided into two phases by the May 4th Movement, and the period after it did not fall within the scope of modern history but was called the contemporary history of China. This is the dividing standard of the research stages based on the national democratic revolution. The modern history belongs to the history of the old democratic revolution and the contemporary history belongs to the history of the new democratic revolution. Under such a division of research stages, the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan, as a part of the revolutionary history or the history of the Communist Party of China in modern Chinese history, is of course valued, but inevitably has some limitations in research. From the end of the 1970s to the beginning of the 1980s, the history of the Republic of China began to become a “hot topic”, and as an integral part of the study of the history of the Republic of China, the research perspective, content and even methods of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War had changed greatly. After the 1990s, the study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War gradually became an independent part of the study of modern history due to the obvious influence of historical issues on the realistic relationship between China and Japan. New changes have taken place in the research perspective and content. As far as the research perspective is concerned, there are no more than two major aspects, one is Japan’s invasion and the other is China’s resistance. As a major event of the Chinese national democratic revolution, the occurrence, development process and results of the Anti-​Japanese War did greatly change China’s historical trend. The Communist Party of China not only grew up in the war, but also in the short time after the war defeated the Kuomintang’s despotism and dictatorship and established new China. Therefore, under the condition of studying the national democratic revolution in stages, the activities of the Chinese Communist Party during the Anti-​Japanese War will inevitably become the center and focus of observation and narration. However, this situation changed after the rise of the research on the history of the Republic of China. The observation and narration of the Anti-​Japanese War gradually exceeded the perspective of the Kuomintang-​Communist Party struggle, which contributed to the deepening of the research on the history of the Anti-​Japanese War to a great extent. In the last decade or so, especially in recent years, the research perspective has changed due to the needs of the country’s modernization with economic construction as the center. Some scholars began to look more closely at the impact of the Anti-​Japanese War on China’s modernization process. Yuan Chengyi(2005),123 Rong Wei-mu

170  RONG Wei-mu (2005),124 Yu Heping (2005),125 Ding Xianyong’s (2007)126 and other articles have all expounded such thoughts. Some scholars have also put forward their own views on how to establish cross-​border cooperation in the study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War and to reach a consensus across national boundaries. They insist that cross-​border consensus be not only reached in academic research but go deep into the political level and the public sentiment level and the historical researchers must realize the importance of solving the problem in these two levels.127 With the expansion of the research perspective, the research content is certainly much richer. Most of the previous studies focused on the political and military aspects. Although such aspects as economy, diplomacy and society are also involved, they are still in a subordinate position in reality. However, in the past 30 years, especially in the last 10 years, the situation has changed greatly. Political and military research has decreased significantly, while research in other areas is increasing significantly. Even in political and military research, the content and understanding of the research are quite different. As a historical period, the influence of the Anti-​Japanese War on China in all aspects has become the research object of scholars, and some new research directions have been opened up, such as the problems left over from the war mentioned earlier, which became a hot research topic after the 1990s. These new changes in the study of the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan will contribute to the further development of the study. However, it is not enough to be satisfied with such changes if we want to pursue greater achievements in the study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War and improve the scientific nature of the study of the history of the Anti-​ Japanese War in an all-​round way. As far as I am concerned, new efforts are needed in the following three areas. First, we must adhere to and correctly apply the Marxist-​materialist conception of history and resolutely eliminate preconceived idealism. The so-​ called research of one-​sided exaggeration of the position and role of the Communist Party, the Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies in the War of Resistance Against Japan and obliterating the position and role of Chiang Kai-​shek and the Kuomintang troops; and the so-​called research of indiscriminate and indefinite expansion of the issue of “traitors”, thinking that any intellectuals who stayed in the occupied areas were “traitors” and that literature and art in the occupied areas served Japan’s invasion of China and were all labeled as “traitors” in literature and art are obviously not real scientific studies. However, in recent years, the tendency of belittling and obliterating the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in their position and role in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the exaggeration of the positions and roles of Chiang Kai-​shek and the Kuomintang troops, even regarding Chiang Kai-​shek’s “communist suppression” as preparation for the war of resistance against Japan, trying every means to defend traitors who betrayed the interests of the country and the nation, and the tendency of completely denying the existence of traitors, even believing Wang

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  171 Jingwei should not “be regarded as a traitor” are all not a scientific attitude of seeking truth from facts, but also bias contrary to historical reality, which is no different from the one-​sidedness in the past and must be resolutely abandoned. To do this, it is only possible to adhere to and correctly apply a Marxist-​materialist conception of history. The second is to correctly handle the relationship between empirical research and theoretical research. What is the task of historical research? The first task is, of course, to accurately grasp the historical facts, and the second is to discover the basic laws of history on the premise of understanding the real historical facts. Empirical research is to find out the basic historical facts, while theoretical research is to find out the basic laws of history, which seems to be different in order on the surface and is actually an inseparable and complete research process. The expansion of the visual angle, the excavation of historical materials and the updating of methods have created conditions for accurately grasping historical facts. Over the past few years, empirical research has been greatly strengthened, and the results of historical verification are relatively abundant, which is undoubtedly a very gratifying phenomenon. However, if our research only stagnates here and does not study the basic laws of historical development, it will only carry out half of the process of historical research and ignore the fundamental significance of historical research. Personally, I don’t quite agree with the idea that “all history is science of historical data”, but I prefer the idea that “all history is history of thought”, which is based on this fundamental task. The so-​called study of “replacing history with theory” in the past is certainly not desirable, nor is the tendency of emphasizing history and ignoring theory to a certain extent in today’s study of the history of the war of resistance against Japan, because it is similar to the Japanese historians’ tendency of “fragmenting history” and “history without structure” described by many scholars. The third is to correctly handle the relationship between historical research and realpolitik. There is no doubt that historical studies have the side of serving realpolitik, both in ancient and modern times, at home and abroad. The expression “all history is the contemporary history” means that. This is also reflected in the evolution of more than 60 years of research on the history of the Anti-​Japanese War. However, historical experience also tells us that there is an academic aspect to historical research. Although historical research is closely related to realpolitik, there is a limit, beyond which it is against scientificity. The so-​called scientificity means respecting the historical reality, neither distorting or recasting history, nor turning a blind eye to historical facts, let alone deliberately concealing the historical truth. If this kind of phenomenon occurs, it will not only hinder the deepening of academic research, but also indirectly weaken its function of serving realpolitik. For example, the study of the role and relationship between the two battlefields, the study of the relationship between China’s Anti-​Japanese War and the world’s anti-​fascist war, the study of China’s war losses, and the study of the problems left over from the war, in which there is a great political nature.

172  RONG Wei-mu If this kind of research exceeds the limits allowed by the characteristics of historical research, it will often fall into a difficult position to justify itself. Special attentions needs to be paid to this, otherwise, historical research will not be able to serve realpolitik as expected.

Notes 1 The views and statistical data cited in this chapter are mainly from The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan during 1999–​2009. 2 We appreciate the revision and edition of the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 3 Li Haiwen, Historical process of contact and negotiation between the KMT and the CPC before the Xi’an Incident, Literature and Research, 1985a (7); Li Haiwen, Historical process of contact and negotiation between the KMT and the CPC before the Xi’an Incident, Literature and Research, 1985b (8). 4 Li Kun, Summary of the formation of the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Party History Research, 1985 (8). 5 Zi Zhongyun, The Origin of the U.S. Policy toward China. Chongqing: Chongqing Press, 1987. 6 Niu Jun, From Hurley to Marshall  –​ The whole Story of U.S. Mediating Contradiction between the KMT and the CPC, Fuzhou: Fujian People’s Publishing House, 1989. 7 Yang Kuisong, New Exploration of the Xi’an Incident –​ Research on the Relationship between Chang Hsueh-​liang and the Communist Party of China, Taipei: Dongda Book Company, 1995. 8 Zhang Wei, Bringing Chiang Kai-​shek to trial is not the proper solution to the Xi’an Incident, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1997 (2). 9 Xu Bo, Zhang Wen-​tian’s leading role in the formation of the national counter-​ Japanese united front strategy, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1997 (2). 10 Luo Jian and Li Tian-​cai, Before and after the Xi’an Incident, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2000 (3). 11 Rong Weimu, The September 18th Incident and China’s Political Situation, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2001 (4). 12 Ma Zhonglian, Research on Xinkou Campaign, a typical battle of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party’s military cooperation, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1996 (1). 13 Xi Wuyi, Talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party about building one “Big Party” in the early stage of the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1996 (1). 14 Yang Kui-​song, The situation estimation and strategy change of Mao Tse-​tung before and after the Southern Anhwei Incident, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1993 (3). 15 Yang Kui-​song, The Kuomintang’s role in Southern Anhui Incident, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2002 (4). 16 Yang Kui-​song, The Occurrence, Cleanup and Results of the Southern Anhui Incident, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2003 (3).

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  173 17 Li Liang-​zhi, The Party Central Committee’s faulty estimation of Chiang Kai-​ shek before the Southern Anhui Incident, The Party History Research Materials, 1994 (4). 18 Tang Yu-​bing, Kuomintang’s Order for the army to go south from the autumn of 1939 to the summer of 1940 and its Impact, Historical Research in Anhui, 2004 (6). 19 Deng Ye, The political struggles between the KMT and the CPC after the Southern Anhui Incident, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2008 (5). 20 Jin Chong-​ji, The trend of Chinese political situation in the later period of Anti-​ Japanese War:  The great changes of situation in the rear area in 1944 and the proposal of “coalition government”, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1995 (supplement). 21 Li Liang-​zhi, Brotherhood Still Exists Despite all the Vicissitudes:  A Memoir of KMT-​CPC Talks in Wartime, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993. 22 Yang Kui-​song, A Lost Opportunity?: A Memoir of KMT-​CPC Talks in Wartime, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1992. 23 Ma Qi-​bin, The History of KMT-​CPC Relations, Beijing:  Publishing House of The Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, 1995. 24 Mao Lei and Fan Xiao-​fang, A General History of KMT-​CPC Negotiations, Lanzhou: Lanzhou University Press, 1996. 25 Huang Xiu-​rong, The History of KMT-​CPC Relations, Guangzhou: Guangdong Education Press, 2002. 26 Ye Huo-​sheng, People’s Victory, Beijing: Workers’ Publishing House, 1956. 27 Wu Tian-​ji, The War of Ping Xingguan, Nanjing:  Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 1956. 28 The Political Department of Hebei Military District, A Brief History of Anti-​ Japanese War in Central Hebei, Shijiazhuang:  Hebei People’s Publishing House, 1958. 29 Qi Wu, The Growth of a Base Area: An Overview of the Shanxi-​Hebei-​Shandong-​ Henan Border Area during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Liberation War, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1957. 30 These publications are only for internal circulation. 31 Yang Kui-​song, The Evolution of the Chinese Communist Party’s Military Policy toward Japan after the Outbreak of Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1998 (2). 32 Xu Bo and Shen Wei, Zhang Wen-​tian and China’s Strategic Transformation from Civil War to Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2001 (4). 33 Zhang Tinggui, The Role of Main Force of Our Army in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression from Some Materials, Military History, 1985 (4). 34 Ma Zhendu, The Glory of Blood Dyeing –​the Reality of the Front Battlefield of Anti-​Japanese War, Journal of Nanjing University, 1987 (1); Chen Qian-​ping, On the National Defense Construction of the Kuomintang Government before the Anti-​Japanese War, Journal of Nanjing University, 1987 (1). 35 Huang Daoxuan, Study on Chiang Kai-​ shek’s policy of “Resisting Foreign Aggression After Stabilizing the Country”, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2000 (2). 36 Yang Tianshi, Chiang Kai-​shek’s tactics against Japan before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident:  An investigation centered on Chiang’s Diary, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2001 (2).

174  RONG Wei-mu 37 Chen Xian-​chu, Re-​discussion on Several Issues of the Kuomintang in the Early Stage of Anti-​Japanese War, Seeker, 1994 (4). 38 Qi Hou-​jie, A preliminary study of the Kuomintang guerrilla warfare behind the enemy, Military History Research, 1990 (1). 39 Luo Yu-​ ming, Review of the First Nanyue Conference, Journal of Huaihua Teachers College, 2000 (1). 40 Xiao Yi-​ping, On the characteristics of China’s Anti-​Japanese War, Scientific Socialism, 1997 (4). 41 Yang Kui-​song, The guerrilla warfare of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the enemy’s rear area during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2006 (2). 42 Liu Ting-​hua, The Front Battlefield of the Kuomintang during China’s Resistance War Against Japan, History Teaching, 1986 (7). 43 Zhang She-​hua, When did the Kuomintang’s Negative Resistance Start?, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1997 (4). 44 Wang Jian-​lang, The Selection of the National Government to Fight or not after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1998 (5). 45 Ma Zhen-​du, The Glory of Blood Dyeing: Realistic Writing of the Front Battlefield in the Anti-​Japanese War, Nanning: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993. 46 Yu Zidao, On the Shift of the Focus of Front Battlefield Operations in the Early Stage of the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1992 (3). 47 Zhang Zhen-​kun, The Battle of Shanghai: China’s Active Attack and the Change of the Main Offensive Direction of the Japanese Army, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1996 (3). 48 Yu Guo-​hong, Analysis of the Gains and Losses of the Battle Guidance of China and Japan in the Battle of Wuhan, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1999 (2). 49 Huang Dao-​xuan, The Chiang Kai-​shek and Stilwell’s responsibility for failure in the Burma Campaign, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2001 (2). 50 Wang Qi-​sheng, The Battle of Hunan:  Response of the Chinese army to the Japanese army’s “No. 1 Combat”, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2004 (3). 51 Kong Jing-​wei, New Economic History of Northeast China, Changchun:  Jilin Education Press, 1994. 52 Xu Di-​ xin and Wu Cheng-​ ming, (eds.), Chinese Capitalism during the New Democratic Revolution Period, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1993. 53 Zeng Ye-​ying, Japan’s Financial Control and Plunder of Occupied Areas in North China, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1994 (1); Zeng Ye-​ying, Rural Economy in North China under Japanese Puppet Rule, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1998 (3). 54 Cheng Hong-​gang, Review on Wang’s Puppet Government –​Controlled Economy, Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 1987; Cheng Hong-​gang, Collection of Studies on the History of Wang’s Puppet Regime, Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 1987. 55 Ma Jun-​ya, The Decay of Rural Economy in the Regions South of the Yangtze River during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2003 (4).

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  175 56 Zang Yunhu, Evolution of Japan’s Policy toward China before Marco Polo Bridge Incident, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1998 (1). 57 Qu Jiayuan, On the Causes of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident: a Discussion with Related Japanese Scholars, Beijing: The Chinese Overseas Publishing House, 1992. 58 Rong Weimu, Awakening under Fire  –​Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Nanning: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1996. 59 Shen Yu, On Japan and Chiang’s “Peaceful Negotiation” during the Anti-​ Japanese War, Historical Research, 1993 (2); Shen Yu, Chiang Kai-​shek’s Further Discussion on Japan’s Peace Issues in the Early Days of the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2000 (3). 60 Cai Dejin, How to Evaluate Chiang Kai-​shek’s Negotiations with Japan after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1996 (3). 61 Yang Tianshi, Secret Negotiation between Japanese “Folks” and Chiang Kai  –​ shek Group in the Early Period of Anti –​Japanese War, Historical Research, 1990 (1); Wang Xi, Pacific War and China, Fudan Journal (Social Sciences Edition), 1992 (4); Yang Kuisong, Research on Chiang Kai-​shek’s Anti-​Japanese Attitude –​ Taking Sino-​Japanese Secret Negotiation in the Early Period of Anti –​Japanese War as an Example, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2000 (4). 62 Yang Tianshi, Discrimination and Analysis of “Tung Work, Studies on History, 2005 (2). 63 Yang Yuwen and Yang Yusheng, Inside Story of Nazi Germany’s ‘Mediation’ in the Early Days of the Sino–​Japanese War and Its Outcome. Modern Chinese History Studies, 1988 (1); Wang Jianlang, Rediscussion of Some Problems in Tyautmann’s Mediation, Journal of Chinese Communist Party History Studies, 1989 (4). 64 Yi Haojing, From “Honeymoon” to Break off  –​Evolution of Sino–​German Diplomatic Relations Before and After the Outbreak of Anti-​ Japanese War, Journal of Chinese Communist Party History Studies, 1995 (5); Chen Fangmeng, On Germany’s Policy toward China in the Early Period of Sino-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1996 (2). 65 Chen Ren-​xia, The Whole Story of Germany’s Recall of Military Advisers in China  –​a Historical Investigation Under the Background of Sino-​ German-​ Japanese Triangular Relations, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2004 (2); Chen Ren-​xia, New Theory of Trautmann’s Mediation, Historical Research, 2003 (6). 66 Wang Jian-​lang, Far East International Relations in the Early Days of Anti-​ Japanese War, Taipei: Taiwan Dongda Book Company, 1995; Sun Yan-​ling, The Beginning and End of China’s Struggle to Make a Mutual Aid Treaty with the Soviet Union in the Early Days of the Anti-​Japanese War –​with an Analysis of the Signing of the “Sino-​Soviet Non-​Aggression Treaty”, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2006 (1). 67 Li Jia-​gu, Soviet Loans and Arms Aid to China during the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1988 (4); Qi Shirong, China’s Anti-​Japanese War and International Relations (1931–​1941), World History, 1987 (4). 68 Li Jia-​gu, Two Research Issues of the History of Sino-​Soviet Relations, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1995 (1); Li Jiagu,

176  RONG Wei-mu The International Background of the Signing of the “Soviet-​Japanese Neutral Treaty” and Its Influence on Sino-​Soviet Relations, World History, 2002 (4); Li Sheng, Analysis of the Soviet-​Japanese Neutrality Treaty, Soviet History Issue, 1985 (2). 69 Wang Zhen, Alliance in Turbulence  –​Sino-​ Soviet Relations during the Anti-​ Japanese War, Nanning:  Guangxi Normal University Press, 1993; Liu Cun-​ kuan, “Re-​evaluating the ‘1945 Sino-​Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance’ ”, Commemorative Collection of the 50th Anniversary of Victory of Anti-​Japanese War, Editorial Office of The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan (Ed.), Beijing: Agency of Modern Chinese Researches, 1995; Zhang Zhen-​ kun, Review of “Selected Editions and Introductions of China’s Modern Unequal Treaties”, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1999 (3). 70 Wang Jian-​ lang, What Happened to the Pacific Conference  –​One of the Investigations on Munich in the Far East, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1996 (3); Wang Jian-​lang, Comment on Britain and the United States’ Tendency to Compromise with Japan before the Outbreak of the Pacific War –​the Second Investigation on Munich in the Far East, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1998 (1). 71 Wang Jian-​ lang, Historical Investigation of China’s Abolition of Unequal Treaties, Historical Research, 1987 (5). 72 Wu Jing-​ping, Review of the New Treaty Negotiations on Equality between China and the United States, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 1994 (2). 73 Tao Wen-​ zhao, Summary of the Symposium on the History of China-​ US Relations, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1988 (6). 74 Wang Qi, The Historical Background and Significance of the Signing of the “New Treaty on Equality between China and the United States” in 1943, Journal of Chinese Communist Party History Studies, 1989 (4). 75 Wei Chu-​xiong, On Stilwell’s Incident and Its Causes, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1985 (1). 76 Tao Wen-​zhao, Hurley Visiting China and the U.S. Government’s Determination of Its Policy of Anti-​Communist and Supporting Chiang, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1987 (2). 77 Zhao Ren-​kun, Further Discussion on US Policy towards China Around the End of World War II, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2008 (3). 78 Hong Xia-​oxia, Analysis of Sino-​US Cooperation Office during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2007 (3). 79 Yu Hua-​min, Short-​lived Cooperation-​Analysis of the Relationship between the Communist Party of China and the United States in the Late Period of the Anti-​ Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2007 (3). 80 Liu Zhong-​gang and Meng Jian-​hong, The CPC’s Fight for US Aid in the Late Anti -​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2007 (1). 81 Liu Cun-​kuan, Sino-​British Negotiations on the New Territories of Hong Kong in 1942, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1991 (1); Li Shi’an, Negotiations on the Abolition of Unequal Treaties between China and Britain in 1943 and the Hong Kong Issue, Historical Research, 1993 (5);

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  177 Tao Wen-​zhao, Hong Kong Issue during the Pacific War, Historical Research, 1994 (5). 82 Liu Cunkuan, Britain’s Re-​ occupation of Hong Kong and the Sino-​ British Struggle for Accepting Japan’s Surrender in Hong Kong, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1992 (2). 83 Zhang Zhirong and Qu Huai-​zhong, Negotiations of Sino-​US-​UK on Tibet Issues before and after the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2007 (1). 84 Jiang Yun, Song Ziwen and Negotiations of Tibet Issues in Time of War, Republican Archives, 2008 (1). 85 Luo Min, The Chinese Kuomintang and Vietnam Independence Movement during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2000 (4). 86 Liu Wei-​dong, On France’s Policy on China’s Transport Through Vietnam in the Early Days of Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2001 (2). 87 Huang Qinghua, Sino-​French Relations during the Anti-​Japanese War and the Early Post-​war Period, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2008 (3). 88 Wang Tongqi, Adjustment of Economic System and Policy of National Government in the Early Period of Anti-​Japanese War, History Teaching, 1998 (9). 89 Tang Ling, On the Mining Policy of the National Government during the Anti-​ Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1993 (4). 90 Chen Lei and Dai Jianbing, Controlled Economy and Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2007 (2). 91 He You-​liang, A Brief Comment on Jiang Jingguo’s Thought of “Building New South Jiangxi”, Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2002 (2). 92 Zhou Tianbao and Ling Chengxue, Summary of Southwest Economic Development during the Anti-​Japanese War, Chongqing: Southwest China Normal University Press, 1988. 93 Li Zai-​quan and You Hai-​hua, Rural Construction Movement during the Anti-​ Japanese War  –​An Investigation Centered on the Peace Church, Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2008 (3). 94 Dong Changzhi, On the Financial System of the National Government during the Anti-​Japanese War, Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1997 (4). 95 Wu Jing-​ping, China’s External Debt Issue during the Anti-​Japanese War, Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1997 (1). 96 Xiao Yi-​ping and Guo De-​hong, Rent and Interest Reduction during the Anti-​ Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1981 (4). 97 Guo Xu-​ yin, The Movement of Rent and Interest Reduction Led by the Communist Party of China during the Anti-​Japanese War, History Teaching and Research, 1981 (3). 98 Li Bo-​lin, Rent and Interest Reduction and Rural Social Changes in Huaibei Anti-​ Japanese Base Area, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2006 (2). 99 Xing Guang, Rural Burden Policy in Anti-​Japanese Base Areas Behind Enemy Lines, Beijing:  CPC History Press, 1986; Xing Guang, Construction of Anti-​Japanese Democratic Base Areas and Guerrilla War Behind Enemy Lines, Beijing:  CPC History Press, 1986.

178  RONG Wei-mu 100 Wang Tong-​xing, The Financial Construction of Revolutionary Base Areas during the Anti-​Japanese War and the Liberation War, The Study of the History of the Communist Party of China, 1990 (3). 101 Li Jinzheng, On Agricultural Loans in North China’s Anti –​Japanese Base Areas and Liberated Areas from 1938 to 1949, Studies on Modern History, 2000 (4). 102 Wei Hongyun, On Market Trade in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan Anti-​ Japanese Base Areas, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1997 (1). 103 Du Xiao, Financial and Economic Construction in Taihang Anti-​Japanese Base Area, Beijing: CPC History Press, 1987; Du Xiao, Anti-​Japanese Democratic Base Area and Guerrilla War Behind Enemy Lines, Beijing: CPC History Press, 1987. 104 Li Jian-​ guo, Salt Transportation and Marketing in Shaanxi-​ Gansu-​ Ningxia Border Region and Its Influence on the Border Region, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2004 (3). 105 Chen Zhi-​jie, Composition and Operation of Public Commerce in Shaanxi-​ Gansu-​Ningxia Border Region during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2004 (2). 106 Li Kan, Anti-​Japanese War and Intellectuals, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1993 (1). 107 Geng Yunzhi, Hu Shi’s Attitude Change to Japan after the July 7th Incident, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1992 (1). 108 Ma Yong, Writings about the War of Resistance against Japan and China’s Modernization, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2006 (3). 109 Yu Zixia, University Inland Migration during the Anti-​Japanese War and Its Historical Significance, Modern Chinese History Studies, 1995 (6); Yu Zixia, Changes of Church Universities during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1998 (2); Hou Dechu and Zhang Qin, University Inland Migration and Science, Technology and Culture in Southwest China in Wartime, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1998 (2); Xu Guoli, Some Issues on Migration of Colleges and Universities during the Anti-​ Japanese War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1998 (2); Jin Yilin, The Recovery and Development of University Education in Time of War, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1998 (2). 110 Huang Ling-​jun, On the Two Irrational Nationalist Trends of Thought during the Anti-​Japanese War:  Conservatism and the “Warring States School”, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1995 (2). 111 Liu Danian and Bai Jiefu (eds.), China Renaissance Hub. Beijing:  Beijing Publishing House, 1997. 112 Fan Shulin, On ChenTu-​hsiu’s Political Thought in His Later Years, Dongyue Tribune, 2006 (4); Ju Beiping and Jiang Lichang, Origin of Chen Tu-​hsiu’s Democratic Thought in His Later Years, Lanzhou Academic Journal, 2008 (2); Wang Yan, Chen Tu-​hsiu’s Understanding and Reflection on Some Problems of the Soviet Communist Party in His Later Years, Dongyue Tribune, 2008 (3). 113 Zhang Qiang, The Kuomintang’s Literary Policy during the Anti-​Japanese War, Republican Archives, 1991 (2). 114 Cao Yu-​wen, Chow Enlai’s Contribution to Guilin in the Early Days of the Anti-​ Japanese War, Guihai Tribune, 1990 (5).

War of Resistance against Japanese aggression  179 115 Wei Hua-​ling, Review of Guilin’s Anti-​Japanese War Culture Research in Recent Ten Years, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1994 (3). 116 Huangfu Xiaotao, Cultural Thoughts Before and After the Anti-​Japanese War and the Historical Theme Development of “Oriental Culture Revival”, Jilin University Journal of Social Sciences, 1997 (6). 117 Ceng Yanxiu, Whether or not to Emphasize Democracy in the Direction of Cultural Development –​Differences between Mao Tse-​tung and Zhang Wen-​tian on this Issue during Yan’an Period, Journal of Yan Huang Chun Qiu, 1998 (7). 118 Wang Gui-​lin, Two Trends of the Communist Party of China in the Anti-​ Japanese War: Integration into the World and Turning to National Traditions, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 2001 (1). 119 Lv Yiran, The Historical Data Prove that the Diaoyu Islands’ Sovereignty Belongs to China, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1997 (4). 120 Wu Tian-​ ying, A  Historical Analysis of Japan’s Coveting Our Diaoyu Islands:  Requery of Professor Okuhara Minwoong, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1998 (2). 121 Su Zhi-​liang, Analysis on Japanese Comfort Women System from Several Aspects, The Journal of Studies on China’s Resistance War against Japan, 1997 (3). 122 Wang Kaijie and Yang Hou, Archives and Historical Data of Japanese troops’ Forced Recruitment of Chinese Women as Comfort Women in Tianjin, Modern History Data, 2005 (94). 123 Yuan Cheng-​ yi, War of Resistance Against Japan from the Perspective of Modernization, Historical Review, 2005 (1). 124 Rong Wei-​mu, How to Interpret the War of Resistance Against Japan from the Perspective of Modernization, Journal of History, 2005 (4). 125 Yu He-​ping, China’s War of Resistance Against Japan and Modernization of Chinese Literature and Art, Studies on China’s War of Resistance Against Japan, 2005 (4). 126 Ding Xian-​yong, Modern War and New Traffic Development:  Centering on the War of Resistance Against Japan in Zhejiang, Studies on China’s War of Resistance Against Japan, 2007 (3). 127 Bu Ping, Writings on “Studies on the History of China’s War of Resistance against Japan and Sino-​Japanese Relations”, The Journal of Studies on China’s War of Resistance against Japan, 2009 (1).

6  Studies on historical figures MA Yong

History is created by human beings, and thus historical figures have always been the focus of historical studies. During the 60  years after the birth of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, studies on modern Chinese history underwent tremendous changes, including the evaluation of historical figures: many, whether they were worshiped as gods or demonized in the past, were re-​evaluated, and such “reactionaries” as Tseng Kuo-​fan in the past revolutionary discourse were even reshaped into saints or perfect characters. This chapter attempts to make a comprehensive review of the achievements and defects of studies on historical figures in the past 60  years within the author’s capacity. Like Chinese modern history, studies on modern Chinese historical characters changed pattern and evaluation system along with changes of Chinese political life in the past 60 years. Generally speaking, they fell into two major stages:1 the first stage (1949–​1979) and the latter stage (1979 ̶ present).

6.1  Reconstructing the value system and the practice After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, a new value appraisal system was established in historical figure researches, in which Marxist historical materialism and dialectical materialism held a dominant position. Under the new value system, the old bigwig-​centered historical view of heroism was spurned; subsequently, studies on modern Chinese historical figures underwent unprecedented changes. In the view of historical materialism, it is the masses of the people that represent the direction of social history, therefore, activities and roles of the people in the history of modern China began to receive the attention of researchers, for instance, the anti-​British struggles of the people in Sanyuanli and the southeastern coastal areas during the Opium War, people’s struggle against the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, civil commotions during the Revolution of 1911, the youth student movement during the “May 4th” period, workers’ and peasants’ movement during the first KMT-​CPC cooperation, the anti-​Japanese struggles of the people of all ethnic groups in the Anti-​Japanese War period, and people’s support for the

Studies on historical figures  181 front during the war of liberation. The history of modern China is the history of the mass’s struggles against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, rather than merely the history of the ruling class and bigwigs. In the view of new historiography (a new trend of historical studies emerging after 1949), such people regarded as rebels, bandits, and robbers in orthodox historiography were virtually leaders of peasant uprisings, anti-​ Qing revolutionaries, bourgeois thinkers and social reformers, hence the driving force and main strength of historical development, whose historical status could not be denied and whose contributions deserved to be carefully study and honored. Marxist historiography held that the so-​called rebels’, bandits’, and robbers’ achievements against foreign aggression and feudal oppression ought to be given due recognition, and their sacrifice for eliminating the Chinese national crisis and promoting social progress be given due respect and praise. In this sense, Marxist historiography set right the history distorted by orthodox historians. Nevertheless, metaphysical and formalistic approaches could still be seen in historical studies, since it took time for researchers to learn to apply Marxist historical materialism into their researches. Although many researchers sincerely hoped to adopt Marxist views to analyze and investigate issues, in practice, they continued the narrative mode of “revolutionary discourse” in studying figures of modern China, rather than transforming the historical research of the revolutionary period into the construction period, therefore, it seemed that they repeated the research work of the Democratic Revolution period, trying to prove the argument that “a person had legitimate reason to join revolution and rebel movement” while unaware of the CPC’s transformation from a rebel into the ruler of the country. The law of historical study, together with political leaders’ preference, and mind-​set of researchers, made it rather difficult to revolutionize new historiography after 1949. Researchers themselves, especially promoters of new historiography, were basically the same group of people from the Yan’an or Chongqing government, whose studies were influenced by political leaders’ thoughts and their research results affected the judgment of political leaders. The “Left” thoughts in modern Chinese figure studies not only resulted from political leaders’ influence, but also research subjects spontaneously carried out by researchers and historical research leaders in particular, whose presupposed conclusions coincided with political leaders’ judgment. Thus, the focus of modern Chinese figure studies was the allegedly insurrectionist rather than the ruling class, which can be seen from the research scope and focus of major research results at that time:  such “positive” historical figures as Gong Zi-​zhen, Lin Tse-​hsu and Wei Yuan before and after the Opium War, Hong Xiu-​quan and Hong Ren-​gan in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, K’ang Yu-​wei, Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao and T’an Ssu-​t’ung in the Hundred Days’ Reform, the revolutionaries Sun Yat-​sen and Huang Hsing in the Revolution of 1911, and leaders of the CPC, and so forth; on the contrary, except some propaganda works, there were few rational studies

182  MA Yong on the “negative” or reactionary figures, such as the ruling class of the Qing dynasty:  Emperor Daoguang, Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, Qishan, Tseng Kuo-​fan, Li Hung-​chang, Yuan Shih-​k’ai and the ruling group of the Northern Warlords, Chiang Kai-​shek and leaders of the Kuomintang. According to incomplete statistics, 12 biographical works related to Lin Tse-​ Hsu were published during 1949–​1965, while only one for his peer Tseng Kuo-​ fan entitled The Life of Traitor Tseng Kuo-​fan by Fan Wen-​lan (composed before 1949 but reprinted in 1951).2 From this, we can get an overview of the academic interests of modern history studies during this period, hence general trends of modern historical figure studies. After 1949, researchers showed strong interest in peasant uprisings, and the main figures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Boxer Rebellion, especially Hong Xiu-​quan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, were praised a lot. Compared with figures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Revolution of 1911, few studies were conducted on figures of the Westernization Movement, since Marxist historians had long held a negative attitude toward it, taking it that the Westernization Movement only saved the Qing dynasty rather than the whole country. Based on the value judgment above, few industrialists and thinkers who emerged in the Westernization Movement were studied, and according to incomplete statistics, during 1949–​1965, there were only three research papers on Ma Jian-​zhong, four on Wang Tao, 14 on Feng Gui-​fen, one on Chen Chi and nine on Zheng Guan-​ying, which was rather a small number compared with 25 on Shi Da-​kai (one leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement) and 43 on Qiu Jin, let alone Hong Xiu-​quan, Sun Yat-​ sen and Li Xiu-​cheng.3 As for the negative and reactionary figures in history, only a few scholars conducted studies on them with presupposed and biased conclusions. Taking Tseng Kuo-​fan for instance, the most popular study was Fan Wen-​lan’s book mentioned above, in which Tseng Kuo-​fan was defined as executioner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and condemned as an infamous sinner while his contributions to social progress were erased. Fan Wen-​lan’s study was of strong era significance in projecting the Chiang Kai-​shek group’s internal dictatorship and betrayal of the nation, thus more a political declaration than academic study. Only from the academic perspective, conclusions of The Life of Traitor Tseng Kuo-​fan by Fan Wen-​lan were untenable, such as the argument that “Tseng Kuo-​fan was a traitor for he served in the Qing court” which went far beyond requirements of the time. And if Fan Wen-​lan’s other argument that “Cixi and Sushun were the most wise leader of the royal family for relying on traitors rather than the Manchu to save the Qing dynasty”4 was correct, the Han ministers including Tso Tsung-​tang, Chang Chih-​tung, Chen Bao-​zhen and Huang Zun-​xian would all be traitors, thus the history of the late Qing dynasty would become the history of Manchu-​Han struggles, which was obviously not historical materialism, but historical nihilism. Perhaps it was because researches of this type are too arbitrary that most of them

Studies on historical figures  183 were overthrown after 1979, and such negative figures as Tseng Kuo-​fan even received quite positive appraisal. Although there were not many research results on modern historical figures during 1949–​1966, theoretical research achieved much progress. Historians, famous or non-​famous, began to adopt Marxist historical materialism to study history and evaluate historical figures, which was taken as the general principle of studies, while a consensus was not reached on whether to establish specific norms. Some scholars argued that historical figure studies did not require pre-​set restrictions or constant formulas to follow which was impossible and ran counter to Marxist materialist dialectics, for the specific social life of any time was extremely complicated; while some other scholars believed that a consistent standard free from political influence ought to be established, so that an objective evaluation of a figure could be made and never change with political context.5 Influenced by the fact that the method of class analysis was the foremost tool in political life, a popular view in the field of historical studies was that historical figures’ class status should and must be analyzed, since in a class society, any individual represents a certain class relationship and interests of that class, and his/​her acts were subject to constraints and regulations of his/​ her class and class struggle situation. However, some other researchers argued that a historical figure’s class status, origin and family background were vital factors but by no means the determinant ones in figure evaluation. Class analysis did not imply adopting it as the sole criterion, otherwise, the outstanding characters in Chinese history would be denied and result in national nihilism, thus hindering social progress, for only the children of the ruling class were entitled to the right of being educated, and almost all the politicians, strategists and writers who had made positive contributions to social development belonged to the exploiting classes.6 In theory, it was acknowledged that any historical character has his/​her limitations of the time and class, but it remained a controversial issue as to how to deal with those limitations in research. Some researchers pointed out that only by placing their activities into the course of historical development, comparing them with both their previous and later generations, could an overall and unbiased evaluation be made. A  person’s historical merits were generally judged by the proof of his/​her contribution different from his/​her predecessors, while his/​her defects were analyzed via comparing him/​her with later generations. As a matter of fact, when a person’s contributions were compared with his/​ her predecessors, the predecessors’ shortcomings and limitations were evaluated at the same time. Likewise, only through comparing a historical figure with his/​her later generations could his/​her contributions and deficiencies be studied. As for the relation between historical characters’ personal moral qualities, political ethics, private life and their political activities, some researchers held that historical characters should be evaluated only from the perspectives

184  MA Yong of their political measures and roles, rather than their private lives, in other words, political criteria were the value scale for historical figure evaluation. Private life and ethical conduct exerted a certain impact, but not the dominating criterion for judging their historical achievements. And some researchers believed that taking a person’s political practice as the value scale did not exclude studies on his/​her moral qualities and personalities, which must be conducted along with his/​her social and class status. Without doubt, the negative influence of Chinese traditional morality, such as Confucian ethics and feudal royalism ought be avoided.7 Before 1966 though the study of modern historical figures did not yield satisfactory results, there was still some academic significance in both theoretical and practical exploration.

6.2  Initial prosperity The year 1976 witnessed Mao Tse-​tung and other CPC leaders’ passing away successively, the study of modern historical figures went back on track, thus making it a turning point for both politics and historical studies. Historians began to break through the shackles of traditional ideology, especially the influence of ultra-​leftist ideas, and substitute Marxist historical views with metaphysical and dogmatic approaches in historical figure studies, consequently, research work made new progress and an increasing number of valuable results came out. Since the theoretical issue was the guide for historical figure studies, historians contended on how to conduct theoretical studies on historical figures. Researchers introspected upon the ideological concept of “taking class struggles as the kernel”, and reached a consensus that it was absolutely necessary to analyze historical figures’ class status, however, the previous practice of simply attributing to class division rather than conducting concrete and in-​depth class analysis was not considered advisable. In the past, a character’s class status and historicality were regarded as two separated and opposing parts, thus the evaluation of historical figures went to extremes either obscuring their merits with defects or overstating contributions. Another common practice was simplifying the method of class analysis, thus the focus of studies was just on positive, progressive and revolutionary figures, while the negative, reactionary characters were criticized and studies on intermediate stratum, the mainstay of society, were insufficient. Thanks to the reform and opening up policy, western thoughts and culture flooded into China in the 1980s. Under the influence of western historiography thought and methodology, some researchers argued that apart from analyzing the time and various political conditions, their contributions in politics, economy and culture, it was essential to explore historical figures’ characteristics, such as personal character, quality, prestige and psychology, with multi-​disciplinary or inter-​disciplinary methods, such as Freud’s

Studies on historical figures  185 psychoanalytic methods, methods and concepts of modern genetics and human resource management, and theories of historical psychology as well, which had been proved scientific and efficient. In the view of western historiography, leaders’ personal character could play a decisive role in historical events, and an individual might accelerate or delay the historical process to a certain extent, and even change the course of history.8 In the past researches, the method of class analysis used to be adopted to judge the value of historical figures’ activities, whereas their personal character was hardly taken seriously. Under the influence of ideological emancipation in the 1980s, some researchers began to realize that personal character was a critical factor to historical complexity, and proposed that historical figures’ personal life and character be analyzed in detail, and the two factors’ potential impact on the course of historical development be explored. Historical figures’ thoughts and viewpoints could play a crucial role in the historical process, their intellectual level and political capacity were major factors in class struggles, their prestige might also play a certain role in historical development, and even their aging process, psychological characteristics and other factors such as disease might change history to some extent.9 For instance, a healthy politician and a sick one would certainly make a difference in governing a country, and a politician with good morals must be more sober and mature. Therefore, besides class status, historical figures’ personal quality must be studied, which comprised such factors as economic circumstances, political conditions, family background, traditional morality, intellectual level and so forth. That accounts for the phenomenon that people of the same class had different political choices.10 A person might go through different stages in his/​her life time, which was rather short compared with human history though, and so historical figures ought to be evaluated in their different stages respectively and combined with historical trends and specific contexts, rather than jumping to a general and even biased evaluation. The radicals might turned conservative in their later life and vice versa.11 As a matter of fact, in historical research practice, thoughts of an individual, no matter how great he/​she was, certainly went through a developing process rather than staying changeless. Only by conducting an intensive study on the developing process of their thoughts can researchers arrive at a more objective and reasonable evaluation of historical figures.12 Since the Yan’an era, Marxist historians virtually followed Stalin’s claim that the masses of people were the creators of history, which was questioned by Li Shu in the early 1980s. Li Shu maintained that Stalin’s view on historical development dynamics was a misinterpretation of the Marxist claim “People create their own history” proposed by Marx, Engels and Lenin, which was based on two arguments: “The masses of people are the producers of material wealth” and “The masses of people are the creators of spiritual wealth, for the social practice of the people is the source of all forms of science, culture and art”. In Li Shu’s view, the previous argument was not accurate, while the

186  MA Yong latter one had a logical problem in that it mistook the concept “source” for “creation” so as to neglect the contributions of the real creators of scientific, cultural and artistic works –​scientists, thinkers and literary artists. Li Shu also argued that the statement “the people are masters of history” formed a misconception that the people were the protagonists of all history, which was not true, for emperors and exploiting classes played a crucial role in histories of politics, military, education, art and religion, whose sensible or stupid decisions, righteous or evil deeds might promote or hinder historical development to a degree. As a matter of fact, in the history, the working masses, usually the exploited and oppressed classes, were the silent majority in a stable society and temporary protagonists only when large-​scale uprisings broke out, thus excluded from political life. Li Shu proposed that the rulers and the ruled receive fair and just evaluation based on their respective roles in history. Thanks to abandoning the practice of adopting class analysis as the main research method, studies on modern historical figures made remarkable progress in the 1980s. For instance, researchers began to conduct historical and comprehensive investigations of leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rather than praising blindly, and affirming the revolutionary nature of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom while pointing out its historical limitations. The “Tianjing Incident” in 1856 was no longer regarded as a form of class struggles within revolutionary ranks, a counter-​revolutionary coup initiated by Wei Chang-​hui, or a struggle between two lines, instead, researches analyzed the social and economic foundations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and limitations of the peasant class, and arrived at the conclusion that the “Tianjing Incident” was a form of internal dissension within the leadership group due to the gradual feudalization of the regime, not involving political lines or strategic policy. Subsequently, Shi Da-​kai and Li Xiu-​cheng received just evaluation rather than being simply labeled “traitor”. A major feature of studies on modern Chinese historical figures in the 1980s was expansion of the research field. Many figures, who were not noticed and studied in the past, received due attention of researches. Previous studies on figures before and after the Opium War had always been limited to a few people such as Lin Tse-​hsu, Gong Zi-​zhen and Wei Yuan, while in the 1980s, studies expanded to Yao Ying, Daoguang Emperor, Qi Shan and others. The evaluation of historical figures during the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895 and the Sino-​French War also began to change, and figures like Liu Bu-​Chan, Ding Ru-​chang, Liu Yong-​fu, Liu Ming-​chuan and so forth were studied from new points of view. In the mid-​1980s, special researches were conducted on Tseng Kuo-​fan, Tso Tsung-​tang, Li Hung-​chang, K’ang Yu-​wei, Liang Ch’i-​ ch’ao, Zhang Tai-​yan, Hu Shi, Luo Jia-​lun, Fu Si-​nian, Gu Xie-​gang, and even Lin Shu, Gu Hong-​ming, Liang Shu-​ming, Xiong Da-​li and Chou Tso-​ jen, and fair and just evaluations were yielded. Many researchers proposed that Li Hung-​chang’s contribution to China’s modernization process be highly appreciated while his deeds impeding the

Studies on historical figures  187 country’s development be acknowledged at the same time.13 This was obviously due to the political reality at that time when opening up and large-​scale economic construction began, in other words, real politics made potential impact on researches. Likewise, other figures in the Westernization Movement not only received an increasing number of researches, but objective and fair evaluation –​their contributions to China’s modernization process were highly appreciated and historical limitations were pointed out at the same time, which laid the foundation for the later studies on China’s modernization history and the construction of historical viewpoint of modernization. The most influential achievements at that time included Biography of Sheng Hsuan-​huai by Xia Dong-​yuan, Biography of Zheng Guan-​ying and Studies of Tong King-​ sing by Wang Jing-​yu. Different from political critique in the 1950s, the profound influences of Hu Shi on modern China’s politics, ideology and culture were studied while limitations of his thoughts were fully examined, which can be seen in biographies and symposia published successively after 1980. Researchers concluded that Hu Shi made numerous contributions to exploring ancient Chinese civilization, carrying forward the excellent culture of the Chinese nation, and improving the modern Chinese academic level, thus a giant in Chinese culture. However, researches on Hu Shi at that time were not able to reconstruct a complete historical reality, and confirm Hu Shi’s vital role in modern Chinese academic studies. Due to the influence of ideology, while acknowledging Hu’s great contributions, many researches pointed out his limitations, such as the innate weakness as a bourgeois intellectual –​flabbiness and a tendency toward compromise, which accounted for the reason why Hu insisted on reformism in politics but adopted a moderate attitude toward such fundamental issues as anti-​imperialism and anti-​feudalism. For his whole life, Hu persisted in his old ways of living showing ignorance of the times, which was most criticized for being influenced by liberalism. Hu’s pacifism without distinguishing right from wrong divorced him further from the masses of the people, and was eventually overwhelmed in revolution. Nevertheless, researchers argued that Hu’s defects described above could not obscure his achievements in that he advocated individual liberation, women’s emancipation, thought emancipation and saving the nation through education, which reflected Chinese people’s strong desire to get rid of poverty and backwardness, and Chinese intellectuals’ global vision and social responsibility as well. Liang Shu-​ming enjoyed a high reputation in the 1920s though he also received a lot of researchers’ attention in the 1980s. Liang’s works were published or reprinted, and a bunch of researches on him also came out successively. Liang’s views toward the Chinese peasant were compared with Mao Tse-​tung’s and his devotion to the rural construction movement was re-​evaluated. Liang and Mao shared a common concern that the Chinese peasant issue was the fundamental problem in China and only through liberating and reforming peasants could the liberation of old China be achieved.

188  MA Yong Their opinions were divided on how to liberate and transform peasants. Mao Tse-​tung proposed revolutionary, violent and class-​confrontational methods, while Liang Shu-​ming was in favor of peaceful, constructive, reformative and educational ways to build the countryside, thus he took himself to be a Chinese Gandhi. Due to the limitation of the era, researchers acknowledged the mainstream evaluation of Liang that the rural construction movement he advocated was basically a cultural transformation and improvement which was doomed to failure in the old China. It was commonly recognized that the Reform Movement of 1898 K’ang Yu-​wei, Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao, T’an Ssu-​t’ung and Yan Fu advocated, though it did not propose to overthrow the Qing government, demanded the constitutional monarchy system and capitalism, which was virtually to bring the feudal autocracy to an end, hence a large-​scale bourgeoisie reformation and the initial attempt to seize power in bourgeoisie’s immature stage. The struggle between reformists and conservatives was essentially the struggle between the emerging bourgeoisie and the stubborn feudalist, with the goal to transform the semi-​colonial and semi-​feudal China into an independent, democratic and capitalist country, which ignited the torch of patriotism and democracy and summoned a generation of people with lofty ideals to dedicate themselves to the cause of national salvation, thus a rehearsal of the Revolution of 1911. The Reform Movement of 1898 was also a great ideological enlightenment and liberation in modern China, which not only changed the overall social atmosphere but also provided the ideological and theoretical basis for the development of bourgeois culture. Therefore, the Reform Movement of 1898 was even regarded as ushering China into a new century.14 Different from the previous blame for Yan Fu’s retrogression in his later years, researchers began to differentiate the initial, middle and later periods of Yan Fu’s thought, and some researchers analyzed its values from the perspective of re-​evaluation of Chinese traditional culture. As for the figures in the Revolution of 1911, apart from the fact that studies on Sun Yat-​sen continued to make progress, other people who had made significant contributions began to receive the attention of academics. Sung Chiao-​jen, having been unfairly evaluated for a long time, was praised for his devotion to overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and establishing a bourgeois democratic republic. In 1912, Sun Yat-​sen and Huang Hsing successively handed over political power and military power and were engaged in saving the nation through developing industries; meanwhile, Yuan Shih-​kai became president of the Republic of China, which was virtually party politics and parliamentary politics. At that time, Sung Chiao-​jen reorganized the Chinese Revolutionary League and formed the Kuomintang, with the hope of making the Kuomintang the largest party in the parliament through elections which would form a responsible cabinet to constrain the power of the president and prevent individual dictatorship so as to consolidate the bourgeois regime established after the Revolution of 1911. Sung Chiao-​jen’s political activities were undoubtedly of significance in the early years of the Republic

Studies on historical figures  189 of China, therefore, it was unfair to criticize him for adulating parliament. However, after reshuffling the cabinet, Sung Chiao-​jen abandoned the principle of people’s livelihood in the Koumintang program and lobbied a group of bureaucrats and politicians to join the Kuomintang, which was taken as a compromise of abandoning the revolutionary principle, hence a retrogression compared with the Chinese Revolutionary League. Numerous research results, including chronicles, monographs and biographies were published on figures of the Communist Party of China, such as Li Da-​zhao, Deng Zhong-​xia, Fang Zhi-​min, Zhou En-​lai, Zhu De, Deng Xiao-​ping, Dong Bi-​wu and so forth in the 1980s, to clarify some historical issues. In the chronicles and biographies of Mao Tse-​tung, Zhou En-​lai, Liu Shao-​qi and Zhu De compiled by the Central Literature Research Office of the CPC, a large number of archival data, which were not available to general researchers, were cited, therefore enriching the study of CPC history and providing new sources of information for the study of historical figures. In the 1980s, historiographers conducted a lot of researches on historical figures and even leaders of the CPC who were subjected to unfair and biased treatment in the past, such as Chen Tu-​hsiu, Qu Qiu-​bai, Liu Shao-​qi, Zhang Wen-​tian, Wang Jia-​xiang, Li Li-​san, Xiang Ying, Ye Ting and Peng De-​huai. Historiographers’ efforts restored their reputation and the historical truth, which provided a basis for reconstruction of the narration mode of CPC history. Studies on Chen Tu-​hsiu had been a sensitive issue for researches in the past few decades, and even his contribution in the New Cultural Movement was dramatically undervalued. When the memorial hall for the New Cultural Movement was built in the late 1980s, many students were highlighted on reliefs while the image of Chen Tu-​hsiu was absent. It was the inappropriate evaluation of Chen Tu-​hsiu’s political activities and thoughts in his later years –​which were unacceptable in the 1980s –​that made it rather difficult to conduct studies on him. However, despite the fact that many archival data and relevant documents of the Soviet Union and the Communist International were not available, some researchers were still concentrating on studies on Chen Tu-​hsiu following principles of historical materialism so as to uncover the historical truth. For example, the failure of the First Revolutionary Civil War was no longer merely attributed to Chen Tu-​hsiu’s political views as it had been in previous studies. In the 1980s, researchers argued that Chen Tu-​hsiu was only an executive of the Communist International’s wrong instructions, which even he himself was opposed to in many cases. On the issue of Trotskyites, some researchers held that the divergence of views between the CPC and Chen Tu-​hsiu after he was converted into a Trotskyist was divergence within the revolutionary camp on how to overthrow the Kuomintang regime, rather than counter-​revolution, for Chen Tu-​hsiu had never given up the standpoint of fighting against imperialism and dictatorship of the Kuomintang.

190  MA Yong Chen Tu-​hsiu’s democratic thoughts in his later years were highly spoken of in that he abandoned the Stalinist model of proletarian dictatorship after realizing its damage to the fundamental interests of the people. The two slogans of “Democracy” and “Science” put forward by Chen Tu-​hsiu during the “May Fourth” period was even highly praised.15 Qu Qiu-​bai was another among the early leaders of the CPC who had long been judged in a biased way. Nevertheless, with the deepening of the ideological emancipation movement, historiographers re-​examined Qu Qiu-​bai’s thoughts and political activities and reached a completely different conclusion from the previous ones. Ding Shou-​he16 systematically studied the contribution of Qu Qiu-​bai from various aspects and pointed out that Qu Qiu-​bai was the first to propose the two phases of revolution in China (new democratic revolution and socialist revolution), propagandize the scientific cosmology and methodology of Marxism, propose employing Marxism to guide Chinese revolution and the proletariat’s leadership in democratic revolution, attach great importance to the peasant issue and armed struggles with a revolutionary army, put forward launching guerrilla warfare and establishing revolutionary bases, and support Mao Tse-​tung’s proposal of launching peasant movement. While Ding Shou-​he’s research focused on Qu Qiu-​bai’s contributions in ideological aspect, Chen Tie-​jian17 revealed his inner sorrow and struggles as a politician. Chen Tie-​jian’s analysis of “Superfluous Words” by Qu Qiu-​bai gave a reasonable academic explanation for this controversial document, and provided an academic basis for the Special Central Investigating Team to re-​ evaluate Qu Qiu-​bai. As a part of the world, major events occurring in modern China could be attributed to the international background, therefore, after the reform and opening up, a bunch of international friends’ contributions to modern China were re-​evaluated fairly and objectively, most of which had been denied in the past. Many papers or monographs were published on lives and activities of Timothy, Goodnow, Tunner, Marshall, Stilwell, Hurley, Stuart and so forth. Since the Communist International was an important factor affecting the historical development of modern China, therefore, not only the history of the CPC, but even the development of the KMT was closely related to it. Since the 1980s, the activities of Borodin, Voitinskii and Marin in China have attracted researchers’ interests and yielded a lot of results. The Chinese revolution in modern times received strong support from the international community, thus many foreigners with a sense of justice, such as Smedley, Snow, Strong, and Louis Alley, whose contributions had always been valued by Chinese historiographers, came to China and played an active role in the Chinese revolution. After the reform and opening up, specialized institutions were set up to collect documents related to them, so as to conduct in-​depth researches. In addition, researches on Wang Ming, Zhang Guo-​tao, Lin Biao, Chen Bo-​ da and other important leaders of the CPC made many significant achievements in the 1980s, whose contributions in the history of Chinese

Studies on historical figures  191 revolution were evaluated objectively, fundamentally changing the previous metaphysical approach. Due to his excessive emphasis on struggles between two political lines within the party, Wang Ming was previously regarded as a representative of the wrong line without any contribution to the party and the people all through this life. As one of the major achievements in the study of CPC history, studies on Wang Ming made breakthroughs in the 1980s. Based on sufficient historical data, researchers found that besides his right-​leaning mistakes during the Anti-​Japanese War, Wang Ming drafted a series of significant declarations and instructions which facilitated the CPC’s policy change from “opposing Chiang Kai-​shek while fighting against Japanese” to “uniting Chiang Kai-​shek to resist against Japanese” and the formation of Anti-​Japanese National United Front policy in the 1930s. Some researchers proposed that Wang Ming’s work in Wuhan and the Changjiang Bureau be evaluated objectively and his suggestions for the work of the Southern Party and the New Fourth Army be appreciated. Many researchers held that Wang Ming’s right-​leaning mistakes in the Anti-​Japanese National United Front were merely due to his misperception rather than “right capitulationism”, for Wang Ming had always upheld struggles against Japanese aggression and had profound affection toward the CPC.18 The Kuomintang’s contribution to the spread of socialism in China had not attracted historiographers’ attention as it deserved for a long time. As a matter of fact, the Kuomintang was a major force in propagandizing socialism theory and providing valuable materials for Chinese people to fully understand socialism, among whom, Hu Han-​min, Dai Ji-​tao, Li Lie-​jun, Long Yun, Chen Ying-​shi, Lin Yun-​gai, Zhu Zhi-​xin, Shang Zhen, Song Zhe-​ yuan and Zhang Zhi-​zhong were active figures discussing Marxism in the magazines Construction, Weekly Review and Awareness they edited, making them like an ideological front for propagating socialism and Marxism at that time. However, the Kuomintang’s contribution had been either depreciated or omitted in former studies until the reform and opening up when a handful of works were published to study this issue, which not only gave the Kuomintang’s role in the spread of socialism in China proper and due comment, but also made the route and key links of the spread of socialism and Marxism in China more clear. Collected works, biographies and chronicles were published on studies of the Kuomintang leftists, members of democratic parties and non-​party members, and industry leaders who had been friendly to the CPC or made significant contributions to the Chinese nation in history, such as Yu You-​ren, Liao Zhong-​kai, He Xiang-​ning, Song Qing-​ling, Li tsung-​jen, Deng Yan-​da, Cai Yuan-​pei, Chen You-​ren, Peng Ze-​min, Chang Hsueh-​liang, Yang Hu-​ cheng, Huang Yan-​pei, Jing Yang-​chu and Yan Bao-​hang. Due attention was even given to studies of the Kuomintang people who were not friendly to the CPC, like Song Mei-​ling, Kong Xiang-​xi, He Ying-​qin, Song Zi-​wen, Hu Zong-​nan, Chen Bu-​lei, and such Gang leaders as Huang

192  MA Yong Jin-​rong, Du Yue-​sheng and Zhang Xiao-​lin, whose activities and status were discussed in many papers and biographies based on the historical facts. Regarding intellectual history, the research scope became broader after the reform and opening up, with not only the main positive figures but minor and negative figures as well being studied, which was a major breakthrough compared with previous studies. In particular, figures who had been neglected or seldom studied, and controversial or even reactionary figures, like Tseng kuo-​fan, Guo Song-​tao, Wang Guo-​wei, Liu Shi-​pei and Huang Kan, began to arouse researchers’ interest. Besides, a lot of research work was done on studies of figures who had been subjected to misunderstanding and unfair treatment due to their opposition to Lu Hsun or other progressives. For instance, in the 1980s, Lin Yu-​tang, who had been prejudicially judged for arguing with Lu Hsun, was appreciated as a passionate patriot and a great writer in the history of literature development. Du Ya-​quan, who had been totally negated in the previous few decades for debating with Chen Tu-​hsiu and other supporters of New Youth, was nearly unknown to non-​professional modern historians. In the 1980s, Du Ya-​quan’s achievements in introducing western natural sciences were published, and his role in the May Fourth New Cultural Movement was analyzed objectively. What separated Du Ya-​quan and the New Youth group was that he did not understand the essence of western scientific methods, the scientific spirit and attitudes while spreading western scientific knowledge. Some researchers argued that Du Ya-​quan’s respect for Chinese traditional culture was worthy of study and review, suggesting that Du’s thought was an amendment to modern Chinese radicalism for discovering the defects of the New Culture Movement which totally negated Chinese traditional culture. Though having always been valued by scholars, composition of biographies of historical figures made new breakthroughs after the reform and opening up. A  batch of valuable comprehensive biographies, who’s who in modern China, and encyclopedia of Chinese historical figures, were published, such as Historical Figures of the Qing Dynasty, Historical Figures of the Republic of China, Senior Generals of the Republic of China, The Biography of Figures in the Whampoa Military Academy, Biography of the CPC Members, and Biography of Revolutionary Martyrs. Composition of biographies of a single character also made remarkable achievements in the 1980s, and one of the most outstanding phenomena was new methods and perspectives. In most biographies, the thoughts and activities of historical figures were analyzed in their specific social and historical environment from multiple angles and at various levels, so as to make objective comments and restore the historical truth. Even those negative figures were studied dialectically and their contributions received due appreciation. Researchers also had ongoing discussion about the controversial figures, for example, Cai E’s merits and demerits, Sung Chiao-​jen’s influence on the politics in the early years of the Republic of China, Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao’s

Studies on historical figures  193 role in the national protection movement, and Yu Qia-​qing’s class status all aroused heated discussion in academia.

6.3  Problems in development Compared with the former stage (1978–​ 1989), the following 20  years witnessed more extensive and in-​depth researches of modern history figures. Many neglected figures attracted due attention from the academic world and a variety of biographies were published during this period. In the 1980s, one remarkable phenomenon in the field of modern history research was modern research methods gradually employed in studies, therefore in the 1990s, researchers began to re-​evaluate modern Chinese figures from a modern perspective, so that the evaluations of many figures were significantly different from previous ones and respecting the history figures became a generally accepted principle in researches. However, problems did exist such as blindly worshiping historical figures being studied, abandoning class analysis or negative and even reactionary contents in studies of controversial and negative figures, which was apparently not true scientific research attitude. If we look at the history of modern China from a modern perspective, many issues are worthy of being re-​evaluated. It against such an academic background that there are increasing divergences of studies and evaluations of modern Chinese figures. Historical figures in the Opium War were the most controversial ones in modern history. Researchers’ opinions varied greatly on issues like whether there were strong supporters of the ban on opium-​smoking and the opium trade vs. advocates of the opium trade within the Qing government, whether it was Lin Tse-​hsu who prompted the Emperor Daoguang to order the prohibition of the opium trade, whether Qi Shan was a traitor who framed Lin Tse-​Hsu up, and whether Qi Shan was to blame for the death of Guan Tian-​ pei and failure of Battle of Humen or not. It was true that Lin Tse-​hsu proposed resistance against foreign aggression, however on the other hand, “he was reluctant to advocate reform in public” as Tsiang Ting-​fu pointed out in the 1930s.19 Therefore, in this sense, it was unfair to attribute the failure of the Opium War to the long-​held principle that “the righteous folks were subjected to misfortune while the treacherous ones wielded power”, which implied that it was the treacherous court officials to blame rather than the old Chinese system. Latest researches fully proved that the old Chinese system was the real cause of its failure and Lin Tse-​ hsu’s choice might not be the only option for China. The true meaning of the Opium War lay in the fact that Chinese people were awakened to accept the truth that “lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacks” and the backwardness in the political system and education might result in more severe consequences compared with that in the economy and military. Therefore,

194  MA Yong China ought to follow the world trend to be fully modernized and globalized rather than complacent and conservative, so as to be liberated from foreign invasions. In modern history, China was subjected to various invasions, and for this reason, the balance of justice had always tipped in favor of China, based on which, officials and gentries in the late Qing Dynasty and intellectuals in the 20th century regarded the affirmation of western advantages and criticism of China’s weaknesses as an offense, which overlooked the tasks of modern China being not only to struggle against foreign invasions and strive for national independence, but also to be modernized. Modernization required learning from foreign advanced culture and overthrowing the old political and economic system. Some insightful intellectuals in modern China realized that and they proposed opposing western aggression while introducing advanced western culture and political systems, and attacking traditional Chinese culture, which had proved ineffective and inadvisable though with good intentions, hence having been subjected to criticism. It was due to the narrow nationalism that those people were known as “traitors” and “compradors” for so long. Likewise, the previous negative and reactionary figures in modern Chinese history increasingly aroused historians’ interest. In as early as the mid-​1980s, while re-​examining the history of modern Chinese philosophy, Feng You-​lan proposed re-​studying Tseng Kuo-​fan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. It was not until the publication of the biographical novel Tseng Kuo-​fan that the study of modern historical figures with the feature of overthrowing previous research conclusions reached its climax. Many long-​ held concepts underwent fundamental subversion, for instance, Tseng Kuo-​ fan began to be worshiped as a saint, while Hong Xiu-​quan became a corrupt and shameless incarnation and Feng You-​lan even claimed that thanks to the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, China had not returned to the Middle Ages. Unlike studies on the Opium War and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, researchers tended to acknowledge moderate political reforms and criticize radical proposals during the Reform Movement of 1898, due to China’s political changes after 1989. Influenced by the trend of “bidding farewell to revolution” and favoring reforms, researchers tried to demonstrate from various angles that the Reform Movement of 1898 was the first attempt of the Chinese to pursue modernization in an all-​round way, which was not only the precursor of political modernization and the real beginning of the modernization of Chinese culture and education, but also accelerated the process of economic modernization and promoted military modernization. As it was, the Reform Movement of 1898 was a revolution in political system and the initial attempt to transform China into modern national system.20 In view of the changes in the overall evaluation of the Reform Movement of 1898, a number of novel researches on the evaluation of figures in the

Studies on historical figures  195 movement came out. On one hand, richer and more intensive studies were carried out on K’ang Yu-​wei, Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao, T’an Ssu-​t’ung and Yan Fu; on the other hand, studies on Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi, and other intellectuals, Royalty, Westernizers and the die-​hards made new progress, such as Weng Tong-​su, Zhang Yin-​huan, Chang Chih-​tung, Huang Zun-​xian, Zhang Yuan-​ji, Liu Guang-​di and Zhang Jian, whose contributions during the reform were basically affirmed. Different from the previous evaluation of his contributions and limitations in general, more researches were conducted on K’ang Yu-​wei’s views and proposals in detail. For example, some researchers believed that K’ang Yu-​ wei’s main contribution lay in the proposal of the separation of administrative and deliberative powers, founding of the government institution responsible for the overall reform and his attempt to transform Chinese traditional absolute monarchy, which made the Reform Movement of 1898 different from the Westernization Movement. Researchers’ views were divided on the conservative side of K’ang Yu-​wei, such as using Confucian thought to advocate reform, worshiping monarchical power while suppressing civil rights and setting Confucianism as the state religion. In the past two decades, several biographies of Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao were published, all of which showed sympathetic understanding toward him and acknowledged his positive contributions to China’s modernization. Different from previous evaluation of Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao as a reformist, he was increasingly re-​evaluated as a positive figure. Even his inconsistent political thoughts was interpreted by some researchers as advancing with the times. As the most famous enlightenment thinker in modern China, Yan Fu lingered over Chinese traditions and even supported restoration of the monarchy in his later years, therefore, researchers did not reach a consensus on how to evaluate his thoughts and changes for decades. Since the 1990s, a handful seminars have been held in Yan Fu’s hometown and Peking University, which facilitated studies on him. The majority of researchers affirmed Yan Fu’s contributions in spreading western learning and criticizing Chinese traditions. However, there were two tendencies in the interpretation of Yan Fu’s ideological connotation:  on the one hand, some researchers began to advocate neo-​authoritarianism and a few non-​professional researchers even regarded Yan Fu as the pioneer of modern Chinese authoritarianism and Yan Fu’s thought as the result of his adherence to government-​led political reforms; on the other hand, a few researchers who believe in liberalism regarded Yan Fu as the earliest founder of Chinese liberalism and even held that Yan Fu’s instrumentalist attitude toward liberalism was much closer to neo-​liberalism than classical liberalism. There have always been different views on the evaluation of Yan Fu’s thoughts, political opinions and behaviors in his later years. Some believed that Yan Fu was actually marginalized in his later years, thus had little influence on politics and social thought, while others held that there were no substantial differences between Yan Fu’s thoughts in his earlier and later years, but with different focuses.

196  MA Yong T’an Ssu-​t’ung had never been denied as a warrior who broke through the feudal shackles and actively implemented reforms in modern China, besides, his philosophy of benevolence had always been valued in academia. It was T’an Ssu-​t’ung and Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao who challenged traditional mainstream culture, which made a direct influence not only on the Reform Movement of 1898, but also on the Revolution of 1911 and the May Fourth Movement afterwards, hence the first generation of young cultural elites in modern China. However, with the increasing criticism of political radicalism in Chinese ideological circle, some researchers argued that T’an Ssu-​t’ung was a pioneer of modern Chinese political radicalism and wholesale westernization, who led waves of radical political thoughts, thus making a negative effect on China’s political ecology. In the 1990s, researchers affirmed the positive aspects of thoughts and behaviors of the Cixi group and die-​hards during the Reform Movement period, and even acknowledged the positive influence of their criticisms and hindering of reform measures, emphasizing that there would be no reform movement without the support of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the real head in charge of China at that time. The conflict between the emperor group and Cixi group lay in fighting for political power rather than on the policy level. Cixi’s preventing radical political reform led by Emperor Guangxu did not imply retrogression of Chinese politics, instead, moderate retrogression made for further great progress. Therefore, it was two years after the Qing government suspended the Reform Movement that a broader political reform was launched. The role of Duan-​fang and Yuan Shih-​kai during the Reform Movement of 1898 was re-​ studied. Some researchers maintained that a number of complicated factors led to the betrayal of Yuan Shih-​kai, once an active supporter of the Reform Movement, and Yuan Shih-​kai and the reformists’ divergence of views on policy level was the main reason. Yuan Shih-​kai realized that blindly following the reformists’ proposals would bring China more chaos rather than development, meanwhile his close contact with K’ang Yu-​wei directly affected the political pattern. Regarding whether Yuan Shih-​ kai informed against the reformists, researchers began to provide a negative answer. After comparing Yuan Shih-​kai’s Brief Account of Wuxu and Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao’s The Reform Movement Log, some researchers argued that the former was more reliable and thus denied the betrayal of Yuan Shih-​kai. In addition, researchers proved that the Empress Dowager Cixi decided to return to the palace shortly after Yang Chong-​yi submitted the secret memorial, therefore, the occurrence of the Wuxu Coup did not result from Yuan Shih-​ kai’s information. Duan-​fang was regarded as a member of Cixi group in previous studies, however, researchers began to propose that he was a supporter of the Emperor Daoguang for he actively supported and participated in reform. Duan-​fang got away without punishment and was re-​appointed to a high position, partly because he was protected by Rong-​lu and Li Lian-​ying, and thus pleased Cixi

Studies on historical figures  197 through submitting “The song of encouraging goodness”. In a word, Duan-​ fang played a positive and significant role in later political transformation, hence a very important figure in the political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty. Li Hung-​chang has always been the focus of study. After the historical television series “Towards the Republic” was released in 2003, Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Hung-​chang and Yuan Shih-​kai seemed to be gradually regarded as positive figures jointly promoting the political progress of the late Qing Dynasty, while K’ang Yu-​wei and Weng Tong-​su were considered negative figures with pedantic, old-​fashioned, selfish and muddleheaded features. Some researchers argued that Li Hung-​chang, like Tseng Kuo-​fan, was almost a moral saint in modern China, who bore great humiliation and responsibility at the same time. Some researchers even defended Li Hung-​chang’s role in signing the Treaty of Shimonoseki, arguing that he was merely following the government leaders’ order to do so, which might seem plausible but make readers reluctant to accept. A number of serious researches were conducted on figures of the CPC after 1989, however, for one reason or another, researches on Mao Tse-​tung and other leaders were polarized emotionally:  one pole was completely denying Mao Tse-​tung’s position and role in modern China, and the other was continuing worship. The latter further facilitated the rise of the so-​called “Mao Tse-​tung craze”, which was not an academic study in a strict sense, however folk thoughts of this kind obstructed studies on Mao Tse-​tung in mainland China, thus real academic researches of Mao Tse-​tung were yet to come. Nevertheless, in the past two decades, editing of Mao Tse-​tung-​related documents made great progress, and there were relatively complete versions of Mao Tse-​tung’s works. The publication of such works as the chronology of Mao Tse-​tung made his revolutionary activities much clearer, which facilitated further discussion of many important issues in the history of the CPC. Chen Tu-​hsiu had always been a hot topic attracting researchers’ attention. Based on documents of the Communist International released after the collapse of the Soviet Union, not only was Chen Tu-​hsiu’s positive contribution to the dissemination of Marxism and establishment of the CPC highly appreciated, but the alleged Chen Tu-​hsiu mistakes in his later years received a new interpretation, especially for his assertion of “two revolutionary civil wars”, right capitulationism, the Trotskyist issue, the relationship between Chinese revolution and the Communist International and the Soviet Union,21 all of which provided a basis for further studies. In the 1980s, China entered an “era of contemplation”, and after the political disturbances in 1989, the political attitude of “no-​argument” made a tremendous impact on the development of academic ideology. Generally speaking, the past two decades witnessed a multitude of scholars coming forth while thinkers withdrew from the historical arena, meanwhile, academic strength was advocated rather than novel ideas, which can be seen in the research of modern Chinese historical figures. The research focus transformed from such thinkers as Chen Tu-​hsiu, Hu Shi, Liang Shu-​ming into alleged

198  MA Yong “Masters of Chinese Culture” like Wang Guo-​wei, Chen Yin-​ke, Chen Yuan, Ku Chieh-​Kang, Fu Ssu-​nien, Wu Mi and Qian Chung-​Shu. Consequently, those who had been criticized for disrespecting Chinese traditions, such as Yan Fu, Cai Yuan-​pei, Hu Shi and Lu Xun in particular, were dubbed as “Masters of Chinese Culture” by some “trendy” researchers, which had something to do with the trend of vigorously promoting traditional culture and patriotism after 1989. Different from “Masters of Chinese Culture”, liberal intellectuals had played a great role in Chinese enlightenment in the 20th century, whose ideological transformation and member differentiation also played both a positive and negative role in Chinese political struggles. Especially in the mid-​1940s, the liberal intellectuals began to move toward radicalism as the KMT regime became increasingly corrupt and unpopular. Before the 1980s, the transformation of the liberal intellectuals had always been considered of progressive significance, however, after the 1990s, researchers began to question their transformation, arguing that liberal intellectuals like Wen Yi-​duo and Wu Han changing their position did not simply imply their pursuit of political progress; instead, it was the KMT’s corruption and the CPC’s critique of the KMT’s one-​party dictatorship that persuaded them to regain confidence. Therefore, the liberal intellectuals’ transformation cannot be simply attributed to their irrational romantic passion, instead, we should study it under the specific historical background. Some researchers had a deep tendency to self-​blame when reflecting on the role of intellectuals in the past 100-​year Chinese political process, maintaining that they had not completely transformed from traditional literati and officialdom into modern intellectuals, even though they became more specialized in the division of labor, hence the myth that intellectuals impeded China’s development. Intellectuals were sober in their ivory tower, but participated in political affairs with blind passion, which would definitely result in wrong choices. Many researchers held that modern intellectuals ought to be devoted to their professional work and hand over politics to politicians, for they would lose their dignity and wisdom once engaging in politics.

Notes 1 In late 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing, marking the beginning of the new era, yet the academic community was influenced relatively later. 2 Library of History Department of Fudan University. (1980). Catalogue of Published Studies on Modern Chinese History (1949–​1979). Shanghai:  Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 3 Xu, L. T. & Xiong, W. (1983). Index of Papers on Modern Chinese History (1949–​ 1979). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.

Studies on historical figures  199 4 Fan, W. L. (1979). Selected Papers of Fan Wen-​lan’s Studies on Chinese History. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. 5 Shang, Y.  (1964). Several issues in studies on historical figures. Historical Research, (3). 6 Wu, H. (1962, 23 March). Evaluation of historical figures. People’s Daily. 7 Wu, H. & Xie, T. Y. (1960). Some theoretical issues concerning the evaluation of historical figures. Academic Monthly, (1). 8 Shi, S.  Y. (1982). Five issues in the evaluation of historical figures. Journal of Historical Science, (5). 9 Yu, Z.  S. (1984, 15 October). Personal factors in studies on historical figures. Wenhui Daily. 10 Jian, X. W. (1987). Several theoretical issues in the evaluation of historical figures. Journal of Historical Science, (3). 11 Jiang, D. R. (1983, 29 June). It is advisable to apply the “stage theory” in evaluation of historical figures. Guangming Daily. 12 Peng, M. (1980). How to evaluate historical figures. History Teaching, (6). 13 Zhou, J.  & Yang, Y.  R. (1989). Li Hung-​ chang and China’s Modernization. Hefei: Anhui Renmin Press. 14 Author Unknown. (1982). Guangdong Scholars’ discussion about studies on Reform Movement of 1898  & K’ang Yu-​wei and Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao. Academic Research, (3). 15 Tang, B. L. (1989). The evaluation of Chen Tu-​hsiu in the past decade. Popular Tribune, (9). 16 Ding, S. H. (1985). Studies on Qu Qiu-​bai’s Thoughts. Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House. 17 Chen, T.  J. (1986). Bibliography of Qu Qiu-​bai. Shanghai:  Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 18 Huang, Y.  & Shu, L.  (1988). Summary of the Symposium on Modern Chinese History. Journal of Inner Mongolia Normal University, (4). Qu, C. (1988). Summary of the Symposium on Modern Chinese History. Social Science Information, (9). 19 Jiang, T. F. (1987). Modern China History. Changsha: Yuelu Press. 20 Wang, X.  Q. (1998). Summary of the International Symposium on the 100th Anniversary of the Reform Movement. Historical Research, (6). 21 Tang, B. L. (1999). Regarding Chen Tu-​hsiu as a positive figure: Minutes of the discussion about the revised draft of History of The CPC. Latest Studies on Chen Tu-​hsiu, (6).

7  Sorting and publishing of modern history materials ZHUANG Jian-​ping1 and ZENG Yeying

During the past 71 years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the study of modern Chinese history developed rapidly and yielded fruitful results, partly because it has always been the focus of historical researchers and people from all sectors of society for it is not only a history of the Chinese nation’s struggles against imperialism and feudalism, but a history of rejuvenation as well. In addition, large-​scale organized systematic sorting and publishing of historical materials laid a solid research foundation, hence a vital guarantee.

7.1  Overview of the publishing work in the second half of the twentieth century Due to the large number of materials, and the fact that official documents were unavailable to ordinary researchers before the founding of New China, only about six monographic series were published, namely, History of Diplomatic Affairs in Late Qing Dynasty, Archives Concerning Sino-​Japanese Relations 1875–​1908, Archives Concerning Qing Diplomatic History, Archives Concerning Sino-​ French Relations 1875–​ 1908, Archives Concerning Sino-​ Japanese Relations 1909–​1911, and Archives Concerning Missionaries in the Late Qing Dynasty, and a few papers published in the Journal of Historical Literature and Journal of Historical Documents during 1925–​ 1949, even though there were more than 9 million archives concerning the Qing Dynasty in the Palace Museum. After the founding of New China, collecting, sorting and publishing materials of modern Chinese history was high on the agenda of historical researchers. The publishing work in the second half of the twentieth century can be summarized into the following six categories. First, monographic series were published which laid a foundation for the study of modern history. In the early 1950s, following the instruction of the Association of Chinese Historians, historical researchers began to carry on extensive work on collecting, sorting and publishing modern history materials. The most influential one was Data Series of Modern Chinese History2 compiled by researchers from colleges and research institutions in Beijing and edited by the Association of Chinese Historians, with 68

Sorting modern history materials  201 volumes and 27,580,000 words in total, covering 11 special topics, namely the Opium War, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the second Opium War, the Hui People’s Uprising, Nien Rebellion, the Westernization Movement, the Sino-​French War, the Sino-​Japanese War, the Reform Movement of 1898, the Boxer Rebellion and the Revolution of 1911. At the same time, the first issue of Modern Chinese Historic Data was published in 1954, and in the 100 issues during the following 45  years, 22 varieties of monographic literature were published. Publication of monographic series and periodicals facilitated research and teaching work of scholars at home and abroad, therefore were widely acclaimed. A number of materials of modern economic history edited by a group of economic historians were also published during this period; the following four were the most influential ones. The first one was Series of Materials Concerning Modern Chinese Economic History edited by the Institute of Economics of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, including Collection of Modern Chinese Economic History Data, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Industrial History, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Agricultural History, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Handicraft History, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Foreign Trade History, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Railway History, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Shipping History, Data Concerning Modern Chinese Foreign Debt and Data Concerning Old China Government Bonds. The second one was Collection of Data Concerning Imperialist Countries’ and China’s Customs, including 10 books, such as China Customs and Yunnan-​Burma Issue, China Customs and Renewal of Debts from English and German Governments, China Customs and the Boxer Rebellion, and so forth. The third one was Series of Data Concerning Chinese Capitalist Industrial and Commercial History, including Beijing Refosian, Shanghai National Rubber Industry, Shanghai Cotton Industry, Shanghai National Machine Building Industry, Shanghai National Match Production Industry, Shanghai National Wool Textile Industry, Yong’an Textile Printing and Dyeing Company, Data Concerning Machine-​Processed Flour Industry, and so forth. The fourth one was Series of Historical Data Concerning Typical Shanghai Capitalist Enterprises, including monographic series on Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company, Rongs’ Enterprises, Liu Hong-​ sheng Conglomerate and so on. According to statistics, more than 40 kinds of economic historical materials have been compiled into books, which were carefully selected and edited by historical experts and scholars and have considerable reference value for modern economic history study. After stagnating from 1966 to 1976, the sorting and publishing of modern historical materials recovered and developed quickly after 1978, and thousands of research books were published in succession. Among them, The Northern Warlords and Anti-​Japanese War (both are from Data Series on Modern Chinese History) attracted the attention of the academic circle. In addition, historical materials covering 11 special topics, such as the Opium War and the Revolution of 1911, were compiled and published by publishing

202  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying houses like Zhonghua Book Company. Thanks to researchers’ 50 years’ hard work, a relatively complete system of modern Chinese historical materials were finally established. Second, a number of locally focused monographs were published. The above-​mentioned data serials cover government archives of the Qing Dynasty, official books, private writings, local history and even foreign materials, which focus on reflecting the process of major events, the country’s political, economic, military and Sino-​foreign relations, however, lack attention to local topics. The sorting and publication of local historical materials have filled the gap. Here are a few examples: Local materials concerning the Opium War include Data of Sanyuanli People’s Anti-​English Struggles compiled by The Institute of Culture and History of Guangdong Province, Selected Materials of the Opium War in Fujian and Taiwan edited by the History Department of the Fujian Normal University, The Crimes of the British Army in the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River in the late Period of the Opium War edited by the Preparatory Committee of the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences, Collection of the Opium War Literature edited by A. Ying (Chinese writer and literary theorist) and so on. Besides, there are a number of private writings on the Opium War, in which some describe the opium-​banning campaign and anti-​British struggles, some record the crimes committed by the British invading army, the signing of the Treaty of Nanking and post-​war situations, all of which are historical facts witnessed or heard by writers, therefore of considerable reference value. Among them, the most well-​known and frequently quoted are Records of Foreign Invasions by Liang Ting-​nan, Chinese Struggles Against Foreign Naval Invasion During 1820–​1850 by Wei Yuan, The Sketch Book of Officialdom During 1820–​1861 by Zhang Ji-​xin and so on. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Revolution of 1911 had always been the focus of modern history research from the 1950s to the 1980s, therefore, far more archives in the mainland and materials translated from overseas were collected and sorted. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement or later, there were approximately more than a thousand private writings about it, however, most of them merely recorded events occurring in local areas, thus were scattered all around. In order to provide convenience to researchers, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Museum compiled and published Data Series of The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, with six volumes in total including 46 varieties of materials. In addition, Historical Materials Concerning The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Wu Xu’s Archives (edited by Jingwu and Zhongding), Data Collection of Dagger Society Uprising (edited by the Institute of History, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences), Selection of Data Concerning the Northern Expedition of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (edited by Zhang Shou-​chang) were published in succession. Regarding the Boxer Rebellion, there were Data Series of the Boxer Rebellion published by Shandong Qilu Press, including Archives of the Boxer Rebellion in Shandong, Selected Data

Sorting modern history materials  203 of Investigations on the Boxer Rebellion in Shandong, Data Concerning Missionaries in Shandong, Investigations on the Boxer Rebellion in Tianjin. There were even more materials published concerning the Revolution of 1911, and the earlier ones were Historical Materials of the Railway Protection Movement in Sichuan (edited by Dai Zhi-​li), Historical Materials of the 1911 Revolution in Sichuan (under Kui Ying-​tao’s general editorship), Historical Materials of the 1911 Revolution in Yunnan and Guizhou (compiled by the editorial department of Modern Chinese Historic Data). Later, academic groups in Hubei, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shanghai also published historical materials concerning the Revolution of 1911 in the corresponding region, among which the following are of higher values:  Data Concerning the Revolution of 1911 in Yunnan, Selected Data of the 1911 Revolution in Shanghai, Selected Data of the 1911 Revolution in Zhejiang, Data Concerning the Revolution of 1911 in Jiangsu, Data Concerning the Revolution of 1911 in Guangdong, Data Concerning the Revolution of 1911 in Guangxi, and The Overseas Chinese and the Revolution of 1911. As for data concerning the First Uprising of Wuchang, the most complete one was Selected Archival Data of the First Uprising of Wuchang, which was jointly compiled and edited by the Hubei Provincial Committee of the CPPCC and the Wuhan Municipal Committee, Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan Municipal Archives and the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Besides, the following three monographic compilation are worthy of attention: Compilation of Hubei Military Government Documentary Materials, Memoirs of the First Uprising of Wuchang, and Selected Data of the 1911 Revolution in Hubei. The most systematic and comprehensive material reflecting the 1911 Revolution in Jiangsu was The Historical Materials of the 1911 Revolution in Jiangsu edited by the History Department of Yangzhou Normal University, which was the only compilation based on three years’ field survey. Guangdong was the most active area for bourgeois revolutionaries’ activities, therefore, there are extremely abundant materials concerning reclaiming Guangdong, and among them, Historical Materials of the 1911 Revolution in Guangdong and Collection of Historical Materials to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 included a number of precious memoirs and interviews. Apart from that, writers of the two above-​mentioned books both experienced the Revolution, so from various perspectives they recorded the Sanzhoutian uprising in 1900, the New Army uprising in 1910, the Guangzhou uprising in 1911, and the process of reclaiming Jiangmen, Xinhui, Shunde, Foshan, Dongjiang, Huizhoug, Boluo, Zijin, Chaoshan, Dapu, Yongding, Shanghang, Meizhou, Qinxian, Huazhou, Yangjiang, Zhaoqing, Shaozhou and Lianzhou. In the 17 years between the defeat of the Sino-​Japanese War and the Wuchang Uprising, the people of Taiwan participated in anti-​Qing struggles, and under the influence of the Revolution of 1911, even pushed the patriotic movement of reclaiming Taiwan from Japanese to a new high. Thus, deeds of the people of Taiwan were included in monographic collections, for instance, Revolutionary Deeds

204  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying of Luo Fu-​xing was included in Compilation of the 1911 Revolution Materials edited by Zhang Bo-​feng. Regarding the revolution in the frontier areas, the following monographic materials are for reference:  The Revolution of 1911 in Guangxi edited by the Guangxi Provincial Literature and Historical Data Research Committee, Historical Materials of the 1911 Revolution in Guangxi edited by Guangxi National History Investigation Group, The Telegram Draft Concerning the 1911 Revolution in Tibet and The Story of the Tibetan Rebellion compiled by the editorial department of Tibetan Studies, Historical Materials of the 1911 Revolution in Inner Mongolia edited by the Literature and Historical Data Research Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Third, a number of historical materials related to the May Fourth Movement were published. Regarding imperialist invasion into China, the following three were published based on diplomatic documents, including treaties, exchange of letters, agreements, contracts, diplomatic notes, memoranda and so forth. (1) Compilation of Previous Chinese and Foreign Charters, including various treaties, agreements and contracts signed by the Qing Government, the Beijing Government of the Republic of China and the Nanjing National Government with foreign governments during 1840–​1949; (2)  Collection of Chinese and Foreign Treaties, including various treaties, agreements and contracts signed by the Qing Government, the Beijing Government of the Republic of China and the Nanjing National Government with foreign governments during 1840–​1935; (3) Selected Data of Imperialist Invasion into China Since the First World War, including various treaties signed by the Beijing Government of the Republic of China and the Nanjing National Government with foreign governments during 1914–​1949. It is important to note that the humiliating Twenty-​one Demands and The Paris Peace Conference’s Resolution on the Shandong Issue were included in them. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement, the editorial department of Modern Chinese Historic Data edited Records of Secret Documents, in which the shady deal of the Paris Peace Conference was disclosed. The book is an unpublished manuscript under the general editorship of Xu Shi-​chang many years after his resignation as president, and included more than 380 important telegrams regarding the Paris Peace Conference, filed by the Beijing Government Secretariat from September 16, 1918 to November 5, 1920; it was the first time for most of these to be open to the public, thus of great historic value. A number of publications regarding the May Fourth Movement came out during the period of the May Fourth Movement and later. Data Concerning the May Fourth Movement edited by the editorial department of Modern Chinese Historic Data included seven publications (Qingdao Tide, Record of Students Movements Against Feudalism and Foreign Invaders, Record of the Shanghai Strike, Seven Days of Civic Movement, History of Shanghai Strike to Save the Nation, Zhang Zong-​xiang, Lu Zong-​yu), one archival data (Police Office Files of Municipal Council in Shanghai International Settlements), and one collection of newspapers and periodicals (Chronicle of the May Fourth Movement and June Third Movement). In 1979, Data Concerning the

Sorting modern history materials  205 May Fourth Movement was reprinted, and seven more articles and dozens of precious pictures were added, including Record of Police Detention and Daily Record of Inspection Hall edited by Chou En-​lai, as well as The May Fourth Movement, Record of the May Fourth Movement, Selected Data of the May Fourth Movement in Beijing, Civilian Education Lecture Group of Peking University, May Fourth Movement in Tianjin, Tianjin Boycott of Japanese Goods, Record of Chinese Students in Japan by Wang Gong-​bi and so on. The Second Historical Archives of China compiled three archival data:  (1) 10 volumes of the book Compilation of Modern Political History of China are concerning the May Fourth Movement; (2) Archival Data Concerning the History of the Republic of China, which contains archives before the May Fourth Movement, covers political, military, foreign affairs, finance and culture aspects; (3) Data Concerning the May Fourth Movement includes more than 400 documents of the State Council of Beijing Government, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department of the Army, Garrison Headquarters, Archives Office of the Frontier Defence, Headquarters of Defending Beijing Army and Preparatory Bureau of Congress during the Republic of China, as well as files of the National Central University, Yunnan Provincial Government Secretariat, and the Bank of Communications. Translated materials from foreign languages were relatively few, and currently the only one available for reference was History of Modern China’s Foreign Relations edited by the History Department of Fudan University. As the birthplace of the May Fourth Movement, there were a great many data about what happened in Beijing during that period: (1) The May Fourth Movement, edited by Cai Xiao-​zhou and Yang Jing-​gong and published in July, 1919, is the earliest one to record the event; (2)  Record of The May Fourth Movement is a memoir written by Kuang Hu-​sheng in 1925, a participant of the movement, and was first published in Rieter Quarterly and then published in book form in 1933; (3)  Selected Data of the May Fourth Movement in Beijing, compiled by Museum of Peking University History, was included in Weekly Review and Morning News; (4)  The May Fourth Movement and College Teachers in Beijing, compiled by Museum of Beijing Normal University, included 34 notes and memoirs, 21 biographies, and 45 publications of college societies. There were abundant data concerning the May Fourth Movement all through the country. May Fourth Movement in Tianjin, compiled by Tianjin Museum of History and the History Department of Nankai University in 1979, collected documents and records published in newspapers in Tianjin, such as Yishi Daily, Ta Kung Pao, The Tientsin Student, Nankai Daily and Awareness, and included 21 memoirs of Deng Ying-​chao, Liu Qing-​yang and others. Historical materials of the May Fourth Movement in Shanghai are numerous. Police Office Files of Municipal Council in Shanghai International Settlements, compiled after 1949, included 88 files from May to July 1919. Selected Data Concerning the May Fourth Movement in Shanghai, edited by the Institute of Historical Research, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, was first published in 1960 and reprinted in 1979, with a total of

206  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying more than 570,000 words, most of which were from Republican Daily News, Shenjiang Daily News, The China Times, The News, China Press and some were even from foreign archives and newspapers. The May Fourth Movement in Shanghai, edited by Zhang Ying-​hui and Kong Xiang-​zheng, reproduced struggles of Wuhan and Hubei people and most of the data were from Hankou News, Dahan News, New Hubei, and Wuhan Weekly Review. Selected Data of Hunan People’s Revolutionary Struggles During the May Fourth Movement, compiled by the Modern History Research Office, Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Hunan Province, showed the general situation of Hunan people’s struggles. Selected Data of the May Fourth Movement in Shandong, edited by Hu Xin-​ben, collected historical materials from Germany’s occupying Jiao’ao (Qingdao at present) in 1897 to the establishment of a communist group in 1920, showing struggles of Shandong people for salvation. Data of the May Fourth Movement in Henan, compiled by the Compilation Committee of Henan Provincial History, showed patriotic activities in Henan accurately. Data of the May Fourth Movement in Henan, compiled by the Committee of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Party History, collected historical documents, newspapers, archives and memoirs. Regarding the data of the New Culture Movement around the May Fourth Movement, there were a book entitled Associations of the May Fourth Period, edited by Zhang Yun-​hou and others, which included data of 32 associations, such as Xinmin Institute, Mutual Aid Society, Liqun Publishing House, Young China Association, National Press and so forth. Introduction to Journals of the May Fourth Period, compiled by Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, made a systematic introduction to more than 160 journals published during the May Fourth period, therefore, it was regarded as an introductory reference book for studying the New Cultural Movement and the spread of Communist ideas. Selected Works of the May Fourth Period, compiled by the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, included articles by Chen Tu-​hsiu, Yi Bai-​sha, Li Da-​zhao, Hu Shi, Wu Yu, Liu Ban-​ nong, Wang Jing-​xuan, Qian Xuan-​tong, Lu Hsun, Cai Yuan-​pei, Lin Qin-​ nan and so forth, which provided systematic data for studying development of the May Fourth Movement. Selected Works Regarding Women Issues of the May Fourth Period, compiled by the All-​China Women’s Federation, collected articles about the women’s movement in such journals as New Youth, Youth China, Emancipation and Transformation, Awareness, Women, New Women, Labor and Women, The Renaissance, Youth World, and Weekly Review, which reflected Chinese women’s awareness during the May Fourth period. Fourth, a large number of data of unique culture and local history were published. In 1960, under the advocacy of Chou En-​lai, Compilation of Cultural and Historical Records, sponsored by the national Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, started its publication. At the opening ceremony of the Fourth National Conference of Cultural and Historical Records, Yang Cheng-​wu pointed out, “according to statistics, more than 60,000 people provided more than 40,000,000 words of data for the

Sorting modern history materials  207 publication of Compilation of Cultural and Historical Records”. Later, there were new developments in the publication of cultural and historical data in local places. Compilations of local cultural and historical materials were mostly based on the written or spoken words of participants or witnesses, documents, newspapers and historical records. Those compilations recorded the political, military, diplomatic, economic, cultural, social and geographical aspects of modern China, major events, as well as activities of people from all walks of life. Although some are incorrect due to false source of information or writers’ bias, those compilations are still precious first-​hand data for historical research. Data Series of Introduction to Modern and Contemporary Chinese History:  Index of Cultural and Historical Data of Political Consultative Committee at Different Levels in China (five volumes with more than 300,000 articles in total), edited by Li Yu-​pu, included six categories, namely military and diplomacy, economy, culture, society, geography and characters, which were further divided into subcategories, thus making it easy to retrieve. Catalogue of Books of Chinese Historical Records (1949–​1988) and Catalogue of Chinese Cultural and Historical Records of the CPPCC at All Levels (1960–​ 1990) introduced names of book series or compilations, publishers, formats of edition, and scopes, data and issue numbers of publication as well, which showed an overview of cultural and historical materials of each place. Publishing local chronicles has always been a historical tradition. In the 1950s, the project to edit and publish socialist chronicles was included in the National Program of Philosophy and Social Science twice, and after 1979, remarkable results were achieved in this respect. According to statistics in 1988, more than 4,000 provincial, municipal and county chronicles had been published, and more than 1,000 were being edited, printed or to be published. Newly published local chronicles are a huge repository of information, which facilitated researchers to make valuable academic achievements. Fifth, archival institutions compiled and published a great many archival data of modern history. Even though archival data are of significant value for historical research, quite a few publications were based on them for most archival data were not open to the public before the 1980s, and the situation improved later. Among the modern historical materials edited and published by China’s First Historical Archives, the following four are the most influential ones: Archival Data of the Opium War, Archival Data of the Qing Government’s Repression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Archival Data of the Reform Movement, and Archival Data of Preparation of Setting Up a Constitution in the Late Qing Dynasty, all of which were based on files of imperial edicts, records of police investigation and arrest, copies of memorials to the emperor, diplomatic notes and letters. The two major historical materials compiled by China’s Second Historical Archives are Archival Data Concerning the History of the Republic of China and Series of Historical Archives of the Republic of China. For the former one, there are four volumes and 20 books in total

208  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying (namely, The Revolution of 1911, Nanjing Provisional Government, and the last 2 volumes are about the politics, the military, economy, finance, industry, agriculture and commerce of Beijing Government, the Republic of China, and Nanjing National Government). The latter one included several topics covering major historical events, issues, figures, enterprises and institutions, such as The Mutiny During the Period of the Northern Warlords, and The Anhwei-​Chihli  War. Provincial, municipal and other regional archives also compiled dozens of historical materials, for instance, Selected Archival Data of Sheng Hsuan-​ huai edited by Shanghai Library, Selected Archival Data of Guangdong Province During the Republic of China Period (14 volumes in total) edited by Guangdong Provincial Archives, Internal Files of China Customs translated and compiled by China’s Second Historical Archives and Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Archives of Northeast China published Historical Data of Manchu Railways and Selected Files of Manchu Railways:  Relation Between Japan and the Northeast China Before and After September 18th Incident. The Institute of History, Jilin Academy of Social Sciences and Archives of Northeast China co-​edited and published Selected Archival Data of Japanese Invasion into China, which covered the September 18th Incident, the North China Autonomy Movement, the Puppet Manchurian and the Wang Puppet Regime, Northeast massacres, the germ war and Japanese economic plunder. Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, Tianjin Archives and Federation of Industry and Commerce co-​edited and published Compilation of Archival Data Concerning Tianjin Chamber of Commerce (1903–​1911). The Institute of History of Central China Normal University and Suzhou Archives compiled Series of Archival Data Concerning Suzhou Chamber of Commerce (1905–​1911). Some units and individuals, who held historical archives, sorted out archives into monographs to publish or submit to journals. In the past 20 years, journals publishing historical archival data sprang up. China’s First Historical Archives and China’s Second Historical Archives took the lead in founding two journals:  Historical Archives and Republican Archives. Later, provincial archives also established more than 20 similar journals successively, such as Memories and Archives, Beijing Archival Data and so forth. Research institutes and libraries also published some archives and manuscripts. For instance, series of manuscripts in Peking University Library have been photocopied and published 23 times, many of which are historical materials of the Late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Data Collection of Modern Chinese History (14 volumes till now), edited by the Institute of Modern History, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has published approximately 74 varieties of modern history materials, mostly manuscripts and even a few printed copies. Sixth, collection and publication of overseas materials. Ever since the Opium War, China has been invaded by foreign imperialists. Therefore, we cannot neglect the history of Sino-​foreign relations in various periods when studying

Sorting modern history materials  209 the modern history of China, and it is particularly important to collect and study overseas materials. As the culprit of the Opium War, there are a large number of materials concerning the inside story of the war in British parliamentary documents, diplomatic documents, private writings and newspapers, which had not received enough attention from researchers in the past. Among them, there are a few important research results:  Selected Translation of Opium War Historical Materials and Selected Data of the Opium War and Lin Tse-​hsu translated and edited by Guangdong Literature and History Research Institute, Crimes of the British Army in the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River at the End of the Opium War compiled by the Preparatory Committee of Shanghai Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the paper “The plot of British opium traffickers to start the Opium War” published in Modern Chinese Historic Data. However, the data stored in the United States were not systematically collected, translated or studied. During the Second Opium War, the British plundered and carried away a large number of files from China, most of which were official and internal files of Guangdong and Guangxi governments, and stored them in British National Archives, based on which the Japanese scholar Masaya Sasaki compiled Study of the Opium War: Historical Data, which included the daily exchanges of diplomatic notes between Qishan and Charles Elliot during the negotiations in Guangzhou. Those overseas data not only supplemented historical materials published in China, but also provided convincing evidence for uncovering the truth of some historical events, the most striking example of which is that Convention of Chuenpeh was forged by Charles Elliot. After the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty forbade the storage of documents related to it. Therefore, since the 1920s, researchers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s history have all attached great importance to the collection of overseas data. In 1983, Wang Qing-​cheng discovered a number of pieces of research literature and some historical materials both in English and Chinese, and Words of Heavenly Father and Words of Heavenly Brother were two major discoveries, which included the Jintian Uprising and the important or interesting events of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. For a long time, researchers had different views on Xiao Chao-​gui’s life experience and the existence of Hong Xuan-​jiao, both of which were clarified after the discovery of Words of Heavenly Brother. After the reform and opening up, more historical data were discovered in foreign archives, and private writings of foreign diplomats and missionaries, which were published on Modern Chinese Historic Data, Collection of Historical Data Concerning the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Translation Series of Historical Data Concerning the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Journal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. There were more than 100 foreign books about the Boxer Rebellion, either written by foreign diplomats, missionaries, businessmen, officers of the aggression army or journalists. And according to rough statistics, dozens of them were translated into Chinese, such as The Siege of Embassy in 1900, A  Field-​marshal’s Memoirs  –​Alfred Graf von Waldersee, The Eight-​Power

210  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying Allied Forces, Chinese and Foreign Wars in 1900, Russia in the Far East and Earl Victor’s Memoirs. In 1980, The Eight-​Power Allied Forces in Tianjin, compiled by the Institute of History of the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, included “Campaigns in the North China”, “China and the Eight-​ Power Allied Forces”, “One year in China”, “Experience in the army stationed in Beijing and Tianjin”, “Illustrated Edition of Tianjin History”, “Reports of Tianjin customs from 1892 to 1901” and “The US army’s expedition in China”, all of which recorded combats in Tianjin area. In 1954, Wong Chong-​wu published Selected Data of the Boxer Movement in the British Archives translated from documents concerning Chinese affairs in the British Archives. In 1980, Hu Bin translated and published Selected Data of the Boxer Movement in the British Blue Book, which covered historical materials from “The murder of British missionary Brooks” in 1899 to the signing of the Boxer Protocol in 1901. Most of the historical materials were translated from the reports of British ministers, consuls, military officers and missionaries submitted to the British government and official documents between them. The Revolution of 1911 is a milestone of Chinese history and even of world history. China Customs and the Revolution of 1911, translated and compiled by the editorial committee of the Journal of Modern China Economics based on customs archives stored in the General Administration of Customs of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, recorded political, business and social changes from the central to the local level, ranging from the inside story of the political situation to price changes. Selection of Japanese Diplomatic Documents: About the Revolution of 1911, translated and compiled by Zou Nian-​ zhi, was an important reference book to examine the attitude and position of the Japanese government on the Revolution of 1911, which also showed the different polices adopted by the Japanese government under different situations. Regarding the British government’s policy toward China, we can refer to Selected Data of the 1911 Revolution in the British Blue Book, translated and compiled by Hu Bin. Sun Rui-​qin’s Selected Data of Negotiation with China in German Diplomatic Documents and Zhang Rong’s Selected Data of Russian Diplomacy Towards China in Journal of Red Files(红色档案) were important materials for examining the German and Russian governments’ policy toward the Boxer Rebellion and the Revolution of 1911. Russian Military Operations in China translated and compiled by the Institute of History of the Jilin Provincial Academy of Social Sciences reflected the military activities of Russia in China from 1900 to 1901.

7.2  Data collection of several hot topics After the reform and opening up, a number of new research topics were focused on in modern history studies, such as the history of the Republic of China, the Northern Warlords, the War of Resistance Against Japan, cultural changes, urban developments, secret societies and political parties, famine history, modern ideological trends, academic research, chambers of commerce,

Sorting modern history materials  211 regional economy, studies on modern historical figures and so forth, which were undoubtedly inextricably related to the sorting and publication of historical materials. Therefore, it is necessary to make a special introduction to the data collection of the hot research topics. 1. The history of the Northern Warlords and the history of the Republic of China. The history of the Northern Warlords did not attract much interest of researchers, and loss of data, due to natural disasters and frequent wars, made the collecting and sorting of data more difficult. Although it was included in the publishing program of the “Data Series of Modern Chinese History” as early as the 1950s, until the 1980s, an increasing number of researchers engaged in the study of the history of the Republic of China, historical materials concerning the history of the Northern Warlords began to be published, such as Bailang Rebellion, The Anhwei-​Chihli War, The Mutiny of the Northern Warlords’ Reign, The Reconstruction Conference, Historical Data of the National Protection Movement, Selected Data Concerning the National Protection Movement, Anthology of Ts’ai O, Chronology of Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao, Political Struggles and the Second Revolution in the Early Republic of China, Confidential Telegram and Letter of Fengtien Clique. In 1986, “Series of the Peking Warlords Historical Data” edited by Chen Zhen-​jiang was published, and Historical Data Concerning the New Army of the Peking Warlords, Historical Data Concerning the Land Force of the Peking Warlords, and Selected Data Concerning the Peking Warlords Stored in Tianjin Archives were all included in the series. In 1989, The Northern Warlords edited by Lai Xin-​xia was published. In 1991, China’s Second Historical Archives edited and published 20 volumes of Compilation of Archival Data Concerning the History of the Republic of China, 16 volumes of which were about the period of the Peking government and another 4 were about the Canton military government which were classified according to politics, military, finance, economy, diplomacy in chronological order. In addition, China’s Second Historical Archives also photocopied the full set of Government Gazette of the Period of the Peking Government. Zhang Bo-​feng’s 6-​volume comprehensive data collection The Peking Warlords (1912–​1928) came out in this period. All of the publications mentioned above systematically reflect the origin and development of the Peking Warlords, which provides valuable first-​hand data for studying the general situation of the Peking Warlords. The Peking Warlords (1912–​1928) edited by Zhang Bo-​feng was included as the 12th variety of literature in Data Series of Modern Chinese History. In The Peking Warlords (1912–​1928), the first volume mainly introduces its military evolution, armed forces, military spending, and political parties in the early Republic of China, many of which are original data and manuscripts published for the first time. Volume 2 introduces the establishment and

212  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying demise of Yuan Shih-​k’ai’s dictatorship. In the early Republic of China, data concerning such major diplomatic negotiations as the Reorganization Loan, Sino-​ Russian negotiation, Japanese invasion of Shandong, Twenty-​ one Demands, were selected from China’s diplomatic correspondence and diplomatic documents of Japan, Russia and the United States. Data regarding the “Hong Xian” monarchy and the National Protection Movement were from the Yuan Shih-​k’ai government’s documents and Zhang Guo-​gan’s manuscripts collected by the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, most of which were not found in other books. Volume 3 is excluded to data of the reign of the Anhui warlords, covering such topics as collusion between the Anhui warlords and Japanese, “Nishihara loans” of 1917–​1918, Sino-​Japanese military agreements, the Anhwu-​Chihli contradictions, the Peace Talk between South and North, and the Anhui-​ Zhili war. Part of Japanese Diplomatic Correspondences, microfilm of archival data of Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Japanese materials were translated and compiled in this volume, providing first-​hand data for studying the relationship between the Anhui warlords and Japanese. Volume 4 is the historical data concerning the reign of the Zhili warlords, covering such topics as the political situation in the north after the Anhui-​Zhili war, expansion of the Zhili warlords, formation of anti-​Zhili alliance, two Zhili-​ Fengtien Wars, Jiangsu-​Zhejiang War, finance and military expenses of the Zhili warlords, and historical data of this volume were from correspondence and unpublished manuscripts of the Peking government, selected translation of diplomatic documents, memoirs, monographs and news reports on newspaper. Volume 5 is data concerning the final defeat of the Fengtien warlords and the Peking warlords, covering wars between the Fengtien warlords, Zhili warlords and the Kuomintang after 1925, defeat of the five-​province alliance led by Sun Ch’uan-​fang, the Fengtien warlords and the Peking warlords. Besides, topics such as Japanese invasion into China, the relationship between the Fengtien warlords and Japanese, the Huanggutun Incident and Chinese reunification in 1928 are also covered in this volume and the data are from Japanese documents of policy toward China, memoirs of Kawamoto (plotter of the Huanggutun Incident), confidential telegrams and correspondence of the Fengtien warlords. Volume 6 is a catalogue of major events during the reign of the Peking warlords and a brief account of as many as 460 military and political figures in the early Republic of China, which complements the first five volumes. In addition, there are a large number of historical data concerning the Peking warlords in Compilation of Cultural and Historical Records, covering topics such as Yuan Shih-​k’ai’s dictatorship, “Hong Xian” monarchy, the Anhwei Clique of Tuan Ch’i-​jui, the Chihli Clique of Ts’ao K’un and Wu P’ei-​fu, Chang Tso-​lin’s Fengtien Clique, the Congress and political parties in the early Republic of China, and the life stories of military and political figures. It should be noted that the cultural and historical materials of local provinces are detailed in warlords, important historical events, figures of that

Sorting modern history materials  213 region, for instance, the historical data of the southwest warlords are included in Compilation of Cultural and Historical Records of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan. Compilation of Cultural and Historical Records complements archival data, contributing to the discovering and preserving of historical data concerning the Peking warlords and the Republic of China. Among the published historical data regarding the Republic of China, Series of the Historical Data Concerning the Republic of China is the most important one. Compiled by the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and published by Zhonghua Book Company, it included a chronicle of events from 1911 to 1949, 23 series of biographies, 14 volumes of figures during the Republic of China, 7 series of special issues (such as Sun Yat-​sen’s chronicle, historical data of democratic parties, diary of Huang Yan-​pei and armed gangs), 21 special research topics (such as Yen Hsi-​shan and Shanxi Provincial Bank, Farmers Bank of China, Chang Hsueh-​ liang and Xi’an Incident, Jiusan Society, China Zhi Gong Party, Chinese Youth Party, National Salvation Association, Hu Shih’s correspondences as an ambassador to the United States, Battle of Great Wall, the Tai-​er-​zhuang Battle), and 17 varieties of translated materials (English materials such as Report of Marshall’s Mission to China, data of Joseph Warren Stilwell, catalogue of great names during the Republic of China, and Japanese materials in Series of Japanese War History). The publication of these materials received widespread attention from the Mainland academic circles, and even astonished Taiwan researchers, which further inspired the Taiwan authorities to publish historical data and research articles regarding the history of the Republic of China. 2. History of modern social and cultural changes. “Cultural fever” in the 1980s was a noteworthy phenomenon. The top priority for studying the history of modern social and cultural changes was to collect and sort out materials, even though there were already various publications of philosophical history, literary history, educational history, publishing history, ideological history and a range of collections, selected and complete works of modern historical figures, they were still far from enough for the development of a discipline. Collected Papers of Modern Chinese Thought and Cultural History, Data Series of Modern Chinese Thought and Cultural History, republished Compilation of Folklore Materials of Chinese Local History, Archival Data Concerning the History of the Republic of China: Volume of Culture and reprinted modern newspapers and magazines together supplemented the research materials. Record of Modern Chinese Social and Cultural Changes edited by Liu Zhi-​qin not only systematically described the trend of social and cultural changes in modern China, but served as a reference book as well, including various data in chronological order based on newspapers, archives, essays, foreign periodicals and translations at that time.

214  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying 3. The study of modern figures. After the reform and opening up, the sorting and publishing of data concerning modern figures achieved outstanding results. Collections, complete works, anthologies, diaries, biographies, chronology and unpublished letters of modern figures were an important part of China’s modern historical data. Collected Works of Modern Chinese Figures and Diaries of Modern Chinese Figures published by the Zhonghua Book Company, Diaries of Great Names in the Republic of China published by Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, anthologies and diaries of Tseng Kuo-​fan, Tso Tsung-​t’ang, Li Hung-​chang, Hsueh Fu-​ch’eng, Tseng Chi-​tse, K’ang Yu-​wei, T’an Ssu-​t’ung, Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao, Cheng Kuan-​ying, T’ang Ts’ai-​ch’ang, Sun Yat-​sen, Huang Hsing, Sung Chiao-​jen, Liao Chung-​k’ai, Chu Chih-​hsin, Ts’ai Yuan-​ p’ei, Wang Kuo-​wei, Chang Tai-​yan, Liu Ya-​tzu, Ch’iu Chin, Hsiung Hsi-​ling, Ts’ai O, Weng T’ung-​ho, Kuo Sung-​tao, Wang Wen-​shao, Li Hsing-​yuan, Wang T’ao, Chang Chien, Shao Yuan-​chong, Chiang Tso-​ pin, Wu Yü, Chou Fu-​hai, Bai Ting-​jian and Yuan Shih-​k’ai published by regional publishing houses provided systematic data for in-​depth study of the activities and thoughts of these historical figures in various major historical periods, and broadens the scope and depth of modern history research as well. In the publication of historical data regarding modern figures, Sun Yat-​ sen’s are the most abundant, followed by Huang Hsing, Liao Chung-​k’ai, Chu Chih-​hsin, Chang Tai-​yan, Sung Chiao-​jen, and Tao Cheng-​zhang. Two versions of Sun Yat-​sen’s anthology were published after 1949, one is Selected Works of Sun Yat-​sen published in 1956 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Sun Yat-​sen’s birthday, and the other one is Complete Works of Sun Yat-​sen published in 1981 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. The latter one was compiled by the Institute of History of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Sun Yat-​sen Research office of the History Department of Sun Yat-​sen University, which was one million words more than Taipei version published in 1973. Among publications of data regarding Sun Yat-​sen’s thoughts and activities, three are particularly noteworthy: Selected Archival Data of Sun Yat-​sen edited by Huan Yan and others, which included 508 archival files of Sun Yat-​sen’s former residence in Tsui Hang Village and most of which were published for the first time; Historical Data of Sun Yat-​sen compiled by Guangdong Provincial Research Committee of Literature and History Data; and Historical Data of Sun Yat-​ sen and the Revolution of 1911 compiled by Guangdong Provincial Research Committee of Literature and History Data. There are two versions of Sun Yat-​sen’s Chronicle, compiled by Wei Hong-​yun and the Institute of History of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences respectively, and the latter version is more detailed and accurate. As regards picture albums, there are In Memory of Sun Yat-​sen published by Cultural Relics Publishing House, For

Sorting modern history materials  215 the 70th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution compiled by China News Agency and Sun Yat-​sen Mausoleum edited by Yao Qian. There are also abundant historical data of Huang Hsing, who enjoyed equal popularity with Sun Yat-​sen as a bourgeois democratic revolutionist. Anthology of Huang Hsing, compiled by the Institute of History of Hunan Academy of Social Sciences, included more than 600 articles, lectures, letters, documents and poems of Huang Hsing. As regards data of Liao Chung-​k’ai, the earliest edition of Anthology of Liao Chung-​k’ai published in 1926 was extremely incomplete, therefore, the Institute of History of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences selected data from Weekly Review and Republic of China Daily and added 60 articles to the enlarged edition. As a famous theorist and activist of the bourgeois democratic revolutionist, Chu Chih-​hsin wrote many articles of revolutionary theory and elucidated Sun Yat-​sen’s “Three People’s Principles”, all of which were compiled in Anthology of Chu Chih-​hsin, which comprises richer contents than the version of 1912 and Collection of Chu Chih-​hsin compiled by Shao Yuan-​chong in 1926. In regard to data of Chang Tai-​yan, there are Selection of Chang Tai-​yan’s Political Essays and Chang Tai-​yan’s Chronicle compiled by Tang Zhi-​jun. The former included 257 political essays, speeches, telegrams, and poems, while the latter was one of the best chronicles. As for the data of Sung Chiao-​jen, there is Anthology of Song Chiao-​jen compiled by Chen Xu-​lu, the contents of which ranged from Song Chiao-​jen Diary, Essays of Song Chiao-​jen, Speeches of Song Chiao-​jen, Song Chiao-​jen’s articles published in such newspapers as China of the Twentieth Century, People’s Daily, The Awakening Lion, People’s Independence Journal, Asian Daily, Provisional Government Gazette and Government Gazette, and historical data stored in museums and libraries. As one of the founders and leaders of the “Restoration Society”, Tao Cheng-​zhang received unfair and biased judgment in the past until recently. Letters of Tao Cheng-​ zhang, compiled by Hunan Provincial Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences, provided first-​hand data for examining the inside story of Restoration Society’s uniting with and breaking away from “Chinese Revolutionary League”, and the life story of Tao Cheng-​zhang. Collection of Liu Yazi’s Poems annotated by Liu Si-​han, Comments on Works of South School edited by Zheng Yi-​mei, South School edited by Yang Tian-​ shi and Liu Yan-​cheng, Selected Works of Ts’ai Yuan-​p’ei and Ts’ai Yuan-​ p’ei’s Chronicle edited by Gao Shu-​ping (secretary of Ts’ai Yuan-​p’ei in his late years), Anthology of Ch’iu Chin and Ch’iu Chin’s Contributions in History compiled by the Shanghai branch of Zhonghua Book Company, and Complete Works of Chang Tai-​yan compiled by Tang Zhi-​jun are precious materials for studying the figures of the 1911 Revolution. 4. Study of the history of the Anti-​Japanese War. The Anti-​Japanese War was the first national liberation war in which the Chinese people achieved complete victory in the last century. Since the war ended in 1945, a few

216  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying scholars had began to conduct studies on the war, yet no concrete result was yielded due to various reasons. After 1949, the only materials available for study were the reprinted version of China in the War of Resistance (the series were first published in the Yan’an period), Compilation of Provincial Assembly Documents and memoirs like Spark To Set The Prairie Afire, therefore studies achieved a few results, though still far from enough compared with the status of the Anti-​Japanese War in modern Chinese history and world history of anti-​fascist war. One main reason was that the collection and sorting of historical materials, translation of foreign materials and preservation of oral materials could not meet the needs of research. Therefore, it became a top priority to collect and organize the historical materials concerning the Anti-​Japanese War systematically, and we’ll introduce the publication of studies on this subject from the reform and opening up to the end of the 20th century. Regarding the data of Japanese aggression against China and the Japanese army’s atrocities, complete and systematic data collections range from Selected Archival Data of Japanese Invasion into China compiled by Central Archives, Manchurian Incident, Japanese Suppression in Northeast China, Japanese Bacterial Warfare and Gas Warfare, Massacres in Northeast China, Japanese Economic Pillage of China, to Selected Data of Japanese Aggressive Wars Against Foreign Countries compiled by the History Department of Fudan University. There were also some thematic data sets, such as Selected Archival Data of Manchurian Incident and Selected Data of South Manchuria Railway Company:  Japan and China Around Manchurian Incident compiled by Liaoning Provincial Archives, Selected Data of North China Autonomy Movement compiled by Marxism and Teaching Research Office of Nankai University, Archival Data of Nanking Massacre compiled by China’s Second Historical Archives, Memoir of Japanese Army’s Atrocities and Daily Records of Japanese Army’s Atrocities compiled by Zhang Bo-​ nian and Zhuang Jian-​ping, Japanese Invaders’ Atrocities in China compiled by the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, The Good Man of Nanking and Siro Azuma’s Diary translated and published by Jiangsu People’s Publishing House and Jiangsu Education Publishing House, and Compilation of Data Concerning Japanese Militaristic Aggression Against China translated by Tianjin Compilation Center, etc. Publications concerning the historical data of the frontal battlefields of the Kuomintang are The Frontal Battlefields in Anti-​Japanese War (2 Volumes) compiled by the Second Historical Archives of China, Selected Data of the Kuomintang Battlefield During the Anti-​Japanese War compiled by the Research Group of the Chinese Kuomintang History of Zhejiang Province, and a book series entitled “Experiences of the Kuomintang Generals in the Anti-​Japanese War” compiled by Cultural and Historical Records Committee of the CPPCC. Besides, a variety of regional materials were published, for instance, Marco Polo Bridge Incident and Anti-​Japanese War in Peking and Tianjin compiled

Sorting modern history materials  217 by the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Selected Data of the Battle of Shanghai compiled by the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and Szechuan People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression compiled by Szechuan Provincial Government Counselor’s Office. In 1997, for the 60th anniversary of the full-​scale outbreak of the Chinese Anti-​Japanese War, Sichuan University Press published a nearly 10 million words data collection Anti-​Japanese War compiled by Zhang Bo-​feng and Zhuang Jian-​ping, which is a comprehensive compilation of data, and included in Data Series of Modern Chinese History as the 13th variety of historical data. The book covers politics, the military, economy, foreign relations, Japanese-​puppet regimes and Japanese-​ occupied areas during the Anti-​Japanese War, and data includes document archives, government gazettes, monographs, memoirs, historical materials in local publications, and diplomatic documents of the United States, Britain, Japan, the Soviet Union, Germany, France and so on. The book was divided into seven volumes: Introduction: From 1918 to 1937, The Frontal Battlefields and Battlefield Behind Enemy Lines During the Anti-​Japanese War, Domestic Politics During the Anti-​Japanese War, China’s Foreign Relations During the Anti-​Japanese War, The National Government and Domestic Economy During the Anti-​Japanese War, Japanese Puppet Regime and Japanese-​Occupied Areas and Record of Japanese Army’s Atrocities. Three distinctive features of the book are: First, it shows the history of Anti-​Japanese War in all directions. In recent years, a variety of data sets of the Anti-​Japanese War were published at home and abroad, yet there is no comprehensive one to describe the war systematically. Aiming at reflecting the Anti-​Japanese War was a victory of the whole Chinese nation under the leadership of the CPC, and based on basic historical materials, Anti-​Japanese War unfolds the history of the formation of Japan’s policy of all-​out armed aggression against China, full-​scale development of Japanese aggression against China, the Japanese army’s atrocities in China, as well as the history of the formation of the Chinese people’s anti-​Japanese national united front, outbreak of the Chinese nation’s Anti-​Japanese War, major battles in Battlefield Behind Enemy Lines and Frontline Battlefields, and the victory of the Anti-​Japanese War. Second, it is impressively scientific. The Anti-​Japanese War was a national war against Japanese aggression by the people of all ethnic groups in China, and in the eight-​ year war of resistance, the Frontline Battlefields and Battlefield Behind Enemy Lines under the leadership of the Kuomintang’s National Government and the CPC respectively, supported each other and made joint contributions to the final victory. The volume on the military gives a fair, comprehensive and objective description of battles in the Frontline Battlefields and anti-​ Japanese guerrilla warfare in the Battlefield Behind Enemy Lines at great length. Regarding the Frontline Battlefields, the book extensively included archival data published at home and abroad, memoirs of the Kuomintang generals. As for the Battlefield Behind Enemy Lines,

218  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying based on over 50 data compilations, memoirs and document archives of anti-​ Japanese base areas and Document Collection of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, the book gave a detailed introduction to the establishment, formation and development of the anti-​Japanese base areas, as well as their role in the Anti-​Japanese War. In addition, the book translated some historical data, documents and government meeting records, as well as diaries and memoirs of Japanese generals published in Japan, to reveal Japan’s strategic decisions and campaign deployment at various stages of the aggression war against China. The inclusion of newly discovered data and translated data made the book impressively scientific, which is particularly prominent in the volume on diplomacy. China’s diplomacy during the Anti-​Japanese War was strikingly different from the previous humiliating diplomacy, yet at that time the study of the history of foreign relations in wartime was weak due to the lack of translation and publication of foreign materials in this respect. Therefore, being focused on foreign materials, the volume on diplomacy in Anti-​Japanese War included the translated diplomatic documents of the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France already published in China, and based on the microfilms and copies of data stored in the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the editors translated and included nearly one million words of archives of the United States and Great Britain, ranging from Documents of US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Documents of the War Department’s Operational Planning Office, Documents of Chinese, Burmese and Indian Battlefields in the Second World War stored in US National Archives, Map Files stored in the Roosevelt Library, microfilm of the declassified document Yan’an Observation Group: The Dixie Mission stored in the Department of the Army, as well as Files of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Files of Prime Minister’s Office, and Cabinet Files stored in the Public Record Office, all of which were published in Mainland China for the first time. Third, the book is well-​ organized and focused. Even those who had never really known the Anti-​ Japanese War would have a comprehensive understanding of this period of history after reading the book. As regards the historical materials about the CPC-​led army and fights against the Japanese in Battlefields Behind Enemy Lines, the most cited data sets are book series of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, as well as historical materials of fights and economy in the anti-​Japanese base areas, for instance, book series of The Eighth Route Army and The New Fourth Army, selected data compilation of the anti-​ Japanese bases in Shensi-​ Kansu-​ Ningsia, Shanxi-​Chahar-​Hebei, Hebei-​Rehe-​Liaoning, Hebei-​Shandong-​Henan, Henan-​Anhui-​Jiangsu, Central China, as well as northern Jiangsu, central Jiangsu, Anhui, Huainan and Shandong, and financial-​economic history co-​ compiled by local CPC history research institutions, archives and research institutes. Besides, there are a range of regional historical data compiled by local areas, such as Historical Data of Northeast Anti-​Japanese United Army compiled by the Northeast Regional Archives, Historical Data of Resistances

Sorting modern history materials  219 Against Japanese in Beijing Area compiled by the Research Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Party Committee, Selected Historical Data of Resistances Against Japanese in Hainan Province and Historical Data of the Service Association Consisting of Oversea Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao Compatriots compiled by the Party History Research Institution of Guangdong Province, all of which are of great historical value. Regarding historical data of the Japanese Puppet Regime and Japanese-​ Occupied areas,3 there are Book Series of the “Manchukuo” Puppet Regime History under the general editorship of Sun Bang, Selected Data Compilation of Wang Puppet Regime History compiled by Yu Zi-​dao and Huang Mei-​ zhen, as well as a variety of monographs. As for the historical data of Anti-​Japanese National United Front, there are Documents of the Anti-​Japanese National United Front co-​compiled by the United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee and the Central Archives, Documentary Records of the Kuomintang-​Communist Cooperation During the Anti-​Japanese War compiled by the Committee of Cultural and Historical Data of the CPPCC Chongqing Municipal Committee, as well as a range of monographs regarding the Xi’an Incident and the Southern Anhui Incident. Research scope has expanded to such topics as the Japanese pillage of labor, control of the Chinese economy, comfort women and the Japanese policy of using opium to destroy Chinese people, all of which fully exposed Japan’s aggression crimes in China with hard facts. This section is a brief overview of the compilation and publication of modern history data in the second half of the 20th century, which undoubtedly yielded great results, however failed to reflect the full picture of modern Chinese society, leaving historical data of a few topics to be discovered and compiled, such as culture, ethics, science and technology, famine, opium prohibition, currency, thoughts, academics, secret societies, gangs, villages, cities and the legal system of modern China.

7.3  Overview of the publishing work in the early 21st century In the first decade of the 21st century, in order to promote the study of modern Chinese history, researchers continued the mining and sorting of historical data based on research results of branches of modern Chinese history after 1949, thus a range of data were published, which can be classified into the following categories. 1. Comprehensive data covering politics, economy, the military, ideology and culture, such as Imperial Edicts of Daoguang Emperor, Imperial Edicts of Xianfeng Emperor, Imperial Edicts of Tongzhi Emperor, Imperial Edicts of Guangxu Emperor, Imperial Edicts of Xuantong Emperor, Record of Guangxu Emperor’s Daily Life, Record of Xuantong Emperor’s Daily Life, Telegraphs of State Council of the Qing Dynasty (photocopy) compiled by

220  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying First Historical Archives of China; Government’s Administrative Archives in the Period of Tongzhi, Archives of Imperial Household Department, Official Letters of President Yuan’ Shih-​ Kai’s Secretariat, Data Compilation of National Conditions During the Anti-​Japanese War, Press Releases of Xinmin News Agent, Rural Survey Report of Six Provinces During the Republic of China, Compilation of Taiwan Historical Materials, The Statistical Summary of Taiwan During the 50-​year Japanese Reign, The Policy Address of Chief Executive of Taiwan During the Republic of China, Compilation of Unpublished Telegraph Messages in the Qing Dynasty (photocopy) compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Selected Archives of the Northeast Frontier (During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China) compiled by the Frontier History and Geography Research Centre of China, Liaoning Provincial Archives, Jilin Provincial Archives and Heilongjiang Provincial Archives; Archives of Hunchun Provincial Government compiled by First Historical Archives of China, the Frontier History and Geography Research Centre of China and Yanji Archives; Meeting Minutes of Central Political Committee and National Defense Council of Wang Puppet Regime, and Meeting Minutes of KMT Central Executive Committee compiled by the Second Historical Archives of China; Collection of Social Investigation Reports of China’s Border Areas compiled by Wang Xiao-​li and Jia Zhong-​ yi; US Government’s Classified Archives (US-​China Relations):  Report of the US Consulate in Guangzhou (1790–​1906) and US Government’s Classified Archives (US-​China Relations):  Diplomatic Notes of US and China (1846–​1931) compiled by Guangxi Normal University Press; 107 varieties of National Library Collection of Modern China’s Statistical Data (photocopy) and 80 varieties of National Library Collection of Investigation Reports During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China compiled by National Library; Selection of Soviet Historical Archives4 compiled by Shen Zhi-​hua; Historical Data of Wuhan National Government compiled by Wuhan Local Records Compilation Committee; Historical Data of Manchu Puppet Regime compiled by Jilin Provincial Library; Collection of Historical Archives of Wuhan During the Period of Japanese Occupied compiled by Wuhan Archives and Urban Research Institute of Jianghan University. 2. Materials focused on such topics as the economy, Sino-​foreign relations, historical events, frontier issues, Japanese aggression against China, Anti-​ Japanese War and legal system. As regards the economy, major publications are Food Price List from 1820 to 1912 compiled by the Economic Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Meeting Minutes of National Economic Council, Minutes of Economic Conferences of Executive Council and National Mobilization Conferences, Meeting Minutes of the Joint Board of the Four Government Banks compiled by the Second Historical Archives of China; Data Compilation of

Sorting modern history materials  221 China’s Early Expos, Compilation of Railway Archives During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Archives of Provincial Famine Relief Policies During Emperor Guangxu’s Reign, Compilation of Foreign Mining Archives During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Compilation of Trade Archives in the Late Qing Dynasty, Compilation of Trading Ports Archives During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Archival Data of Foreign Firms in China During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Financial Reports of 22 Provinces During Emperor Guangxu’s Reign, Historical Data of Modern China’s Grain Policies, Historical Data of the Living Costs and Earnings in the Republic of China, Selected Historical Data of Labor and Labor Service in the Republic of China, Selected Historical Data of Municipal Construction in the Republic of China, Reports of National Business Conferences in the Early Years of the Republic of China, The Economic Intelligence of Japanese Army and Japanese Puppet Regimes During the Anti-​Japanese War, Special Collection of Industry and Commerce Data of Guangdong and Guangxi During the Republic of China, Economic Construction in the Republic of China, Investigation of Shaanxi Industry in the Republic of China, Economic Conditions of the Northeast China Under Japanese Puppet Government Rule, Selected Data of Taiwan’s Economic History in the Republic of China, Statistics of Foreign Trade During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Statistics on Tianjin Business Situation After the Anti-​ Japanese War, Shanghai Securities and Capital Market During the Republic of China, Domestic and Foreign Debts in the Republic of China compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Selection of General Orders of Chinese Maritime Customs Service (1861–​1949) compiled by the editorial committee of the book, General Administration of Customs; Chinese version of Sir Robert Hart Diary 1885–​1887 translated by Fu Zeng-​ren, Compilation of Suzhou Commercial Group Data compiled by Zhang Kai-​yuan, Railway History in the Republic of China (1912–​1949) compiled by Mi Ru-​cheng, Historical Data of Shanxi Draft Banks (Revised Edition) edited by Huang Jian-​hui, History of Northwest Farmers Bank edited by Yang Shi-​yuan, Journal of Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce compiled by Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce, Compilation of Financial Historical Data During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China published by Beijing Library Press. In terms of Sino-​ foreign relations, major publications are Archival Data Compilation of Relations Between Qing Dynasty and Southeast Asian Countries: The Philippines, Archival Data of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Qing Dynasty (Volumes of Sino-​British relation, Sino-​Spanish relation, Sino-​ Portuguese relation) compiled by the First Historical Archives of China; Selected Historical Data of Modern Sino-​Korean Relations compiled by Quan He-​xiu; Five Books of Sino-​Ryukyu Relations History in the Qing Dynasty, Six Books of Archival Data of Sino-​ Ryukyu Relations in the Qing Dynasty, Archival Data Compilation of Sino-​Kazakhstan Relations in the Qing Dynasty compiled by Xing Yong-​fu; Telegrams of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

222  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying Diplomatic Documents and Correspondences, Telegrams of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Qing Dynasty, Data Compilation of Diplomatic Meetings and Confidential Files of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Qing Dynasty, Confidential Files of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Negotiations with Foreign Countries about Transportation During the Republic of China, Archives of Sino-​Russian Negotiations about Railways and Electric Wires in Northeast China During the Late Qing Dynasty, Archives of International Negotiations about Ships and Shipping During the Late Qing Dynasty, Archives of Japanese-​ Russian Peace Negotiations, Archives Compilation of International Negotiations about Post and Telecommunications in Modern China, Archives of Negotiations with Foreign Banks in the Late Qing Dynasty, Compilation of International Conventions Modern China Joined, and Compilation of Diplomatic Archives of the Republic of China compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; and Documents of United States Policy Towards China compiled by Tao Wen-​zhao. Concerning historical events, major publications are Foreign Missions in the Late Qing Dynasty: Selected Translation of British Parliament Documents (Volume 6)5 compiled by the First Historical Archives of China and History Department of Fujian Normal University; Record of the Eight-​Power Allied Forces’ Occupation: Minutes of Tianjin Interim Government Meetings translated by Ni Rui-​ying; Continuation of Series of Modern Chinese Historical Data: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom compiled by Luo Er-​gang and Wang Qing-​cheng; Historical Data of the 1911 Revolution (New Edition, 8 volumes) compiled by Zhang Kai-​yuan, Confidential Files of Siege of Central Soviet Area compiled by Wen Wen; Memorials to the Emperor About the Opium Warfare, Memorials to the Emperor About the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, Lecture Notes of Sino-​Japanese Wars, Memorials to the Emperor Guangxu About the Sino-​ French War, Memorials to the Emperor Jiaqing, Xianfeng and Tongzhi About Peasant Uprisings, The Foreign Ministry’s Archives of the First World War compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Historical Data of Taiwan Retrocession compiled by the Second Historical Archives of China, Historical Data of May Thirtieth Movement (Volume III) compiled by the Institute of History of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Historical Data of National Salvation Association compiled by Zhou Tian-​du and Sun Cai-​xia, History of Constitutionalism During the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China compiled by the Photocopying Room of Beijing Library Press. As for border area issues, major publications are Selected Collections of Historical Data Concerning Tibet During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China (1877–​1919) compiled by Lu Xiu-​zhang, Selected Archives of Tibet and Economic Development and Construction in Tibet During the Republic of China compiled by Liu Li-​mei, Historical Data Summary of Tibetans in Kham During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Rare Data of Tibetan Society in Kham (2 Volumes) compiled by Zhao Xin-​yu, Compilation of Qing Strategies of Governing Sinkiang compiled by

Sorting modern history materials  223 Zhang Yu-​xin, Compilation of Memorials to the Emperor About Szechwan and Tibet Affairs, Archives Compilation of Foreign Negotiations About Sinkiang During the Qing Dynasty, Archives of Border Area Issues During the Qing Dynasty, Memorials to the Emperor Guangxu About Sinkiang Issue, Memorials to the Emperor About Northwest China Affairs, Confidential Memorials to the Emperor About Urgent Affairs of Guangxi and Guizhou During the Late Qing Dynasty, Confidential Archives of Tibet Affairs During the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Summary of Governance of Northwestern Counties During the Republic of China, Series of Historical Data Concerning Southwestern Borders During the Republic of China (Volume of Guangxi, Szechwan, Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou and Comprehensive Volume) compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Selected Archives of Northwest Borders During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China compiled by the Frontier History and Geography Research Centre of China, Liaoning Provincial Archives, Jilin Provincial Archives and Heilongjiang Provincial Archives. In terms of Japanese aggression against China, major publications are Archives of Japanese Army’s Harassing Northwest China During the Reign of Emperor Guangxu, The Wanbaoshan Incident in Japanese Occupied Northwest China compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Archives of Japanese Immigrants in Northwest China compiled by Heilongjiang Provincial Archives and Jilin Provincial Archives, Investigation Reports of Manchu Railway (including 4 volumes and 98 books) compiled by Liaoning Provincial Archives, Japanese Residents in Japanese Settlements of Tianjin compiled by Tianjin Library, Report Collection of Japanese Kanto Gendarmerie co-​compiled by Jilin Provincial Archives and Guangxi Normal University Press, Historical Data of the Nanjing Massacre compiled by Zhang Xian-​wen, Historical Data of Japanese Army’s Atrocity in Hubei compiled by Wu Xu-​cheng, Historical Data of Japanese Plunder of Forced Labors in North China compiled by Ju Zhi-​fen, Historical Data of Japanese Economic Plunder in Central China (1937–​ 1945) compiled by Shanghai Archives, Written Confessions of Japanese War Criminals During the Second World War (Photocopy) compiled by the Central Archives. Regarding the Anti-​ Japanese War, major publications are Illustrated Historical Data of the 19th Route Army’s Bloody Fight Against Japanese Army, Historical Data of Foreign Spies and National Traitors in Modern History, Historical Data Compilation of National Government’s Disposal of Japanese Puppets’ Property, Historical Data of Surrender of the Japanese Army in the Second World War compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Selected Archives of Szechwan People’s Fights Against Japanese compiled by Szechwan Provincial Archives. As regards legal systems, major publications are Meeting Minutes of the Legislature of National Government compiled by the Second Historical Archives of China, Compilation of Labor Issues and Labor Laws During the Republic of China, Compilation of the National Government Administrative

224  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying Laws, Documents of Lawyers During the Republic of China, Foreign Lawsuits in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Compilation of National Government’s Annual Decrees, Compilation of Regulations on Local Self-​ Government in the Republic of China compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Selected Regulations of Rural Self-​government in Modern China compiled by Xu Xiu-​li. In other respects, major publications are Compilation of Education History in Modern China (Volume of the Republic of China), Historical Data of Western Development, Selected Data of Philosophy History in Modern China, Historical Data of Chinese Population in Modern History, Historical Data of Prisons in the Republic of China, Data Compilation of Horticulture in the Republic of China, Data Compilation of Tea in the Republic of China compiled by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Resources; Archives of Modern Social Life compiled by Liaoning Provincial Archives, Compilation of Education History in Modern China compiled by Chen Yuan-​hui. 3. Monographs of historical figures. Major publications are Historical Archives of Chang Hsueh-​liang Stored in Liaoning Provincial Archives compiled by Liaoning Provincial Archives, Unpublished Manuscript of Zoulu compiled by Cheng Huan-​wen, Collection of Mr. Juzheng’s Works Stored in Shanghai Library compiled by Shanghai Library, Diary Manuscript of Xie Chi written by Xie Chi, Letter and Diary Manuscripts of Mr. Juzheng reorganized by Xie You-​chen, Letter Manuscripts of Hu Han-​min compiled by Chen Hong-​min, Historical Data of John Fryer edited by Ferdinand Dagenais of the United States, Collection of Zhu Xi-​ zu’s Works compiled by Zhou Wen-​jiu, Complete Historical Data of Wei Yuan and Complete Historical Data of Zeng Guo-​quan published by Yuelu Press, Complete Historical Data of Li Hung-​chang compiled by Gu Yan-​ long and Dai Yi, Complete Historical Data of Chang Chih-​tung compiled by Zhao De-​ xin and proofread by Wu Jian-​ jie and Zhou Xiu-​ luan, Complete Historical Data of Zhang Yuan-​ji published by the Commercial Press, Complete Historical Data of Chu Ko-​chen published by Shanghai Scientific and Technological Education Publishing House, Collection of Du Ya-​quan’s Works compiled by Xu Ji-​lin, Historical Data of Chen Bao-​ zhen compiled by Wang Shu-​zi and Zhang Qiu-​hui, Historical Data of Ding Wen-​jiang compiled by Zhu Zheng, Historical Data of Yang Chang-​ ji and Historical Data of Fan Yuan-​lian published by Hunan Education Publishing House, Historical Data of Yang Du revised by Liu Qing-​bo and published by Hunan People’s Publishing House, Historical Data of Cai-​E revised by Zeng Yeying, Historical Data of Huang Hsing revised by Liu Yang-​yang, Historical Data of Chen Tian-​hua supplemented by Liu Qing-​bo. 4. Back issues of newspapers. Major publications are photocopied and published by China National Microfilming Centre for Library Recources, such as Pekingese Daily, Beiyang Weekly, Compilation of Official

Sorting modern history materials  225 Newspapers in the Qing Dynasty, Magazine of Chinese Eighth Route Army, Official Journal of General Headquarters of National Revolutionary Army, Official Journal of the National Government Military Commission, Compilation of Rare Periodicals in the Late Qing Dynasty and Continuation Compilation of Rare Periodicals in the Late Qing Dynasty (which includes 65 rare periodicals of the late Qing Dynasty), Compilation of Chinese Agricultural Journals (including 15 agricultural journals published in 1897–​1947), Compilation of Anti-​ Japanese Periodicals (including 44 periodicals published by the Kuomintang and the CPC to make propaganda for Anti-​ Japanese War after Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937), Compilation of Newspapers in the Republic of China (including 11 newspapers ranging from commentaries, political news, economic trends, international situation, education to the military published in 1899–​1948), Data Compilation of Border Area Issues in the Republic of China (including 12 periodicals concerning border area and ethnic issues in the Republic of China), Compilation of Publications of the CPC at its Early Stage (including six periodicals regarding propaganda of Marxism-​ Leninism and establishment of revolutionary united front), Compilation of Philatelic Journals in the Republic of China (including over 10 philatelic journals), Compilation of 15 Comic Journals in the Republic of China, Compilation of Illustrated Magazines in the Republic of China (including five volumes, namely, comprehensive volume, volume of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong-​Guangdong), Collection of Film Pictorials of the Early China (including 22 publications during 1921–​1948), Collection of Drama Pictorials of the Early China (including 22 publications of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Szechwan, Guangxi and Nanjing), Compilation of Journals Concerning Chinese Classics (including 18 publications during 1908–​1947), Compilation of Newspapers in Vernacular Chinese (including 27 newspapers during 1901–​1909), Compilation of Rare Publications of the Republic of China (including 30 magazines ranging from The Palace Museum Weekly, New Trend, Economic Statistics Monthly, Industrial Finance, The Public, Southern Wind, Analecta Education, Jingzhao Folk Weekly, Rebirth, The Youth, Weekly Information, Progress Monthly, Friends, Time and Tide, The Central Plains, Spirit of the Times, Hope to Compilation of Rare Magazines Published for a Short Period of Time or Ceased Publication (including 24 volumes of over 1800 publications from Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Northeast China, Northwest China, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Shandong, Gansu, Henan, Anhui, Shanxi, Szechwan, Hebei); Compilation of Women’s Periodicals of Modern China (148 books of over 20 representatives) photocopied and published by Thread-​Binding Books Publishing House; Changsha Daily, Hunan Popular Daily, Ta Kung Pao of Hunan, National Daily, National Political News, Observatory Daily, Hsiang-​hsiang People’s Daily photocopied and published by Hunan Electronic Audio and Video Publishing

226  ZHUANG Jian-ping and ZENG Yeying House; Chuanshan Journal, The Shian Kian Weekly Review, Hunan Daily (New Edition), New Era, Travel Translation Series photocopied and published by Hunan Normal University Press, Sports Weekly and Industrial Magazine. The published historical data mentioned above reveals the following features: (1) in terms of data types, they fall into two major categories: archives and newspapers; (2) in terms of their sources, they were either from the government, individuals, legitimate regimes, illegitimate regimes, or even foreign governments; (3) the vast majority of them are selected and compiled from national, provincial archives, national and municipal libraries; (4)  as far as the publishing channel is concerned, most were photocopied which is more convenient; (5) the purpose of those publications has gradually shifted to academic research, rather than just serving for politics. Publication of a large number of modern historical materials has facilitated the study of modern Chinese history tremendously, yet a couple of issues still need pointing out for future studies. 1. We ought to further expand the scope of data collection and mining. As mentioned in Section 2, we ought to further mine and compile historical materials on such topics as culture, ethics, science and technology, famine, opium prohibition, currency, thoughts, academics, secret societies, gangs, villages, cities and the legal system of modern China; in addition, it is necessary to expand the scope of data collection. Recent publications are virtually based on materials of the First Historical Archives and the Second Historical Archives of China, National Library, provincial archives and municipal libraries, while there are none from county-​level archives, small and medium libraries. As a matter of fact, some rather small archives and libraries might hold certain materials that could not be found even in large archives and libraries, therefore, besides continuing mining data from the large archives and libraries, full use ought to be made of county-​level archives, small and medium libraries. And we even suggest that relevant agencies conduct a comprehensive investigation of historical materials of local archives, libraries and museums, and researchers from all over the country organize and publish those materials in a planned and systematic manner. 2. Learning from Fan Wen-​lan’s practice of compiling Data Series of Modern Chinese History: including monographs of a couple of major historical events, we ought to further compile and publish monographs restricted to certain issues of politics, economy, culture, and historical figures. Recent publications, as mentioned above, claim to include thematic materials, yet most of them are not refined into monographs in the strict sense. As a matter of fact, there are countless topics worth studying in modern Chinese history. Take the 38 years history of the Republic of China as an example, there are approximately 600 topics6 worth studying according to

Sorting modern history materials  227 the early evaluation of the Research Office of the Republic of China in the Institute of Modern History of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. If the previous 60 years history counted, the number of research topics are even larger. Therefore, while organizing and publishing comprehensive historical data, we ought to attach great importance to compilation of detailed materials restricted to certain special topics. 3. It is necessary to adopt both the method of photocopying and reorganizing in publishing. Recent publications are mostly photocopied, which is handy when the publishing industry is becoming market-​oriented, and a good way to guarantee the accuracy of materials and even of appreciating value, however, for the convenience of researchers, we strongly suggest reorganizing most of the historical materials and publishing them with interpretations, except materials such as old newspapers which must be photocopied as a whole. 4. All the materials published ought to be accurate. Recent publications are of good quality in general, however, a few are of rather poor quality with misjudgment, misinterpretation, distorted facts, which might hinder researchers from interpreting historical data accurately, as some scholars pointed out as early as in 2000.7 However, unfortunately, the situation has not improved much. With the common aspiration to prosper the study of modern Chinese history, it is researchers’ responsibility to provide accurate historical data.

Notes 1 Editor of Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 2 All papers and books cited in this chapter can be found in the Dictionary of Chinese Archives and Documents. 3 During the Anti-​ Japanese War, the Japanese sponsored and established the “Manchukuo” Puppet Regime, the Mongolian Puppet Autonomous Government, Beijing Puppet Interim Government and Nanjing Puppet Restoration Government. 4 The book has a total of 34 volumes (36 books), more than 20 million words. 5 The book is included in Continuation of Series of Modern Chinese Historical Data. 6 Please refer to Selected Topics Concerning the History of the People’s Republic of China (which was compiled in February 1979, but unpublished). 7 Wu Jianjie, Ensuring accuracy in sorting the historical data of modern Chinese history, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2000 (4).

8  Translation of overseas studies on Chinese modern history LEI Yi and DU Jidong

Since the Qing government’s opening doors and the blooming of western cultures, Chinese scholars had introduced and translated a variety of overseas academic books to reconstruct Chinese civilization. The translation of overseas studies on Chinese modern history is not only beneficial to academic prosperity, but provides broader research perspectives as well, thus helping to overcome some existing limitations. However, only a small percentage of overseas studies have been translated into Chinese in the past decades, and the attitude toward translation and selecting criteria reflected changing academic tendencies and social transformation, thereby making it a research topic. In this chapter, we will summarize the main features of such translations in different periods, and their influences on domestic studies of Chinese modern history.

8.1  Translation mainly for criticism The establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 was not only a change of political power, but also indicated a series of profound and comprehensive changes in all respects ranging from economic base, social structure to superstructure. According to the basic principles of Marxism, the economic base determines the superstructure, while the latter in turn affects the former. A  series of comprehensive social changes require a new ideology, thereby, Marxism-​Leninism became a national ideology and it was natural to remold the old academic system. Since the recognition of Chinese modern history is of great significance to Chinese revolution, Marxist schools were relatively mature during the revolutionary war years, yet the majority of intellectuals of the former higher education institutions listed themselves as non-​Marxist school, consequently, remolding the latter and criticizing the bourgeois academic thinking became the major task of studies on Chinese modern history, and likewise in the translation of overseas studies. Nevertheless, the purpose of overseas translations as mentioned above was not clearly stated in publications at that time. In the preface to The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (Chinese Version),1 translators

Translating overseas studies  229 claimed that the reasons why this book was translated were the great values of historical materials in the book, and its significant position in studies of bourgeois scholars, hence a reminder of these fallacious discussions’ baneful influences on Chinese ideology. Undoubtedly, The International Relations of the Chinese Empire enjoyed a high reputation in works of colonialism, thus it is worth reading for anti-​colonialists.2 Without exception, similar words could be found in prefaces to or postscripts of the Chinese version of Americans in Eastern Asia,3 China’s Struggle for Tariff Autonomy, 1843–​1938,4 Foreign Diplomacy in China: 1894–​1900,5 Foreign Rights and Interests in China,6 Old China Hands and the Foreign Office.7 Since full-​scale reconstruction was under way shortly after the founding of New China, translations of overseas studies were few in quantity, yet most of the works selected to be translated in the 1950s belonged to the top-​ranking studies, and the quality of translation was impressive as well, which showed translators’ extraordinary vision, profound knowledge and serious attitude. The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (Chinese Version) is among the most frequently cited works by researchers of foreign relations in the Mainland, and Foreign Rights and Interests in China (Chinese Version) ranks as the best book in the field. In addition, with change of era, those translated works increasingly displayed an academic nature, laying a foundation for the rapid development of related disciplines in the new era. It is worthy noting that in the early 1950s, while scholars were busy introducing and translating works of the Soviet Union into Chinese and regarded them as textbooks and “bibles” in a range of disciplines, few works of studies on Chinese modern history were translated from the Soviet Union, which also implied that China’s Marxist-​Leninist school had become relatively mature in researches of Chinese modern history at that time, and had basically formed its own theoretical system, framework and research methods, thereby not needing to copy the Soviet “textbooks” like many other disciplines. With the changes and development of the political situation in the Mainland, “class struggle” became more and more fierce, and an increasing number of fierce criticisms of foreign bourgeois researchers emerged, which could also be seen in translated works using words like “to know enemy situations”, “to foster proletarian ideology and eliminate bourgeois ideology” and “to oppose imperialism and revisionism”. In the first two volumes of Chinese History in Foreign Bourgeois’s Eye: Selected Translation of Works of Western Reactionary Scholars on Chinese Modern History8 and Foreign Bourgeois’s Views on Chinese Modern History,9 dozens of influential British, American, French, German and Japanese bourgeois researchers’ representative remarks on the nature of modern Chinese society, modern economic and cultural issues, Sino-​foreign relations, peasant war, frontier crisis, Chinese revolution and KMT-​CPC struggles were translated and published. In the 10,000-​ word preface, editors highly summarized the 100-​ year research situation of foreign bourgeois studies on Chinese modern history,

230  LEI Yi and DU Jidong made severe political criticisms on various viewpoints, and further affirmed the purpose of compilation: we translated these materials to know enemy situation and provide a better chance to fight against bourgeois ideology. These materials can facilitate us to further recognize the real nature of foreign bourgeois researchers and western countries’ evil cultural aggression on Chinese people, thus stimulating our national self-​respect and patriotism, struggling against imperialism and modern revisionism, eliminating the vicious influence of bourgeois history in Chinese historiography, strengthening the historical science team, and ultimately uniting all patriotic historical scientists to built a new culture of socialism and communism.10 During 1966–​1976, especially in its middle and late period, a large number of Soviet research works on Chinese modern history were translated and published mainly due to “anti-​revisionism” struggles and Sino-​Soviet border conflicts at that time. In the introductory notes of the book Chinese Modern History (Chinese Version),11 editors wrote, “this book completely and systematically forged the history of modern China with extremely despicable and shameless methods”, “it viciously attacked the Chinese people’s revolutionary war and the CPC’s Marxism-​Leninism route”. In the 5000-​word introductory notes, the purpose of the original book was regarded to be “denying Chairman Mao’s scientific judgment about Chinese modern history, and the Marxism-​Leninism route, thus transforming China into a colony of the Soviet Union”,12 from which, we can see the mark of the era. Besides, a larger number of translated works on the Sino-​Russian border conflicts, mainly based on historical materials and memoirs, were published, laying a sound foundation for later studies on the history of Sino-​Russian relations. It is also worth mentioning that since Sino-​US relations began to thaw in 1971, Fairbank’s The United States and China (published by American Foreign Policy Library) was translated and published by the Commercial Press, with the allegedly purpose of “providing reference for studies on Sino-​ US relations”.

8.2  Flourishing era of translation After 1976, China ushered in a new era of reform and opening up, and subsequently the research work began to recover and it was urgent to catch up with foreign academic researches, thus making it possible to translate and introduce a batch of overseas studies on Chinese modern history, among which the most influential one was the journal Overseas Studies on Chinese Modern History, whose initial issue was published by the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1980. Editors of the journal clearly stated that “the journal was to timely introduce foreign researches on Chinese modern history, keep up with the latest

Translating overseas studies  231 studies and strengthen international academic communication”, and admitted that “in recent years, foreign researches on modern Chinese history underwent more rapid development than domestic studies, and they had even conducted intensive studies of some issues that native researchers never touched upon. It was quite necessary to discuss or even argue with foreign researchers on certain controversial issues to promote the development of domestic researches”, “the articles accepted must produce new perspectives, new historical materials or updated progress, regardless of the validity of contents and viewpoints”.13 Editors’ Note displayed the new academic atmosphere of that era and huge transformations of translation purposes from “to know enemy situation and provide negative teaching materials” into “to strengthen academic communication”, which was highly welcome and admirable, hence a model for other translations. From the initial issue published in 1980 to the final issue in 1995, Overseas Studies on Chinese Modern History published a total of over 400 translated papers with approximately 8  million words, ranging from papers published on foreign academic journals to excerpts of monographs originally written in English, Japanese, Russian, French, German and so forth. The journal introduced the latest foreign researches into China, thus facilitating the development of academic researches. Therefore, it was quite a pity to hear the news that Overseas Studies on Chinese Modern History stopped publication in 1995. In addition, Overseas Researches of the History of Chinese Communist Party,14 sponsored by the Party History Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, had been another important channel to keep up with foreign academic development. In the following 30 years after the reform and opening up, there had been an increasing number of foreign translations published, among which the most influential ones are: From 1987 on, China Social Sciences Press translated and published a series of Translated Researches on Chinese Modern History in succession: Frederic Wakeman’s Strangers at the Gate: Social Disorder in South China, 1839–​1861, Philip Kuhn’s Rebellion and Its Enemies in Late Imperial China: Militarization and Social Structure, 1796–​ 1864, Albert Feuerwerke’s China’s Early Industrialization:  Sheng Hsuan-​huai (1844–​1916) and Mandarin Enterprise, Wellington Chan’s Merchants, Mandarins, and Modern Enterprise in Late Ch’ing China, G. William Skinner’s The City in Late Imperial China, Leonard Young’s British Policy in China:  1895–​1902, and Takeshi Hamashita’s The Tribute Trade System and Modern Asia. Since 1988, Jiangsu People’s Publishing House has published a series of Oversea Studies on Chinese History, including translations of John Fairbank and Edwin Reischauer’s East Asia: Tradition and Transformation, The Modernization of China under the general editorship of Gilbert Rozman, Grieder’s Hu Shih and the Chinese Renaissance:  Liberalism in the Chinese Revolution(1917–​1937), Kwok’s Scientism in Chinese Thought, Nineteen Hundred to Nineteen Fifty, Benjamin Schwartz’s Search of Wealth and Power:  Yan Fu and the West, Paul Cohen’s Between Tradition and

232  LEI Yi and DU Jidong Modernity: Wang T’ao and Reform in Late Ch’ing China, Thomas Metzger’s Escape from Predicament:  Neo-​Confucianism and China’s Evolving Political Culture, Joseph Esherick’s The Origins of the Boxer Uprising, Prasenjit Duara’s Culture, Power and the State:  Rural North China, 1900–​1942, Guy Alitto’s The Last Confucian: Liang Shu-​ming and the Chinese Dilemma of Modernity, Chang Hao’s Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao and Intellectual Transition in China, 1890–​ 1907, Douglas R.  Reynolds’s The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan:  China, 1898–​1912, Chow Tse-​tsung’s The May Fourth Movement:  Intellectual Revolution in Modern China, and Hsiao Kung-​chuan’s Modern China and a New World: Kang Yu-​wei, Reformer and Utopia. In 1989, Shanxi People’s Publishing House published a book series of Researches on The May Fourth and Modern China, including The May Fourth Movement:  Cultural Interpretation and Evaluation, Western Scholars’ Perspectives and translations of Vera Schwarcz’s The Chinese Enlightenment:  Intellectuals and the Legacy of the May Fourth Movement of 1919, Chang Hao’s Chinese Intellectuals in Crisis:  Search for Order and Meaning (1890–​1911), Ji Wenxun’s The Ideological Heritage of Modern China  –​Democracy and Authoritarianism, and Kuniyasu Kondo’s Salvation and Tradition. A variety of translated works were also published by other publishing houses. Regarding comprehensive studies, there were translations of John King Fairbank’s The Cambridge History of China:  Late Ch’ing, 1800–​1911 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1985) and The Cambridge History of China: Republican China, 1912–​1949 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1994). Besides, the Chinese version of The United States and China was reprinted a couple of times. Other influential translated works were Collection of John King Fairbank (published by Tianjin People’s Publishing House in 1992), The Great Chinese Revolution 1800–​1985 (published by International Cultural Publishing Company in 1989), Autobiography of John King Fairbank (published by Tianjin People’s Publishing House in 1994), John Fairbank and the American Understanding of Modern China (published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 1995), John E.  Schrecker’s The Chinese Revolution in Historical Perspective (published by Shanghai Orient Publishing Center in 1998), Jonathan D.  Spence’s The Gate of Heavenly Peace:  The Chinese and Their Revolution (published by Central Compilation & Translation Press in 1998), Paul A.  Cohen’s Discovering History in China:  American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1989), and Mizoguchi Yuzo’s Chinese Studies in Japanese Eye (published by China Renmin University Press in 1996). As for economic history, major translated works were Hao Yen-​P’ing’s The Commercial Revolution in Nineteenth-​century China:  The Rise of Sino-​ Western Mercantile Capitalism (published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 1991), Comprador in Nineteenth Century China:  Bridge Between East and West (published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 1988), Liu Kwang-​Ching’s Anglo-​American Steamship Rivalry in China: 1862–​1874

Translating overseas studies  233 (published by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press in 1988), Dwight H.  Perkins’s Agricultural Development in China, 1368–​1968 (published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 1984), Philip C. C. Huang’s The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1986)  and The Peasant Family and Rural Development in the Yangzi Delta,1350–​1988 (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1992), Ernest O. Hauser’s Shanghai: City for Sale, and French Scholar Marie Bergère’s The Golden Age of Chinese Bourgeoisie:  1911–​1937 (published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 1994). Regarding politics, military and social history, major translated works were Joseph W.  Esherick’s Reform and Revolution in China:  The 1911 Revolution in Hunan and Hubei (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1982), Lloyd E. Eastman’s Chiang Kai-​shek and Chiang Ching-​kuo (published by China Youth Publishing House in 1989), Suzanne Pepper’s Civil War in China (published by China Youth Publishing House in 1997), Chi Hsi-​Sheng’s Warlord Politics In China 1916–​1928 (published by China Renmin University Press in 1991), Parks M. Coble’s The Shanghai Capitalists and the Nationalist Government:  1927–​1937 (published by Nankai University Press in 1987), Ralph L. Powell’s Rise of the Chinese Military Power: 1895–​1912 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1979), G. William Skinner’s The City in Late Imperial China (published by Jilin Education Press in 1991), Phil Billingsley’s Bandits in Republican China (published by China Youth Publishing House in 1992), Jerome Chen’s The Military-​Gentry coalition –​the Warlords Period in Modern Chinese History (published by SDX Joint Publishing Company in 1980), and Soviet scholar A.  I. Kartunova’s Soviet Military Commander Blyukher in China:  1924–​1927 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1983), Tcherepanov’s The Northern Expedition:  1926–​ 1927 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1981), Chinese Revolution and Soviet Advisors:  1920–​1935 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1981), and a symposium Communist International and Chinese Revolution: Selected Translation of Soviet Scholars’ Studies (published by Sichuan People’s Publishing House in 1987). As regards the history of Sino-​foreign relations, major translated works were Kiernan’s British Policy to China: 1880–​1885 (published by Commercial Press in 1984), John Gibbert Reid’s The Manchu Abdication and the Powers: 1908–​ 1912 (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1982), Vevier’s The United States and China 1906–​1913: A Study of Finance and Diplomacy (published by Social Sciences Academic Press in 1990), Roy Watson Curry’s Woodrow Wilson and Far Eastern policy:  1913–​1921 (published by Social Sciences Academic Press in 1994), Barbara W. Tuchman’s Stilwell and the American Experience in China: 1911–​1945 (published by Commercial Press in 1985), Herbert Feis’s The China Tangle:  The American Effort in China from Pearl Harbor to the Marshall Mission (published by Peking University Press in 1989), Bernard D. Cole’s Gunboats and Marines: The United States Navy in China: 1925–​1928 (published by Chongqing Publishing House in 1986), Michael Schaller’s The

234  LEI Yi and DU Jidong US Crusade in China: 1938–​1945 (published by Commercial Press in 1982), William C.  Kirby’s Germany and Republican China (published by Chinese Youth Press in 1994), David D.  Barrett’s Dixie Mission:  The United States Army Observer Group in Yenan (published by Chinese People’s Liberation Army Publishing House in 1984), Ross Y.  Koen’s The China Lobby in American Politics (published by the Commercial Press in 1984), Warren I. Cohen’s America’s Response to China: A History of Sino-​American Relations (published by Fudan University Press in 1989), John S. Service’s The Amerasia Papers: Some Problems in the History of US-​China Relations (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1989), Fujimura Michio’s The Sino-​Japanese War (published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 1981), Borisov’s The Soviet Union and China Relations (published by SDX Joint Publishing Company in 1982). Regarding ideological and cultural history, major translated works were Martin Bernal’s Chinese Socialism to 1907 (published by Fujian People’s Publishing House in 1985), Lin Yu-​sheng’s The Crisis of Chinese Consciousness: Radical Anti-​traditionalism in the May Fourth Era (published by Guizhou People’s Publishing House in 1988), Jessie G. Lutz’s China and the Christian Colleges: 1850–​1950 (published by Zhejiang Education Publishing House in 1988), Saneto Keishu’s History of Chinese Students in Japan (published by SDX Joint Publishing Company in 1983), Wei Tsing-​sing’s France’s Missionary Policy Towards China:  1842–​1856 (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1991). As for researches of historical figures, major translated works were Fred W. Drake’s China Charts the World: Hsu Chi-​yu and His Geography of 1848 (published by Wenjin Publishing House in 1990), Harold Z.  Schiffrin’s Sun Yat-​sen and the Origins of the Chinese Revolution (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1980), Hsueh Chun-​ tu’s Huang Hsing and the Chinese Revolution (published by Hunan People’s Publishing House in 1980), Gavin McCormack’s Chang Tso-​lin in Northeast China, 1911–​1928:  China, Japan and the Manchurian Idea (published by Jilin Cultural and Historical Press in 1988), Japanese scholar Matsumoto Ichio’s Chang Hsueh-​liang (published by China Youth Publishing House in 1994), Soviet scholar Primakov’s Feng Yü-​hsiang and the National Army (published by China Social Sciences Press in 1982), Stuart R. Schram’s Mao Tse-​tung (published by Red Flag Press in 1987), Ross Terrill’s Mao:  A Biography (published by Hebei People’s Publishing House in 1989), Maurice Meisner’s Li Ta-​Chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism (published by CPC History Data Publishing House in 1989), Chou Min-​chih’s Hu Shih and Intellectual Choice in Modern China (published by Sichuan People’s Publishing House in 1991), Charlotte Furth’s Ting Wen-​ chiang:  Science and China’s New Culture (published by Hunan Science and Technology Press in 1987). Translations of overseas researches of Chinese modern history mentioned above affected researches in the Mainland in various ways. It was true that a range of profound social factors contributed to changes in academic studies

Translating overseas studies  235 and the emergence of new ideas, and translation of research works was merely one of them. However, this section aims to focus on the role of translated works, which can be summarized as following: A compelling and contentious view in the study of Chinese modern history in the new era is to explore the history from the perspective of modernization rather than merely from class struggle and national struggle. In the preface of the book series Overseas China Studies,15 editors clearly stated, “to usher Chinese civilization into the modern era, researchers ought to break down the isolation and introspect studies through the contrast with international counterparts”, “this book series included translated works exploring China’s modernization from various perspectives and in various fields”. In a long period of time, the “Western Shock –​ Chinese Response” model represented by John King Fairbank was the most influential approach to studies on Chinese modern history in the West, which held that tradition was in direct opposition to modernity and Chinese modern history, the modernization history in particular, which was entirely driven by external stimuli and challenges, therefore, “the splendid Chinese civilization prior to the 19th century turned out to seriously hinder China’s modernization”. “as the ‘central country of the world’, China earned great reputation for its unique political and cultural system, and did not rise to modern challenges even when western powers broke into China, thereby missed the opportunity of modernization”.16 Based on this argument, the new viewpoint explored the reasons for the frustration of modernization from China’s politics, economy and culture of modern times, and held a different view on the “collisions” of different cultures brought about by western aggression and changes of Chinese society caused by such “collisions”. In the framework of modernization theory, the Westernization Movement was regarded as an important stage of “China’s early industrialization”, while its initial motives were neglected for a long time, which accounted for the heated studies on the Westernization Movement in 1980s. Likewise, the economic situation during the Republic of China, especially before the Anti-​Japanese War, was studied more objectively later. The “Civil Society” of modern China, relationship between country and society, and public service are among the research hot spots of the American academic world in recent years, which obviously affected and inspired domestic studies, thus studies on such topics as the Chamber of Commerce of the late Qing, autonomous associations, local elites and public institutions produced fruitful results, and even the question of and opposition against “Civil Society” were based on American scholars’ arguments. Since mainly from the perspectives of the conflicts and complementarities between Chinese and western cultures (virtually a one-​way flow of western culture to Chinese culture in modern China) instead of class struggle and national struggle, plenty of researchers focused their studies on the role of compradors and foreign settlements in cultural exchanges. At the same time, the active role of missionaries and church schools in the process of China’s modernization (mainly to disseminate modern scientific and cultural

236  LEI Yi and DU Jidong knowledge) received much attention in recent years. The relationship between culture and society or the social significance of culture are new academic ideas and research methods emerging in the western academic world recently, and The Origin of The Boxer Rebellion and Culture, Power and The Country: The Rural North China During 1900–​1942 were representatives of the new paradigm. The former book made a regional analysis of the social and economic structure of Shandong province in the 19th century, especially the careful studies of folk culture in the northwest of Shandong, such as village opera, story-​telling script, religion, temple fairs, country fairs, the tradition of worshiping Wushu and Chinese and western cultural conflicts, with methods of cultural anthropology; what’s more, the book held that the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion was the result of “interaction” between the social-​economic structure and cultural traditions. Seeking to bridge the gap between history and sociology, the latter book proposed such new concepts as “cultural network of power” from the perspective of mass culture, and with the example of rural North China, it demonstrated how the state power penetrated into the bottom of society via various channels (ranging from business groups, temple fairs, religions, to myths). These two books have made a significant impact on relevant researches in the Mainland, thereby the relationship between traditional cultural and the Boxers, the social and cultural significance of temple fairs and their functions are receiving increasing attention. In studies on the history of Sino-​foreign relations, some researchers believe that the process of China’s being accepted into the modern international community is not only a process of its sovereignty being infringed on and the nation being colonized, but also a process of opening up and modernization of diplomacy (that is, the process of formation and evolution of diplomatic concepts and institution). The term “history of foreign invasion into China” used decades ago has gradually been replaced by a more neutral one “history of Sino-​foreign relations”, which shows academic change. In studies on the history of thought, Scienticism began to catch researchers’ attention for the first time, and Liberalism and its representative figures were studied for pure academic purposes rather than political criticism, thereby being more objective, reflecting the influence of translated works. Vera Schwarcz’s The Chinese Enlightenment:  Intellectuals and the Legacy of the May Fourth Movement of 1919 discussed the relationship between enlightenment and salvation, the Chinese version of which inspired Chinese thought and the whole academic world in China. Since the late 1970s, the model of “tradition v.s. modernity” in the study of Chinese history in the United States has gradually been replaced by a new theory of modernization: evolved from tradition, modernity is supposed to inherit and utilize various traditional resources. Lin Yu-​sheng’s The Crisis of Chinese Consciousness: Radical Anti-​ traditionalism in the May Fourth Era focused on analysis of the negative effects of fierce and comprehensive anti-​traditionalism campaign in China during the May Fourth period, the translation of which created much of a stir in the context of the resurgence of “cultural fever” and “violent anti-​traditionalism”

Translating overseas studies  237 in the mid-​to-​late 1980s, and as a matter of fact, it established a vital theoretical foundation for “cultural conservatism” emerging in the 1990s. Among studies on historical figures, Harold Z. Schiffrin’s Sun Yat-​sen and the Origins of the Chinese Revolution studied Sun Yat-​sen in the social context, rather than “Sun-​centered” frame which was railed at in the past; Hsueh Chun-​tu’s Huang Hsing and the Chinese Revolution conducted an intensive study on Huang Hsing’s contributions to the Revolution of 1911, which inspired relevant researches; moreover, both these books were translated just after the founding of New China, thereby receiving even more attention at that time. Maurice Meisner’s Li Ta-​Chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism explored the relationship between Li Ta-​ chao’s thoughts and Populism, inspiring researches on the influence of Populism on the thoughts of CPC leaders, which has always been a research focus till now. While studies in the Mainland mainly focused on political figures, foreign studies were mostly on cultural ones, such as Liang Shu-​ming, Ting Wen-​Chiang, Ch’ien Mu and Hong Ye, the translation of which promoted studies in the Mainland.

8.3  Translated works proliferated Since 1998, with the rapid development of studies on Chinese modern history, translation of overseas researches proliferated, among which the book series Overseas China Studies published by Jiangsu People’s Publishing House made a significant contribution to introducing overseas studies, thereby enjoyed a great reputation; the best parts of it have been reprinted for a couple of times. Among them, major translated works are: Benjamin A. Elman’s Classicism, Politics, and Kinship & The Chang-​Chou School of New Test Confucianism in Late Imperial China (1998), Bin Wong’s China Transformed:  Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience (1998), Frank Dikotter’s The Discourse of Race in Modern China (1999), Romon H.  Myers’ The Chinese Peasant Economy (1999), Kwith R. Schoppa’s The Blood Road: The Mystery of Shen Dingyi in Revolutionary China (1999), Paul A. Cohen’s History in Three Keys:  The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth (2000), Martin C.Yang’s Chinese Village: Taitou, Shantung Province (2001), Marston Anderson’s Limits of Realism:  Chinese Fiction in the Revolutionary Period (2001), Elizabeth J.  Perry’s Shanghai on Strike:  The Politics of Chinese Labor (2001), Gail B. Hershatter’s Dangerous Pleasure: Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-​ Century Shanghai (2003), Yu Ying-​shih’s Traditional Chinese Thought and Its Present Day Transformation (2003), Kenneth Pomeranz’s The Great Divergence:  China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (2004), Ellen R. Judd’s Gender and Power in Rural North China (2004), David L.  Hall’s The Democracy of the Dead:  Dewey, Confucius, and the Hope for Democracy in China (2004), Shimada Kenji’s Frustration of Chinese Modern Thinking (2005), Owen Lattimore’s Inner Asian Frontiers of China (2005), Arif Dirlik’s Revolution and History: The Origins of Marxist Historiography in China, 1919–​1937 (2005), Takeshi Hamashita’s China’s Modern Economic

238  LEI Yi and DU Jidong History:  Customs Finance and Markets of Treaty Ports in the Late Qing Dynasty (2006), Francesa Bray’s Technology and Gender:  Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China (2006), William C. Kirby’s Germany and Republican China (2006), Han Min’s Social Change and Continuity in a Village in Northern Anhui, China:  A Response to Revolution and Reform (2007), Zhang Ying-​ Jin’s The City in Modern Chinese Literature & Film: Configurations of Space, Time, and Gender (2007), Shih Shu-​mei’s The Lure of the Modern:  Writing Modernism in Semicolonial China, 1917–​1937 (2007), Ruth Rogaski’s Hygienic Modernity:  Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-​Port China (2007), Frank Dikotter’s Crime, Punishment, and the Prison in Modern China (2008), Wang Guan-​hua’s In Search of Justice: The 1905–​1906 Chinese Anti-​American Boycott (2008), Lloyd E. Eastman’s Seeds of Destruction: Nationalist China in War and Revolution, 1937–​1949 (2009), Linda Grove’s A Chinese Economic Revolution: Rural Entrepreneurship in the Twentieth Century (State & Society in East Asia) (2009), Dorothy Ko’s Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding (2009), and Hu Ying’s Tales of Translation:  Composing the New Woman in China, 1898–​1918 (2009). China Social Sciences Press published Translation Series of Chinese Modern History, including the translated works of Mary C. Wright’s The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism: The T’ung-​Chih Restoration (2002), Kenneth E.  Folsom’s Friends, Guests, and Colleagues:  The Mu-​fu System in the Late Ch’ing Period (2002), Richard J.  Smith’s Mercenaries and Mandarins:  The Ever-​Victorious Army in nineteenth century China (2003), Aron Shai’s The Fate of British and French Firms in China, 1949–​54: Imperialism Imprisoned (2004), and Kubo Toru’s The Road to Self-​Reliance: China’s Tariff Currency Policy and Economic Development Between the Two World Wars (2004). The most influential translation collection in the 21st century is Translation Series compiled by National Committee of Qing History Compilation, which stated its compiling principle in the preface as:  “It is the consensus of the majority of historians to adopt a world view in compiling the Qing history. It is necessary to explore the Qing history in the category of world history as well as taking the development of Chinese history into account. Therefore, we compiled the Translation Series to introduce foreign researches on Qing history”. The series included a number of translated research works concerning the history of the late Qing Dynasty, such as, Gabriel de Magalhaens’s A New History of The Empire of China (published by Elephant Press in 2004), Louis le Comte’s Nouveau mémoire sur l’état présent de la Chine (published by Elephant Press in 2004), Robert Hart’s These From the Land of Sinim (published by Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House in 2005), Klaus Muehlhahn’s Herrschaft und Widerstand in der “Musterkolonie” Kiautschou: Interaktionen zwischen China and Deutschland, 1897–​ 1914 (published by Shandong University Press in 2005), William T. Rowe’s Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796–​1889 (published by China Renmin University Press in 2005), Richard Timothy’s Forty-​five Years in China: Reminiscences (published by Yianjin People’s Publishing House in 2005), Dugald Christie’s Thirty years

Translating overseas studies  239 in Moukden, 1883–​1913, Being the experiences and recollections of Dugald Christie, C. M. G. (published by Hubei People’s Publishing House in 2007), Kunihiko Sato’s The Origin and Movement of the Boxers (published by China Social Science Press in 2007), Japan-​China Relations in the Early Meji Period (published by Fujian People’s Publishing House in 2007), Nikola Adolatsky’s History of Eastern Orthodoxy in China (published by Guangdong People’s Publishing House in 2007), James L. Hevia’s English Lessons: the Pedagogy of Imperialism in Nineteenth-​Century China (published by Social Sciences Academic Press in 2007), Tommy Bengtsson’s Life under Pressure: Mortality and Living Standards in Europe and Asia, 1700–​1900 (published by Social Sciences Academic Press in 2007), William Edgar Geil’s Eighteen Capitals of China (published by Shandong Pictorial Publishing House in 2008), William Edgar Geil’s A Yankee on the Yangtze (published by Shandong Pictorial Publishing House in 2008), William T.  Rowe’s Hankow:  Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1796–​1895 (published by China Renmin University Press in 2008), Akira Morita’s Water Conservancy and Regional Society in the Qing Dynasty (published by Shandong Pictorial Publishing House in 2008), Wang Yeh-​Chien’s Land Taxation in Imperial China, 1750–​ 1911 (published by People’s Publishing House in 2008), and Evelyn S. Rawski’s The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions (published by China Renmin University Press in 2009). The National Committee of Qing History Compilation also founded the journal Translation of Qing History in 2004, which aimed to provide the committee and researchers with edited or translated research literature, including catalogues, abstracts, excerpts or full translation of relevant literature archives and research results, so as to facilitate the committee’s major task of compilation of Qing history. Columns of the journal range from special studies, selection of monographs and other research literature, academic review, interviews, overseas manuscripts, theoretic content, excerpts on arguments, latest book reviews and so forth, covering such contents as:  (1) introduction and translation of foreign research literature concerning the Qing Dynasty; (2) abstract or full translation of significant academic papers on Qing history; (3) introduction, review and selected translation of foreign monographs on Qing history; (4) introduction of academic trends of overseas studies on Qing history, including research institutions, researchers, seminars and research summaries. Up to January of 2008, seven series of Translation of Qing History had been published, and papers and research literature published on it are practically on Chinese modern history, which to some extent remedied the suspension of the journal Overseas Studies on Chinese Modern History. After 30 years of reform and opening up, domestic studies on the Anti-​ Japanese War achieved abundant research results, and at the same time, an increasing number of overseas studies are translated and published. Japanese atrocities have always been a focus of Chinese researchers. In recent years, while collecting historical data and recording testimony of

240  LEI Yi and DU Jidong surviving victims, scholars in Mainland China also translated a number of foreign studies, among which, John Rabe’s The Diaries of John Rabe (published by Jiangsu People’s Publishing House in 1997)  and Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking (published by The Oriental Press in 1998) are the most influential ones. The former is the record of John Rabe, chairman of the Nanjing Security Zone at that time. As a German citizen (ally of the Japanese) and member of the Nazi party, Rabe’s record is extremely convincing. The latter book made a comprehensive review of the Nanjing Massacre, which is the first detailed record of the Nanjing Massacre in all English-​speaking countries, and whose translation and publication shocked both the Mainland China and all Chinese people throughout the world. Translations of the Nanjing Massacre and other atrocities of the Japanese army are published one after another, mainly including Azuma Shiro’s Diary (published by Jiangsu Education Press in 1999), Minnie Vautrin’s Diary (published by Jiangsu People’s Publishing House in 2000), Noda Masaaki’s War Crimes:  A Japanese Scholar’s Investigation of Soldiers Invading China (published by Guangxi Normal University Press in 2000), Sheldon H. Harris’s Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare 1932–​45 (published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House in 2000), Higashinakano Syudo’s Comprehensive Verification of the Nanjing Massacre (published by Xinhua Publishing House in 2000), Honda Katsuichi’s Interview of the Nanjing Massacre (published by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House in 2001), Matsumura Toshio’s Remaining Questions About the Nanjing Massacre (published by Xinhua Publishing House in 2001), Inoue Hareki’s Lüshun Massacre (published by Dalian Press in 2001), Morimura Seiichi’s Devil’s Satisfaction: Disclosure of Japanese Bacterial Warfare Forces (published by Academy Press in 2003), Dan Winn’s The Supreme Holocaust in China (published by Peking University Press in 2005) and Mizuno Akira’s Japanese Army’s Invasion and Tyranny on Hainan Island (published by Nanhai Publishing House in 2005), and so forth. Due to historical and practical reasons, Sino-​Japanese relations is still one of the most significant bilateral issues, consequently, the study of the history of Sino-​Japanese relations is undoubtedly one of the hotspots, and major translated works of this kind are listed as follows:  Vasco Martins Morgado’s A Guerra Vista de Cantao (published by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press in 2000), Honmura Hideo’s Days Before Japanese Defeat in China (published by Jiangsu Ancient Book Publishing House in 2001), Eguchi Keiichi’s History of Japanese Imperialism:  Centering on the War of Aggression in China (published by World Affairs Press in 2002), Sherman Cochran’s Encountering Chinese Networks:  Western, Japanese and Chinese Corporations in China, 1880–​ 1937 (published by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press in 2002), Herbert P. Bix’s Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (published by Xinhua Publishing House in 2004), Kato Katsuko’s Woe to the Japanese-​Chinese War:  A Journey to Father’s Memory (published by China Radio and Television Publishing House in

Translating overseas studies  241 2004), Mizunaka Haruki’s Truth of Japanese’s Founding University in China (published by Kunlun Publishing House in 2004), Parks M. Coble’s Facing Japan:  Chinese Politics and Japanese Imperialism, 1931–​1937 (published by Social Sciences Academy Press in 2004), Yoda Yoshiie’s A Comparative Study on the Modernization of Japan and China (published by Shanghai Far East Publishing House in 2004), Takeuchi Minori’s Sino-​Japanese Relations (published by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Corporation in 2004), and Nakatsuka Akira’s Restoring the Historical Truth:  How did the Heinigo War Occur? (published by Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House in 2004). Major translated works concerning other contents during the Anti-​ Japanese War are:  Claire Lee Chennault’s Flying Tiger General Chennault (published by Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House in 1998), James Munro Bertram’s Beneath the Shadow: a New Zealander in the Far East, 1939–​ 46 (published by China Peace Publishing House in 2001), Yoda Yoshiie’s Japanese Imperialism (published by Shanghai Far East Publishing House in 2004) and Historical Issues in Modern Japan (published by Shanghai Far East Publishing House in 2004), Noda Masaaki’s War and Crime (published by Kunlun Press in 2004), William Kenning’s Over the Hump (published by Liaoning Education Press in 2005), Maeda Tetsuo’s From Chongqing to London, Tokyo, Hiroshima:  Strategic Bombing During the World War II (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 2007). Translation and publication of research monographs on historical figures made remarkable progress during this period. Political figures represented by Mao Tse-​tung and significant figures in various fields received translators’ attention. The most widely translated and published studies are on Mao Tse-​tung, and among them the most influential one is Translation Series of Overseas Studies on Mao Tse-​tung published by China Renmin University Press from 2005, ranging from Stuart Reynolds Schram’s The Thought of Mao Tse-​Tung, Benjamin Yang’s From Revolution to Politics: Chinese Communists on the Long March, John Bryan Starr’s Continuing the Revolution: the Political Though of Mao, Maurice Meisner’s Marxism, Maoism and Utopianism:  Eight Essays, Frederic Evans Wakeman’s History and Will: Philosophical Perspective of Mao Tse-​Tung’s Thought, Brantly Womack’s The Foundations of Mao Zedong’s Political Thought 1917–​1935, Benjamin I.  Schwartz’s Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao, to Ross Terrill’s Mao: A Biography. Other translations include:  Dick Wilson’s A Biography of Mao Tse-​tung (published by Central Party Literature Press in 2000), The Autobiography of Mao Tse-​tung transcribed by Edgar Snow (published by Qingdao Publishing House in 2003), Philip Short’s Mao:  A Life (published by China Youth Publishing House in 2004), Kondo Kane’s Mao Tse-​tung:  A Revolutionist and Constructor (published by China Youth Publishing House in 2004), Nicolas Trafimovic Federing’s Mao Tse-​tung’s Communication with Stalin and Khrushchev (published by Oriental Publishing House in 2004), and Li Zhong’s

242  LEI Yi and DU Jidong Following Mao Tse-​tung’s Revolutionary Route: Mao Tse-​tung in the Eyes of a Korean (published by People’s Publishing House in 2006). Translations of biographies of other CPC leaders are Dick Wilson’s A Biography of Zhou En-​lai (published by Central Party Literature Press in 2000), and David M.  Beckman’s A Biography of Chen Yun (published by Central Party Literature Press in 2001). Regarding the KMT leaders, there is a translated biography: Jay Taylor’s The Generalissimo’s Son: Chiang Ching-​ kuo and the Revolutions in China and Taiwan (published by Xinhua Publishing House in 2002). Translations of foreign studies on figures of the late Qing Dynasty are: David Pong’s Shen Pao-​chen and China’s Modernization in the Nineteenth Century (published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House in 2000), Katharine A.  Carl’s With the Empress Dowager of China (published by Baijia Publishing House in 2001), Jonathan D.  Spence’s God’s Chinese Son:  Biography of Hong Xiuchuan, Leader of Taiping Rebellion (published by Shanghai Far East Publishers in 2001), Willian John Townsend’s Robert Morrison: The Pioneer of Chinese Missions (published by Elephant Press in 2002), Der Ling’s Imperial Incense (published by Xuelin Publishing House in 2002), Isaac Taylor Headland’s Court Life in China (published by Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House in 2002), John King Fairbank’s Robert Marto Diary, 1835–​ 1911 (published by China Customs Press in 2003), Isaac Taylor Headland’s Court Life in China (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 2004), and so forth. Translated biographies of characters of the Republic of China are:  Pozdinieva’s Biography of Lu Xun (published by Hunan Education Press in 2000), David Edward Pollard’s A Chinese Look at Literature:  The Literature Values of Chou Tso-​jen in Relation to the Tradition (published by Fudan University Press in 2001), Saito’s Brilliant Life of Nie Er (published by Shanghai Music Publishing House in 2003), Frederic Wakeman’s Spy Master: Dai Li and Chinese Secret Service (published by Unity Press in 2004), Min-​chih Chou’s Hu Shih and Intellectual Choice in Modern China (published by Guangxi Normal University Press in 2005), Jeffrey C.  Kinkley’s The Odyssey of Shen Cong-​wen (published by the International Culture Press in 2005), Charlotte Furth’s Ting Wen-​chiang: Science and China’s New Culture (published by New Star Press in 2006), Dora Shu-​Fang Dien’s Ding Ling and Her Mother: A Cultural Psychological Study (published by Xiamen University Press in 2006), and Axel Schneider’s Truth and History: Fu Si-​nian and Chen Yin-​ ke’s Historical Thought and National Identity (published by Social Sciences Academic Press in 2008). The translation and publication of researches on local history is worthy of praise. The most outstanding one was The Series of Translation Concerning Shanghai History published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House from 2003 to 2004, including Ogata Masako’s Publicness of Modern Shanghai and China, Liu Jian-​hui’s Demon Capital Shanghai: The “Modern” Experience of Japanese Intellectuals, Christian Henriot’s Prostitution and Sexuality in

Translating overseas studies  243 Shanghai: A Social History, 1849–​1949, Frederic E Wakeman’s The Shanghai Badlands:  Wartime Terrorism and Urban Crime, 1937–​ 1941, Christian Henriot’s Shanghai, 1927–​1937: Municipal Power, Locality and Modernization, Yuen-​Sang Leung’s The Shanghai Taotai: Linkage Man in a Changing Society, Frederic E.  Wakeman’s Policing Shanghai:  1927–​1937, and Emily Honig’s Creating Chinese Ethnicity: Subei People in Shanghai,1850–​1980. In addition, there are also translations concerning the local history of Wuhan and Hong Kong:  Stephen R.  MacKinnon’s Wuhan, 1938:  War, Refugees, and the Making of Modern China (Wuhan Publishing House, 2008), and Frank Welsh’s A History of Hong Kong (Central Compilation & Translation Press, 2007). Besides the translation series mentioned above, some other translations are listed as following: General monographs:  John King Fairbank’s China:  Tradition & Transformation (World Affairs Press, 2002), Edward Alsworth Ross’s The Changing Chinese:  The Conflict of Oriental and Western Cultures in China (Zhonghua Book Company, 2006), Holcombe Chester’s The Real Chinaman (Zhonghua Book Company, 2006), Arthur H. Smith’s Chinese Characteristics (China Peace Publishing House, 2006), Immanuel C.  Y. Hsu’s The Rise of Modern China (Beijing World Publishing Corporation, 2008). Concerning the history of modern Chinese revolution, major translated works are:  John King Fairbank’s The Great Chinese Revolution, 1800–​1985 (World Affairs Press, 2000), Mark Seiden’s China in Revolution: The Yan’an Way Revisited (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2002), Mitani Takashi’s Secret Societies and Chinese Revolution (China Social Science Press, 2002), David S.  G. Goodman’s Social and Political Change in Revolutionary China:  the Taihang Base Area in the War of Resistance to Japan, 1937–​1945 (China Social Science Press, 2003), Helen Foster Snow’s Red Dust: Autobiographies of Chinese Communists (China Social Press, 2004), Otto Bryan’s China Chronicle (Oriental Press, 2004), Yoshihiro Ishikawa’s Founding of the Communist Party of China (China Social Science Press, 2006), Arif Dirlik’s Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution (Guangxi Normal University Press, 2006), Hans J.  van de Ven’s War and Nationalism in China, 1925–​1945 (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2007), and Elizabeth J. Perry’s Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, 1845–​1945 (The Commercial Press, 2007). As regards political history and military history, major translated works are:  Masumi Matsumoto’s China’s National Policy:  Focused on “National Origin” from the Late Qing Dynasty to 1945 (Nationalities Publishing House, 2003), Bernard Brisset’s The Destruction of The Old Summer Palace (Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 2005), Charlotte’s The Fall of Peking (Shandong Friendship Publishing House, 2005)  and Huaiyin Li’s Village Governance in North China:1875–​1936 (Zhonghua Book Company, 2008). Regarding economic history, major translated works are:  Sherman Cochran’s Big Business in China:  Sino-​ Foreign Rivalry in the Cigarette Industry, 1890–​1930 (The Commercial Press, 2001), and Kathryn Bernhardt’s

244  LEI Yi and DU Jidong Rents, Taxes, and Peasant Resistance: The Lower Yangzi Region, 1840–​1950 (Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2005). Regarding the history of Sino-​ foreign relations, major translated works are:  Mary Gertrude Mason’s Western Concepts of China and the Chinese, 1840–​1976 (Zhonghua Book Company, 2006), John Anthony George Roberts’s China Through Western Eyes, the Nineteenth Century (Current Affairs Press, 1999), Paul A. Cohen & Merle Goldman’s Fairbank Remembered (Oriental Press, 2000), James L.  Hevia’s Cherishing Men from Afar (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2002), Dominic Shi Fong Lee’s The American Missionaries, The Mandarins, and The Opium War (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2004), Carolle J. Carter’s Mission to Yenan: American Liaison with the Chinese Communists, 1944–​1947 (World Affairs Press, 2004), Peter H. Koehn & Xiao-​Huang Yin’s The Expanding Roles of Chinese Americans in U.S–​China Relations: Transnational Networks and Trans-​Pacific Interactions (Xinhua Publishing House, 2004), Muriel Detree’s France-​China: The Collision of Two Worlds (Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2004), W.  Travis Hanes & Frank Sanello’s The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2005), Jun Xing’s Baptized in the Fire of Revolution:  The American Social Gospel and YMCA in China, 1919–​1937 (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2006), Jonathan Goldstein’s China-​ Jews-​ Israel, 1903–​ 2003, A  Hundred Year Retrospective (China Social Science Press, 2006), David E.  Mungello’s The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–​1800 (New Star Press, 2007), and Xu Guoqi’s China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization (Shanghai Joint Publishing Press, 2008). As for social history, major translated works are:  L. C.  Arlington & William Lewisohn’s In Search of Old Peking (Economic Science Press, 1999), George William Skinner’s The City in Late Imperial China (Zhonghua Book Company, 2000), Maurice Freedman’s Lineage Organization in Southeastern China (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000), James Z.  Lee & Wang Feng’s One Quarter of Humanity:  Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities, 1700–​2000 (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2000), Mechthild Leutner’s Birth, Marriage and Death in Beijing: Folk Culture and Elite Culture from the 19th Century to the Present (Zhonghua Book Company, 2001), Brian G. Martin’s The Shanghai Green Gang (Shanghai Joint Publishing Press, 2002), Hiroshi Okada’s Social History of Ethnic Groups in South China (Nationalities Publishing House, 2002), Xin Zhang’s Social Transformation in Modern China:  The State and Local Elites in Henan, 1900–​1937 (Zhonghua Book Company, 2004), Kenneth Pomeranz’s The Making of a Hinterland:  State, Society, and Economy in Inland North China, 1853–​1937 (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2005), Linda Cooke Johnson’s Cities of Jiangnan in Late Imperial China (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2005), and Kathryn Bernhardt’s Women and Property in China, 960–​1949 (Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2007).

Translating overseas studies  245 Regarding cultural history, major translated works are: Jean-​Pierre Drege’s Shanghai Commercial Press, 1897–​1949 (Commercial Press, 2000), Jerome B. Grieder’s Intellectuals and the State in Modern China (Nankai University Press, 2002), Enomoto Yasuko’s Shanghai as the Capital of Musicians: The Beginning of Western Music in Modern China (Shanghai Music Publishing House, 2003), Patrick Hanan’s The Rise of Modern Chinese Novel (Shanghai Education Press, 2004), Herbert Hoi-​ Lap Ho’s Protestant Missionary Publications in Modern China 1912 –​1949 (Sichuan University Press, 2004), David Der-​wei Wang’s Fin-​de-​Siecle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849–​1911 (Peking University Press, 2005), Tarumoto Teruo’s Collected Studies on Chinese Novels of the Late Qing Dynasty (Qilu Publishing House, 2007), Leo Ou-​fan Lee’s Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930–​1945 (Shanghai Joint Publishing Press, 2008), and John Knight Shryock’s The Temples of Anking and Their Cults: A study of Modern Chinese Religion (Anhui University Press, 2008). During this period of time, a great variety of translated studies on modern Chinese history were published. Based on our survey, up to 200 translated books have been published since 1998 (besides studies from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan, there are also researches from Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Israel, the Netherlands, and Canada), roughly the same as that of the previous 50 years, which shows the prosperity of translating and publishing overseas studies, and further reflects that with the continuous deepening of China’s reform and opening up and the increasing of economic strength, both the domestic studies on modern Chinese history and communications with overseas researchers of modern history have entered an unprecedented stage of rapid development.+ While further absorbing and learning from the theories and methods of overseas researches, domestic researchers gave more in-​depth thinking to the foreign viewpoints as well. If we admit that translations before 1966 aimed at criticism and translations during the 20 years before the reform and opening up were virtually accepting and imitating foreign studies, domestic modern historians held a more rational attitude toward overseas researches in the past 10 years and they tended to discuss or refute them after serious meditation upon the Chinese modern history rather than criticizing or accepting it blindly. From a global perspective, the significance of overseas scholars’ theories and models for the study of modern Chinese history lies in urging Chinese researchers to attach more importance to establishing theoretical frameworks and discovering the “gap” in empirical research. After a relatively solid empirical research phase in the 1990s, Chinese researchers came to realize the need to criticize and reflect on western theories consciously and soberly, which will be illustrated by the following examples. 1. Criticism of China-​centered approach. Before 1970, dominant models in the study of modern Chinese history in the United States were Impact-​Response Model, Modern Model (or Tradition-​Modern Model)

246  LEI Yi and DU Jidong and Imperialist Model (or Imperialist-​ Revolutionary model), which was challenged by Paul A.  Cohen in his book Discovering History in China: American Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past, in which Cohen attempted to get rid of the influence of “Western Centralism” and establish the China-​centered approach. In the first three chapters, Cohen explored the prejudice of “Western Centralism” embodied in the three dominant models mentioned above and other research orientations, and raised an objection against studying modern Chinese history in the ideological framework of Imperialist Model, Impact-​Response Model and even with the concept of “modern”, on the basis of which, Cohen put forward the China-​centered approach maintaining that due to China’s unique historical appearance and development course, researchers should conduct historical studies from the perspective of Chinese history and focus on the trajectory of Chinese history and Chinese perceptions of China issues, rather than just from the perspective of western history. Undoubtedly, Cohen’s views shed light on modern Chinese history studies and had a significant impact on later studies. As Xia Ming-​fang proposed, “since the 1990s, the paradigm of studies on modern Chinese history has been increasingly challenged by the China-​centered approach proposed by American Sinologist”.17 In the 21st century, scholars began to criticize the defects and internal contradictions of the China-​centered approach, among which, Xia Ming-​fang’s criticism was the most comprehensive and in-​depth. Xia Ming-​fang summarized the three core arguments of Cohen as “De-​ impact Theory” (in terms of the dynamics of historical development), “De-​ modernization Theory” (in terms of its direction) and “De-​Imperialism” (in terms of its subject), which conforms to the trend of the anti-​European Centralism that has arisen in European and American intellectual circles, and consoles the Chinese scholars who are unwilling to face up to or deliberately avoid and even forget the bitter reality of modern China, therefore, has made an increasingly wide-​ranging impact once it was transmitted to China. However, Xia Ming-​fang argued that Cohen actually took “a strategy similar to tug-​of-​war”, in that Cohen insisted on searching for the inner driving force for Chinese history to take the place of former “western shock” theory; to counter the former perspective of binary opposition between tradition and modernity, Cohen tried to erase the difference between the two; Cohen proposed to weaken the influence of imperialism, thus replacing the previous argument that imperialism played a decisive role, whether it was good or bad. “Cohen’s theory went too far to the opposite pole, so that it may seriously restrain our thinking while stimulating the historical imagination”. Xia Ming-​ fang contended that though the popularity of Cohen’s theory in China was “a further reaction to the dogmatized Marxism”, the result seems to be neither the restoration of historical materialism nor the establishment of a new

Translating overseas studies  247 paradigm of Chinese style with local characteristics, hence a new dogmatized Marxism.18 Luo Zhi-​tian pointed out that the proposal of “discovering history in China” became so popular in China that quite a number of scholars accepted it without carefully examining the original intention of the author, thereby making its “image” somewhat blurred. Cohen’s orientation was originally for western scholars’ studies on Chinese history, thus not necessarily fit for scholars of mainland China, who had always focused their researches on the domestic factors while neglecting the foreign ones. “Since western thoughts has been integrated into Chinese traditions, and there has been a tradition of conducting researches in western framework or with western concepts, it is most advisable for Chinese scholars to study history restricted to China, that is, to discover the history of China rather than ‘discovering history in China’ ”.19 2. Reflection on the Skinner Model. A mind-​boggling number of researches were focused on Chinese social history in the United States, whereas fewer were devoted to political history and diplomatic history. Researchers like William Skinner dissected China’s social and economic changes, and put forward China Historical Geographic Information Systems (CHGIS),20 which was not only widely acclaimed in the international community and adopted as the theoretical framework in social-​economy studies, but also greatly inspired Chinese researchers, giving rise to a considerable number of influential researches in this field.21 Nevertheless, Chinese researchers gradually discovered the defects and inner contradictions in the Skinner Model, and made criticisms on the basis of empirical researches later, among which, the hexagonal-​shaped market theory received most. Quite a lot of researchers argued that the hexagonal-​shaped market theory was deduced from William Skinner’s studies on the Chengdu Plain and the deduction was problematic; still many a researcher held that it was wrong to apply the theory in the whole of China which was Chengdu-​specific; and others contended that the theory was a replication of a European model. Wang Qing-​cheng questioned the Skinner Model after a thorough study of markets and market circles in North China during the late Qing Dynasty on the basis of dozens of local chronicles,22 which was regarded as “one of the few that are of the same significance as William Skinner’s”.23 Comparing researches of Chinese with foreign scholars in this field, we can find that it is inevitable that foreign researches are questioned due to incomplete first-​hand data, hence a model or theory mainly based on cumbersome theoretical derivation or logical reasoning. Therefore, Papers of Wang Qing-​cheng, Shi Jian-​yun, Ren Fang and Huang Zheng-​lin published on Modern Chinese History Studies proposed dialogues between researchers at home and abroad, and a response to the view of western cultural hegemony in Chinese humanities and social

248  LEI Yi and DU Jidong sciences. Academic discussions of this kind inspired a thought-​provoking issue, that is, how to apply foreign theoretical frameworks and analysis models to China studies. 3. Discussion on The Great Divergence:  China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Kenneth Pomeranz, 2000). Since the 1980s, due to the long-​term infiltration of new economic history, foreign researchers, the Americans in particular, have begun to study Chinese economic history in the framework of new economic history, giving rise to the California School (a group of scholars from the University of California focused their researches on Chinese economic history), among whom William Skinner is one who proposed Skinner Model, on the basis of his researches of rural society and the urbanization of China in the framework of the market system theory and regional system theory combined with central place theory, spatial network theory and so forth, which has made a major impact on the study of modern Chinese history in terms of modern market history, urban history and population history. Other representative scholars are Roy Bin Wong, James Lee, Andre Gunder Frank, Goldstone, Kenneth Pomeranz, and Bo-​zhong Li who once visited and gave lectures in California. The California School featured their researches for “a popular trend in academic re-​evaluation of Chinese history and world history”, and reached a consensus that China in the 18th century was more prosperous than previous researchers had expected, although there are still a handful of controversial issues. Representative research results are listed as the following:  One Quarter of Humanity, Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities 1700–​2000 (Wang Feng & James Z.  Lee, 1999), China Transformed:  Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience (R. Bin Wong, 1999), ReORIENT:  Global Economy in the Asian Age (Andre Gunder Frank, 1998) and The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Kenneth Pomeranz, 2000). Among the works mentioned above, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy is the most influential one in the Chinese academic community. To find out why the industrial revolution occurred in Western Europe and what are the unique endogenous advantages of Western Europe that led to the industrial revolution, Kenneth Pomeranz sorted and conducted a regional comparative analysis of a variety of viewpoints of Western European centralism, and finally arrive at a novel conclusion: the East and the West were on roughly the same development path, and the latter did not show any unique endogenous advantages, whereas in the late 18th and early 19th century, the two chose different paths and the gap between them became increasingly huge, which resulted from the following two main reasons: development of the Americans and the superior geographical location of the British coal mines.

Translating overseas studies  249 Ever since its publication, The Great Divergence:  China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy has attracted widespread attention and sparked heated discussion, among which, Philip C. C. Huang and Wang Jia-​ fan both got papers published to criticize Kenneth Pomeranz’s viewpoints.24 Shi Jian-​yun, translator of the book The Great Divergence:  China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy, criticized the plausible logic and argument of this book, in that Kenneth Pomeranz compared the various elements of Western European centralism with those of other areas respectively, but arrived at a conclusion that Western European countries did not show any unique endogenous advantages on the basis that there was no one single area sharing exactly the same elements and development path as the Western European countries. The problem of Kenneth Pomeranz’s logic lies in that there is definitely at least one area that does share the same particular element worldwide. In Shi Jian-​yun’s view, modernization is such a systematic project that a combination of various factors contribute to it, that is to say, Great Britain of the 18th century possessed the most advantages and conditions for modernization, followed by Southern China and Japan, with India and Africa possessing only one. Therefore, even if Britain possessed one single unique endogenous factor, it stood to reason that it was in Britain that modernization first took place. The advantages that Southern China did not have were probably not important and did not play a decisive role in its modernization, nevertheless, combining with other factors, constituted a critical advantage for Britain. In other words, the unique endogenous advantage of Great Britain was that it possessed the most advantages and conditions at the same time.25 4. Review of the postmodernism in historiography. Postmodernism is such an esoteric concept that it is in constant change and has penetrated into all aspects of contemporary society, such as natural science, philosophy, humanities and social sciences, hence more an ideology than a “state”. To grasp the connotation of postmodernism, we must first understand its denotation. The so-​called modernism implies the best method and approach, whose defining characteristics are the complete belief and trust in science and technology, speaking highly of the positive effects of technology, and the belief that development is inevitable and desirable. Formally speaking, postmodernism is a trend of thought that originates from modernism and suspects and even rebels against it at the same time; in terms of its content, postmodernism is the contemplation of and response to the negative effects of industrial civilization, deconstruction of problems arising in the process of modernization, such as the deprivation of subjectivity, rigidifying human senses, integrality, centrality and identity of mechanism, and criticism of such western traditional philosophy as essentialism, foundationalism, metaphysics and logocentism; in essence, postmodernism is

250  LEI Yi and DU Jidong the correction of and rebellion against western traditional philosophy and western modern society, aiming to abandon the basic premise and normative content of modernity, and even the ideas of modernity. If modernism aims to seek eternal truths, then postmodernism is the suspicion of the claimed eternal truths; if modernism aims to seek a clear representation of knowledge, then postmodernism contends that knowledge is in constant change as the human enters the post-​industrial era. In a word, the representative nature of postmodernism is its rejection of the characteristics of modernism, and replacing it with such ideas as belief diversity, comprehensively examining the results of technology and reflecting upon the inevitability of development and whether “technological development” belongs to it or not. While encompassing a wide variety of approaches, postmodernism is generally defined by an attitude of skepticism, irony, or rejection toward the meta-​ narratives and ideologies of modernism, often calling into question various assumptions of Enlightenment rationality. Consequently, common targets of postmodern critique include universalist notions of objective reality, morality, truth, human nature, reason, language, and social progress. After the ideologies of postmodernism were introduced into the field of historical research, postmodern historiography came into being, whose central tenets are the view that history is what humans make of it, and historical facts are inaccessible, leaving the historian to his or her imagination and ideological bent to reconstruct what happened in the past, namely, multiple “historical truths” exist. Postmodern historiography aims to thoroughly criticize modern historiography and even overthrow all its ideologies, while focusing on the study of non-​central, non-​elite and irrational history, that is, to study the pluralistic, diverse, non-​Western, marginal, ordinary, subordinate, feminine and incidental history, thereby known as “microscopic narrative”. Additionally, postmodern historiography advocates constructing historical plots and scenes, plot imagination and counterfactual studies.26 Paul A. Cohen’s History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth, a work deeply influenced by postmodernism, is designed to expound Cohen’s views on history and historical research in telling the history of the Boxer Movement, rather than merely describing it. Taking the Boxer Movement as an example, Cohen shared with readers his understanding of such questions as what is history, how should history be viewed, and how does the history the human experienced, history in historians’ books and that in mythology, interact with one or another? The first part of the book narrates history from historians’ view; the second part examines the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of various people, home and abroad, involved in the Boxer Movement, which shows a striking difference with the history reshaped by historians; the third part reviews the myths of the Boxers (including the red lanterns: a female organization of the Boxers, taking its name from members’ red dress and lanterns held in the hand) produced in China in the 20th century. Cohen asserts that human experiences and mythology are more convincing and thus of greater influence on ordinary readers. In the introductory

Translating overseas studies  251 part of the book, Cohen points out “the history reshaped in historians’ books is different from the history people experienced, no matter how the historical materials that historians can choose and their actual selection is close to the historical truth and human experiences, the history depicted in historians’ books is certainly different from the real history in some respects”. “Extremely absorbed with the uncertainty, incompleteness and ephemerality of history, historians make every effort to understand and interpret history with the materials they collected and their own imagination, only to find that their interpretation is neither a restoration of the real history nor a simple demonstration of historical narrators’ values and aspirations”. Therefore, “historians ought to seek a certain balance between the present and the past when reshaping history, in the process of which historians should also adjust their own ideas constantly”. Undoubtedly, all the views of Cohen above are of great inspiration to Chinese historians, and the postmodern tendencies in the book deserve our attention. As Hayden White, a representative of postmodern theory, claimed that “the manifest historical text is marked by strategies of explanation, which include explanation by argument, explanation by employment, and explanation by ideological implication. Historical writing was influenced by literary writing in many ways, sharing the strong reliance on narrative for meaning, therefore eliminating the possibility of objective or truly scientific history”.27 Quite a lot of criticism arose in the Chinese academic community on postmodern tendencies in historiography; as Yu He-​ping stated “they are essentially an anti-​science historical nihilism, which has a positive effect on Western centralism and enriches historical research, yet has such negative effects as fragmented and pseudo-​history”.28 After detailed study of the related history of Cai E and Xiao Feng-​xian, Zeng Ye-​ying argued that historians cannot follow the postmodern tendencies blindly, instead, great importance ought to be attached to verification of historical materials. “Historical researchers, whose tenet is to seek truth, will never accept such practices as denying the credibility of historical materials indiscriminately, denying the possibility of seeking historical truth, denying the objectivity of historical knowledge, asserting that it is not necessary to test the authenticity of historical materials and historical facts, or even attempt to ‘liberate’ historians from academic norms and overthrow the traditional methods of historical studies”.29 The above-​mentioned reflections, discussions and criticisms demonstrate the ideological tendency of Chinese scholars to establish a new paradigm with local characteristics, indicating the maturity and profoundness of Chinese scholars in academic dialogues with international researchers in the 21st century. All in all, over the past 60  years, the translation of overseas works on modern Chinese history research entered a period of prosperity after going through tortuous development, just like the history of the People’s Republic of China. However, there are still hidden concerns behind the prosperity, namely, the quality of translations is deteriorating, and mistakes and mistranslations

252  LEI Yi and DU Jidong might mislead future research, which will eventually generate readers’ doubts of the accuracy of translations and thereby bring about serious damage to translations themselves that are essential to academic development. Consequently, the top priority of translators is to improve translation quality. At present, the challenge that every researcher must face is how to absorb the quintessence of translated works, rather than take them in blindly and copy them mechanically, which is even more difficult yet most important.

Notes 1 Morse, Hosea B. The International Relations of the Chinese Empire. Trans. Zhang Huiwen. Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1957. 2 Shao Xunzheng, “Preface”, The International Relations of the Chinese Empire (Chinese Version), By Zhang Huiwen, Shanghai:  SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1957. 3 Dennett, Tyler. Americans in Eastern Asia. Trans. Yao Zengyi. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1959. 4 Wright, Stanley F. China’s Struggle for Tariff Autonomy, 1843–​1938. Trans. Yao Zengyi. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1958. 5 Joseph, Philip F. Foreign Diplomacy in China: 1894–​1900. Trans. Hu Bin. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1959. 6 Willoughby, Westel W.  Foreign Rights and Interests in China. Trans. Wang Shaofang. Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1957. 7 Pelcovits, Nathan A. Old China Hands and the Foreign Office. Trans. Jiang Zaihua and Chen Heng. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1960. 8 Data Compilation Group in Institute of modern history, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (ed.), Chinese History in Foreign Bourgeois’ Eye:  Selected Translation of Works of Western Reactionary Scholars on Chinese Modern History. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1961. 9 Data Compilation Group in Institute of modern history, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (ed.), Foreign Bourgeois’ Views on Chinese Modern History. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1963. 10 Data Compilation Group in Institute of modern history, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (ed.), Chinese History in Foreign Bourgeois’ Eye:  Selected Translation of Works of Western Reactionary Scholars on Chinese Modern History. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1961. 11 The original Russian version was under the general editorship of Tikhvinskiy, a famous historian and sinologist. 12 Tikhvinskiy, Chinese Modern History. Trans. History Department of Beijing Normal University, History Department of Peking University and Russian Translation Group of Peking University. Shanghai:  SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1974. 13 It is cited from Editors’ Note of the initial issue of Overseas Studies on Chinese Modern History (1980). 14 The initial issue of the journal was published in 1990 and publication was stopped in 1996. 15 Liu Dong, Overseas China Studies, Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 1988.

Translating overseas studies  253 16 Rozman, Gilbert. The Modernization of China. Trans. “Comparative Studies of Modernization” Research Team funded by National Social Science Foundation. Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 1988. 17 Xia Mingfang, A  Modern Chinese History without “Modern”:  Using Paul A.Cohen’s “Three Theories” to Look at the Inner Logic of the “China Centered Approach” and its Predicament, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2007 (1). 18 Xia Mingfang, A  Modern Chinese History without “Modern”:  Using Paul A. Cohen’s “Three Theories” to Look at the Inner Logic of the “China Centered Approach” and its Predicament, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2007 (1). 19 Luo Zhitian, Discovering History in China, Journal of Peking University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2004 (5). 20 Ren Fang, The Skinner Model and Modern Chinese History Studies, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2004 (4). 21 For instance:  Wang Di, Studies on the Society in Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River, Beijing:  Zhonghua Book Company, 1993; Shan Qiang, Studies on the Market in Jiangnan Area, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1999. 22 Wang Qingcheng, North China’s Rural Markets and Marketing Areas in the Late Qing Period, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2004 (4). 23 Shi Jianyun, Thoughts on G. William Skinner’s Market Theory, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2004 (4). 24 Huang, Philip C., Development or Involution? Great Britain in the Eighteenth Century and China –​A Comment on The Great Divergence: Europe, China, and the Modern World Economy by Kenneth Pomeranz, Historical Research, 2002 (4); Wang Jia-​fan, Challenge Chinese Social Economic History Study Confronts with: Response to Consciousness of Problem of Great Divergence, Historical Review, 2004 (4). 25 Shi Jianyun, The Reaction of the Book The Great Divergence: Europe, China, and the Modern World Economy in Chinese and foreign academic circles, 26 January 2019, . 26 Yu He-​ping, “Researches on Modern Chinese History”. Proceedings of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 26 June 2007. 27 Wang Rong-​zu, “The Trend of Chinese Modern History under the Postmodern Thoughts”. Collected Papers of History Studies. Taipei:  Institute of Modern History of Academia Sinica, 2007 (56), 165. 28 Yu Heping. “Researches on Modern Chinese History”. Proceedings of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 26 June 2007. 29 Zeng Yeying, Cai E and Xiao Fengxian: Including a Discussion of the Problems of Authenticating Historic Data and Verifying Historic Facts. Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (1).

9 Modern Chinese history studies from 2009 to 20191 ZENG Yeying

As we all know, since China’s reform and opening up in the late 1970s, Modern Chinese History studies has entered a period of unprecedented prosperity and development. Such a trend continued well into the 10-​year period from 2009 to 2019, with fruitful research results having been achieved in various fields, such as politics, economy, thought, culture and society from 2009 to 2019. And at the same time, Modern Chinese History studies of the period has demonstrated several new features, of which an introductory synopsis is presented in the following. It should be noted that, because of the fact that different researchers vary to a great extent in their interest and focus, accordingly they differ greatly in what they have achieved. And nowadays many of the reference materials, such as the collation and publication of various archives, translations of and introduction to overseas research works, are made much more accessible thanks to scientific and technological progress.

9.1  Historical theories, methods and seminal discussions Historical theories and methods have always been among the most focused issues in history studies including Modern Chinese History studies. In the past 10 years, in addition to continued affirmation of the necessity to draw on those Western contemporary valuable historical theories and methods, scholars have also emphasized that those of vision are well advised to follow Marxist theory and method, while keeping on guard against the various ideological trends against historical materialism. Research has been carried out on how to accurately understand and develop Marxist historical materialism and how to spread it in China as well as on how to construct Chinese Marxist history studies, meanwhile the historical nihilist trend of thought has been placed under criticism for its intensified denial of the Chinese revolution for many years. At the same time, in a contrast with the past, academic exchanging of ideas and discussions with the spirit of equality and in an outspoken manner have also prevailed.

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  255 9.1.1  Historical materialism and its understanding and development In view of the fact that some history researchers used to believe in historical materialism but no longer do so now, some, as half-​believers, no longer use it as a powerful tool for historical analysis but instead regard it merely as an empty label, and others would not take it as a scientific truth at all but dismiss it with rejection, it is argued by some scholars that such phenomena can be mainly attributed to the fact that we failed to present historical materialism in a complete and convincing manner. Therefore, while defending the scientific system and basic principles of historical materialism, we should pay attention to identifying and making up for the inadequacies in its application, and work toward its enrichment and development. It is also pointed out that the traditional interpretation of historical materialism is made against a specific historical background to meet specific needs, and is inevitably inaccurate, biased and oversimplified in one way or another. It is necessary to “go back to Marx, have a genuine reading of the original works and reinterpret historical materialism for a comprehensive analysis of major historical and practical issues”. This is the key to restoring the vitality and influence of historical materialism. It is also proposed that we should adhere to and develop historical materialism from three aspects. First, we should further create a theoretical atmosphere for studying the original works of Marxism; second, we should use historical materialism to further summarize and interpret the theory of Chinese historiography; third, under the guidance of historical materialism, we should formulate new questions, do analysis and obtain new conclusions from the reality of Chinese history and Chinese historiography. In the face of various new historical theories and methods, historical materialism needs to be further developed with an open mind, while actively absorbing their justifiable elements and excellent achievements, and enhancing its own strength of compatibility, rather than isolating itself from the trend of world historiography.2 It is also believed that constructing historical materialist hermeneutics must, on the premise of upholding the objectivity and precedence of historical facts, overcome subjectivity, relativity and pluralism in historical evaluation, and strive to establish shared historical values and write the common history of mankind.3 9.1.2  The spread of historical materialism in China Previous research on the acceptance and spread of Marxism in modern China was basically focused on its role as a persevering revolutionary guiding theory, with an emphasis on its well formulated theoretical system characterizing its rich achievements of the period. As one of the research results, it was found out that Wu Enyu is the first non-​party figure in the history of spreading historical materialism in China, as he learned about Marxism when he was a young student before he went to Tsinghua University later and then

256  ZENG Yeying to the United Kingdom and continued to study historical materialism under Laskie. After returning to China, he published a highly influential work in this area of study. This reflects to some extent the connection between academic intellectuals and the historical process of Chinese translation, research, and dissemination of historical materialism. Ye Qing, a theorist of the Kuomintang’s Three Principles of the People, using the knowledge of Marxist theory he obtained from various sources during the period of time from his going to study in Paris to his being arrested by the Kuomintang, analyzed and propagated the world revolution, the Chinese revolution, and the revolution of the Communist Party of China; what he did was really beneficial to the development of the revolution, although his understanding and application of Marxism was rather pragmatic, and far from a full formation of an independent theoretical system.4 A few scholars believe that ever since the materialist conception of history entered China as a “new trend of thought” after World War I, it has embarked on a journey of theoretical compromise wavering between “materialism” and “idealism”. The original “economic determinism” theory repeatedly plunged people into a predicament of material and willpower mutually excluding each other. However, the Russian Revolution with its remarkable success had proved the powerful force of the revolutionary will to break through the material limitations. As far as the theory itself is concerned, the rational and material deduction logic of historical materialism ultimately points to a bipolar society with strong emotional stimuli, thus implying a promising mentality of striving for innovations through conflicts.5 Moreover, academically Gu Jiegang during the Republic of China did not exclude historical materialism. As early as the 1920s, he expressed his appreciation for writings using historical materialism. In the early 1930s, he expressed his willingness to accept historical materialism, and later embodied it in his research on ancient history. Although he criticized the debate on social history, his criticism was mainly targeted at “setting as the sole criterion” and “formalism” of historical materialism as was demonstrated in some scholars of the time.6 It is also held by some scholars that Li Dazhao was the first to spread Marxist historical materialism in China, and made three major contributions. One is having set up courses on “studies of historical materialism” at Peking University and other universities, which had cultivated the first generation of key talents with a good knowledge of Marxist historical materialism for the revolutionary cause led by the Communist Party of China. The second is taking historical materialism as a truth for guiding the study of Chinese historical culture and moral reconstruction. The third is using historical materialism to explore the pathway leading China’s development and to have oriented China to socialism. After an examination of how historical materialism evolved in modern China, some scholars believe that historical materialism, as the foundation and backbone of Marxist theory, was introduced into China during the May 4th Movement in the 20th century and was taken as both a view of history and an outlook on life and of society. Dialectical materialism became

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  257 popular in the 1920s, whereas historical materialism was reduced to a status of derived theory. In the 1930s, it was equated with the theory of social form, and then developed into historical materialism under dialectical materialism, which constituted the basic content of Chinese Marxist historical methodology. In 1938, as the call for “localization of historical materialism in China” emerged, the dialectics of the unity of opposites ultimately guided the historical materialism to the theory of class struggle.7 9.1.3  The establishment of Marxist historiography in China It is an area that witnesses very rich research results. According to a few scholars, as early as in the 1930s a group of historians began to engage themselves in the study of Chinese history with Marxist historical view and methodology. They had created a number of Marxist historical works and preliminarily established the research pedigree of Chinese Marxist history. Their actual accomplishments included:  having established the historical view of materialism, and taken it as the guiding ideology to respond to and solve the realistic problems of Chinese society, having explored and used the research methods of Marxist historiography, having opened up and expanded many new areas of historiography research, and having refined and analyzed the categories and problems of Chinese historical research.8 In an examination of the development of Chinese Marxist historiography, it was pointed out that Chinese Marxist historiography has its own academic roots and origins, and that it has transcended and sublated the new historiography in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore it is closely related to the history of Chinese revolution, to the international communist movement, and to the process of Chinese localization of Marxism, being a scientific and academic form with Chinese characteristics. As a combination of historical materialism with Chinese history, Chinese Marxist historiography for the first time has successfully revealed the internal regularity of Chinese history, having made great theoretical contributions to Chinese localization of Marxism, and introduced scientific thinking methodology and research methodology to Chinese history through its unprecedented exploration, research and formulation of a series of theoretical propositions to the great enrichment and deepening of our knowledge of history. Some scholars were also able to show that an academic community of Chinese Marxist historiography came into formation as a result of the debate on Chinese social history in the 1930s after they studied its process. The historians of such a community had elucidated the basic principles of historical materialism in theory on one hand, and on the other they had applied historical materialism to research practice, having thus achieved revolutionary and scientific unity on Marxist historiography in the process of debate against various anti-​Marxist schools of thought. Since its establishment, Chinese Marxist historiography has gradually formed the following two unique characters:  one is to seek the truth of history as its primary purpose, emphasizing seeking truth from facts and specific analysis,

258  ZENG Yeying reflecting the scientific attribute of historical research; the other is to give full play to the practical application of historiography, particularly in its service to reality. Truth seeking and practicality, namely being both scientific and realistic, are the very dual character of Chinese Marxist historiography.9 In addition, under some investigation were the contributions made by those famous historians in the establishment of Chinese Marxist historiography. For example, Fu Yiling has experienced fundamental transformation from his “identification with” to “self-​consciousness” of and finally to “sublimation” of Marxist historical materialism in his adhering to the path of “making statements from history” and “seeking truth from facts” and the approach of combining literature review with field investigation, by which he has comprehensively studied various aspects such as the evolution of Chinese social form, the coexistence of old and new factors in Chinese society, its class struggles, social contradictions, peasant wars and tenant farmers’ struggles against rent, the evaluation of historical figures, history of China’s commerce and history of maritime trade. Fan Wenlan being one of the few historians who fully devoted himself to the compilation of Chinese general history, his Concise General History of China is a systematic narrative of Chinese history with Marxist theory and perspective, and at the same time with strong national characteristics, having thus maintained a good balance between “truth seeking” and “practical application” created a completely new system of Chinese general history. Rong Yuyuan has made great achievements in the study of modern Chinese history by applying historical materialism.10 9.1.4  Criticism of historical nihilism Since the reform and opening up, and along with the profound changes of the domestic and foreign environment, there has been now and then a historical nihilism in disdaining or even completely denying the national history and national culture, especially the history of Chinese revolution and socialist construction, which has aroused concern and anxiety among many of the historical researchers who are concerned about the fate of the country and the nation. First of all, in-​depth analysis and criticism has been done on the origin, performance and harmfulness of historical nihilism. For example, it has been pointed out that “in modern China, historical nihilism is a wrong trend of thought corresponding to the theory of ‘total Westernization’. However, the ideological trend of historical nihilism arising in the new historical condition has its own characteristics:  its concentrated expression and explicitly articulated purpose is ‘farewell to the revolution’; its attempted reversion of the settled cases in the disguise of ‘academic research’, demonstrating a clear political appeal. Its main manifestations are as follows: praising reform while denying the historical progressiveness of revolution; advocating national nihilism; praising the contribution of foreign invasion and denying the Chinese people’s anti-​aggression struggle for national salvation; reversing the

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  259 evaluation of the historical figures; denying the historical achievements by the Communist Party of China leading the people’s revolution and socialist construction. The ideological trend of historical nihilism has made a serious adverse effect and thus produced great harm”. “Historical nihilism, under the banner of ‘academic reflection’ and in the name of ‘restoring history’ and ‘re-​ writing history’, denies the history of the CPC and distorts Chinese history. Such historical view ignores the internal relationships and causal relationships of historical phenomena and turns blind eyes to the historical laws; it not only harms the historical research in China, but interferes via mass media with the thoughts of the cadres and the masses at large, causing confusion on such major issues as ‘what banner to hold, what path to take, and what goal to advance towards’. We must take a clear and firm stand fighting against such trend”. It is also pointed out that the ideological trend of historical nihilism not only permeates the field of history, but also extends itself to literature, film and television, and network media. It also appears in the disguise of anti-​ nihilism in history and with a new posture of “theorization” and “academic research”, going from nihilating traditional Chinese culture and the historical view of modern Chinese history development to nihilating Marxism, the socialist road since the 20th century, and finally nihilating the historical view of the mainstream contemporary Chinese ideology.11 The most effective way to resist historical nihilism is to carry out an empirical research on and to restore the “nihilated” and “real” history by historical nihilism. Research has been done on the original intention of Marx’s creation of historical materialism, on its revelation of the law of social development of mankind through empirical research, and on its verification and self-​development in ever-​changing reality, having proposed that historical materialism is a real empirical science but with the character of historical philosophy at the same time, and it is a powerful ideological weapon to resist all kinds of wrong thoughts.12 9.1.5  Equal and straightforward discussions Academic discussions are effective ways to promote academic research and prosperity. In order to promote historical research, as early as in the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong personally put forward the policy of “letting a hundred schools of thought contend with each other” for the journal Historical Research, soon to be published. Then later, he once again officially announced at the top-​level state conference “letting a hundred flowers blossom together and a hundred schools of thought contend to make progress” in arts and sciences. However, perhaps it was because of the lingering fear of the political criticisms in the past, for fear of tongue slips incurring troubles, or perhaps it was because of the prevailing face-​saving sensibilities and of the idea of everyone fending for oneself, for a period of time, equal and straightforward academic discussions have hardly been seen in history studies, which remained silent and left behind

260  ZENG Yeying compared with the situation in literature, philosophy, economy and other academic circles. Yet it is gratifying that in the past 10  years, such dreariness changed significantly. Below are some illustrative examples. Having investigated the sharing system of foreign customs duties in the late Qing Dynasty, Chen Yong came up with the view that “the sharing and deduction of the customs duties served to have facilitated an overall intervention of the foreign customs commissioners in China’s tariff collection. While it was a fact that the customs power was compromised, the system also enabled the Qing court to “basically have solved the problem of information asymmetry in the process of tariff collection by using the reports of the customs commissioners to check and supervise the accounts”. The principle of “taking out the proportional amount of expenditure according to the amount of customs profit” also changed for better the situation of “incentive incompatibility” in the process of tariff distribution. But such a view was not shared by Wang Ruicheng, who argued that Chen’s view was simply a misinterpretation of the role of the sharing system and the argument missed the point in its failure to make reference to the general customs system. However, in his immediate response to such remark, Chen Yong repudiated almost all the criticisms with his refutation, arguing that Wang mis-​targeted his criticism since the tariff sharing system was much different from the tax sharing of the budget system, and that the tariff sharing system could not be simply denied. Their discussion and argument was frank and straightforward.13 Another study was made on the claim that Chiang Kai Shek deliberately left safety to the Red Army in the period of “Long March”. It was concluded that while some of Chiang Kai Shek’s decisions in their outcome might turn out to be conducive to the Red Army’s breakthrough, yet it was far from an intentional act by Chiang Kai Shek. Although Chiang Kai Shek later unified the southwest by taking the opportunity of “pursuing and suppressing the Red Army”, yet it should not be inversely deduced that he had deliberately created opportunity for the Communist Party to have “moved westward”. In Chiang Kai Shek’s heart, “the pursuit and suppression of the Red Army” had always been the primary concern, and it was his deep regret that he had failed to have achieved a full success, whereas his unification of the southwest of China was but a consolation of his loss. Multiple complicated factors contributed to the fact that Chiang Kai Shek did not send more of his central troops to participate in the “pursuit and suppression”. In his decision-​making process, there had been no lack of Chiang Kai Shek’s ingenuity of plotting and game playing with the local power factions, yet he had by no means any intention to let the Red Army go free. A few scholars held the view that no hard evidence has been found so far to support the claim that during the fifth “encirclement and suppression campaign” Chiang Kai Shek purposefully oppressed and induced the Central Red Army to break through the encirclement and to move westward, just following his predetermined plan, time and direction, by way of having weakened the

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  261 defense lines of the South and West while having strengthened or retarded the advance of the north and east lines.14 Shang Xiaoming’s A Re-​examination of the Assassination of Song Jiaoren15 (Social Science Academic Press, 2018)  was believed to have made “the greatest achievement in the narration of historical events, though as a criminal case there is still room for in-​depth analysis. At the same time, it provides inspirations for the investigation in changing perspectives. Although there are still some details worthy of further consideration, there are substantial innovations in the collection and comprehensive use of materials and in the examination of the case. The author intends to explore the cause and effect of the political tragedy of Song’s assassination, so as to highlight the complexity and arduousness of modern political and legal transformation”.16

9.2  A political history of the Late Qing The study of political history in the late Qing Dynasty in the past 10 years has shown two major characteristics: one is that the research is still following the track formed after the 1990s focusing on the Qing’s governance; whereas the other is that many subjects which used to be hot topics and therefore had rich research results had some new achievements. On the governance of the Qing Dynasty, much research has been done including Mao Haijian’s The Other Side of the Reform Movement of 1898:  Reading Notes on “Zhang Zhidong’s Archives” (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2014), Pan Chong’s Research on the Five Ministers’ Visiting Abroad in the Late Qing Dynasty (China Social Sciences Press, 2014), Shi Xinheng’s Research on Ti-​fashi in the late Qing Dynasty (Social Sciences Academic Press), Rong Xinchun’s The Road of China in the Late Qing Dynasty (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2014), Wang Kaixi’s Political History of the Late Qing Dynasty:  Unprecedented Changes in a Thousand Years (Oriental Press, 2016), Ding Yizhuang and Qiu Yuanyuan’s 500 Li’s around the Capital City:  the Eight-​ Banners Owned Lands and Villages around Beijing in the Qing Dynasty (China Social Sciences Press, 2016), Han Ce’s The Imperial Examination Reform and the Last Jinshi (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2017), and Ma Ping’an’s Cixi and the Sixty Years of the Late Qing Dynasty (New Century Publishing House, 2017). In addition to the monographs above, the research papers in the past ten years have been mainly focused on the following issues: The first is the research on the ruling policy of the Qing government. One subject under examination is the Qing government’s policy of governing Tibet.17 Another research is on the impacts of the late Qing reform on the curriculum design and instructional content of the Eight-​Banners Academy.18 Still another research, with close examination and reflection, is on the Li Xue Guan, which was established in 1907, and its engagement in the revision of the etiquette system as well as the process and results of its involvement in the legal revision affairs, pointing out that while its initial aim was revising the

262  ZENG Yeying etiquette system in line with the constitutional requirements, the outcome was just a new law temporarily retaining traditional rituals as a result of repeated disputes and compromises between the Li Xue Guan and the Law Revising House.19 Zhao Hu investigated the relationship between the Government Supervising Office and the New Governance in the late Qing Dynasty, and he concluded that the Government Supervising Office as an important new institution set up by the Qing government during the New Governance period played a key role in the preparation of the constitution.20 Yang Nianqun reexamined how the late Qing examination system went from “reform” to “abolition” and what social impact it had produced, and he pointed out that the imperial examination system actually had dual functions of humanities and official training in the selection of talents, and its abolition led to the termination of selecting “officials” from “scholars” in the traditional society, with the gentry society subsequently coming to an end, together with the disappearance of the Chinese rural “representative” practice.21 Guan Xiaohong compared and contrasted the two official selection systems, one being the examination system and the other the selective election system, in terms of both the links and differences in their approaches, rules, and norms, having closely examined and analyzed the change track from the early Qing Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. Guan held that due to the fact that the selection of officials in the imperial examination was only one of the many intertwined channels for the people of the Han nationality to be chosen officials, particularly considering the establishment of the official system all through the Qing dynasty, the actual impact of those arising from the imperial examinations on the officialdom was much limited.22 The second is the research on the relationship between Manchu and Han people. During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu-​Han relationship was an important issue affecting the social development process, and its evolution not only determined the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty, but also had a profound impact on the historical trend of the Republic of China. Research in this area, among many other works, includes Research on Manchu-​Han Relations in the Qing Dynasty (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2011), edited by the Political History Research Office of the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which is a collection of 41 papers covering Manchu-​Han relations in different periods of the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Jian in his review of the history of the Cangzhou Garrison pointed out that the study of the history of Manchu-​Han relations in the late Qing Dynasty should be traced back to the beginning of the Qing, and no hasty conclusion should be drawn.23 Li Xizhu inspected how the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1907 issued her decree to eliminate the social boundary between the Manchu and Han people as well as what were proposed and under discussion as problems and counter-​measures by the officials and among the gentries, illustrating the new changes in the Manchu-​Han policy in the Qing Dynasty.24 Ding Yizhuang made a thorough research on the concepts of nation, nationalism, and the nation-​state used at the end of the Qing Dynasty, which were introduced to

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  263 China together with the names of “Manchu” and “Banners people”, with the existing word “Manchuria” having acquired new connotations. Ding pointed out that these words were used with mixed meanings and side by side. It was later that the “banners people” as a word disappeared when the “Eight-​ Banners” as an institution no longer existed, while the word “Manchu” is still in use today with a completely new meaning, as it has different shades of meaning in different historical periods, which should be carefully observed.25 Han Ce made a research on how Wang Rongbao, who once studied in Japan, participated with the Prince Su (Shanqi) and other close officials in planning and operating constitutionalism, and he pointed out that the collaboration of the monarch’s close officials and minor overseas students was quite a political phenomenon in the transitional period from Emperor Guangxu and Emperor Xuantong, a reminder of the Qing court’s particular favor for people and its change in knowledge resources for its decision making and governance.26 The third is the research on the late Qing system. Such research area involves many fields. Yang Guoqiang, Liu Wei, Zhao Xiaohua and other scholars did research on the Qing official system with regard to the background, status, advantages, disadvantages, and prosperity of the practice of appointing officials by donation and by popular recommendations prevailing in the reigns of the Emperors Xianfeng and Tongzhi.27 Li Wenjie’s exploration of the Zhang Jing (Secretaries, Chang-​Ching) late Qing Foreign Office (Zong Li Yamen) and the requirements, procedures, content, effects, and the characteristics of their examination in an evolution over 40 years helped to have revealed the origins and quality of the large middle-​rank officials who had “held hidden diplomatic power” in the late Qing Dynasty.28 Yan Aihong investigated the three policy debates on increasing the collection of tribute rice in the mid-​Qing Dynasty, and pointed out that the Emperor Xianfeng in his reign broke the ancestral court promise of never increasing the collection of grains, which had been strictly observed by his predecessors, indicating a dramatic change in Chinese society before and after the rising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion.29 Besides, exploration was made into special issues in the Qing Dynasty such as the practice of adopting the only male as joint heir of two families, the settlement of local civil disputes in terms of both its manners and approaches, and the status of women.30 Li Zaiquan, having examined the emergence, basic structure and characteristics of the first group of judicial officers, pointed out that the judicial officers in the late Qing Dynasty shared a common characteristic of “the new officers being of old official status, and the old-​style officers having new ideas”, and many of them had also become revolutionaries later.31 Wu Peilin and Wu Dong, having investigated the court trial records of “Xu Gong (statement documents)” and “norm-​deviating” personal presentation in the litigation practice of the county government offices in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, pointed out that there existed different types of documents in the trial records above, of which the common form in the Ming and early Qing dynasties was “Zhao Gong (confession statement)” and which evolved into “statement documents” in the

264  ZENG Yeying middle and late Qing dynasty. Such a change in writing structure shows the increasingly clear and standardized characteristics of local judicial responsibilities. A basic provision in the local judicial proceedings was “conformity with the norm”, but in the practice of litigation, “norm-​deviating” statements occasionally occurred and became a litigation strategy, and their acceptance by the local governments was but a reflection of their view of litigation in combining principle and flexibility.32 The fourth is studies of the political figures in the late Qing Dynasty. Most of the research is focused on Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi and such important officials as Zhang Zhidong, Zaifeng, Yikuang, Ronglu and a few others. Li Wenjie’s study of Guangxu analyzed his exercising comments on the memorials before his accession to power, and he found that in the five years before he was in power, Guangxu began to write his comments on the memorials in red ink. However, such comments had no actual effective power, as they were so-​called “governance exercises” of commenting memorials for his accession to power in his right age under the guidance of his instructors such as Weng Tonghe and Sun Jianai.33 Liu Qiang and Li Wenru systematically studied the background of the proposition of “mother and son making one mind” in the imperial edict after 1900 and the reaction of the officials, as well as the efforts made by Cixi and Guangxu to realize the political tacit understanding of the proposition. And it was pointed out that the fundamental purpose of such a proposition was to maximize the interests of imperial power under a political background of troubles both internal and external.34 Tao Qichen studied Zhang Zhidong and his employment of the Japanese army men during his tenure as governor of Hunan and Guangdong after the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, believing that on the whole they were the foreign talents Zhang Zhidong employed to promote modernization, but in consequence they served as a powerful tool for Japan’s expansion in China.35 Han Ce explored the open and secret struggles between Zhang Baixi and the Southeast governors such as Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong, as well as the gentry’s responding opinions on the proposed delay of provincial examination in the power structure of the Gengzi Xishou (the royal court’s escape into the west in 1900) and mutual protection in the Southeast, believing that such struggles were a reflection of the difficult situation of the government’s coordination between stabilization and reform on one hand, and on the other, the fact that the Qing government’s policy-​making in Southeast China was severely restricted by the Southeast governors, as Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong’s insistence on delaying provincial examination was but a continuation of the mutual protection in the Southeast China.36 Zhou Zengguang reexamined Zaifeng’s expelling Yuan (Shikai) after 1900 and believed that it was the inevitable result of the young Manchu princes’ attempted centralization of power. However, after he expelled Yuan, while he failed in his attempted centralization of power, he incurred questioning of his ability from the court and the public.37 However, Fan Xueqing pointed out that it was Zaifeng who set a precedent of employing the monarch’s

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  265 close nobilities in the court in Emperor Xuantong’s reign, and such a precedent, which had close connection with Zhao Binglin, an imperial Censor, became the source of many later disasters. However, after the founding of the Republic of China, Zhao Binglin concealed his record of first advocating employing the nobilities, and henceforth his scandalous behavior was hidden from the public.38 Zhang Hairong investigated Zaifeng’s political marriage and believed that the marriage was not only a joint result of the Coup d’état of 1898 and the Incident of 1900, but also a result of the empress dowager’s dictatorship.39 Zhu Ying and Tang Lun investigated Yikuang’s activities and role in the peace negotiation between China and foreign countries in 1900 and 1901, and pointed out that he made his contribution in fighting for punishment and compensation in the face of danger, especially on the issue of Sino-​Russian treaty. The negotiation of peace marked a new starting point of Yikuang’s political career.40 Ma Zhongwen studied Ronglu and his life in the context of political changes of the late Qing Dynasty, pointing out that after the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, the Huai system military leaders lost their power, and Ronglu and other Manchu nobilities seized power, but were unable to cope with the internal and external difficulties, which eventually led to the disaster of 1900. In the political trend from 1898 to 1900, Ronglu had his standpoint and ambition, and was not purely a diehard.41 In addition, Sun Yanjing studied the mentality and thought of Manchu young nobilities in the constitutionalism at the end of Qing Dynasty, believing that while it is true that they broke through the shackles of the old system and autocratic thinking, they were extremely selfish and eventually lost everything.42 In the subject areas which had been the focus of previous studies and had relatively rich research results, new achievements were mainly focused on the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and the Revolution of 1911. The Sino-​ Japanese War of 1894–​ 1895 is a field with rich research achievements. Jiang Liwen reexamined the reparations of the Sino-​Japanese War, and found that Japan’s actual total war expenses were no more than 125  million yen, whereas the actual payment by the Qing government was 358.36 million yen, indicating that as high as 233.6 million yen was plundered by Japan from China, which was three times the total annual fiscal revenue of Japan at that time.43 Cui Zhihai studied the involvement of the United States in the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, and found that the United States actually favored Japan although it claimed to be neutral in the war.44 In 2014, the 120th anniversary of the Sino-​Japanese War, a large number of research materials and works emerged. The 50 volumes of archives of the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895 compiled by the First Historical Archives of China and the Cross-​Strait Publishing and Exchange Center (Thread-​bound Book Company) and Jichen’s monograph Costly Peace:  A Study of Sino-​ Japanese Peace Treaty of Shimonoseki (SDX Joint Publishing Company) are representative works in the field, with the former including more than 4500 pieces of historical materials and the latter containing true records of the

266  ZENG Yeying whole process of negotiation between China and Japan at Shimonoseki. In addition, Li Yongjing studied the understanding of China from all walks of life in Japanese society before and after the outbreak of the Sino-​Japanese War, pointing out that Japan’s war of aggression against China was not so-​ called “gambling with national luck”, which simply obliterated the war essence of its invasion of China.45 Other research included the study of the reactions from all walks of life in Hong Kong during the Sino-​Japanese War, and investigation into Japan’s covetous and aggressive plot in Suzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou after the Sino-​Japanese War. Liu Jiangyong demonstrated that the so-​called landing and development of the Diaoyu Island in 1884 by Tatsushiro Koga and his application for development in 1885 were all fake facts, and pointed out that it was illegal for the Japanese government to purchase the Diaoyu Island at that time.46 From then on, the Sino-​Japanese War continued to be a research focus. Zhang Zhiyong investigated Robert Hart’s role in the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, and found that Hart actively participated in the Qing government’s preparation of war by helping the Qing government to raise war loans, purchase arms, support foreigners to participate in the war, and provided the Qing government with all kinds of war situations and intelligence. And in the case of China’s successive failures, Hart proposed Britain’s mediation. After Japan rejected the mediation, Hart again suggested that the Qing government should continue to resist while giving active support to Sino-​Japanese peace talk.47 Dai Dongyang studied the Incident of “Chongqing steamer” during the Sino-​Japanese War and believed that the Qing government cracked a major Japanese spy case by searching the British steamer “Chongqing”.48 Monographic research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement includes Liu Chen’s Studies of Xiao Chaogui (Jiuzhou Press, 2014), which as a blank filler of its kind rationally evaluated Xiao Chaogui’s position in the politics and religion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and his historical contribution. In addition, there are quite a few papers on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Tang Xiaotao’s studies, rather than following the traditional perspective and explaining the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s destruction of temples in terms of its single god worship and idolatry opposing, based on the field investigation and various official and private documents, attempted to make a new interpretation from the local historical background by pointing out that the occurrence and development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had a more complex local historical background.49 Cui Min from his investigation of the establishment of and trouble-​causing local militia (Tuanlian) in Shandong Province during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came to the conclusion that the fierce conflict between the local militia and the government were the result of not only the demands of the gentry’s own interests and resisting the exploitation of the government, but also of a combined inducement of the Qing government’s policy of local militia self-​financing and appointing a “supervising minister of local militia” as well as the bureaucratic restrictions on the state and county officials.50 Jiang Tao studied

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  267 the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s anti-​Manchu policies from the following aspects:  its programmatic documents against Manchu, its killing of the Eight-​Banners people after its capture of Nanjing, and the change of its anti-​ Manchu policy in the later period.51 Another study is on the impact of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement on the Qing government’s financial system, and Zeng Guofan’s loan and sale of salt during the wartime with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Zhu Congbing in his investigation of the evolution of the prime minister’s office in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom found that such an official position could be roughly divided into two categories: the virtual title and the actual position. Such an evolutionary process of the position was quite in conformity with the basic pattern of historical changes of the prime minister system in China. And in the late period of time of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the position of prime minister had lost its basic function and deviated from the original motive of its establishment. Whether as a political power or as a movement, the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was historically inevitable.52 Liu Chen discussed the civil revolts in the areas under the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was never touched upon in any research in the past, and pointed out that most of the revolts were targeted at the economic and political policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. “The widespread and frequent popular revolts were but a direct reflection of the improper control of local society by political power … To some extent, they served to have announced the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at the level of social control, heralding the fall of the ‘Heavenly Kingdom’ ”.53 Research on the Revolution of 1911 is mainly conducted as commemorations of its outbreak on its 100th and 105th anniversaries. First of all, there is a rich collection of papers on the memory of the revolution. Luo Fuhui and Zhu Ying’s edited book is a collection of memorial papers, among which are “the memorial of the Revolution of 1911 by the government and various parties”, “the memories and interpretations of the Revolution of 1911 by civil societies”, “the memorial space and the centennial memory of the Revolution of 1911”, and “historians’ research and interpretations of the Revolution of 1911”, presenting a most systematic study of the interpretations and memories of the Revolution of 1911 by various governments, parties, social classes, and scholars since the Republic of China.54 In addition, a lot of truth-​ seeking innovative achievements have been made. One argument is that the Revolution of 1911 “opened up the fundamental transformation of Chinese people from ethnic and dynastic identity to modern nation-​state identity. It was a new starting point for the historical integration of the Chinese nation; it opened up a new stage of the realization of Chinese national integration and the construction of a modern nation-​state”. Another argument is that Chinese intellectuals in the period of the Revolution had different concepts concerning national identity, that is, the ideas on the Manchu-​Han relations held by the revolutionaries headed by Sun Yat-​sen and those by the constitutionalists represented by Liang Qichao all had their own validity

268  ZENG Yeying and mistakes.55 Yang Tianhong refuted as groundless and ignorant the argument that the Abdication Edict of the Qing Emperor realized the “sovereignty transfer” in the form of “abdication” and contributed to the “republic of five ethnic people”, arguing that such a view was both against legal principle and contrary to the fact, and therefore could never be tenable due to its sheer ignorance of the 1911 Revolution and its crucial role in overthrowing the Qing monarchy and founding the Republic of China.56 Lu Boliang in his investigation on the Eight-​Banners consultants’ struggle for political power and their seats in the Consultative Council pointed out that in certain provinces, it was the Eight-​Banners consultants that were the key manipulators of the political situation, and they acted vigorously as a progressive force in the Chinese society in the transitional period between the end of Qing and the beginning of the Republic of China.57 Chen Zhongping made corrections and supplements on the Royal Club and its founders, birthplace, total number of branches, membership and main activities in Canada.58 Sang Bing discussed the meaning transfer and general use of the term “hanjian (traitors)” in the 10 years before the Revolution of 1911, arguing that situational changes in the times resulted in discrepancies in the judgment of traitors, which caused not only rifts between the restoration of political powers in various regions, but also serious differences between leaders and the grassroots. With the realization of the republic of five ethnic people, the allegations of “Manchu slaves” and “hanjian” decreased on the whole, with the latter gradually returning to its original meaning of betraying one’s own country. Sang Bing also revealed the game playing between Yuan Shikai and the Qing court as well as the forces supporting the Qing court over the abdication of the Qing emperor through a detailed examination of Yuan Shikai’s “Memorial for a prompt determination”.59

9.3  Political history of the Republic of China Since research on the history of the Republic of China starts late, there are many subject areas in which no or few researchers have so far got involved. And even in those researched areas there is still a lot of room for further study due to the one-​sided and absolute perspective of class struggle formed under specific historical conditions. Thanks to much improved freedom of research and rich and accessible information as the result of the availability of a large number of newspapers and periodicals and increasingly open domestic and foreign archives, new findings are more easily attainable by the fact that any subject could be a rich mine of gold. Therefore, the history studies of the Republic of China remains a popular area with many rich achievements. In general, the research on the political history of the Republic of China in the designated period is mainly characterized with thematic studies. Regarding the politics in the early years of the Republic of China, two monographs worth mentioning are Wang Jianhua’s The Legal Opposition to the Premature Death: A Study of the Party Politics in the Early Republic

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  269 of China (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2011)  and Xiong Qiuliang’s Transplant and Transmutation:  A Study of the Congressional Election System in the Beijing Government of the Republic of China (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2011). While the former uses the formation and practice of legal political parties during 1912 and 1913 as a clue to analyze their difficulties in dealing with modern state construction and their impact on the growth of the system, the latter focuses on the first and second congressional elections, attempting to account for a battery of issues such as the evolution of election ideas, the interpretation of the legal texts of the two elections, election mobilization and public participation, voting behavior, election frauds, election litigation, and the relationship between political parties and elections, thus revealing the evolution of the people’s electoral concept as well as reflecting on the early election system in modern China. In addition, there are also a number of papers dealing with the related subjects. Yang Tianhong, having investigated the controversies over the preservation and abolition of the National Congress and the evolving political system of the Republic of China, pointed out that the representative system was called into question on whether or not the system should be a good one even before its establishment; yet after more than ten years of practice of the representative system, the voice of doubt rose again to have changed from the previous questioning to “preserving and abolishing” the system. As a consequence, the existing parliament was abolished without any explicit evaluation of the system. In the process, the “national convention”, which was considered to embody direct democracy, was put forward. However, the political system design and practice of the Nanjing National Government at the beginning of its establishment proved that such direct democracy was inevitably distorted by “illegal substitution” in actual operation and turned to the opposite of democratic politics.60 He Wenping focused his study on local political games. By analyzing the resistance of Guangdong local elites to the social transformation initiated by the Guangdong military government in the early years of the Republic of China, he pointed out that the resistance of local elites was more to the political exclusion of the revolutionary party than to the dispute between the old and the new knowledge. The revolutionary party guarded against “old elites” while pushing out the new intellectual class, thus having deprived the reform of a social foundation. The difficult situation in which the Guangdong military government promoted social reform served as a typical reflection of the weak social foundation of the Revolution of 1911 and its strategic failure.61 Li Zaiquan basing his investigation of the changes in the judges as a whole noticed a “remarkable continuity” from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, but with “some hidden ‘revolution’ quietly emerging”. In such field of study, “adequate attention should be paid to ‘professional’ and ‘hierarchical’ factors in addition to those ‘continuing’ and ‘disrupting’ ones”.62 Zhao Libin concentrated on Sun Yat-​sen’s response and counter-​measures to the events concerning his personal reputation in the early years of the Republic of China and thought that his response was both firm and flexible with

270  ZENG Yeying different objectives and conditions behind.63 Zeng Yeying in his response to the growing trend of “favoring Yuan Shikai while despising Sun Yat-​sen” in recent years repudiated the view that Yuan Shikai was one of the “founders of the Republic” in the Revolution of 1911, which he thought was untenable, as it not only made a fundamental mistake of history distortion and self-​ contradiction in methodology, but also lacked any actual and reliable facts as its basis.64 With regard to the Northern Warlord government, some scholars, having reexamined the reconstruction conference, believed that it was not a meeting aimed at opposing the parliament and “sharing the political booty” among warlords, but an arduous attempt to seek national unity through consultation. In its nature the conference focused on the settlement of the aftermath of the war, but did not present a conflict with the parliament involving the national system construction. However, the composition of its participants and its attempt to make regulations on the organization of the national convention incurred resistance from the Kuomintang. At the same time, the local power groups participating in the conference each had their own purpose. Therefore, the attempt to achieve “peaceful reunification” in China through the reconstruction conference could only end as an empty dream. In addition, different arguments were put forward on the view in which the reorganization of the Constitution Protection military government in the South and the abolition of Generalissimo Sun Yat-​sen’s position was regarded as a typical example of the Southwest military forces oppressing and defeating the Constitution Protection parliament. It was believed that there were actually intricate relationships between the parliament and army group as well as within the different factions of the parliament and armed forces. And it was in such complicated relationships that the parliament members were seemingly able to use various contradictions to promote their own propositions. Therefore, the integration of the Southwestern armed forces into the military government and the bringing of the institutional establishment the Southwest unification as well as election onto the legal track was the very success of the reorganization of the military government.65 During the rule of the Northern warlords, while it was normal for militarists to intervene in politics, the cabinet, as the highest administrative organ of the government, was still the object of competition among warlords. After investigating the social structure and social network of the cabinet members, Lu Weidong concluded that the relationships in terms of links by regions, classmates, and relatives were all important factors that affected the composition of the cabinet, which showed that in the process of China’s transformation from a feudal kingdom to a modern country, traditional social relations still had a profound impact on real politics.66 Yan Quan investigated the relevant historical facts of Jin Yunpeng’s first cabinet formation from November 1919 to May 1920, and pointed out that from the perspective of party politics and the relationship between the senate and the parliament, the members of Anfu Club background occupied a superior position in the relationship between

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  271 the senate and the parliament, which had its institutional reasons. But due to the restrictions of “the military and gentry political power”, the dispute between the senate and the parliament failed to be resolved in the light of constitutionalism for a long time, and eventually evolved into the Anhui-​ Zhili War.67 Yan Cunting explored the relationship between the central and local governments during the period of Northern warlords’ rule through the incident of Yang Zengxin’s killing of Ma Fuxing and his son in June 1924. And he held the view that the reason why Yang Zengxin was able to control Xinjiang for a long time lay in his ability to wander between the central and local governments, and among various political forces of Hui and Han nationalities. Although the Northern warlords repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with him, they simply could do nothing about him.68 Duan Jinsheng from the perspective of “political regionalization” studied the process in which the “Southwest” as a regional political group was formed and disintegrated from the National Protection movement to the period after 1927. He believed that political regionalization was an important part of the political situation of the Republic of China, and the Southwest warlords were the product of such political regionalization.69 Ma Jianbiao discussed Wu Peifu’s identity transformation from “Northern Master” to “political leader” from the perspective of media and politics, and he concluded that in addition to Wu’s military power, he also took a good advantage of mass media for his propaganda in building up the momentum.70 Yang Tianhong in his study of the judicial issues in the period of the Northern warlords made an analysis on the legal nature and the liability for breach of contract of “the preferential settlement of the Qing court household”, and in particular on the “Luo Wengan case”, arguing that although the “Luo Wengan case” had always been regarded as a political frame-​up, yet historical materials showed that “although the initial filing was not fully norm-​conforming, the State Council’s request for a reconsideration was ruled by the court as a legitimate procedure”, which was to safeguard the independence of the judiciary. Moreover, the case was not without political and diplomatic intervention in the background.71 A few researchers pointed out that the Beijing local court tended to attach more importance to storytelling than evidence. Wang Zhanyuan, the governor of Hubei Province, appointed his crony to temporarily replace the director of the provincial high court, and forced the former acting director to hand over the seal, which was not only a gross violation of the principle of judicial independence, but also a wanton provocation of the central authority. Although President Xu Shichang intended to maintain harmony between the central and local governments, and the Ministry of Justice also hoped to coordinate its relationship with the military and political authority in Hubei, yet judicial independence in “continuously expanding warlord forces and between military politics and foreign powers could only float on the surface of Chinese society like oil slick, and the situation was getting worse”.72 Sang Bing reflected on the research situation of the Northern warlords’ rule, and believed that the limitations should be broken in the concept of the Northern warlords and a full and systematic

272  ZENG Yeying account should be given to the whole history and all aspects of the Beijing government, striving to return to historical truth.73 The newly expanded research in the period mainly focused on the Nanjing National Government’s advocacy of labor-​ management cooperation, the launching of the merchant people movement and opposing superstition movement, and the construction of political culture. Regarding the labor-​ management cooperation, according to some research, the Nanjing National Government, in its functioning as a mediator and advocacy for cooperation between the two sides from 1927 to 1937, ignored the class distinction between labor and management and intended to eliminate class struggle while regarding imperialism as the fundamental cause of domestic labor conflicts, thus transforming labor disputes into nationalist sentiments. Such a policy made the Kuomintang regime lose its class foundation, and it was incapable of gaining support from the working class and from the bourgeoisie, which was doubtful due to the government’s policy of “capital control”. At the same time, the left-​wing forces continued to promote the concept of “class struggle”, and the harsh contradiction of labor-​ management presented sharp a contrast with the empty discourse of the Kuomintang, having pushed to the side of the Communist Party the workers, who took “class struggle” as their political belief and a powerful tool to fight against the management and government.74 Du Lihong, by investigating the incident of the establishment of a labor union and starting labor movement by the Party Instruction Committee of the Beijing City in the early days of the Nanjing Nationalist Government, argued that “the labor movement that occurred at the time of the political revolution was not merely a yellow labor union activity led by the Kuomintang, but also an implicit indicator of the transformation of the Kuomintang’s local party headquarters from a revolutionary party to a ruling party”, thus revealing how the Kuomintang implemented its ruling through party in Beijing.75 In the studies of the merchants movements, Zhu Ying examined the tortuous process of the merchants movements launched by the Kuomintang from 1927 to 1928, and found that the Central Committee of the Kuomintang had a growing moderate attitude toward the Chambers of Commerce. In the principle of organizing mass organizations promulgated in July 1928, the merchants’ associations and the Chambers of Commerce were accepted as organizations side by side, which reflected the transformation of the Kuomintang regime from revolution to conservatism. Meanwhile, such policy of the Kuomintang Central Committee also affected local politics. For example, the Merchants Association led by the Beijing Municipal Party Department of the Kuomintang actively carried out the mass movements, whereas the Chamber of Commerce maintained close relations with the local military and political authorities.76 Qi Chunfeng studied the conflict between the Merchants Association and the Chamber of Commerce in Beijing between 1928 and 1929 and concluded that the case reflected the line struggle

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  273 between the old and the new factions within the Kuomintang, and between the party and the government. The old faction and government departments, even including the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, expected to maintain social stability, restrict or even oppose the mass movement, while the new faction and the local party headquarters hoped to carry out social transformation through the mass movements.77 In the field of opposing superstition movements, Fu Haiyan studied the case of a temple property dispute caused by the Kuomintang Beijing Municipal Party headquarters’ seizing Tieshan temple and converting it into a school, and concluded that while the case was a continuation of the radical group’s consistent idea of “building schools with temple property” since the late Qing Dynasty, it also reflected discrepant political intentions of the early Nanjing National Government and the local party headquarters. While the former endeavored to improve the legal and administrative systems and manage religions within the framework of modern state, the latter intended to suppress religions on the grounds of “opposing superstition” from the perspective of revolutionary ideology.78 Sha Qingqing also held the view that the case of Gaoyou’s “beating the City God” in 1931 also illustrated the power mechanism and structural conflict of the grassroots party and government organs of the Kuomintang. The campaign against traditional folk beliefs launched by the grassroots party headquarters of the Kuomintang was meant to compete for power resources with the county government representing the existing political forces. The fact that the grassroots party headquarters broke away from the public opinion and was rejected and disgusted by the people also explained to a certain extent the powerlessness and ineffectiveness of the Kuomintang’s social mobilization.79 Two monographs presented an excellent account of the construction of political culture. One is Chen Yunqian’s Worship and Memory: Construction and Dissemination of Sun Yat-​sen Symbols (Nanjing University Press, 2009). And the other is Li Gongzhong’s Sun Yat-​sen Mausoleum:  The Birth of a Modern Political Symbol (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2009). The former studied how the Kuomintang built a set of rituals, symbols and memories centered on Sun Yat-​sen in time (various memorial days and memorial week ceremonies) and space (memorial halls and parks). It was believed that the worship of Sun Yat-​sen was not only the continuation of the traditional personality worship in imperial states, but also an integration of a large number of modern techniques for constructing personality worship, having thereby achieved political goals such as strengthening cohesion and providing legitimacy for the Kuomintang regime. The latter carefully examined the design and construction process of the Sun Yat-​sen Mausoleum and its political and cultural significance, and interpreted the Sun Yat-​sen worship constructed around the Sun Yat-​sen Mausoleum as a unilateral ideological indoctrination of the Kuomintang, which was characterized with self-​imposed authority, rigid connotation and void form.

274  ZENG Yeying

9.4  Economic history Economic history research is one of the research fields that have developed rapidly in order to meet the needs of economic development and the shift of work focus to socialist modernization since China’s reform and opening up. It has also made a large number of new achievements. In the last ten years, scholars have paid most attention to the following topics. (1) A  wide range of studies have been made on the fiscal and financial issues in and after the late Qing Dynasty, as well as the tax systems and taxation, currency and monetary system reform, etc. As for the fiscal and financial issues in and after the late Qing Dynasty, some scholars have discussed the relationship between the issuance of Zhaoxin Stock by the Qing government in 1898 and the financial industry. They argued that this case showed that the national finance of the late Qing Dynasty had relied on the financial industry, and the initial development of new banks had also depended on the support of the national fiscal and financial policy. Some scholars have discussed how the financial budget system implemented by the Qing government in 1908, as a new Western-​style system, was transplanted and grafted into the old Chinese financial system, and what difficulties it faced and what consequences it caused; they also studied the central financial issues in the late Qing Dynasty from the perspective of a financial supervision system, holding that although some efforts had been made in financial supervision in the late Qing Dynasty, it was impossible to save its financial decline due to the defects of its own system. Some scholars have investigated the tax credit system in the late Qing Dynasty, holding that the central government and local governments had advocated the implementation of information transparency based on credit records in the late Qing Dynasty, which ended in failure due to the lack of pilot and supporting reforms.80 Some scholars discussed the early Beijing Government’s reorganization of provincial banks, and thought that this action reflected the Beijing Government’s determination to unify monetary and fiscal systems and modernize China’s financial industry. However, due to the political turmoil caused by the Hongxian Imperial Movement and the contradiction between the central and local governments, it started prosperously but ended in failure. Some scholars discussed the main contents of monetary supervision and the change of supervision institutions during the Beijing Government period, which reflected that the government had attached great importance to financial supervision at that time. Some scholars also investigated the run on the Bank of China and Bank of Communications during this period, and thought that this was the result of the government and banks’ discredit, reflecting the fatal defects of the financial and even the political and economic systems.81 Some scholars reexamined the local public debts during the Nanjing National Government period from the perspective of the financial relationship between the central and local governments, some scholars investigated the evolution of the rural cooperative financial system with the establishment of a cooperative

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  275 treasury as its main content, and some scholars also investigated the financial policy conflicts between the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial bourgeoisie and the Nanjing National Government in the first half of the 1930s, pointing out that Nanjing National Government took the opportunity to take a series of measures to erode and control the financial capital of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and establish the dominant position of the financial capital monopolized by the Kuomintang bureaucrats, which made China embark on the development path of bureaucratic monopoly capitalism.82 Some scholars analyzed China’s domestic financial market circles in the 1930s from the hierarchical system of exchange, holding that from a macro perspective, the regional financial circles had been obviously formed in modern China, while the long-​distance exchange relationship was relatively small, and the linkage and transmission of the national financial market still centered on regional exchange.83 Some scholars discussed the gains and losses of the banking supervision system of Chongqing National Government during the Anti-​Japanese War, and thought that its diversified banking supervision system had played a positive role in maintaining the wartime financial stability. However, due to the weak leadership of the central government and accumulated contradictions, its actual effect was insufficient, so the inflation became increasingly serious in the later period of the war. Some scholars held that the supervision of local banks by the National Government during the Anti-​Japanese War had not only promoted economic development and social stability, but also strengthened the government’s control over finance, and finally established its monopoly on banks and even the whole economy. Some other scholars discussed the national government’s silver deposit in Beijing and Tianjin during the Anti-​ Japanese War, holding that after their occupation of Beijing and Tianjin, the Japanese had tried to encroach on the tens of millions of silver deposited by the National Government in the British and American Settlements in Beijing and Tianjin. In this wrestling with the Japanese army, China lost some silver, but strategically achieved the goal of preventing the alliance of Britain and Japan, and after the outbreak of the European War, the Sino-​British-​Japanese relations gradually entered the track envisaged by China or Jiang Jieshi.84 Some scholars also discussed the evolution and characteristics of the bond market supervision in modern China, and the complex relationship between the development model of financial industry and social transformation in modern China.85 As for the tax system, some scholars have investigated the changes of the customs system and tariff system in Guangdong during the Daoguang and Xianfeng period, holding that both the central government of Qing Dynasty and Guangdong had an obvious desire to return to the original Canton System (the One-​Port Trade System), but the changes in the external environment and the outbreak of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement had made this effort come to naught. Some other scholars, based on the long-​term wartime financial operation mode in the late Qing Dynasty, re-​explored Zuo Zongtang’s raising of revenue for the Western Expedition during Tongzhi

276  ZENG Yeying and Guangxu’s reign, arguing that the wartime mode that soldiers’ pay and provisions supported by finance in the late Qing Dynasty had developed to a new stage.86 Through investigation, some scholars held that the treasury of the Board of Revenue during Xianfeng’s reign had changed greatly in terms of the specific contents, quantity and scale of its income and expenditure. Its importance in the national financial operation and allocation had also been reduced greatly, reflecting the Qing government’s ability to cope with the financial crisis under the action of internal and external forces, and the changing trend that the financial operation was gradually breaking away from the old track. Some scholars have re-​explored the aftermath of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the landmark event of the “Tongzhi Restoration” –​Jiangsu tax reduction, pointing out that the governor-​general and other provincial officials had always played a leading role in this event. The important motivation of Emperor Tongzhi’s tax reduction was to reduce the burden of the local officials suffering from the pressure of heavy taxes.87 Some scholars studied the Beijing Government’s reform of dividing the national tax and the local tax, pointing out that this reform had been subject to the entanglement of the provincial system, the opposition between legislative and administrative organs and the continuous financial crisis, which finally forced the Beijing Government to abandon the two-​tax system.88 Some scholars inspected Nanjing National Government’s three reforms in the central and local fiscal revenue and expenditure system from 1927 to 1936, and pointed out that the reform gradually established the modern fiscal system of tax distribution, which was in line with the historical trend. However, because many mistakes were made in fiscal decentralization, the efforts of centralization were countered.89 Some scholars analyzed the interaction among the government, chambers of commerce and businessmen in the process of levying income tax in 1936, as well as the tax payment of foreigners.90 Some scholars discussed the tax rate of business tax in the Republic of China, and pointed out that during the Nanjing National Government period, the business tax had changed from a fixed tax rate implemented by the Beijing Government to proportional tax rate, and there were two modes in the tax rate design of local business tax:  differential proportional tax rate and single proportional tax rate. In order to increase fiscal revenue, the National Government gradually unified and greatly increased the business tax rate during the Anti-​Japanese War and the Civil War period, which had brought heavy tax burdens to businessmen and ordinary people. After investigating the implementation process of estate tax in China, some scholars argued that although the Design Committee of the Ministry of Finance headed by American experts decided that estate tax was not suitable for China, powerful provincial officials and educational circles repeatedly called for the levy of estate tax in order to meet their own funding needs, which finally contributed to the rapid completion of the legislative process and implementation of estate tax after the outbreak of the overall Anti-​Japanese War.91 The evolution of the traditional tax system in modern China and the fiscal and taxation systems in some special areas have

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  277 also attracted scholars’ attention. For example, some scholars studied the tax-​ farming system in the villages of modern North China, some scholars studied the role of rural leaders in rural taxation in the Republic of China, and some scholars revealed that during the Japanese occupation of Qingdao from 1914 to 1922, the monopolistic system of opium was implemented in order to earn fiscal revenue.92 As for the tax issue, some scholars pointed out that the view of “Daoguang Depression” could not hold water, and the tariff income during Jiaqing and Daoguang period still maintained the level of more than 5 million taels, which did not drop significantly compared with that of the Qianlong period. Some scholars pointed out that after 1879, the revenue of Lijin in Qing Dynasty was over 20 million taels, and even exceeded 30 million after 1903. Some scholars argued that, from the practical point of view, the finance in the late Qing Dynasty was not at the end of its tether.93 With regard to the relationship between the currency and China’s economic growth, some scholars have found that the development of China’s modern capital market was quite alienated from the development of China’s modern industrialization. It was not closely related to the development of China’s modern enterprises, especially the joint-​stock enterprises, and even disconnected in some periods. However, through the case study of Kailuan Coal Mine, some scholars put forward that the role and influence of foreign capital did promote the overall modernization of China over a long period of time.94 Some scholars pointed out that the great development of modern Chinese finance mainly occurred from 1921 to 1936. However, some scholars argued that although the monetization degree of China’s economy increased steadily in the 1930s, the negative seeds were planted because the restraint mechanism was not established. Some scholars also held that the import and the amount of money were the main influencing factors of China’s economic growth. During the First World War, China’s capital goods import was severely blocked, and the international silver price increased, leading to the outflow of silver, which jointly hit China’s economy.95 Some other scholars investigated the silver currency stock and the total money supply in modern China, and on this basis questioned American scholar Thomas G. Rawski’s viewpoint, arguing that his silver currency estimation and the total money supply estimation could not be used as the basic variables to judge the macroeconomic development trend in modern China. Some scholars also studied the change of state capital after the Anti-​Japanese War, corrected some calculation errors, and made more in-​depth analyses of the expansion, monopoly and harm of the state capital.96 As for the monetary reform, some scholars re-​examined J. W. Jenks, an American monetary expert who came to China in 1904, and his monetary reform plan. They thought that the reasons why the Qing Government finally refused his monetary reform plan of introducing the gold exchange standard system could not simply be attributed to the resistance of local interests represented by the “localization of currency issuance” in the late Qing Dynasty, but were also because the plan failed to take into

278  ZENG Yeying account China’s sovereignty and interests and was limited by relevant subjective and objective conditions. Some other scholars discussed the background of introducing the legal currency policy in 1935 and pointed out that the economic difficulties in the mid-​1930s, especially the silver crisis caused by the implementation of the silver policy in the United States, were the direct catalyst for the reform of the legal currency; China’s monetary system was increasingly contrary to the outside world, which also stimulated the need for domestic monetary reform. With the gradual growth of China’s economic base, people at all levels naturally had certain expectations for flexible monetary policy.97 Some scholars held that the pace of legal currency reform in different areas was not consistent in practice. Chen Jitang was the biggest obstacle to Guangdong’s legal currency policy. The later determination of the exchange rate of Guangdong’s legal currency was the compromise between national and local interests after bargaining and negotiation among all parties. Some other scholars proposed that the decision-​making level of the National Government had differences on the exchange of paper currency. In order to prevent inflation, Jiang Jieshi hoped to realize the exchangeability of legal currency in a certain sense. These arguments reflected the complexity that Chinese society faced when choosing its own economic development path under the background of the great changes in the global market system. There were also scholars who inspected the inside story of the gold yuan notes reform (Jin Yuan Quan) in 1948.98 (2) Research on the hot issues since the reform and opening up, such as chambers of commerce, business history, enterprise history and issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, has not been interrupted, and even made a lot of new progress For the study of chambers of commerce, the academic circles during this period paid more attention to the intermediary role of chambers of commerce and trade associations. For example, some scholars held that Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce actively participated in the formulation and collection of business tax during the Republic of China, made efforts to cope with and mediate the business tax unrest, insisted on pleading for businessmen and fought against the unreasonable tax imposed by the government, which played the essential role of businessmen’s organizations. Some scholars also studied the ins and outs of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce’s protest against the Japanese consul’s interference in the presidential election in 1919, and discussed the disputes over the re-​election of Tianjin Chamber of Commerce in 1934 and the local government’s counter-​measures.99 Some other scholars analyzed the position and role of Tianjin Trade Association in the price control system, pointing out that the Trade Association was entrusted by the government to bear the important responsibility of bargaining and price control, but at the same time, it “bargained with the local government” and raised the price level of its own trade through collective bargaining. Some scholars paid close attention to the relationship between businessmen and college education, holding that chambers of commerce played a key role in the

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  279 development of private universities, and also benefited national universities.100 Concerning the history of commerce, some scholars discussed the soybean futures market of Northeast China in the late Qing Dynasty, holding that the soybean futures market of Northeast China had developed to a considerable level and supported the effective operation of the whole distribution market and even the foreign trade system.101 Some scholars investigated the free trade reform of Changlu Salt Industry in the early years of the Republic of China, and pointed out that the so-​called reform of Chinese officials and businessmen headed by Zhang Huan was actually the monopoly of contractors in the name of free trade.102 Some scholars studied the post transportation in Northwest China during the Anti-​Japanese War, and thought that the post transportation system of Chongqing National Government effectively made up for the shortage of modern transportation capacity in Northwest China, but there were also some problems such as the imperfect management system, which reduced the effectiveness of post transportation.103 Some scholars discussed the prosperity of ocean shipping in Shanghai during the Anti-​Japanese War, holding that it even exceeded that before the war. This was because Japan regarded Shanghai as a material transfer station in order to achieve the goal of “sustaining war by war”. Keeping this sea-​lane unblocked also eased Japan’s tense relations with the United States, Britain and France due to its monopoly on shipping along the Yangtze River to a certain extent.104 On the study of enterprise history, some scholars have studied the relationship between Jiangnan gentry merchants and Western-​style enterprises, thinking that the rise of charity relief in the late Qing Dynasty rewrote the previous failure experience of Jiangnan gentry merchants in Western-​style enterprises and achieved remarkable things.105 Some scholars investigated the case that Shenxin No.7 Factory of Rongshi Group took the initiative to ask the government to intervene under the pressure of economic crisis in the 1930s, and pointed out that the Shenqi Incident inadvertently became the starting-​point for the implementation of state-​controlled economy.106 Some scholars have studied the reasons for the failure of Qingxi Ironworks in Guizhou, the first factory in China to use machines to smelt iron ore, holding that setting up a large machine iron smelting industry in Guizhou  –​which was located in a remote area, and had inconvenient transportation, a backward economy and no supporting resources –​ could not gain either government financial support or the backing of private capital markets, so it would inevitably fail. Other scholars took Kailuan Coal Mine in modern times as an example, and thought that the long-​term output growth of this mine was not mainly due to the contribution of capital and labor, but the “residual value” including accumulated technical progress, organizational efficiency and improvement of management levels, etc. Therefore, focusing wisdom and strength on “software” should be the key to achieve modernization and substantial progress.107 On the issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, firstly, the issue of land rights has been valued by researchers. Some scholars have pointed out that land transaction was not necessarily a whole transaction of

280  ZENG Yeying land ownership, but often a partial transaction of land ownership, usufruct and right of transfer. The separation of the three land rights provided a new understanding framework for re-​understanding the property rights system in traditional villages. Some scholars also pointed out that the traditional land rights had interrelated multi-​level rights and functions:  the most basic one was the farming rights, the second one was the right to the added value, and the last one was the diversified transaction forms mediated by land, which had the financial function of inter-​temporal adjustment. The multi-​level nature of the land ownership promoted the tradability of land. Diversified transaction forms promoted the dynamic combination of land rights and production factors, thus improving the land output and economic efficiency.108 Some scholars have studied the ownership of non-​agricultural land, pointing out that the policies like the nationalization of mountain forests, deed tax and real estate registration in the Republic of China had different influences on the ownership of mountain forests in Longquan and Jiande, Zhejiang Province. Formerly, the convention of taking contracts as the main confirmation certificate and the way of obtaining forest ownership by paying taxes under the supervision of Ceshu had been challenged, and the relationship between the government and the people in mountainous areas had become much closer.109 Some scholars have investigated the distribution of land rights in Hunan and Hubei during the Republic of China, pointing out that although the degree of uneven distribution of land rights in these two provinces was relatively close, their internal structures were quite different. The land rights in the core agricultural areas of Hubei Province were scattered, while those in the core agricultural areas of Hunan Province were concentrated. The reason was that a large number of high-​level military and political officials emerged in the core agricultural areas of Hunan Province in modern times, and thus a considerable number of bureaucratic landlords appeared.110 Some scholars also discussed the causes, consequences and implementation of the National Government’s policy of “fostering owner-​cultivators” during and after the Anti-​Japanese War; some scholars have noticed that the transactions in the land market were also affected by the participants’ social network, but that kinship was only the information channel and credit guarantee for reaching the contract, not the restrictive factor or the priority factor.111 Based on the investigation of the big landowners in the villages of Xuzhou, Huaiyin and Haizhou, some scholars raised counter-​questions to the voices that have appeared in recent years, which questioned China’s land concentration.112 In addition, concerning the issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, the following issues have also been noticed by researchers:  First, whether China’s agricultural economy collapsed or developed in the Republic of China, especially in the 1930s. Through quantitative analyses of the farmer’s life in Dingxian County, some scholars put forward that the saying that the farmer’s life was deteriorating was indeed worth reconsideration, whereas the saying that the farmer’s living standard was greatly improved did not conform to historical facts. They emphasized that the rural economy was

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  281 a process of continuation and gradual change. Some scholars believed that, in terms of Henan from 1927 to 1937, it should be acknowledged that development was the general trend of China’s agricultural economy at that time. Some other scholars reconstructed the means of livelihood and its evolution track of a peasant family in Wuyuan in the middle and late 19th century, and discussed the influence of the dynasty system, regional market and international trade on their livelihood from a micro perspective.113 Second, the reason why farmers left their villages and moved to the cities. Some scholars held that farmers were rational calculators. Under the external ecological conditions and multiple institutional constraints, farmers still chose the production mode and lifestyle with agriculture as the main factor and industry and commerce as the auxiliary factor. Some other scholars argued that this judgment was far from the facts, and the vast majority of farmers simply could not have the so-​called choice after rational calculation. They were just forced to make a living by either struggling to survive between urban and rural areas, or sticking to the barren land to scramble along. There were also scholars who held that the main reason why farmers left the villages and moved to the cities should be found in the development of the modern Chinese economy, especially the emergence of large machine industry, which had greatly promoted the development of the labor market.114 Third, the relationship between the state and peasants. Some scholars held that the state should take the position of coordinator in the complicated interest disputes of the local society, rather than play the role of the one-​sided arbitrator. Some scholars held that the main contradiction in the rural society of Gansu was not between the landlords and the peasants, but between the local governments, warlords and peasants.115 (3) Historical GDP has become a new research hotspot, and quantitative research methods have been applied to research by many scholars, which has become a major feature of this period. On the historical GDP research, there was Li Bozhong’s monograph China’s Early Modern Economy: Research on the GDP of Huating-​Louxian Area in the 1820s (Zhonghua Book Company, 2010). Li pointed out that the stagnation and backwardness of the Jiangnan economy in early modern China was due to the Qing government’s blind attempts to leave Asia and enter Europe after the Opium War, transforming itself into a Western-​style modern society and totally denying its historical tradition and accumulation. This led to a round of academic discussions on historical GDP research. Some scholars held that there existed mature methods and a complete set of index systems for GDP research, so the key point was not to follow the methods and indicators, but to collect and collate the historical data. They also estimated various indicators of agricultural production of the Qing Dynasty, such as the cultivated land area, grain yields per mu and total grain yields, total output value of the grain yields, total output value of the planting industry and total agricultural output value including forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, which was praised by scholars as the most comprehensive research in this field.116

282  ZENG Yeying Some scholars suggested that we should immediately carry out the research on “economic statistics of modern China”. Some scholars pointed out that when estimating the GDP of modern China, we should pay attention to the analysis of premise in the process of choosing theoretical models, and pay attention to the analysis of residual error when extrapolating data, and also should verify the results with data from other fields, so as to make them stand the academic test. Other scholars held that GDP should not be used as the main evaluation criteria when comparing ancient Chinese traditional society or modern Chinese dual transition society with Western capitalist countries, and we should especially avoid using the GDP figures obtained by estimation or measurement methods deviating from the definition or having defects in the model. Otherwise, it will improperly estimate the development level of China’s economy and cover up the fact that modern China had a dual economic structure and the ancient Chinese market economy was very limited.117 With regard to quantitative research methods, some scholars used the relevant data of 264 prefectures (fu) in 18 provinces of China at that time to investigate the specific effects and mechanisms of trade ports in promoting the long-​term development of the modern economy, and pointed out that the closer a place was to the trade ports, the larger the urban population, the higher the population density and the higher the labor productivity it will have. The trading ports provided conditions for the emergence of modern new education. New things such as international students, new-​style schools and church schools first arose at the trading ports, and then spread inland, which promoted the development of modern human capital. Some scholars used the visualization methods of historical spatial data to study the development context of economic history. Taking the spatial distribution of grain prices and the grain transportation and marketing network in the southern region of the Qing Dynasty as an example, they analyzed the four spatial gradients of rice prices from east to west in the southern region of the Qing Dynasty. Some scholars have found more than 2,000 cases of household and property confiscation in the central archives of the Qing Dynasty by means of electronic retrieval, pointing out that these cases occurred most frequently in Yongzheng, Qianlong and Guangxu period. Deficit and corruption were the most common accusations; the confiscation of officials’ household and property was not closely related to the law and regulations of the Qing Dynasty, but was closely related to the emperor’s personal will, preference and choice.118

9.5  History of Sino-​foreign relations From the reform and opening up, the study of the history of Sino-​foreign relations in modern times developed rapidly and achieved fruitful results. The research results related to the history of Sino-​foreign relations during the late Qing government, Beijing government and Nanjing national government in the past ten years are summarized as follows:

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  283 9.5.1  Sino-​foreign relations during the late Qing government Regarding the diplomatic system of the Qing government, Cao Wen119 for the first time proposed a new concept “vassal state system”, distinguishing it from the “patriarchal-​vassal system” commonly used in academia or “tributary system” used by overseas researchers. Chen Shangsheng held that the traditional international order in East Asia should be called a “tributary system”, which aimed to establish a master-​slave relationship between the “dominant country” and the “tributary”; however there was no cooperative alliance between the tributaries, therefore making it difficult to compete with the western states employing the treaty system in modern times and the expansion of Japan in East Asia.120 Li Dalong argued that the traditional political pattern of “world” in East Asia before modern times was formed based on the traditional dynasty centered on the Central Plains of China, which is the natural regional aggregation of regimes and ethnic groups and transformed to modern international relations due to the introduction of the Western modern theory of state.121 Li Yunquan analyzed the political changes of East Asia in the late Qing Dynasty under the tributary system and origin of the word “diplomacy” in modern times through the case of China-​ Korea exchanges.122 Li Yumin studied the changes of Sino-​foreign relations after The Treaty of Shimonoseki, and pointed out that the Western powers established an unequal treaty relationship in China through the Opium War, and coexisted with and finally replaced tributary relationship.123 Guo Weidong examined the dualization of central and local diplomacy in the late Qing’s foreign relations, and the development of local diplomacy from Guangzhou diplomacy to Tianjin diplomacy to southeast diplomacy, and pointed out that Sino-​foreign relations in the late Qing Dynasty evolved from the tributary relations to trade relations.124 Quan Hexiu contended that one diplomacy and two systems prevailed at the center and the periphery of the tributary relationship system in the late Qing Dynasty, which was a transitional phenomenon during the modern transformation of foreign relations.125 Sun Fang held that unwritten contractuality is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Sino-​Korean relationship.126 Zhang Liheng pointed out that the seven years of exchanges between Qing ambassadors and the Korean delegation in Japan showed obvious Chinese marks and difficult choices of China and Korea in globalization.127 Regarding the Sino-​British relations, Wang Hongbin (2010, 2011) pointed out that forcing Qing officials to recognize the legalization of the opium trade was a policy consistently adhered to by the British government in the mid-​19th century, while during the negotiation of the second Conditions for Banning Opium, Britain had to make concessions though not changing its standpoint of exporting opium to China.128 Wang Tao studied the hydrological investigation of the British Army on the Chinese coast before and after the Opium War, and pointed out that it was those investigation activities that changed the British army’s understanding of Chinese geography, which affected the

284  ZENG Yeying configuration of warships, artillery, troops and implementation of strategic tactics.129 Zhao Xin analyzed the origin, introduction, implementation, change and influence of the “open-​door policy”, which was first proposed and implemented by the United Kingdom, and later became western powers’ main diplomatic policy toward China.130 Researchers also studied Horatio Nelson Lay’s role in the negotiation of the Tianjin Treaty, Robert Hart’s role in the negotiation of the Sino-​British business agreement after the Gengzi Incident, and J. H. Hart’s role in the negotiation on Regulations Appended to the Sikkim-​Tibet Convention.131 Regarding Sino-​Japanese relations, You Shujun believed that the Park Jongyang Incident made the dispute between China and Korea more apparent, and Korea determined to draw in Japanese forces, thus laying the hidden dangers of Sino-​Japanese War.132 Dai Dongyang held that although having been planned early, it was not until the outbreak of the Sino-​Japanese War when the Chinese embassy issued a note to withdraw from Japan that Japan withdrew its embassy, and deployed intelligence personnel in Beijing, Tianjin, Yantai and Shanghai. Dai Dongyang contended that the Japanese scholar Takahashi’s research on the sinking of the S. S. Kowshing was to justify the attack of Naniwa, which influenced later research though the academic circles refuted the responsibility for the war and the process of the incident.133 Ji Chen believed that during the Sino-​Japanese Hiroshima negotiations, China’s credentials were inconsistent with international practice in both form and content, the actual reason was that high-​level Qing officials were unwilling to decentralize rather than being unfamiliar with international law. However, the Japanese hung on to the problem, which deliberately contributed to the breakdown of the negotiations.134 Dai Haibin studied the various connections between Chang Chih-​tung and the Japanese government, military department and civil societies around the Gengzi incident, showing the historical complexity of this period, which enriched people’s understanding of the history of modern Sino-​Japanese relations.135 Li Huazi held that after the Russo-​Japanese War, Japan started the “Jiandao issue” (Jiandao is a unilateral unauthorized claim by Koreans to the Chinese Yanbian territory north of the Tumen River and south of the Hailan River, including Yanji, Wangqing, Helong, and Hunchun) on the pretext of “protecting” the Korean people in China. In the Sino-​Japanese negotiations, after China’s resolute struggle, Japan not only recognized that “Jiandao” was the territory of the Qing Dynasty, but also withdrew the illegal colonial institutions, while on the other side, China admitted that Japan had the right to exercise jurisdiction over Koreans in commercial ports.136 Xue Yiqun pointed out that after the Russo-​Japanese War, the Qing government took the initiative to negotiate with Japan on such issues as recovery of telecommunications rights outside the affiliated areas of the “South Manchurian Railway”, the operation and management of the submarine telecommunication line between Yantai and Dalian, and the China-​Korea border wiring. Japan had a tough attitude in safeguarding the rights and interests of vested telecommunications, leading

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  285 to a stalemate in Sino-​Japanese negotiations. Under pressure from Russia and the United Kingdom, the Qing government signed the China-​Japan telecommunication agreement by granting Japan special rights.137 Zhang Zhan investigated the retreat of the National Government Embassy in Japan after the outbreak of the Anti-​Japanese War, and pointed out that after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Chinese embassy in Japan was ordered to stay, while the Japanese authorities tried to force it to retreat, until June 1938, when the Chinese embassy was forced to withdraw. During this process, China and Japan started a diplomatic game, and various factors affected the retreat.138 Yang Dong discussed the “Japanese-​government clearance” system promoted by the Japanese and Puppet regimes in the war-​stricken area, which tortured Chinese people so much that they rose up to fight, and the Chinese Communist Party responded to it through various forms of struggle until the system was abolished after the surrender of Japan.139 Regarding Sino-​ French relations, Zhang Yangding and Ni Lasong discussed the negotiations between China and France on the Vietnam issue, and held that the Qing government held a rather complicated attitude toward French invasion into Vietnam in the middle and late 19th century, because it might touch upon subordinate relations between China and Vietnam and the Qing government’s cognition and proposition of its relationship with the Western powerful states, which reflected the conflict between Chinese and Western systems.140 Zhang Zhenkun conducted historical research on the key document Memorandum of Francois Ernest Fournier, and pointed out that after his meeting with François Ernest Fournier on May 17, 1884, Li Hung-​chang did not report the French road map of implementing the concise Tianjin terms to the Qing government, and after the Guanyin Bridge Incident, Li Hung-​chang deliberately forged obliteration on the document, and blinded the reporters of British newspaper to make it public.141 Zhang Zhiyong studied Robert Hart and Sino-​French negotiations on Vietnam, pointing out that Hart on the one hand represented China to protect China’s interest in mediating the Sino-​French conflict on the Vietnam issue, while on the other hand, he sometimes sacrificed China’s interest in exchange for “China-​France peace”, the most important goal in his mind. Understanding the dual identity of Hart justified his words and deeds in the negotiation.142 Ge Fuping studied the Ningbo Fellows’ Club Incident in Shanghai in 1898 and argued that the Qing government adopted the “local diplomacy” to resist French aggression and made the French government at first abandon the attempt to expand the settlement in Pudong, which eased the pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Qing Dynasty; however, the Qing government was later stuck in a diplomatic dilemma and the French eventually expanded their settlement in Shanghai.143 Ge Fuping held that after the signing of The Peace Protocol of 1901, France attached great importance to the evolution of the political situation of the Qing Dynasty and took corresponding measures to the revolutionary party and the Qing court. After the Wuchang Uprising broke out, France maintained neutrality between the

286  ZENG Yeying revolutionaries and the Qing government, while actively supporting Yuan Shih-​kai coming to power.144 In addition, studies on Sino-​ US, Sino-​ German, Sino-​ Russian, Sino-​ Swedish relations, and other vassal states have also produced results. Hao Yufan contended that the establishment and abolition of the US consulate in Macao in the mid-​19th century reflected the trend of American political expansion, commercial colonization and Sino-​US relations in East Asia.145 Ouyang Hong argued that during the Sino-​Japanese War, Germany changed its traditional stance of just focusing on economic interests while avoiding political disputes, and began to intervene in the power competition in the Far East.146 Chen Kaike held that the Otsu murder of Russian prince Nicholas in Tianjin in 1891 affected Russia’s policy toward China and the development of the Sino-​Russian tea trade in the late Qing Dynasty.147 Zhang Zhiyong pointed out that Hart’s proposal to set up customs and collect rents in Macao during the negotiations of the Sino-​Portuguese trade treaty in the late Qing dynasty became a vital condition for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty to press the Portuguese ministers to abandon unreasonable demands.148 Li Qiang, Ji Zong’an and Zhang Yongpan studied the vassal states Kanjut and Sikkim, pointing out that Kanjut (located on the Pamirs Plateau) had been paying tribute to China since joining the patriarchal-​vassal system in the 26th year of Qianlong, until 1937 when Britain was unable to contend with the Soviet Union in Central Asia and closed the northwest border of British India. Sikkim, a southwest vassal, was in the Qing central government’s and Tibet government’s strict management in the early and middle Qing Dynasty, however, the management gradually relaxed in the late Qing.149 9.5.2  Sino-​foreign relations during the Beijing Government period China’s diplomacy during the First World War is most focused by researchers. After the outbreak of the First World War, China declared neutrality. Hou Zhongjun held that the Beijing Government decided to maintain neutrality mainly to guard against Japan.150 As for the controversial issue of dispatching troops to Siberia, Hou Zhongjun argued that the signing of China-​Japan Joint Defense Military Agreement was a result of the Beijing Government’s internal affairs and foreign policy, and Japan obstructed the Beijing Government’s dispatching troops to Siberia.151 Shang Xiaoming argued that Yuan Shih-​kai’s compromise with the Japanese during the negotiations of the Twenty-​One Demands had no causal association with his attempt to restore the monarchy.152 Gao Yingying held that during the May 4th Movement, the Young Men’s Christian Association in Jinan, the British and Americans of Qilu University actively participated in the anti-​Japanese movement, which might not be instructed by their government but undoubtedly related with their national interests.153 Regarding the issue of repatriating Germans in China, Zhang Kaisen believed that the Beijing Government adopted a lenient and friendly

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  287 policy toward Germans, which was in full compliance with international law and reflected the progress of modern China’s diplomatic philosophy.154 Wei Bingbing pointed out that due to the help of the Chinese government and the change of repatriation plan after the Paris Peace Conference, a large number of Germans stayed in China, which had a profound impact on post-​ war Sino-​German relations and the whole situation of international relations in East Asia.155 Zhang Li exposed that Japan prevented China from levying the 2.5 per cent surtax, and pointed out that at the Washington Conference, China and the Western powers signed China’s Tariff Treaty, which allowed China to levy a 2.5 per cent import surtax; however, Japan took advantage of the mutual restraint among countries and the situation of political division within China to repeatedly prevent the relevant countries from officially recognizing China’s import surtax.156 9.5.3  Sino-​foreign relations during the reign of the Nanjing national government The first issue that has received widespread attention from the academic community is the relationship between China and Japan. Liu Xianzhong argued that the Zhongdong Railway Incident was caused by a variety of factors such as the contradiction between the Sino-​Soviet “co-​management” system, geopolitics and Chinese decision-​making errors.157 Xue Xiantian held that Chang Hsueh-​liang’s complete removal of the Soviet Union’s forces in Northern Manchuria was a strategic mistake and gave Japan the opportunity to invade the three eastern provinces.158 Regarding the September 18th Incident, Zang Yunhu believed that after the incident, Japanese policy makers underwent an assimilation process, and since then Japanese control of South Manchuria, safeguarding the “Manchurian rights” had become a dominant element for successive governments’ decision-​making, military expansion and handling international affairs.159 Yan Cheng argued that China and Japan’s fierce conflict about the railway in Northeast China was one of the causes of the September 18th Incident.160 Lu Xijun argued that the complex China-​Japan-​Soviet relation and the partial understanding of Chiang Kai-​shek’s strategy was a major reason for Japan’s launch of the North China Incident.161 Liu Limin held that during the ten years before the Anti-​Japanese War, the Japanese encroached on Chinese fishery, and the Nanjing national government took a series of measures but failed to fundamentally solve the problem.162 Zhang Hao and Ye Weiwei pointed out that Chiang Kai-​shek originally intended to declare war against Japan after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and later used the expression “rise to Japan’s challenge”, and based on the Chinese consensus of “not declaring war”, the National Government began to use “War of Resistance” which was recorded in history as a profoundly meaningful vocabulary.163 Regarding wartime diplomacy, major monographs are Research on China and the World during the Anti-​Fascist War164 edited by Hu Dekun and Wartime International Relations165 edited by Yang Tianshi. The former studies the

288  ZENG Yeying diplomatic strategy and important bilateral relations of this period while the latter includes the latest research results of scholars from various countries. Regarding the Sino-​US relations, Zhang Junyi held that the US initially held a negative attitude toward the September 18th Incident, but began to take a tough stance toward Japan after seeing the investigation report by Salisbury.166 Wu Jingping believed that Chiang Kai-​shek’s efforts to maximize China’s interests in negotiations on US financial assistance mobilized the talents and enthusiasm of the relevant diplomats and special envoys, thereby having strengthened understanding between China and the United States.167 Yuan Chengyi discussed Sino-​US cooperation on the air battle against Japan, and argued that the military cooperation between two sides reflected the cooperative relationship of mutual strategic support, which was crucial not only for the Chinese battlefield, but also for the entire Pacific battlefield.168 Jia Qinhan held that after the founding of the US Wartime Intelligence Agency, a large number of propaganda reports had been made on China’s Anti-​Japanese War, which enhanced the fighting spirit of the Chinese military and civilians and consolidated alliance relation with China.169 Wang Jianlang held that the seriousness of the contradictions and conflicts between China and the United States in the later period of the Anti-​Japanese War greatly exceeded people’s previous understanding. Chiang Kai-​shek was not only seriously dissatisfied with the ineffectiveness of US aid to China, he even gradually began to doubt the sincerity, courage, and motives of Roosevelt’s aid. The trust between the two had gradually evaporated in wartime.170 Chen Qianping held that after the victory of the Anti-​Japanese War, the US and British governments actually tacitly approved the Chinese government’s resumption of sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea.171 Li Guang argued that in the 1940s and 1950s, the US no longer supported the international trusteeship of the South China Sea islands, nor did it support any claim of the sovereignty over the islands. Instead, it hoped to obfuscate the issue so as not to benefit the new People’s Republic of China.172 Yang Kuisong held that the US intelligence service during the Kuomintang-​CPC civil war was on the whole objective and credible, and had certain reference value for the formulation of US policies.173 As for the Sino-​Soviet relations, Zhou Jintao discussed the relationship between the CPC and the Soviet Union, and pointed out that after Japan surrendered unconditionally, the Kuomintang and the CPC argued over who should accept Japan’s surrender in public. At first, the Soviet Union unequivocally supported the National Government, however, as the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union became increasingly prominent, especially when the United States and the Kuomintang’s close relation threatened the Soviet Union’s strategic interests in the Far East and its privileges in China, the Soviet Union gradually adjusted its policy toward China and began to increase support for the CPC army’s entry into the Northeast.174 Regarding Sino-​ French relations, Tan Yuhua discussed the dispute between China and France over the Xisha Islands caused by the Yongxing Island Incident in 1947, and pointed out that in negotiation, France tried

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  289 every possible way to induce China to recognize the sovereignty dispute in the Xisha Islands, while China had always insisted that France unconditionally withdraw the Coral Island Garrison, insisting on the sovereignty of the Xisha Islands. However, China’s failure to take effective military counter-​measures resulted in the illegal occupation of Coral Island by France, which seriously damaged China’s sovereign rights and interests, and affected the subsequent handling of the Xisha Islands.175 Chen Qianping discussed the historical process of the National Government’s recapture of the South China Sea islands and insisted China’s indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea.176

9.6  History of the Chinese revolution The research on the history of the Chinese revolution in the past ten years has made great progress in terms of breadth and depth. The following is a brief introduction mainly on the study of the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the CPC, the Kuomintang-​CPC civil war, the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the CPC, and China’s War of Liberation. Regarding the first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the CPC, Zhou Yuefeng investigated the process of The Soviet Union’s First Declaration to China being introduced to China in April 1920 and its response in China, pointing out that shortly afterwards, the image of Soviet Russia in the Chinese ideological circle changed from a representative of “social revolution” to a hero upholding justice, which established Russia’s role in Chinese ideological circles and further paved way for the spread of Soviet-​Russian communism in China.177 Ying Xing analyzed the two key “institutional environments” in the early organizational development of the CPC: school and geography, and found that the formation and development of the CPC’s early organizations were embedded in the political and educational structure of the Republic of China and traditional social relations as well, and also utilized resources of the children from rich or famous families.178 Yang Tianhong investigated the origin of the identity of the CPC, and argued that the Communist International ordered the CPC members to join the Kuomintang and maintain political and organizational independence within the Kuomintang as well, which was contradictory and extremely difficult and therefore ultimately led to the breakdown of the CPC’s relationship with the Kuomintang.179 Yu Huamin reviewed the early communists’ design and expectation of the state form, pointing out that although their discourse had some shortcomings, the new and basic ideas they proposed for solving Chinese problems and methods they established opened up a new chapter for the CPC in understanding and solving national problems under the guidance of Marxism.180 Feng Xiaocai studied the issue of businessmen’s active participation in politics, and proposed that around the Northern Expedition, the CPC had close contact with businessmen such as Yu Qiaqing (he was regarded as a representative of the “bourgeois left”) in Shanghai, and the three armed labor riots in Shanghai

290  ZENG Yeying broke up under this background. However, Yu’s cooperation with the CPC was mainly restricted within the framework of the Kuomintang, and the CPC flexibly used “class analysis” to explain its policy with those bourgeois businessmen. The failure to cooperate with the “bourgeois” provided a critical basis for the opposition within the CPC and further influenced the direction of the later policy.181 Li Zhiyu discussed the crucial issue of class line, and argued that during the CPC-​Kuomintang cooperation, the Communist International and the CPC assumed that the petty bourgeoisie would not accept the leadership and program of the CPC, and subsequently attempted to develop a “Left Party” of the Kuomintang to lead the National Revolution; after the breakdown of the CPC and Kuomintang cooperation, some intellectuals who neither agreed with the Kuomintang’s anti-​communist massacre nor the workers’ and peasants’ armed riots, began a discussion on China’s non-​capitalist road based on demonstrating the revolutionary nature of the petty bourgeoisie, however, the CPC began to criticize petty-​bourgeois consciousness in the political and cultural fields in order to establish its own proletarian party nature, thereby transforming the concept of “petty bourgeoisie” from a concept of Marxist social class analysis into an inner-​pointing concept of ideological criticism, starting the historical process of self-​reflection and self-​restraint in Chinese revolution.182 Regarding the Kuomintang-​CPC civil war, major monographs are Tension and Boundary: The Revolution in the Central Soviet Area (1933–​1934)183 by Huang Daoxuan and The Agrarian Revolution184 by He Youliang. The former analyzed the origin of the Agrarian Revolution and the multiple factors for southern Jiangxi and western Fujian becoming the central Soviet area, and elaborated the dilemma of the CPC facing the lack of resources and historical constraint of the Soviet revolution, comprehensively presenting the huge turning stage of the Soviet movement from prosperity to decline. The latter book dissected the realistic foundation of the Agrarian Revolution, the agrarian relations, adjustment of power structure in rural areas and changes in the market system and economic structure, and analyzed such issues as education, women’s liberation, changes in family relations, the spread and acceptance of new ideas and transformation of the Agrarian Revolution. As for research papers, Li Li discussed the profound influence of firearms on the practice, organization and operation, and ideas of armed riots during the early period of the CPC’s armed riots, which deepened academia’s understanding of the important role of equipment and technology in the transformation of the CPC.185 Zhang Hongqing analyzed the origin of revolution after the separation of the CPC and the Kuomintang in 1927, and claimed that a group of small and medium-​level intellectuals led the urban-​ born revolution to the “countryside” and opened a new path for the revolution in China.186 Ying Xing studied the reorganization of the main Red Army troop from 1930 to 1931, and pointed out that the reorganization was led by the Central Committee of the CPC and strongly influenced by the Fourth Army of the Red Army which was generated by Mao Tse-​tung’s

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  291 strategic idea of “accompanying development”; the simultaneous reorganization of the Red Army in Hubei, Henan, and Anhui Soviet regions reflected the changes in the central committee’s policy while that of western Hunan-​ Hubei Soviet area showed a certain degree of autonomy. The CPC’s policy of “centralized leadership and decentralized management” took shape in the practice of reorganization, which further strengthened the role of the army in the Soviet revolution and prompted the Red Army to shift from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare.187 Jiang Yuan investigated how the CPC Regime in the west Hunan-​Hubei Soviet area maintained a balance between revolution and order, that is, between ideal and reality, in the context of the catastrophic floods in the Yangtze River in 1931, which was a conducive attempt to incorporate environmental history into the study of the Soviet area.188 Zhou Bin studied the origin and overview of armed conflicts in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River between the Red Army and the navies of Britain, the United States and Japan during the CPC’s implementation of the “joining forces in Wuhan” program in 1930, and revealed that the root cause of the conflict was not the CPC’s blind xenophobia, but the foreign invaders’ jealousy of communism and gun-​boat policy so as to maintain their privileges in China, thereby restoring historical truth.189 Zhang Yong reviewed the historical facts of Luo Zhanglong and He Mengxiong’s failure in attempting to obtain central leadership through struggle at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the CPC and analyzed the sharp contradictions faced by the CPC at that time.190 The Long March of the Red Army was a major event during the 10-​year Kuomintang-​CPC civil war. 2016 was the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Red Army, thereby historical issues related to it naturally attracted the attention of academia. A major monograph is Going North: The Struggle Between Zhang Guotao and the Central Committee of the CPC191 by Liu Tong, which detailed the fierce debate between Zhang Guotao and the Central Committee of the CPC on the strategic choices of whether to go south or north during the Long March. In terms of research papers, Shan Mingming reviewed reports on the Long March of the Red Army in Shenpao, from predicting the Red Army’s failure in the Kuomintang’s “encirclement and suppression”, reporting the Kuomintang’s “chasing and suppressing” the Red Army, to positively reporting the Long March, the change of which reflected to a certain extent the re-​recognition of the image of the CPC by the masses in the Kuomintang-​rule area.192 Luo Min reconstructed the history of 1943 when the Red Army broke through the siege and the local forces in Southwest China tried to take the advantage of Hu Hanmin’s political influence to “force Chiang Kai-​shek to Sichuan” so as to ease the military tension while actively deploying forces to seize Guizhou on the other hand. Chiang Kai-​shek and the local forces in the Southwest had their own political purposes respectively and the local forces in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan provinces formed an alliance to counter the penetration of the central forces rather than seemingly suppress the CPC.193 Huang Daoxuan accurately restored the historical

292  ZENG Yeying process of the Central Red Army’s struggles with the Kuomintang army and finally breaking through the siege after the Zunyi Conference.194 Yang Kuisong analyzed the time and reason for the establishment of the new “Dreigestirn” (Bo Gu, Otto Braun and Chou En-​lai) and studied the changes of Mao Tse-​ tung’s leadership and power during the Long March.195 Zhang Erjia studied the relationship between the Red Army and its opponents during the Long March, and pointed out that the success of the Central Red Army’s exit from Hunan to Guizhou was the result of the mutual restraint and action of multiple forces. Chiang Kai-​shek wanted to weaken local warlords by eliminating the CPC while the latter in Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces cared for self-​survival rather than wiping out the CPC.196 Regarding the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the CPC in the Anti-​Japanese War, researchers have conducted extensive and in-​depth studies on the relationship between the Kuomintang and the CPC, the CPC’s construction and performance in the Anti-​Japanese War and the CPC’s relationship with the United States. Around December 1939, the “Shanxi Incident”, a serious military conflict between Yan Xishan (a Kuomintang commander governing Shanxi) and the CPC, started the military conflict between the Kuomintang and the CPC. Yang Kuisong studied the CPC’s, Mao Tse-​tung’s in particular, response policy toward the “Shanxi Incident”, changes in the strategy of the CPC and reasons behind it.197 Su Ruoqun studied the evolution of the CPC Central Committee’s strategy against the Kuomintang before the Southern Anhui Incident and argued that from August to December in 1940, the CPC Central Committee dealt with its relationship with the Kuomintang in consideration of the national interest and Chiang Kai-​shek’s attitude toward Japanese invasion. When the CPC Central Committee believed Chiang Kai-​ shek would not yield to the Japanese, its main strategy was to maintain the relationship with the Kuomintang, while noticing clues of Chiang Kai-​ shek’s yielding, main strategy was to break down the cooperative relationship and attack the Kuomintang.198 Wei Xiaokai and Li Yu investigated the changes in the attitude of the top Kuomintang officials (represented by Xu Yongchang) toward the CPC and its impact on the historical trend of the CPC-​Kuomintang relationship and overall process of the War of Resistance against Japan.199 Wen Shifang studied the complicated historical evolution of the appellation of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia region, revealed the struggle between the Kuomintang and the CPC for control of the regime in the region, and pointed out that the goal of two sides in cooperating to resist Japan was basically unshakable even though with divergence in negotiation, which was a crucial reason for the victory of the Anti-​Japanese War.200 Wu Zhijuan explored the complex relationship between public opinion and the political struggle between the Kuomintang and the CPC, and analyzed how the CPC and the Kuomintang made efforts to control or guide domestic and foreign public opinion on political legitimacy and the Kuomintang-​ CPC relation through news reports.201 Lv Xun and He Jiangfeng proposed

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  293 the impact of international factors on the Kuomintang-​CPC relation, and pointed out that in the context of the Anti-​Japanese War, Stilwell and the CPC had maintained good friendship since 1938, and got even closer from March 1942 to October 1944. The policy of the CPC affected Stilwell and president Roosevelt, and Stilwell’s words of supporting the CPC exacerbated Chiang Kai-​shek’s dissatisfaction with him, leading to Stilwell’s reappointment and thereby affecting Sino-​US relations. In addition, various international factors before and after Chiang Kai-​shek struck Yan’an in 1943 shaped the Kuomintang’s anti-​communist political propaganda and military deployment.202 Regarding the construction of the CPC, Liu Zongling studied the restoration and reconstruction of the CPC’s underground organization in Sichuan, and pointed out that it transformed from the party to mobilize salvation in the early period of the Anti-​Japanese War to a tightly-​organized revolutionary party with a strict discipline in the middle and late period.203 Zhao Nuo studied the development and adjustment of the CPC organization in the Taihang base area during the early period of the Anti-​Japanese War, and contended that the integration of outsiders and local forces was one of the keys to success in the process of development and expansion of political power.204 Huang Daoxuan studied the process of large-​scale cultivation of CPC cadres and interaction between individual, group and the party during the Anti-​ Japanese War, pointing out that the cultivation of CPC cadres during this period was a systematic project consisting of education, training, assessment, criticism and self-​criticism.205 The early period of the Anti-​Japanese War was also a critical period for the CPC to carry out the rectification movement and further unify and reform the whole party, therefore, the cultivation of cadres during this period was also deeply imprinted with rectification. Zhao Nuo studied the rectification movement of the CPC Committee of the Taihang District, and pointed out that “in the rectification, the leaders of the base area mainly adopted an internal party governance method featured with bottom-​up ideological mobilization, coupled with top-​down organizational method”.206 Guo Ning studied the CPC’s rectification movement in Shandong province, and found that Shandong’s rectification highlighted Mao Tse-​tung’s leadership in the whole party, strengthened Luo Ronghuan’s leadership in Shandong, consolidated the achievements of unified leadership in Shandong and ensured Yan’an’s absolute leadership over Shandong.207 Yang Fayuan studied the contradiction in identification and the diversity and change in behavior choices of the grassroots party members in Shandong Anti-​Japanese Base, which reflected the complexity of the rural communist revolution.208 Li Jinzheng studied the hierarchical relationship of the Anti-​Japanese Base areas under the leadership of the CPC, pointing out that under the leadership of the CPC, the local base areas had certain autonomy in governance and local creative practice was likely to rise to the policy of the CPC. Compared with the forms of regime in other historical periods, such a “central-​local” relation during the Anti-​Japanese War had obvious wartime and transitional features,

294  ZENG Yeying which laid a foundation for construction of the CPC’s political system after seizing national power.209 Regarding the actual performance of the CPC in the Anti-​Japanese War, Yang Kuisong (2015a, 2015b) reviewed the military development policy of CPC in the early days of the Anti-​Japanese War, and the relationship between Yan Xi-​shan and the CPC, pointing out that the widely spread policy of “70% for development, 20% to stall off, and 10% to resist against Japan” had no factual basis, and the later so-​called development plan was merely a description and summary of the actual results of the CPC’s military development in early 1940.210 Yu Huamin examined the historical context and basic historical facts of the CPC’s decision to open up guerrilla battlefields in North China, and held that the development of a large number of guerrilla battlefields behind enemy lines in North China led the war in the direction of being a protracted war and laid a solid foundation for winning the final victory in the war against Japan.211 Huang Daoxuan explored the background and actual operation of the rise of tunnel warfare in the central Hebei region, pointing out that the public’s hostility against Japan caused the critical damage to Japanese control in China and was the basis of CPC’s tunnel warfare.212 Bian Xiuyue analyzed the common characteristics of the rumors related to the CPC’s resistance against the Japanese, and contended that it was necessary to examine and understand the strategic position and historical merits of the frontal battlefield and the battlefield behind the enemy lines, and the contribution of Chinese people’s Anti-​Japanese War to the world anti-​fascist war. The deeds and historical contributions of the armed forces under the leadership of the CPC were an indispensable page in the glorious history of the Chinese nation’s overall Anti-​Japanese War, while the Kuomintang also made a significant contribution.213 Qi Xiaolin studied the equipment, technology, tactics and combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army in the Hundred Regiment War, pointing out that due to the Japanese army’s strict defense and stubborn counterattack, the Eighth Route Army’s tactics evolved from ambushes during the early days of the War of Resistance to assaults on fortified positions, combat effectiveness declined and ammunition consumption increased rapidly. Fundamentally speaking, the limited supply of equipment and ammunition restricted the improvement of the Eighth Route Army’s military technics and choice of tactics. Therefore, after the Hundred Regiment War, the CPC began comprehensive guerrilla warfare, which was both a helpless and wise choice.214 However, Zou Cheng argued that the Eighth Route Army followed the existing tactics and received a rather satisfactory result, nevertheless, after the Hundred Regiment War, the Japanese army paid more attention to the Eighth Route Army, hence an even worse environment for the latter.215 Huang Daoxuan (2017) reviewed the predicament of the CPC when entering the phase of stalement, and argued that the CPC reached a “weak balance” with the Japanese in the complex and tortuous situation, which resulted from the CPC’s efforts, the nature of the war, broad areas behind enemy lines, and the CPC’s flexible tactics in particular.216 Shi Xiqiao

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  295 studied the CPC’s strategy of creating and using “grey areas” to expand its influence when the enemy was stronger, revealing that the CPC’s armed forces in south Shandong transformed the pro-​Japanese village head into serving for the Eighth Route Army.217 Zhou Zuwen discussed how the Shaanxi-​Gansu-​ Ningxia Border Region solved the fiscal problem from collecting feudal land tax, to collecting public grain in a progressive manner, and finally agricultural progressive taxation.218 Zhang Wei examined the loan relationship in the northwestern Shanxi anti-​Japanese base, pointing out that the creditors and debtors were engaged in a fierce struggle over interest rate cuts and interest payments, and the debtor-​creditor relationship stalled due to the struggle for interests and the CPC’s policy. In order to activate rural finance, the CPC created mutual loans between farmers, which partially solved the difficulties of farmers’ lives and economic construction. Later, the CPC organized preferential agricultural loans centered on the Northwest Farmers’ Bank, and established cooperatives to activate rural lending and accommodate agricultural funds.219 Li Lifeng analyzed the continuity characteristics of the CPC’s rural mobilization throughout the revolutionary era, and believed that regardless of the period of the Anti-​Japanese War or the Civil War, its rural mobilization was based on obtaining the peasants’ participation, identification and material support, and the basic means of mobilization were satisfaction of interests, construction of identity and arousal of emotion.220 Regarding the relationship between the CPC and US, Jia Qinhan discussed Chou En-​lai’s meeting with resident Roosevelt’s Special Envoy Curie after the South Anhui Incident, noting that this meeting actually opened up a diplomatic window between the CPC and the United States and other Western governments.221 Niu Jun studied the evolution of the CPC’s policy toward the US from 1944 to 1946 and its main characteristics, arguing that the CPC’s policy toward the US changed from seeking cooperation with the US, isolating the US during the Kuomintang-​CPC struggle, to confronting the US, the transformation of which was driven by three factors:  the CPC’s interaction with the US, the complex needs of the CPC’s revolutionary strategic transformation and the CPC leaders’ macro-​thinking of world politics and its relationship with the Chinese revolution.222 With regard to People’s Liberation War, the focus of the academic community was mainly on the study of CPC’s relevant policies certain events. Zhang Yong studied the CPC’s new army consolidation movement and held that the fundamental reason for its victory was the PLA’s faith.223 Zhang Shuhuan studied the actual situation of possession of land in China, the difference between the situation of the CPC Central Committee and the local bases, relationship between mobilization of the masses and the united front lines, pointing out the complex reasons for the evolution of land reform policy in the liberation area.224 Li Lifeng discussed the working crew’s role characteristics, attribute of power and interaction with the village community in North China land reform movement.225 Wang Hualing studied the inner-​party request report system established by the CPC Central Committee

296  ZENG Yeying during the liberation war to establish the relationship between the central and local authorities.226 Cao Zuoyan studied the evolution and logic of the disposal policy of public officials of the old regime after the CPC began to occupy major cities in late 1945.227 Deng Guang analyzed the wartime financial and grain collection mechanism and crisis response methods in Shandong liberated area.228 Regarding the study of major events, Jin Chongji studied the history between the Battle of Shangdang and Pinghan Campaign after the victory of the Anti-​Japanese War, and clarified the historical facts that it was the Kuomintang that sparked the civil war and the CPC was forced to stand up and defend itself, which changed the strategy from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare in the Battle of Shangdang and completely defeated Chiang Kai-​ shek’s plan to open up the Pinghan Railway and further to seize North China, thereby making a significant impact on the entire liberation. Yang Kuisong investigated the “Anping Incident”, the first armed conflict between the CPC and US army in July 1946, pointing out that Marshall, who had to seek the cooperation of both the Kuomintang and the CPC, was forced to trivialize such a serious incident; however, the US government resold the wartime surplus materials to the National Government in spite of the CPC’s strong opposition, which accelerated the breakdown of the Kuomintang-​CPC relationship and obscured the truth of Anping Incident.229 He Jiangfeng studied the “February 2nd strike movement” in 1948, and contended that the strike movement was the result of the triple factors: workers’ economic demands, struggles within the Kuomintang and the CPC’s urban revolution.230 Liu Yigao studied the “Linqing Incident”, a rise in price in the North China Liberated Area due to the purchase of cotton by public stores in October 1948, and held that the public understanding of the incident replaced historical truth to some extent, and proposed the need for the leadership of state-​ run commerce and administrative intervention, and the danger of capitalist economy.231 Wang Anzhong analyzed the influence of the Kuomintang’s and CPC’s weapons, equipment, army composition, tactics and logistic support on the Menglianggu Campaign.232

9.7  History of thought and culture The May 4th New Culture Movement has always been a hotspot in academic circles. In addition, 2009 was the 90th anniversary of the May 4th New Cultural Movement, and 2015 was the 100th anniversary of the publication of New Youth and the 100th anniversary of the launch of the New Culture Movement, which naturally became the most topic of most concern in modern ideological history in the past ten years. To sum up, scholars’ research on this issue mainly focuses on the era environment in which the New Culture Movement emerged, its core content and influence, and criticisms toward it. Regarding the era, Zhang Qing investigated New Youth and reading cases of the New Culture Movement, arguing that individuals in different regions

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  297 and with different identities had diverse interpretations of New Youth and the New Culture Movement, showing the diversity of Chinese society;233 Xiong Yuezhi discussed the relationship between the cultural ecology of Shanghai, New Youth, the May 4th Movement, and the New Cultural Movement in the early Republic of China, and contended that such factors as the social environment and cultural characteristics of Shanghai at that time, the cultural differences between Beijing and Shanghai, and the impact of talent interaction between Beijing and Shanghai should be taken into consideration;234 He Zhuo’en and Zhang Jiahao investigated the changing of target readers of New Youth from youths at the beginning, intellectuals when the magazine moved to Beijing, to “new laborers” supporting communist revolution when the magazine moved back to Shanghai;235 Zou Xiaozhan studied the issues of political transformation and social transformation concerned in the Chinese ideological circle in the early years of the Republic of China, pointing out that in modern China, political transformation became the theme of the times from the defeat of the Sino-​Japanese War to the dissolution of the first Congress. However, after nearly 20  years of fruitless transformation, the debate over political transformation vs. social transformation emerged in ideological circles;236 Yang Guoqiang studied the New Culture Movement in the context of comparison of Chinese and Western thoughts, contending that the focus and purpose of new thoughts were individualism and humanism.237 Regarding the core content and influence of the May 4th New Culture Movement, Wang Hui studied the internal relationship between war, revolution and the turn of the May 4th New Culture Movement, arguing that its fundamental characteristic was the mutual transformation, infiltration and variation between culture and politics;238 Sun Xiangchen argued that the leaders of the New Culture Movement attempted to establish the independent status of the individual through criticism of familyism, which struck the key issue of the difference between modernity and Chinese cultural tradition, however, individualism was not really set up as a purpose while the positive and fundamental connotation of existentialism in familyism and various mechanisms derived externally were confused, therefore, the negative aspects of individualism were impossible to correct in the resources of cultural traditions;239 Yang Nianqun held that individualism was one of the most important trends of thought during the May 4th period, which had a great influence on the youth who desired liberation and independence, while afterwards individualism became synonymous with selfishness and thus was repeatedly criticized until giving way to collectivism after the Anti-​Japanese War;240 Ouyang Zhesheng proposed that understanding of the new culture movement’s discourse domain changed with the times: initially it was taken as an enlightenment to “eradicate the old culture and foster a new culture” which was the common choice of New Youth; in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the May 4th Movement, it was recognized that the basic spirit of the New Cultural Movement was democracy and science in the ideological circle; in the 1990s, it was thought to be the cultural radicalism for cultural

298  ZENG Yeying conservatism was valued; in the 21st century, new culture was facing an unprecedented crisis for classical culture was advocated and the tendency to de-​ newization was increasingly encouraged;241 Zheng Dahua interpreted the new culture movement with the concept of “multi-​culture” and contended that only after the rise of the New Cultural Movement did people truly understand Chinese and Western cultures, and Confucian ideology could be criticized from the perspective of multi-​culture, for the New Cultural Movement not only advocated cultures of every kind in China blooming together but also held an open and tolerant attitude toward various schools of Western culture;242 Zheng Shiqu analyzed the vital role of intellectuals in the May 30th Movement and the March 18th Movement, and the concern of the intellectual world transformed from international relations to domestic affairs.243 In recent years, the discussion on the increasingly fierce criticism of the May 4th New Cultural Movement mainly focuses on its cultural radicalism. Ma Kefeng proposed that criticism and reflection on traditional Confucianism was indeed the distinctive feature of New Youth, however, it should be to oppose the exclusive status of Confucianism and restore the status of various schools in Chinese history, examine Confucianism in world civilization with an open mind, and avoid the politicization of Confucianism and ruling people with Confucian theory;244 Li Weiwu argued that the criticism of Confucius and Confucianism in New Youth was aimed at defending the newly established republican system after the Revolution of 1911 rather than opposing the traditional Chinese culture, therefore, it was an ahistorical attitude to merely summarize the criticism of New Youth as “anti-​tradition”;245 Shen Weiwei compared the contrasting stances and opinions of “New Youth school” of Peking University and “Xueheng school” of Southeast University in the New Cultural Movement, the former of which represented fierce reform while the latter steady conservatism, however both schools held a common objective to promote cultural rejuvenation;246 Gao Yi proposed that the radical nature of the New Cultural Movement was strongly influenced by the French Enlightenment. The “French worship” prevailing in China at that time was essentially a worship of the radical revolutionary culture produced by the French Revolution, which was derived from the radical nature of the French Enlightenment and French people’s strong preference for “equality”.247 In the past ten years, another issue of most concern in modern ideological history is the history of concept and studies on it. Major monographs are: Fang Weigui pointed out that the trend of Western learning in modern China changed far-​sighted people’s concept of time and space to think about the future of the nation, which shaped modern people’s understanding of evolution and recreated the culture and politics of modern China, therefore, re-​examining the ever-​changing and complex relationship between cultural politics and knowledge construction in modern China should be one of the core issues in related research fields.248 Wang Zhongjiang systematically sorted out the different meanings of the two concepts of “nature” and “human” defined by various philosophers and thinkers, which underwent profound

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  299 changes in different periods of modern China, both retaining the tradition of Chinese classical ideology and being influenced by Western culture, hence the product of the changing times and collision of Chinese and Western cultures.249 As for research papers, Fang Guanghua studied the discussion of the unique meaning of the traditional Chinese concept “freedom” (mainly moral freedom) and its relationship with modern freedom in Chinese ideological circles in the 20th century, and expressed a unique understanding of the relationship between freedom and individual rights, political systems, material production and lifestyle respectively.250 Hu Qinzhu discussed the relationship between the concept of rights in the late Qing Dynasty and state building, and contended that the concept of rights constructed by the late Qing thinkers connotes that individuals should have autonomy which was regarded as a moral existence to resist external power and restrain internal desire as well. Such a concept of right had its rationality, but failed to facilitate state building in the late Qing Dynasty.251 Wang Qisheng discussed the concept of “class” and pointed out that after the May 30th Movement, the concept of class was over-​generalized when the Communist Party of China applied Marxist principles in China, while in the recent 20 years, the concept of class and class struggle have gradually faded out from the Chinese political circle and academia, hence a trend of declassification. However, neither of the two opposite trends are appropriate.252 Chen Hongjuan studied the original reference and plural expressions of the concept “class” in the Communist Manifesto before 1920, arguing that the concept “class” deviated from the original reference and obtained a new connotation for absorbing Chinese culture and Chinese reality. In the sinicization of the Communist Manifesto, the social function of the concept of “class” underwent a change from feudal rituals serving hierarchical collaboration to highlighting social differentiation.253 Zou Xiaozhan discussed the concepts “civil rights” vs. “national rights” used at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic, and argued that what the two concepts signified was quite complicated, partly because of the rich connotation of the concepts, partly because users had divergent thoughts and standpoints and might highlight part of the connotation while excluding the other.254 Yi Ming and Chen Xianchu studied the criticism of family system in the Chinese intellectual community from the late Qing Dynasty to the New Cultural Movement, and found that the criticism was either from the political perspective or the moral perspective. While the former showed the inappropriateness of traditional family system in modern national salvation, construction of political order, individual consciousness and cultural reform, and witnessed the intellectuals’ ideological changes to embrace Western culture, the latter deepened the understanding of family system and served as a carrier to replace the old moral perspective with the new one.255 Li Weiwu explored the different family concepts of early Marxists in China: one is to reveal the economic foundation of the family system with historical materialism and explain the root cause of its formation and change, with Li Ta-​chao as the

300  ZENG Yeying representative; the second is to show that only socialism is the correct way to solve family problems with women’s issues as the entry point, and Chen Tu-​ hsiu is the representative; the third is to explore the vein of family history from the perspective of ancient history research in anthropology, and to explain the internal connection of family evolution and social changes, with Cai Hesen as the representative; the fourth one is to elucidate the concept of new women and new family from the perspective of female social movements so as to solve family problems through reforming China and liberating women, with Xiang Jingyu as the representative.256 Zuo Yuhe discussed the different interpretations of the concept of “loyalty vs. filial piety” by the Kuomintang members, the Zhanguo-​ce Clique (the clique was named after a magazine and members of the clique promoted national supremacy in the 1940s) and modern neo-​ Confucianists during the Anti-​Japanese War. The Kuomintang members put emphasis on devotion to the nation and the state, therefore being loyal to the Kuomintang and its leaders; the Zhanguo-​ce Clique proposed to give priority to loyalty and restrict “filial piety” to family; the neo-​Confucianists clarified the relationship between the concept and family system and emphasized loyalty to the state. All three interpretations obviously have the practical purpose of serving the Anti-​Japanese War.257 Huang Xingtao and Chen Peng explored the “spread, understanding and application” of the concept of “modernization” during the Republic of China period, and pointed out that it was first used in “pursuing national modernization” in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and then in the 1930s and 1940s, it spread more widely and understanding of the concept gradually deepened in the intellectual community; however, the relationship between modernity and tradition did not become a conscious proposition in the ideological history at that time. The concept of modernization was used by various parties for mobilizing social political activities and history writing according to their own political position and ideological needs, among which, the CPC’s writing of revolutionary history not only used the concept of modernization, but also analyzed and interpreted the logical relation between revolution and modernization.258 In addition, the modern ideological history community also made some new achievements in the research of such issues as thinkers’ thoughts and influence, the input and dissemination of Western learning, and modern social thoughts. Regarding the thinkers’ thoughts and influence, Jia Xiaoye reviewed the contrasting responses toward Pseudoscripture of New Studies and On the Reform of Confucius Test, and argued that the former did not mention much about reforming the Confucius system, therefore comments were basically made from the perspective of academic research; while the latter were commented from a political perspective.259 Gao Ruiquan explored Liang Chi-​ chao’s and Yan fu’s view on equality, arguing that in the evolution of the concept, Liang Chi-​chao and Yan fu represented the early liberalism, whose views were in contrast with radical egalitarianism.260 Peng Chunling analyzed Kang You-​wei’s and Liang Chi-​chao’s thoughts on whether Confucianism

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  301 could be a “national spirit”, and argued that Kang You-​wei gradually found the institutional support to adapt to the modern society with the “national” shell, while Liang Chi-​chao re-​infused the core value of “Confucianism” into the spiritual cultivation of “national citizen”. The contrast of Kang You-​ wei’s and Liang Chi-​chao’s thoughts showed that the modern transformation of Confucianism from a “universal spirit” “clan spirit” to “national spirit” contained multiple aspects of evolution and negotiation and lack of discipline, and also reflected the changes of cultural thoughts in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican period.261 Regarding the input and dissemination of Western learning, Zheng Dahua proposed that Fichte’s nationalist ideas were introduced to China in the 1920s while systematically interpreted until the September 18th Incident. Fichte’s idea of sacrificing for national rejuvenation is consistent with Chinese understanding of patriotism, therefore being favored by the Chinese intellectuals and having advanced the thoughts of national revival in the 1930s.262 Liu Zenghe studied the process of introducing Western budget knowledge and system, and demonstrated the complexity and difficulty of introducing foreign knowledge.263 Sun Jiang examined Lacouperie’s statement that “Chinese civilization descends from western culture” and its dissemination in East Asia, pointing out that although the statement was not accepted by the mainstream sinologists in Europe, after being introduced to China via Japan, it became a “common knowledge” of some people to expel Manchu people, which showed receiving and interpreting knowledge with political bias.264 Xiong Yuezhi studied the parallel development of numerology culture and scienticism in the process of introducing science in modern China, pointing out that while Western positivism has a major impact on traditional numerology culture, some scholars who are deeply influenced by Western positivism have rich practices in numerology, for the turbulence of society in modern China and trend of interpersonal alienation and individual independence in the process of modernization provided opportunities for the rise of numerology culture.265 Fu Zheng studied the influence of Spencer’s “social organism” theory on the thought of nationalism in the Qing Dynasty, analyzed the difference between the Chinese concept of “freedom” and Spencer’s, and found that the latter advocated the opposite relation between individual freedom and state power, which determined the fate of Spencer’s theory in China.266 Regarding the modern social ideological trend, Wang Dongjie studied the dilemma of promoting Hanyu Pinyin and unification of the national language, and found that promoting pronouncing dialects with Hanyu Pinyin were criticized for going against the trend of unification of national language.267 Zheng Dahua investigated the theoretical construction of nationalism in modern history and proposed three stages:  it was formed in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican period and mainly focused on establishing what kind of nation, developed during the May 4th period on the relation between national consciousness and anti-​imperialism and anti-​feudalism, and

302  ZENG Yeying climaxed between the September 18th Incident and the end of Anti-​Japanese War when the idea of national rejuvenation was proposed and developed into a social trend of thought.268 Yu Zuhua and Zhao Huifeng comprehensively compared the three major discourses of national revival in the ideological circle during the Republic of China: the Kuomintang shaped it as a hegemonic discourse, the Communists once criticized the use of this concept though adjusted later, while the National Socialist Party was the most enthusiastic about using it. The aforementioned three types of discourse of national revival were both connected and contrast with each other: the same topic while different orientations, the same goal with different approaches.269 Wei Chunhui studied the image of the CPC in the political journals of liberals who called for “a middle way” (which was different from the CPC’s and Kuomintang’s blueprint of national revival), and found a unique approach of national revival designed by liberals.270

9.8  Social history The research on modern social history in the past ten years has basically continued the development pattern and trend after the discipline revival. According to the academic system previously constructed, scholars carried out in-​depth research on social strata, social groups, social life, social transformation, social customs and popular beliefs, and made considerable progress. Rich research results were achieved on social strata and social groups. In terms of monographs, Yang Xinsheng explored the causes, process, result and impact of the evolution of Hunan gentry class in modern times;271 He Wenping investigated the relationship between the bandit and the social order in Guangdong in the late Qing and early Republic of China;272 Wang Qin provided a perspective on the evolution of the gender pattern of modern traditional cities, and interpreted the role and function of women in modern urban transformation;273 Fan Tiequan and Wang Juguang (2011a, 2011b) investigated the origin, development and historical role of modern scientific societies and educational societies during the period of the Republic of China;274 Zuo Furong studied the activities of Buddhism, Taoism, Islamic societies and Christian societies in Beijing during the Republic of China;275 Xu Maoming examined the changes of Suzhou cultural clans since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and argued that Suzhou cultural clans changed from “family for imperial examination” to “family for modern science”, thus transformed into modern education;276 Luo Huijin held that “Cultural Adherents” at the beginning of the Republic was a special group, which obviously showed the continuation of the tradition, and its cultural contribution should be affirmed;277 Feng Jianhui and Wang Fengshan studied the characteristics of Anhui merchants and Ningbo merchants respectively.278 In terms of research papers, Yang Guoqiang analyzed the entanglement and connection between the gentlemen and the power of the state in the late Qing Dynasty;279 Ma Jianbiao studied the collective identity and political turn

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  303 of students during the May 4th Incident, and held that the construction of students’ collective identity and their consciousness of national identity were the process of government training and elite enlightenment at top level and self-​construction at the bottom;280 some scholars inspected the establishment of women’s property rights, and argued that the thought of women’s liberation formed during the May 4th period, but it was not until the Kuomintang came into power that laws for the realization of equal property rights between men and women were finally promulgated; some scholars studied the hostility of male intellectuals to female intellectuals, pointing out that female intellectuals in Hunan adopted both counterattacks and silent coping strategies toward the joint siege of male intellectual elites, which revealed the embarrassing situation faced by professional women during the Republic of China and the struggle between two genders; some scholars discussed the funeral process of Huizhou women in the Qing Dynasty and revealed the widespread religious beliefs and fengshui concept; some scholars studied gender violence between women and pointed out that women usually resorted to language attack and indirect attack toward their fellows of the same sex, and sexual insults and uglifying their appearance were the two most common method; some scholars studied the relationship between female survival and urban spatial layout, and pointed out that Beijing’s eight major hutongs, a place where prostitutes and brothels gathered, were located in the bustling city and adjacent to many commercial and entertainment facilities, thereby having special symbolic meaning in Beijing’s spatial structure during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and the formation of such a layout was mainly due to the “seperation of Manchu and Han residence” in the early Qing Dynasty and the removal of urban entertainment facilities from the inner city, which was inherited by the Beijing Municipal government during the Republic of China afterwards; some scholars studied the women’s rescue association in various anti-​Japanese base areas in North China, pointing out that the women’s rescue association in North China struggled to maintain the stability of the rural society and ensure the smooth progress of the Anti-​Japanese War.281 The research on urban and rural social life is also very rich. In terms of general monographs, Li Changli studied the changes of social life due to the influence of the Western tide, new ideological trends and war, especially how Chinese society accepted and integrated into the modern civilization.282 In terms of monographs about social life in a certain place, Zhang Sheng disclosed reasons and response measures for the housing shortage since Shanghai opened as a commercial port;283 Wang Min described the public space of modern Shanghai, and the coexistence of the city’s cosmopolitan and local, modernity and tradition, advancement and backwardness, colonial and patriotic feature;284 Ye Zhongqiang, Song Zuanyou, Ge Tao and Shi Dongxu presented the life of Shanghai literati and workers and their changing values;285 Yang Ke investigated the daily life of women at the bottom of society in Beijing, including handicraftswomen, maids, female beggars, actresses and other female laborers, and contended that urban women had successfully

304  ZENG Yeying occupied public spaces and increased their opportunities and influence, but also suffered discrimination and oppression;286 Du Lihong discussed the evolution and socialization of Beijing’s public health system in the early 20th century;287 Long Wei investigated medical disputes during the Republic of China, and held that the state system and social groups intervened and affected the doctor-​patient relationship.288 As for research papers, Du Peihong investigated how Qipao became a model of the Republic of China in the complex interactions between Manchu and Han, Chinese and West and influenced by such factors as women’s liberation and business culture;289 Zhang Wei and Wang Ying discussed the generation logic and organization mechanism of female heroes in the anti-​Japanese base areas in North China and Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia, which showed the life of female heroes from multiple angles;290 Yue Qianhou and Wang Yali studied the marital problems of anti-​Japanese soldiers in the Shaanxi-​ Gansu-​Ningxia border area, and pointed out that the wives of anti-​Japanese soldiers were a special group of rural women in the border area, whose marital disputes affected the anti-​Japanese soldiers’ confidence in the war and might endanger the stability of the rural society, so the Communist Party of China followed the principle of “freedom of marriage” and protecting the interests of the soldiers as well, and the border government shaped the soldiers’ wives as a model who were dedicated selflessly to their husbands and working hard to build their family, which eased the contradictions in soldiers’ families and achieved good social effects;291 Geng Jing examined the marital status of rural women in counties of Taihang area and how they used revolutionary discourse to fight for interests, which reflected the complex aspects of the rural women’s liberation process during the revolutionary period;292 Jiang Pei and Wang Wei studied the situation of rural women’s foot-​binding and their marital status in the base areas, showing the complex situation of remote rural women’s physical liberation in northern China during the war;293 Xu Zhimin studied the issue of Chinese students from Japanese occupation areas studying in Japan, pointing out that as Japan was involved in the Chinese battlefield and the Pacific War broke out, some policies of the Japanese government seriously affected the students’ study in Japan, who also experienced disasters such as hunger, air raids, evacuations and even atomic bomb explosions;294 Zhan Xiaobai studied the popularization of the weekly rest system in modern China, a result of Chinese people’s rational cognition and active choice rather than mere folk custom and passive adaptation, which reflected the confrontation between conservatism and innovation, nationalism and cosmopolitanism, standpoints of the mainland and metropolis in modern China;295 Wei Bingbing explored the intricate conflicts of diverse interests in the evolution of urban public space under the modern Shanghai semi-​colonial municipal system;296 Zheng Huixin studied the living conditions of civil servants in the rear areas during the Anti-​Japanese War, including various aspects of clothing, food, housing, transportation and entertainment,

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  305 and further analyzed the reasons for the decline in living standards and the impact of poverty on China’s political ecology in the future.297 Regarding the study of social transformation, major monographs are: Wang Xiaosi examined the reality of the rural society in transition in regions south of the Yangtze River;298 Huang Hongshan revealed the actual operation and transformation process of modern China’s philanthropy;299 Wang Guangyi examined the political control, farmers’ lives and development of agricultural economy in the rural areas of Northeast China in modern times;300 Xiong Yaping studied the start of railway, industrial and mining industries, urban and rural market reconstruction, industrial structure changes, society structural changes and the development of urban cities in North China from 1880 to 1937, arguing that the railway effectively promoted the transition of the rural economy from traditional to modern;301 Wu Libao studied the role of university presidents in modern education;302 Bi Yuan investigated the birth and development of modern textbooks and evolution of textbook editing and reviewing system;303 Zuo Yuhe investigated the problems faced by traditional Chinese civilization and confusion encountered in the process of reconstruction in modern China, contending that the modern revival of Chinese civilization was the modern transformation of Confucianism rather than resurrection, and integration and communication of Chinese and Western civilization rather than complete Westernization;304 Xia Bang reflected on the diverse factors of the modernization of the legal system and the inevitability of its failure in the late Qing Dynasty;305 Liu Xinjie found that different traditional civil rights had different manifestations in the grassroots judicial practice after the promulgation of the Civil Code and pointed out that modern Chinese grassroots civil judiciary maintained the operation of local social relations and interpersonal relationships;306 Tang Shichun studied how such factors as the concept of judicial independence and concept of republic, movement of legal recovery and political separation, judicial funds and talents promoted or restricted the separation of justice and administration in different historical contexts;307 Feng Xiao investigated the issue of township autonomy under the framework of state power construction;308 Yu Xinzhong explored issues related to epidemic prevention and urban environmental sanitation in the Qing Dynasty;309 Xia Xiaohong explored intellectual elites’ practice of imparting common sense to females in the late Qing Dynasty.310 As for research papers, Zhang Qing studied the compilation of “Western learning” in the late Qing Dynasty, and contended that compilation was the recreation of Western learning and analyzing the debugging and response of local culture was the main aim of examining it;311 Xing Zhaohua investigated the regulation of social disputes in Guangzhou in the early 20th century and pointed out that government and civil organizations were complementary in responses to disputes, but the mediation showed the characteristics of disorder and multi-​party game;312 Zhu Yu studied the issue of mass education, pointing out that the Jiangsu Provincial Mass Education Museum,

306  ZENG Yeying serving as an official agent and civil organization as well, coordinated the relationship between the grassroots and local government from 1928 to 1937, thereby unblocking the grassroots political track;313 Liang Chen studied the enrollment of universities and colleges in the Republic of China, pointing out that the seemingly open and fair enrollment implied such requirements as geography, knowledge and economy, which reflected the differences of universities and colleges in terms of education itself, thus resulting in a certain mode of students’ selecting schools, and from the perspective of education and social interaction, those thresholds caused differences in students’ education from different regions and families, and thus college admission was a way of selecting talents and also reflected education stratification, hence educational privileges;314 Li Changli investigated the relationship between “popularization of foreign goods” and changes in consumer attitudes, and found that after the opening door in the late Qing Dynasty, “foreign goods” began to be imported in large quantities and gradually became popular in common people’s daily life, thereby forming a practical consumption atmosphere;315 Li Hengjun discussed the spread of stethoscopes and auscultation in China which played a vital role in the establishment of Western medicine in modern China;316 Zhang Yuan analyzed the editorial in Shenpao about the dispute between Chinese and Western medicine, whose view on medicine was similar to that of Westernization;317 Zhao Xudong and Zhang Jie analyzed the re-​commissioning process of social order in rural areas at the theoretical level, arguing that in the context of cultural transformation, the social order of rural areas changed from “differential pattern”, “civilization difference” to “descending of state power”;318 Li Xianming took the dispute case of Changyuan County as an example and investigated the dispute caused by “selling Confucian temples to run schools” around the 1930s, arguing that the case highlighted the complicated relationship between different parties involved, and the old culture and power order maintained by “Confucian Temple” was gradually replaced by the new order established by local governments.319 Regarding the study of social customs and popular beliefs, major monographs are:  Wang Gewei sorted out the transformation of marriage legislation from tradition to modern, from family-​based to individual-​based in modern China, and investigated the reform process of Chinese marriage customs;320 Sheng Meizhen discussed the trend and laws of modern social fashion in Yunnan;321 Sun Shunhua revealed the laws of communication between heterogeneous cultures;322 Zhou Donghua discussed how Zhejiang Christian education changed from “foreign” to “local”, from church-​control to government-​control, from a tool for imperialist invasion of Chinese culture to a powerful promoter of Chinese education modernization;323 Lan Xifeng discussed the social service activities of Christianity during the Republic of China;324 Fan Zhengyi investigated the conflict between Christianity and folk deity beliefs in Fujian during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period;325 Wang Xiaofeng discussed Japan’s control and use of Protestantism,

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  307 Catholicism and the Orthodox Church to rule people in Northeast China during the Manchukuo period;326 Xie Zhuyan analyzed the school-​running activities of presidents of 13 foreign Protestant universities in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and found two school-​running features: integration of science and religion, Christianity and Confucianism.327 Major research papers are: Che Honglan sorted out the background and process of the introduction of Christianity into Northeast Korean society, and analyzed the basic situation of anti-​Japanese struggles by organizing Christian groups;328 Hou Jie and Wang Xiaolei investigated the close relationship between Christianity and the anti-​foot-​binding movement, which further accelerated the spread of Western civilization in modern China;329 Wu Yanling studied a Christian magazine The Women’s Messenger and found its role in promoting women’s liberation and fighting for women’s rights;330 Tao Feiya reviewed the evolution of the relationship between government and Christianity in the late Qing Dynasty from the perspective of state governance, and contended that it was the cooperation between government and Christianity that eased the dilemma of the latter;331 Li Chuanbin discussed the rural health construction activities carried out by Christianity throughout China from 1927 to 1937 and believed that these activities played a certain role in the spread of Western medicine and rural transformation;332 Ren Yi analyzed the roles and position of the French Concession authorities and the Catholic Church in Shanghai’s refugee relief in the 1930s, and believed that although their rescue work was for the sake of protecting their own interests, they still played a considerable role in protecting refugees;333 Liu Qingyu investigated the contributions made by Catholic missionaries and the Catholic Church in Inner Mongolia during the Anti-​Japanese War;334 Wang Miao sorted out the patriotic salvation activities of the Chinese Christian Church in the early days of the Anti-​Japanese War;335 Zhao Xiaoyang argued that the agricultural missionaries who came to China in modern times have effectively promoted the modernization of traditional Chinese agriculture;336 Liu Yi outlined how grassroots academy of classic learning was reorganized into schools in Sichuan in the late Qing Dynasty;337 Zhaluo investigated the marriage between the King of Sikkim and the Lamo family in the 19th century, as well as the role of the minister in Tibet and the Kasha government in the marriage.338

9.9  Taiwan history Taiwan history has always been a part of Chinese history since ancient times, and a focus of mainland scholars’ study. During this period, main research results are books:  A Brief History of Taiwan339 (a comprehensive record of Taiwan history from ancient times to the end of the 20th century and reflecting the latest results of mainland scholars’ study) and Taiwan, Its Governors and Society During Qing Dynasty340 (exploring the establishment of the administrative region and achievements of its governors), and a batch

308  ZENG Yeying of papers on establishment of Taiwan province and China’s governance over it, history of being colonized by Japanese, the anti-​Japanese struggle of the people of Taiwan, the National Government’s resumption of Taiwan, political history, economic history, social history, ideological and cultural history of Taiwan. Regarding the establishment and governance of Taiwan province, some scholars studied the process of establishing Taiwan province, pointing out that due to the shortage of funds in the Qing Dynasty, it was ten years after Shen Baozhen’s proposal that the government finally set up Taiwan province in 1885 which showed the civil governors’ conformism and the Qing government’s incompetence. Some scholars studied the strategy and practice of Liu Mingchuan’s (the first governor of Taiwan province) coastal defense, pointed out the relationship between Taiwan’s coastal defense and China’s southeast coastal defense, Fujian’s coastal defense and Taiwan’s land defense, and held that Liu Mingchuan’s defense view was an active defense against foreign powers’ invasion while protecting the security of southeastern China, however, it was not fully implemented and failed to achieve the strategic goal of defending Taiwan due to the international environment at that time and national power of the Qing Dynasty.341 Some scholars discussed the development of the eastern minority region of Taiwan, which was postponed due to the Qing government’s conformism and unawareness of the futile practice of isolating the minority region. Some scholars took the evolution process of land ownership of the Xingang community in northern Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty as an example, and pointed out the specific impact of the Qing government’s policy of the Gaoshan nationality’s land ownership on the economic life of the Xingang community, which showed the Gaoshan nationality, Han people and local government had formed a mutually beneficial cooperation model. Some scholars discussed the formation process of Taiwan’s three regional economic zones in the mid-​Qing Dynasty.342 Some scholars reviewed Shen Baozhen’s strategy of governing Taiwan after the Taiwan incident and insisted on the necessity of a comprehensive marine development strategy. Some scholars discussed the contribution of the Huai Army to resisting aggression, defending and developing Taiwan. Some scholars studied the taking of the provincial examination by the people of Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty, and found that the Qing government set up a special quota for the people of Taiwan to pass the examination in Fujian in order to appease the lonely local scholars of Taiwan, which strengthened Taiwan people’s enthusiasm for the imperial examination and loyalty to the Qing government.343 Regarding the colonial history, some scholars studied the primary education in Taiwan from the perspective of school curriculum and textbooks, and pointed out that the education was committed to cultivating low-​level talents who would be loyal to and serve the Japanese government and thus achieving the Japanese ultimate goal of colonizing Taiwan. It was obvious that the elementary education of Taiwan during the Japanese occupation was ultimately to serve the Japanese colonial policy though it had indeed made great progress.

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  309 Some scholars studied the Taiwan story in the textbooks of the modern Japanese elementary school, and found such content as praising the Japanese royal family’s devotion and sacrifice in Taiwan and describing Taiwan minorities as a barbaric ethnic group, which had been traced back to the Taiwan society in various forms, leading to the colonial discourse infiltrating to the collective historical memory of the people of Taiwan and a profound change in the identity and historical cognition of the people of Taiwan, which showed the role of state power in establishing national identity through education.344 Some scholars compared the three versions of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and pointed out that the prerequisite for the transfer of sovereignty was to own its sovereignty, which just proved that Japanese admitted China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and Japan’s repeated provocations since 1874 were unreasonable. Some scholars studied the political identity and behavior choices of local scholars of Taiwan during the early period of Japanese occupation and contended that the ambiguity of political identity of local scholars of Taiwan and the diversity of behavior choices were due to their emphasis on interests rather than moral ethics, confusing Manchu-​Han conflict and Chinese-​Japanese conflict and some people’s inappropriate remarks. Some scholars interpreted the works of Japanese Taiwan scholar Fu Qiyi and pointed out that the bloody facts described in his works were sufficient to prove that the so-​called “comprehensive and in-​depth policy of Japanese rule over Taiwan” was in fact conquering with force, plundering, threatening, deceiving and slaughter. Some scholars contended that Japanese colonial government’s cultural governance was to implement a comprehensive assimilation policy through cultural hegemony.345 Regarding the anti-​Japanese struggle of the people of Taiwan, two representative books are The Taiwanese People and Their Resisitance Against Japanese346 and The History of Indigenous Taiwanese’s Anti-​Japanese Struggles During Japanese Occupation:  Take the Atayal People as an Example.347 The former described the deeds of such aspirants as Lin Zumi and Lin Zhengheng in fighting for the recapture of Taiwan, while the latter explored the historical facts of the anti-​Japanese struggles of the ethnic minorities of Taiwan, and pointed out that the Atayal people cooperating with the Han people in Taiwan would decapitate the Japanese invaders to defend their homeland, however, the Japanese adopted the strategy of “playing both ends against the middle” to lure the Atayal people to abandon armed struggle. As for research papers, scholars either studied the fight against the Japanese led by Liu Yongfu, the anti-​Japanese struggle of the ethnic minorities in Taiwan, the anti-​Japanese struggles of the people of Taiwan in Fujian, participation of the local students of Taiwan in the anti-​Japanese war on the mainland during the Anti-​Japanese War, or the publicity role of Shenpao.348 Regarding the National Government’s Resumption of Taiwan, the representative research work is Taiwan Retrocession,349 which described the transformation of Taiwan as a colony, including such contents as Japanese colonial rule, the anti-​Japanese struggle of the people of Taiwan, the National Government’s efforts in resuming Taiwan, “February 28 Incident”, the establishment of the

310  ZENG Yeying Taiwan Provincial government, and cultural and social changes in Taiwan. As for research papers, Su Xiaodong studied how the Chinese navy took control of Japanese navy in Taiwan;350 Chu Jingtao (2010a, 2010b, 2010c) studied the nature of the Taiwan Retrocession, arguing that it was not a cession of territory but regaining of lost territory, restitution in the right and a sanction against the defeated Japanese invaders;351 Feng Lin studied Chiang Kai-​shek’s efforts and contribution in regaining Taiwan;352 Li Yumin analyzed the Taiwan-​ related treaties in the last two centuries and pointed out the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation provide legal proof for the return of Taiwan to China, and the legal status of China’s resumption of Taiwan was further confirmed as the United States, Japan and some other countries recognized the People’s Republic of China and established diplomatic relations in the 1970s;353 Hou Zhongjun analyzed Britain’s concern about the territorial part of China’s post-​war disposal plan, and pointed out that Britain recognized the resumption of Taiwan was a basic requirement of the National Government but was reluctant to admit it in public to maximize profits.354 Regarding Taiwan’s economic history, Xu Xiaowang studied the sailing trade in the late Qing Dynasty, finding that the trade of traditional sailboats was hit due to the big ships’ influence, but recovered under the new situation of economic development;355 Wang Xiaoping examined Chen Yi’s fiscal policy which failed due to its excessive reliance on controlled economy and lack of effective political power;356 Huang Junling studied the issue of the sale of relief flour at a fair price by the Taiwan Relief Branch in the early days of the recovery, arguing that it should be appreciated and affirmed although with some deficiencies;357 Cheng Zhaoyun studied the founding and operation of the Taiwan Land Bank (the first land bank) in the early days of recovery, pointing out that there was a gap between the land bank school’s idea of land bank and reality, and only after the Kuomintang regime firmed its determination on land reform could the land bank fulfil its role in land finance;358 Feng Jianlun studied the actual impact of the large amount of gold carried by the Kuomintang when it withdrew from Taiwan in 1949 on Taiwan’s economic development based on archives and other materials stored in the “National History Museum” in Taipei;359 Wang Xiaoping examined the land reforms carried out by the United States in Taiwan after the end of the Second World War, contending that it was not so much an economic policy as a political movement at the beginning of the Cold War in order to prevent the so-​called “communist expansion”;360 Cheng Zhaoyun studied why and how the Kinmen military and political authorities carried out land reform, whose motive was directly related to the financial and economic difficulties of the time;361 Cheng Zhaoyun examined the role of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan’s economic development, contending that “the beneficial influence of colonial rule” lacked understanding of and turned a blind eye to the essential attributes of the colonial economy and the significance of economic development during the Japanese occupation period to the modernization of Taiwan was exaggerated.362

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  311 Regarding the social history of Taiwan, Chen Xiaochong held that the one-​ way immigration from west to east in history transformed into multidimensional immigration during the Japanese occupation period, and the immigrant groups returned to their original place after the end of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan;363 Huang Junling (2009, 2010) studied the settlement and reclamation of the people of Taiwan in Chong’an County, Fujian province during the Anti-​Japanese War and the National Government’s efforts to solve the livelihood problems of the people of Taiwan during the war;364 He Zhuo’en studied the relationship between the Chinese and Japanese, the local people of Taiwan and people from other provinces in the process of the Chinese government’s acceptance and transformation of the “Imperial University” in Taipei;365 Huang Junling studied the educational guidance system in Taiwan during the early days of recovery, which was of great significance to the reconstruction and reform of Taiwan’s education;366 Liu Dake investigated the belief of Taiwan Hakka people in different time and space, and their inheritance and development of mainland Hakka belief,367 Guo Ronggang studied the spread of Christianity among ethnic minorities in Taiwan, arguing that its spread accelerated the disintegration of primitive society and also resulted in cultural changes of ethnic minorities, and missionaries’ strategy of “divide and rule” caused the long-​term division of Christianity in Taiwan;368 Zhou Xiang contended that the Panrang Myth of Taiwan ethnic minorities originated from the mainland;369 Yang Lei and Liu Jiayan investigated the rapid development of Taiwan Buddhism in the 1960s and 1970s, arguing that it was not only a part of the global religious revival movement, but also showed its own distinctive characteristics, which was modern transformation and exploration of traditional Buddhism under the background of globalization and modernization and had a profound impact on the future development of Buddhism;370 Zhou Yang studied the issue of ethnic identity in Taiwan after the war and contended that it underwent three stages of change:  “sinicization”, “nativization” and “localization”, which reflected the political struggle against the Kuomintang rule in Taiwan and the influence of western trend of thought.371 Regarding the history and Taiwan’s ideology and culture, Kong Suyan and Liu Xiaoxin discussed the rise and development of Taiwan leftist ideology in the 1920s and construction and interaction of its knowledge circle;372 Li Lin analyzed the measures of the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement to promote the “re-​sinicization” of Taiwan society in the 1960s and their impact on the preservation and inheritance of Chinese culture in Taiwan;373 Zhang Gaojie studied the trend of liberalism in Taiwan after the war which was an enlightenment at that time and had a profound impact on the future democratic movement in Taiwan;374 Chang Qianfan and Bi Kun sorted out the three basic forms of “Taiwan Confucianism” after the recovery: “official Confucianism”, “folk Confucianism” and “social and life-​level Confucianism”, and uncovered their role in curbing the “cultural” independence and building a cross-​strait common cultural cognition system;375 Yang Yanjie examined Xu Shoushang’s ideological changes before and after carrying out cultural construction in

312  ZENG Yeying Taiwan, which reflected the complicated course of Taiwan’s cultural reconstruction in the early days of recovery;376 Li Xizhu studied the historical facts related to Xu Shoushang, argued that it was the February 28th incident that interrupted the normal process of cultural reconstruction rather than cultural reconstruction caused the February 28th incident, and reminded that when studying the recovery of Taiwan and related historical issues in the future, scholars should be highly vigilant of excessive interpretation and misplacement of historical views with the historical sympathy;377 Zhu Shuangyi examined introducing Japanese during the Japanese occupation period, promoting mandarin in the early days of recovery and the rise of people of Taiwan in the 1980s and their relationship with national identity.378

Notes 1 Wang Jianlang, Review of Modern Chinese History Studies during 2009–​2011, and during 2015–​2017 respectively, Modern History Studies, 2013 (3); 2016 (4); 2017 (6); 2018 (4); Tang Shichun, An Examination of the Study of Modern Chinese Social History: 2014, Hebei Academic Journal, 2015 (5); Li Jie et al., An Annual Review of the Study of the History of the Republic of China of 2014, Studies on Republican China, 2015 Fall; Qiu Zhihong A Review of the Study of the Political History of the Late Qing Dynasty in 2017, Journal of Beijing Institute of Education, 2018 (4), and to all the above articles our acknowledgments are given. 2 Wu Ying, The Urgency and Possibility of Re-​interpreting Historical Materialism; Qu Lindong, Promoting the New Development of Chinese Historiography under the Guidance of Historical Materialism; Zhang Yue, Historical Materialism and History in Chinese Historiography in the 20th Century, Historical Research, 2015 (1). 3 Tu Chenglin, Historical Facts and Historical Evaluation Issues in Historical Interpretation  –​Basic Theory and Methodology Based on Marx’s Historical Materialism, Social Sciences in China, 2017 (8). 4 Yin Yuanping, Academic Intellectuals and the Dissemination of Historical Materialism –​Taking Wu Enyu as an Example, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2016 (3); Yin Tao, Ye Qing’s Early Propaganda of Marxism, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (12). 5 Wang Xuenan, The Debates of Material Versus Idealism:  Changes in Chinese Intellectuals’ Interpretation of Historical Materialism (1918–​1923), Party History Research & Teaching, 2016 (2). 6 Li Zhengjun, Gu Jiegang’s Attitude to Historical Materialism in the Period of the Republic of China, The Journal of Humanities, 2016 (5). 7 Wang Xianming, Yang Hu, Li Dazhao’s Contribution to the Spread of Marxist Historical Materialism, Academic Exchange, 2016 (7); Chen Feng, The Evolution of Historical Materialism in Modern China, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2018 (5). 8 Lu Huidong, Ding Junping, An Analysis of the Preliminary Formation of the Historical Research Pedigree of Chinese Marxism in the 1930s, In Yang Fengcheng (ed.), The History and Theoretical Research of the Communist Party of China, Vol. 1. Social Sciences Literature Press, 2016.

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  313 9 Li Hongyan, An Overview of Marxist Historical Thoughts in China, Historiography Quarterly, 2016 (1); Zhu Ci’en, Marxist Historiography in the Debate on Chinese Social History –​Based on the Investigation of Academic Community, Journal of Xiamen University, 2017 (5); Zuo Yuhe, Truth Seeking and Practicality: The Dual Character of Chinese Marxist Historiography, CPC History Studies, 2016 (5). 10 Wang Rigen, From “Self-​Consciousness” to “Sublimation” –​Fu Yiling’s Practice of Historical Materialism in History Studies, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (5); Zhao Qingyun, Fan Wenlan and his General History of China, Historiography Quarterly, 2017 (3); Dedication and Diligence: Rong Yuyuan and his Studies of Modern Chinese history, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (5). 11 Liang Zhu, The Rising, Characteristics and Main Manifestations of the Ideological Trend of Historical Nihilism, Studies on Marxism, 2013 (10); Tian Jujian, Taking a Clear and Firm Stand Fighting Against Historical Nihilism, Qiushi, 2013 (19); Bu Xianqun, On Historical Materialism and Historical Nihilism, Historical Research, 2015 (3). 12 Zhou Liangshu, A  Historical Investigation of the Communist Party of China Fighting Against “Historical Nihilism”, Social Sciences in Chinese Higher Education Institutions, 2017 (2); Zeng Yeying, Some Thoughts on Historical Nihilism, Tuanjie Bao, March 2, 2017; Wu Ying, Historical Materialism –​A Real Empirical Science, Collected Papers of History Studies, 2017 (6). 13 Chen Yong, An Analysis of the Foreign Tariff Sharing System of the Customs in the Late Qing Dynasty, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2012 (2); Wang Ruicheng, What is the “Foreign Tariff Sharing System”: Some Correction on “An Analysis of the Foreign Tariff Sharing System of the Customs in the Late Qing Dynasty”; Chen Yong, Why Was there Foreign Tariff Sharing: A Response to “What is ‘The Foreign Tariff Sharing’ ”, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2016 (2). 14 Lu Yi, Differentiation and Correction of the Claim that “Chiang Kai Shek Deliberately Left Opportunity for the Red Army in the Long March”, Historical Research, 2016 (4); A Re-​analysis on the Claim that “Chiang Kai Shek Deliberately Left Opportunity for the Red Army in the Long March”, Journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the C.P.C., 2017 (1); Yang Kuisong, Research and Analysis on the Claim that “Chiang Kai Shek Deliberately Left Opportunity for the Red Army in the Long March”, Historical Review, 2017 (1). 15 Song Jiaoren, a Kuomintang founder, assassinated by supporters of Yuan Shikai (1882–​1913). 16 Li Qicheng, Events, Criminal Cases and China’s Modern Transformation, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (1). 17 Sun Hongnian, Research on the Relationship between Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama in the late Qing Dynasty and the Policy of Governing Tibet, China’s Borderland History and Geography Studies, 2009 (1); Xu Guangzhi and Zhao Jun, On the Impact of the Ministers Stationed in Tibet at the End of Qing Dynasty on the Political Situation of Modern Tibet, Journal of Tibet University, 2009 (3); Xu Jun, From “Consolidating Sichuan for Protecting Tibet” to “Preparing Border Areas to Aid Tibet”: The Consciousness Formation of Southwest Frontier Defense in the Late Qing Dynasty  –​Taking Ding Baozhen’s Ten Years of Supervising Sichuan (1876–​1886) as an Example, China’s Borderland History and Geography Studies, 2009 (2). 18 Gu Jiandi, The Eight-​Banners Academy in the Qing Dynasty, Modern Chinese History Research, 2015 (6).

314  ZENG Yeying 19 Li Junling, The Rule of Rites and Constitutionalism: The Establishment of the Li Xue Guan in the Late Qing Dynasty and Its Response to the Contemporary Situation, Modern Chinese History Research, 2017 (3). 20 Zhao Hu, The Government Supervising Office and the New Policy Measures before the Court’s Returning to Beijing, The Qing History Journal, 2017 (1); A Review of the Relationship between the Government Affairs Office and All Parties at the End of the Qing Dynasty, Journal of Modern History, 2017 (1); Imitation Cabinet: A Review of the Government Affairs Department of the Conference at the End of the Qing Dynasty, Northwest University Journal, 3, 2017 (3). 21 Yang Nianqun, Fighting against the “Eight-​Legged Essays” –​Reflection upon the Abolition of the Imperial Examination for One Hundred Years, The Qing History Journal, 2017 (1). 22 Guan Xiaohong, Distinguishing the Differences Between Officials and Scholars in Qing Dynasty, Academic Research, 2017 (11). 23 Zhang Jian, The Establishment, Localization and Destruction of the Cangzhou Garrison in Qing Dynasty, Journal of Jilin Normal University, 2016 (6). 24 Li Xizhu, The Ideas of Eliminating the Social Boundary between the Manchu and Han People and the New Changes in the Manchu-​Han Policy during the Preparatory Period for Constitutionalism in the Late Qing Dynasty –​A Discussion on the Manchu-​Han Issues in the 33rd Year of Guangxu Emperor, Ethno-​National Studies, 2011 (3). 25 Ding Yizhuang, The “Manchuria”, “the Banners People” and “Manchu” in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China, Journal of Tsinghua University, 2016 (2). 26 Han Ce, The Planning and Operation of Constitutionalism by Wang Rongbao and the Monarch’s Close Officials in the Second Year of Emperor Xuantong, Guangdong Social Sciences, 2016 (5). 27 Yang Guoqiang, Appointing Officials by Donation and Recommendation and the Anomia of Official Administration in the Late Qing Dynasty, Social Sciences, 2009 (5); Liu Wei, The Reform of the Selection and Appointment System of Prefecture and County Officials in the Late Qing Dynasty, Social Sciences, 2009 (5); Zhao Xiaohua, The Relief and Donation System in the Late Qing Dynasty, Journal of Historical Science, 2009 (12); Ouyang Yuefeng and Guan Chenggang, The Flower of Evil Does Not Necessarily Bear Evil Fruits –​ The Objective Role of Donation for Officialdom in the Social Transformation of Late Qing Dynasty, Journal of Anhui Normal University, 2009 (1). 28 Li Wenjie, The Examination of Zhang Jing (Secretaries) for the Late Qing Foreign Office (Zong Li Yamen) –​ With a Discussion on the Selection and Appointment of Diplomats under the Imperial Examination System, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2011 (2). 29 Yan Aihong, The Three Policy Debates on Increasing the Collection of Tribute Rice in the Mid-​Qing Dynasty, Historical Review, 2010 (5). 30 Kong Chaoli, A Review of the System of Adopting the Only Male as the Joint Heir of Two Families in Qing Dynasty, Journal of Historical Science, 2009 (12); Wu Peilin, Why Were Local Civil Disputes Brought up to the Yamen in Qing Dynasty:  Focusing on the Archives of Southern Sichuan Local County Governments in Qing Dynasty, Historical Review, 2010 (4); Cheng Yu, The Complexity of Women’s Status from the Provisions on Concubines in the Criminal Law of Qing Dynasty, Historical Review, 2010 (6).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  315 31 Li Zaiquan, The System Reform and Identity Transformation –​The Combination, Structure and Problems of the New Judicial Officials in the Late Qing Dynasty, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (5). 32 Wu Peilin, The Preparation of “Xu Gong (Statement Documents)” in the Prefecture and County Yamen in the Middle and Late Qing Dynasty –​ Focusing on the Southern Archives, Historical Research, 2017 (5); Wu Peilin and Wu Dong, A  Study on the “Norm-​Conforming Statement” in the Prefecture and County Administration of Justice in the Qing Dynasty, Journal of Suzhou University, 2017 (3). 33 Li Wenjie, An Analysis of the Exercising Comments of the Emperor Guangxu before his Accession to Power, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (6). 34 Liu Qiang and Li Wenru, On “Mother and Son of One Mind” after the Incident of 1900, Journal of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2017 (3). 35 Tao Qichen, An Examination of Zhang Zhidong’s Employment of Japanese Army Men after the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, Historical Archives, 2015 (3). 36 Han Ce, The Aftermath of the Mutual Protection in Southeast China: The Dispute between Courtiers and Governors on the Delay of the Provincial Examination, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (2). 37 Zhou Zengguang, Failed Centralization of Power and Establishment of Authority: A Re-​Study of Zaifeng’s Expelling Yuan Shikai, Beijing Social Sciences, 2016 (10). 38 Fan Xueqing, Zhao Binglin and the Employment of the Monarch’s Close Nobilities in Emperor Xuantong’s Reign, Academic Research, 2016 (3). 39 Zhang Hairong, Behind the Political Marriage: Zaifeng’s marriage with Ronglu’s Daughter, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (3). 40 Zhu Ying and Tang Lun, Yikuang and the Peace Negotiation in 1900 and 1901, Collected Papers of History Studies, 2017 (5). 41 Ma Zhongwen, Ronglu and the Political Situation of the Late Qing Dynasty, The Social Science Academic Press, 2016. 42 Sun Yanjing, The Younger Generation Nobilities’ Political Mentality in the Constitutionalism at the End of Qing Dynasty, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (7). 43 Jiang Liwen, Further Discussion on the Amount of Reparations for the Sino-​ Japanese War of 1894–​1895, Historical Research, 2010 (3). 44 Cui Zhihai, The U.S. Government and the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, Historical Research, 2011 (2). 45 Li Yongjing, The Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895 and Japan’s Knowledge of the World, Academic Monthly, 2014 (7). 46 Liu Jiangyong, A  Study on the Forgery Development of Diaoyu Island by Tatsushiro Koga  –​On the Illegality of Japanese Government’s Purchasing of Diaoyu Island, Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2014 (4). 47 Zhang Zhiyong, Robert Hart and Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, Historical Research in Anhui, 2016 (2). 48 Dai Dongyang, An Investigation into the “Incident of Chongqing Steamer”, Beijing Social Sciences, 2016 (2). 49 Tang Xiaotao, The Orthodoxy of Gods and the Regionality of She (Community Organization) and Miao (Temple Organization)  –​A  Social History Study on

316  ZENG Yeying the Temple-​Destruction Event of Bai Shangdi Hui (God Worshipping Society), Modern Chinese History Studies, 2011 (3). 50 Cui Min, The Rebellion of Shandong’s Local Militia in the Period of Time of Emperor Xianfeng and Tongzhi, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2011 (3). 51 Jiang Tao, On the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Anti-​Manchu, The Qing History Journal, 2011 (2). 52 Zhu Congbing, The Virtual and Actual Distinction of the Prime Ministers and the Failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Jinan Journal, 2015 (3). 53 Liu Chen, Research on the Popular Revolts and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Response, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (2). 54 Luo Fuhui and Zhu Ying, One Hundred Years and Interpretations of the Revolution of 1911, Central China Normal University Press, 2011. 55 Luo Fuhui, The Revolution of 1911 and the Evolution of the Chinese National Community Consciousness; Li Liangyu, A  New Starting Point for National Integration: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Revolution of 1911, Journal of Historical Science, 2011 (4); Cui Zhihai, A  Reexamination on the Thoughts and Controversies on the Manchu-​Han Relations in the Revolution of 1911:  Focusing on The Min Pao and Sein Min Choong Bou (New Citizens Repository), Historical Review, 2011 (4); Li Fan, “The Difference between Yi and Xia” in the Revolution of 1911 and the National Identity, Journal of Historical Science, 2011 (4). 56 Yang Tianhong, The Abdication of the Qing Emperor and the “Republic of Five Ethnic People” –​On the Legitimacy of Sovereignty Succession of the Republic of China, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2014 (2). 57 Lu Boliang, The Eight-​Banners Consultants in the Consultation Bureau of the Late Qing Dynasty, The Qing History Journal, 2014 (1). 58 Chen Zhongping, The Founding, Development, and Transnational Activities of the Royal Club in Canada (1899–​1905) –​ Based on the Textual Research of New Historical Materials in North America, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (2). 59 Sang Bing, The Meaning Transfer and General Use of the Allegation of hanjian (Traitors) in the Ten Years before the Revolution of 1911, Social Science Front, 2017 (1); The Punishment of hanjian (Traitors) around 1911 and the Unification of the North and South, Guangdong Social Sciences, 2017 (2); Yuan Shikai’s Memorial for a Prompt Determination and the Abdication of the Qing Emperor, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (6). 60 Yang Tianhong, The Controversy on Preserving or Abolishing the Parliament in the Early Republic of China and its Evolving Political System, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (5). 61 He Wenping, Knowledge Dispute or Political Resistance  –​The Resistance of Guangdong Local Elites to Social Transformation of Revolutionary Party Members in the Early Republic of China, Social Sciences Research, 2009 (4). 62 Li Zaiquan, The Division and Reorganization of Judges in the Early Republic of China  –​On the Personnel Evolution after the Revolution of 1911, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2016 (5). 63 Zhao Libin, Sun Yat-​ sen’s Response to the Events Concerning his Personal Reputation in the Early Republic of China, Guangdong Social Sciences, 2017 (1). 64 Zeng Yeying, Was Yuan Shikai a “Republic Founder” in the Revolution of 1911? Hebei Academic Journal, 2017 37(3).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  317 65 Yang Tianhong, The North Warlord Government’s Attempt of Peaceful Reunification of China  –​A  Reexamination of the Reconstruction Conference, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (5); Tan Qunyu, The Political Struggle between Members of Parliament and Armed Forces under the System Transformation –​ Centering on the Reorganization of the Military Government in 1918, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (2). 66 Lu Weidong, The Warlords and the Cabinet –​the Composition and Analysis of Cabinet Members in the Period of North Warlord Rule (1916–​1928), Collected Papers of History Studies, 2009 (2). 67 Yan Quan, The Relationship between Jin Yunpeng and the Relationship between the Senate and Parliament in the Warlords Government of Anhui Origin, Historical Review, 2015 (5). 68 Yan Cunting, The Game Playing between the Local Warlords and the Northern Warlords Government from the Perspective of Ma Fuxing Case, Journal of Xinjiang University, 2016 (2). 69 Duan Jinsheng, On the Evolution of the Regional Scope of Southwest Warlords (1916–​1927), Historical Review, 2015 (4). 70 Ma Jianbiao, Media, Doctrines and Politics: Wu Peifu’s Rise and Power Transfer around the May 4th Movement, Historical Research in Anhui, 2017 (4). 71 Yang Tianhong, The Legal Nature and Liability for Breach of Contract under the Preferential Settlement of the Qing Court Household: An Analysis Based on the Regent Cabinet’s Forced Change of Contract after the Beijing Coup d’état; The Legal and Political Entanglement: The Filing and Prosecution of Luo Wengan’s case; Closed but Not Over: The Court Trial of Luo Wengan’s Case in the Entanglement of Law and Politics, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (1); 2016 (5); 2017 (1). 72 Zhang Shujuan, “No Strong Counter Evidence” and “Seeking The Truth”:  An Analysis of the Conflict of Trial Ideas between the Local Court and the Supreme Court in Beijing during the Period of the Republic of China, Republic Archives, 2016 (3); Zhang Hairong, The Contradiction and Resistance between the Judicial Circle and the Military and Political Authority of Hubei in the Early Days of the Northern Warlords: Taking the Case of Liu Yuyao as an Example, Beijing Social Sciences, 2016 (8). 73 Sang Bing, From the History of Northern Warlords to the History of the Republic of China during the Period of Beijing Government, Journal of Nanjing University (Philosophy, Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2014 (3). 74 Tian Tong, The Misleading Purpose and Result:  From Labor-​ Management Cooperation to Class Struggle (1927–​1937), Academic Monthly, 2009 (9). 75 Du Lihong, Beijing Labor Movement and the Transformation of Kuomintang in the Early Days of Nanjing National Government, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2016 (5). 76 Zhu Ying, The Development and Change of Kuomintang’s Policy Towards Chambers of Commerce in the Merchants Movements, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2010 (1). 77 Qi Chunfeng, The Game Playing between the Party, Government and Merchants in the Mass Movements –​Focusing on Beijing from 1928 to 1929, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (4). 78 Fu Haiyan, Revolution, Law and Temple Property:  A Study of the Tieshan Temple Case in the Republic of China, Historical Research, 2009 (3).

318  ZENG Yeying 79 Sha Qingqing, Belief and Power Struggle:  A Study of Gaoyou’s Campaign of Fighting against City God in 1931, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (1). 80 Xu Ang, Research on the Relationship between Zhaoxin Stock and Chinese-​funded Financial Industry in the Late Qing Dynasty, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (5); Liu Zenghe, Western Budget System and Financial Reform in the Qing Dynasty, Historical Research, 2009 (2); Liu Zenghe, Relief and Breakthrough: On the Financial Supervision System in the Late Qing Dynasty, Historical Research, 2016 (4); Li Guangwei, On the Design of Tax Credit Information System in Qing Dynasty, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (6). 81 Yang Tao, Research on the Beijing Government’s Reorganization of the Provincial Banks (1912–​1916), Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (10); Yun Yan, The Effect of Foreign Capital in China’s Early Industrialization –​Focusing on the Spillover Effect of Kailuan Coal Mine in Modern Times, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2010 (1); Pan Xiaoxia, Behind the Crisis: The Run on Bank of China and Bank of Communications During the Beijing Government Period, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (5). 82 Pan Guoqi, Looking at the Local Public Debts During the National Government Period from the Financial Relationship between the Central and Local Governments, Historical Research, 2016 (3); Gong Guan, The Evolution of the Cooperative Financial System Between the National Government and the Rural Areas, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2016 (2); Yan Lixian, Rural Relief or Buy Bonds? –​A Conflict between Jiangsu and Zhejiang Financial Bourgeois and Nanjing National Government in the Financial Policy and the Establishment of the Bureaucrat Monopoly Capital in the Earlier 1930s, Journal of Zhejiang Normal University, 2016 (6). 83 Ma Jianhua, Financial Market Circles in Modern China from the 1920s to the 1930s:  An Analysis Based on the Exchange Hierarchy, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2016 (5). 84 Wang Hongman, Analysis of the Banking Supervision System of the National Government during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2010 (2); Liu Zhiying, The National Government’s Supervision of Provincial and Local Banks During the Overall Anti-​Japanese War, Historical Research, 2015 (4); Zhou Zuwen, Silver Deposit in Beijing and Tianjin During the Anti-​Japanese War: Struggles between China, Japan and Britain, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2016 (2). 85 Duan Yan & Yi Mianyang, Evolution and Characteristics of Bond Market Supervision in Modern China, The Journal of Chinese Social and Economic History, 2010 (1); Du Xuncheng, Modern China’s Financial Industry Development Model and Social Transformation, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (3). 86 Ren Zhiyong, From “Monopoly Tax” to “Foreign Tax”:  The Canton Customs System from 1843 to 1854, Historical Research, 2017 (4); Liu Zenghe, Zuo Zongtang’s Raising of Revenue for Western Expedition and the Financial Regulation of the Qing Court in Wartime, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (2). 87 Liao Wenhui, Re-​study on the Income and Expenditure of the Treasury of the Board of Revenue During Xianfeng’s Reign, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (1); Zhou Jian, A New Probe into Jiangsu’s Tax Reduction in the Early Years of Tongzhi’s Reign, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (4).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  319 88 Wang Mei, On the Beijing Government’s Division of the National Tax and Local Tax in the Early Republic of China, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (9). 89 Jiao Jianhua, Centralization and Decentralization of Power in the Process of Modernization: Re-​Discussion on the Reform in the System of Tax Distribution (1927–​1936), Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (2). 90 Wei Wenxiang, Folk Participation in National Tax Administration: Negotiation Between the Government and the Commoners in the Process of Levying Income Tax in Modern China, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (2); Wei Wenxiang, How Do Chinese People and Foreigners Pay Taxes Equally:  Tax Payment of Foreigners in the Process of Levying Income Tax in Modern China, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (5). 91 Ke Weiming, Study on the Business Tax Rate and Tax Burden of Republican China, Historical Research in Anhui, 2015 (3); Lei Jiaqiong, Multilateral Promotion of the Levy of Estate Tax in China before the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2016 (4). 92 Ren Jidong, The Tax-​Farming System in the Rural Market of Modern North China  –​Taking Huolu County of Zhili Province as an Example, Historical Research in Anhui, 2015 (3); Zhang Qiyao, Rural Leadership and Their Power Changes in Rural Taxation in the Republic of China  –​A  Case Study on the Deputy Village Heads of Shanxi in the 1920s and 1930s, Republican Archives, 2015 (4); Gao Yu & Yan Hongzhong, Opium Monopoly and Finance During the Japanese Occupation in Qingdao, Research in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (1). 93 Ni Yuping, Tariff Revenue During Jiaqing and Daoguang Period in the Qing Dynasty –​ An Investigation Focusing on the “Daoguang Depression”, Academic Monthly, 2010 (6); Zhou Yumin, Re-​ Estimation of the National Total Lijin Receipts in the Late Qing Dynasty, Studies in Qing History, 2011 (3); Su Quanyou, Two Thoughts on the Financial Problems in the Late Qing Dynasty, Historical Research in Anhui, 2010 (4). 94 Zhu Yingui, On the Necessity of Studying China’s Modern Capital Market, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2010 (1); Yun Yan, The Effect of Foreign Capital in China’s Early Industrialization –​ Focusing on the Spillover Effect of Modern Kailuan Coal Mine, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2010 (1). 95 Yan Hongzhong, Research on the Financial Development Level of Modern China, Economic Research Journal, 2009 (5); Du Xuncheng, Money, Monetization and Money Supply in Depression  –​Review of the Solutions to the Economic Problem in China During the 1930s, Journal of Finance and Economics, 2009 (3); Liu Wei, Shortage of Capital Goods, Monetary Squeeze and Decrease of China’s Aggregate Supply (1914–​1918)  –​A  Research Based on Assumption of Supply-​ Constrained Economy, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (4). 96 Jiang Qinghong, Research on Silver Currency Stock and Total Money Supply in Modern China –​A Discussion with Professor Thomas G. Rawski, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (3); Yu Heping, Re-​study of the Expansion and Monopoly of the State Capital After the Anti-​Japanese War, Historical Research, 2009 (5). 97 Cui Zhihai, J. W. Jenks’s Visit to China and the Currency Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty, Historical Research, 2017 (6); Pan Xiaoxia, Expectation of Moderate Inflation: The Introduction of the Legal Currency Policy in 1935, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (6).

320  ZENG Yeying 98 Ke Weiming, The Debate on the Rate of Currency Exchange in the Currency Reform in Guangdong from 1936 to 1937, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (6); Jia Qinhan, The Debate on the Exchange of Legal Currency and the Decision of Legal Currency Reform in 1935, The Journal of Chinese Social and Economic History, 2016 (2); Zhang Xiuli, On the Inside Story of the Gold Yuan Notes Reform, The Journal of Chinese Social and Economic History, 2016 (2). 99 Zhu Ying & Xia Jufu, Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and the Business Tax Unrest in 1937, Hebei Academic Journal, 2015 (6); Zhu Ying, Protect National and Commercial Rights: Tianjin Chamber of Commerce’s Protest Against the Japanese Consul’s Interference in the Presidential Election, Journal of Historical Science, 2015 (12); Zhu Ying, Disputes over Re-​election of Tianjin Chamber of Commerce in 1934 and Countermeasures of the Local Government, Journal of Wuhan University, 2015 (1). 100 Wei Wenxiang, Bargaining: Tianjin Trade Association and Price Control of Daily Commodities (1946–​1949), Journal of Wuhan University, 2015 (6); Yu Heping, The Influence of the Revolution of 1911 on Educational Reform: Focusing on Businessmen’s Donation to Universities in the Early and Middle Period of the Republic of China, Journal of Historical Science, 2015 (6). 101 Yan Hongzhong & Gao Yu, The Futures Market of Beans in Late Qing:  An Investigation Centered in the Liao River Area in Northeast China, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (3). 102 Li Xiaolong, Old Wine in a New Bottle: The Free Trade Reform and the Emerge of New Monopoly Merchants in the Salt Business in Early Republican Changlu, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (6). 103 Li Jiajia, Born for Transportation: Re-​study of the Northwest Post Transportation during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2017 (3). 104 Li Yuming, Analysis of Shanghai Ocean Shipping During the Anti-​Japanese War (1937–​1941), Historical Review, 2017 (2). 105 Zhu Hu, From Relief Affairs to Westernization: The Rise of Gentry-​Merchants of the Jiangnan Region in the Western-​Style Enterprises, Studies in Qing History, 2009 (1). 106 Xu Fenghua, Interest Disputes Among Enterprises, Governments and Banks –​ Centering on the Auction Event of Rongshi Shenxin No.7 Factory in 1935, Historical Research, 2011 (6). 107 Zhu Yingui, On the Failure Causes of Guizhou Qingxi Ironworks, Guizhou Social Sciences, 2015 (9); Yun Yan, Research on Modern Kailuan Coal Mine, People’s Publishing House, 2015. 108 Cao Shuji et al., The Transfer of Incomplete Property Rights: A Study on the Deeds of Land Assignment in Shicang (1728–​1949), Historical Research, 2010 (3); Long Denggao et al., Multiple Rights and Functions of Farmland Property Rights in Modern China, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2010 (4). 109 Du Zhengzhen, Acquisition and Verification of the Property Rights of Mountain Forests in the Late Qing and Republican Period:  A Comparison Between Longquan County and Jiande County in Zhejiang, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (4). 110 Lin Yuanxi, Distribution of Land Rights in Hunan and Hubei Villages During the Republic of China, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (6).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  321 111 Huang Zhenglin, Research on the National Government’s Policy of Supporting Owner-​Cultivators, Historical Research, 2015 (3); Zhao Siyuan, Land Market, Credit Mechanism and Relationship Network in the Villages of Huizhou in the 19th Century, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (4). 112 Ma Junya, Power and Influence of Early Modern Landowners in the Northern Huaihe Region, Historical Research, 2010 (1). 113 Li Jinzheng, Income Growth and Structural Poverty: Quantitative Analysis of Peasants’ Living Conditions in Dingxian County of Central Hebei Province, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (4); Li Jinzheng. Continuation and Gradual Change:  Modern Agricultural Production and Its Driving Force in Dingxian County of Central Hebei Province, Historical Research, 2015 (3); Huang Zhenglin, Institutional Innovation, Technological Change and Agricultural Development –​ Centering on Henan from 1927 to 1937, Journal of Historical Science, 2015 (5); Liu Yonghua, Small Peasant Family, Land Development and International Tea Market (1838–​1901) –​A Case Study of Mr. Cheng’s Family in Wuyuan of Huizhou in the Late Qing Dynasty, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (4). 114 Zhao Hongjun, Peasant-​household Behavior, Production Choice, and the Riddle of China’s Economic History:  A Perspective of Examining Why Industrial Revolution Failed to Originate in China, Journal of Social Sciences, 2010 (1); Dai Angang, Modern Chinese Industry and Urban-​Rural Population Mobility, Journal of Yunnan University, 2011 (2); Zhou Yingtang & Wang Siming, Study on the Reasons of Modern Peasants’ Leaving Their Villages, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2011 (1). 115 Yang Guoan, The Dam Dispute in Fankou: Interest Disputes and Local Order in Water Conservancy Projects in the Late Qing Dynasty, Agricultural History of China, 2011 (3); Huang Zhenglin, Research on the Economy of the Peasants’ Families in Gansu during the Republic of China –​Focusing on the Period From the 1930s to the 1940s, Agricultural History of China, 2009 (1) & (2). 116 Shi Zhihong & Xu Yi, Thoughts on the Research of China’s Historical GDP, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2011 (1); Shi Zhihong, Estimation of Agricultural Production Indicators in Qing Dynasty, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (5); Bass Fan Luwen & Zhang Zipeng, Quantification of the Agricultural Revolution: A Comment on the Article by Prof. Shi Zhihong, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2015 (5). 117 Chen Zhengping, Currency, Prices and Estimating GDP in Modern China, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2011 (3); Liu Wei, China’s GDP Estimation in Modern Times: An Approach of Quantity Analysis, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2011 (3); Du Xuncheng & Li Jin, Misunderstandings in the Studies of GDP in Chinese Economic History, Academic Monthly, 2011 (10). 118 Lin Chu, Treaty Ports, Modern Education and Economic Growth of Modern China: A Cliometric Perspective, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2017 (1); Wang Zhe, Historical Spatial Data Visualization and Economic History Study  –​A  Case Study of the Grain Market in Modern China, Researches in Chinese Economic History, 2017 (5); Yun Yan, Re-​investigating Household and Property Confiscation in the Qing Dynasty, The Qing History Journal, 2017 (3). 119 Cao Wen, The Diplomatic System of the Qing Government, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2010.

322  ZENG Yeying 120 Chen Shangsheng, Tributary System and Traditional International Order in East Asia, Research on the History and Geography of China’s Borderland, 2015 (2). 121 Li Dalong, The Formation and Evolution Trend of the Traditional Political Pattern of “World” in East Asia, Research on the History and Geography of China’s Borderland, 2015 (2). 122 Li Yunquan, The Change of East Asia in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Origin of the Word “Diplomacy” in Modern China, Research on the History and Geography of China’s Borderland, 2015 (2). 123 Li Yumin, The Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki and Changes in the Sino-​foreign Treaty Relations, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2015 (2). 124 Guo Weidong, The Local Diplomacy in the Late Qing Dynasty, Guangdong Social Sciences, 2017 (4). 125 Quan Hexiu, On the “One Diplomacy and Two Systems” Phenomenon in Sino-​Foreign Relations in the Late Qing Dynasty, Research on the History and Geography of China’s Borderland, 2009 (4). 126 Sun Fang, On the Unwritten Contractuality and Its Change of the Subordinate Relations in Qing Dynasty, Journal of Yanbian University, 2010 (1). 127 Zhang Liheng, Qing Envoys and Korea’s Delegation in Japan, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (6). 128 Wang Hongbin, British Diplomats Plot of the Legalization of Opium Trade, World History, 2010 (3). Wang Hongbin, British Opium Merchants, Diplomats and China’s Banning Opium Campaign, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2011 (1). 129 Wang Tao, Hydrological Survey of British Troops along the Chinese Coast during the Opium War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (4). 130 Zhao Xin, Re-​discussion on the “Open Door Policy” between the UK and China, Collected Papers of History Studies, 2017 (1). 131 Zhang Zhiyong, Horatio Nelson Lay and the Second Opium War, The Northern Forum, 2015 (4). Zhang Zhiyong, Robert Hart and the Negotiation of the Sino-​ British Business Agreement, Opening and Urban Modernization:  Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Opening of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Cities, Guo Dasong and Liu Xi (eds.), Shandong People’s Publishing House, 2011. Jiang Yanyan, J. H. Hart and Negotiation on Regulations Appended to the Sikkim-​Tibet Convention, Journal of Lanzhou University, 2015 (5). 132 You Shujun, The Park Jongyang Incident and Korea’s Claim for Autonomy, Historical Review, 2017 (2). 133 Dai Dongyang, The Withdrawal of Japanese Embassies and Consulates after the Outbreak of the Sino-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (1). Dai Dongyang, Takahashi and Research on the Sinking of the S. S. Kowshing, Social Science of Beijing, 2017 (10). 134 Ji Chen, Credentials during the Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895, Historical Review, 2015 (1). 135 Dai Haibin, Zhang Zhidong’s Negotiations with Japan during the Gengzi Incident, A Study of History, 2010 (4). 136 Li Huazi, Issue of Jiandao and Detailed Analysis of the Negotiations on the “Five Cases” in Northeast China, Collected Papers of History Studies, 2016 (5). 137 Xue Yiqun, Sino-​Japanese Telecommunications Negotiations after the Russo-​ Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2018 (1).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  323 138 Zhang Zhan, The Chinese Embassy and Consulate in Japan after the Outbreak of the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (1). 139 Yang Dong, Identity Confinement:  “Japanese-​ Government Clearance” Certificate in the War-​Stricken Area in Wartime, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2018 (4). 140 Zhang Yangding and Ni Lasong, “Vietnam Issue” and the Qing Dynasty’s Strategy of Change in the Middle and Late 19th Century, Guangdong Social Sciences, 2016 (4). 141 Zhang Zhenkun, Memorandum of François Ernest Fournier and the Two Phases of the Sino-​French War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (2). 142 Zhang Zhiyong, Robert Hart and Sino-​French Negotiations on Vietnam, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (2). 143 Ge Fuping, The Ningbo Fellows’ Club Incident and Expansion of the French Concession in Shanghai, A Study of History, 2017 (1). 144 Ge Fuping, France and the Political Situation in the Late Qing Dynasty, Historical Review, 2015 (5). 145 Hao Yufan, The Establishment and Abolition of the US consulate in Macao in the Mid-​19th Century, A Study of History, 2015 (1). 146 Ouyang Hong, Germany and Sino-​Japanese War, Historiography Research in Anhui, 2015 (4). 147 Chen Kaike, The Otsu murder of Russian Prince Nicholas in 1891, Social Science Research, 2017 (5). 148 Zhang Zhiyong, Hart and the Negotiations of Sino-​Portuguese Trade Treaty, International Sinology, 2017 (2). 149 Li Qiang and Ji Zong’an, Several Issues in the Subordinate Relationship between Qing Dynasty and Kanjut, The Western Regions Studies, 2016 (3). Zhang Yongpan, Research on the Relevant Issues of the Tibetan-​Sikkim Boundary from the Late Qianlong to the Early Guangxu, Research on the History and Geography of China’s Borderland, 2016 (3). 150 Hou Zhongjun, China’s Neutrality after the First World War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (4). 151 Hou Zhongjun, Beijing Government’s Dispatching Troops to Siberia and Negotiations between China and Japan, Journal of Historical Science, 2011 (10). 152 Shang Xiaoming, Negotiations of the Twenty-​One Demands, Historiography Research in Anhui, 2017 (2). 153 Gao Yingying, Anti-​Japanese Movement in Shandong: Based on the investigation of the YMCA and the British and American People in Shandong during the May 4th Movement, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (2). 154 Zhang Kaisen, Sino-​foreign Relations Involved in the Handling of the Germans in China in 1918, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2011 (3). 155 Wei Bingbing, Beijing Government’s Plan of Repatriating Germans and Negotiation with British after the First World War, Historical Review, 2015 (3). 156 Zhang Li, Japan’s Obstructing China from Levying the 2.5% Import Surtax, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2015 (3). 157 Liu Xianzhong, Several Issues in the Study of Zhongdong Railway Incident, A Study of History, 2009 (6). 158 Xue Xiantian, Nanjing Government’s “Revolutiony Diplomacy” and Soviet Union’s “Punishment” War against Northeast China, History and Reality of Sino-​ Russian Relations, Guan Guihai (ed.), Social Sciences Academic Press, 2009.

324  ZENG Yeying 159 Zang Yunhu, Japan’s China Policy Before and After the Anti-​Japanese War, Social Science Research, 2011 (5). 160 Yan Cheng, The Sino-​Japanese Manchurian Railway Controversy before the September 18th Incident, Military History Research, 2015 (6). 161 Lu Xijun, Chiang Kai-​shek and the Change of Sino-​Japanese-​Soviet Relations in 1935, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (3). 162 Liu Limin, On the National Government’s Policy of Stopping Japanese Encroachment on Fishery from 1927 to 1937, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2015 (1). 163 Zhang Hao and Ye Weiwei, Controversy on the Declaration of War against Japan from July 1937 to January 1938, Academic Journal of Jinyang, 2015 (2). 164 Hu Dekun, Research on China and the World during the Anti-​Fascist War, Wuhan University Press, 2010. 165 Yang Tianshi, Wartime International Relations, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2011. 166 Zhang Junyi, The U.S. official Investigation into the Truth of the September 18th Incident, Modern China:  Politics and Diplomacy, Wang Jianlang (ed.), Social Sciences Academic Press, 2010. 167 Wu Jingping, Chiang Kai-​shek and US Financial Aid to China in Wartime, Journal of Historical Science, 2011 (1). 168 Yuan Chengyi, The Mutual Strategic Support of China and the US in the Air War Against Japan, A Study of History, 2015 (4). 169 Jia Qinhan, The Wartime Intelligence Agency and the US policy toward China, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2015 (2). 170 Wang Jianlang, The Loss of Trust:  Study of Sino-​US Relations in the Late Anti-​Japanese War Based on Chiang Kai-​shek’s Diary, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (3). 171 Chen Qianping, On the National Government’s Recovery of the Sovereignty of the South China Sea Islands after the Victory of the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (2). 172 Li Guang, U.S. Considerations and Actions on the Sovereignty of South China Sea Islands (1943–​1951), Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (2). 173 Yang Kuisong, Research on American Intelligence Work in China during the Chinese Civil War, Journal of Historical Science, 2009 (3). 174 Zhou Jintao, An Investigation of the Relationship between the Communist Party of China and the Soviet Union during Accepting Japanese Surrender, A Study of History, 2018 (6). 175 Tan Yuhua, Power and Control:  Sino-​French Dispute over the Xisha Islands Triggered by the Yongxing Island incident in 1947, Journal of Sun Yat-​ sen University, 2016 (5). 176 Chen Qianping, The Formation of the Nine-​Dash Line of South China Sea in Modern China, Hong Qi Wen Gao, 2016 (6). 177 Zhou Yuefeng, The Introduction of The Soviet Union’s First Declaration to China and the Change of Thought Circles after the May 4th Movement, Journal of Tsinghua University, 2017 (5). 178 Ying Xing, Schools, Geography and the Formation of the Early Organization Network of the Communist Party of China, Social Science Research, 2015 (1). 179 Yang Tianhong, Communists’ Identity Recognition after Joining the Kuomintang, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (6).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  325 180 Yu Huamin, An Analysis of the Early Communists’ National View, Dongyue Tribune, 2011 (6). 181 Feng Xiaocai, The Cooperation and Division between Yu Qiaqing and the CPC before and after the Northern Expedition, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (5). 182 Li Zhiyu, The Petty Bourgeoisie in the Chinese Revolution (1924–​1928), Journal of Nanjing University, 2015 (3). 183 Huang Daoxuan, Tension and Boundary:  The Revolution in the Central Soviet Area (1933–​1934), Social Science Literature Press, 2011. 184 He Youliang, The Agrarian Revolution, Hebei People’s Publishing House, 2015. 185 Li Li, An Analysis of the Firearm Problems in the Early Period of the CPC’s Armed Riot, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (5). 186 Zhang Hongqing, The Cadres in the Early Period of Revolutions in South Jiangxi and West Fujian, Jiangxi Social Sciences, 2009 (1). 187 Ying Xing, The Origin, Planning and Practice of the Main Red Army Reorganization from 1930 to 1931, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2018 (2). 188 Jiang Yuan, Flood and Revolutionary Strategy Adjustment of the Communist Party of China (1931–​1932), Party History Research & Teaching, 2017 (1). 189 Zhou Bin, Local Conflicts with the Invaders and Their Impacts during the CPC’s Implementation of the “Joining Forces in Wuhan” Program in 1930, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (5). 190 Zhang Yong, The Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee and Luo Zhanglong’s Setting up Another Central Government, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (1). 191 Liu Tong, Going North:  The Struggle Between Zhang Guotao and the Central Committee of the CPC, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2016. 192 Shan Mingming, Shenpao’s Reports of Red Army’s Long March, Party History and Construction in Shanghai, 2016 (9). 193 Luo Min, Struggles within the Kuomintang Party and the “Suppression of the CPC”: An Investigation Centered on the Conflict between the Local Forces in the Southwest and Chiang Kai-​shek, Military History Research, 2016 (4). 194 Huang Daoxuan, From Crossing Chishui River to Fleeing Jinsha River, Military History Research, 2016 (4). 195 Yang Kuisong, Re-​ examination of Mao Tse-​ tung’s Military Leadership Established during the Long March, Study of The Soviet Area, 2016 (4). 196 Zhang Erjia, The Power Game within the Kuomintang Army and the Success of the Central Red Army’s Exit from Hunan to Guizhou, Jiangxi Social Sciences, 2017 (2). 197 Yang Kuisong, “Shanxi Incident” and Mao Tse-​tung’s Response Policy, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (1). 198 Su Ruoqun, The Evolution of the Strategy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Against the Kuomintang before the Southern Anhui Incident, Party History Research & Teaching, 2016 (4). 199 Wei Xiaokai and Li Yu, Xu Yongchang’s Change of Attitude towards the Communist Party during the Anti-​Japanese War, Hebei Academic Journal, 2017 (4). 200 Wen Shifang, The Power Struggle in the Second Negotiation between the Kuomintang and the CPC, Party History Research & Teaching, 2016 (1). 201 Wu Zhijuan, The Kuomintang and CPC’s Propaganda War, CPC History Studies, 2016 (5).

326  ZENG Yeying 202 Lv Xun, The Factor of the CPC in the Contradiction between Chiang Kai-​shek and Stilwell, Social Science Research, 2016 (2). He Jiangfeng, Chiang Kai-​shek, Hu Zongnan and the Plan of Attacking Yan’an in 1943, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2016 (3). 203 Liu Zongling, The Reconstruction and Rectification of the CPC’s Sichuan Underground Party Organization in the Early Period of Anti-​Japanese War, CPC History Studies, 2017 (9). 204 Zhao Nuo, The Local Forces within the CPC during the Early Days of the Anti-​ Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (3). 205 Huang Daoxuan, The Cultivation of the CPC Cadres during the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2016 (4). 206 Zhao Nuo, A  Historical Investigation of the Party Committee’s Rectification Movement in Taihang District, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2019 (1). 207 Guo Ning, The Rectification Movement of the Communist Party of China in Shandong during the Anti-​Japanese War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2019 (1). 208 Yang Fayuan, Shandong Rural Grass-​roots CPC Members in the Rent Reduction and Interest Reduction Movement in the Middle and Late Anti-​Japanese War, Journal of Sichuan University, 2016 (5). 209 Li Jinzheng, Research on the History of “Relationship” in the Anti-​Japanese Base Area, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2016 (2). 210 Yang Kuisong, A  Historical Analysis of the Changes of the CPC’s Military Development Policy in the Early Period of the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015a (6). Yang Kuisong, Yan Xishan vs. the CPC in the Rural Areas of Shanxi, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2015b (1). 211 Yu Huamin, The CPC’s Strategic Operation and Layout of the Guerrilla Battlefield in North China, A Study of History, 2015 (5). 212 Huang Daoxuan, Hostility: Tunnel Warfare in Central Hebei Area During the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (3). 213 Bian Xiuyue, Several Online Rumors about the History of the Chinese Communist Party, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2016 (4). 214 Qi Xiaolin, Equipment, Technology, Tactics and Combat Effectiveness:  The Eighth Route Army in Hundred Regiments War, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2016 (2). 215 Zou Cheng, Re-​examination of the Hundred Regiments War: Discussion on the Article “Equipment, Technology, Tactics and Combat Effectiveness: The Eighth Route Army in Hundred Regiments War”, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2016 (4). 216 Huang Daoxuan, Survival of Base Area in Weak Balance, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2017 (3). 217 Shi Xiqiao, Creating “Grey Zone”: The CCP and the “Pro-​Japanese Village” in the South Shandong Area during the War (1938–​1945), CPC History Studies, 2017 (10). 218 Zhou Zuwen, Mobilization, Democracy and Progressive Tax:  The Reality and Logic of Collecting Public Grain for the National Salvation in the

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  327 Shaan-​Gan-​Ning Border Area, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2015 (4). 219 Zhang Wei, Predicament and Countermeasures of the CPC’s Interest Rate Reduction Policy, Party Documents, 2009 (6). 220 Li Lifeng, Rural Mobilization in the Chinese Revolution:  An Investigation of Political History, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2015 (3). 221 Jia Qinhan, An Analysis of the Talks Between Chou Enlai and Curie after the Southern Anhui Incident, CPC History Studies, 2016 (2). 222 Niu Jun, Re-​examination of the Chinese Communist Party’s Policy to the United States from 1944 to 1946, Journal of Sichuan University, 2016 (1). 223 Zhang Yong, CPC’s New Army Consolidation Movement During Liberation-​ War Period, CPC History Studies, 2010 (6). 224 Zhang Shuhuan, An Analysis of the Reasons for the Communist Party of China’s Land Policy Adjustment During the Liberation War, Journal of Huaqiao university, 2011 (2). 225 Li Lifeng, Working Crew: An Unconventional Operational Mechanism of State Power: A Historical Investigation of the North China Land Reform Movement, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2010 (3). 226 Wang Hualing, Request Report: A New Probe into the Relationship between the Central and Local Governments during the War of Liberation, Party History Research & Teaching, 2016 (3). 227 Cao Zuoyan, The Evolution of the CCP’s Disposal Policy for Public Officials of the Old Regime from 1945 to 1952, Historical Review, 2017 (2). 228 Deng Guang, Collection of Tax and Grain in Shandong Liberated Area, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (1). 229 Yang Kuisong, The Truth of Anping Incident and CPC’s Negotiation with US, Journal of Historical Science, 2011 (4). 230 He Jiangfeng, Revolution, Conflict between Parties and Strikes in Shanghai: The Cause of “February 2nd Strike Movement” in 1948, CPC History Studies, 2015 (7). 231 Liu Yigao, The Truth of Linqing Incident and Public Understanding of it, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (3). 232 Wang Anzhong, Kuomintang’s and CPC’s Weaponry and the Menglianggu Campaign, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (5). 233 Zhang Qing, The Center and the Boundary of the May 4th Thought Circle:  Reading Cases of the New Youth Industry and the New Cultural Movement, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (3). 234 Xiong Yuezhi, New Youth, New Culture and Shanghai Cultural Ecology in the Early Republic of China, Guangdong Social Sciences, 2015 (6). 235 He Zhuo’en and Zhang Jiahao, Youth-​Academia-​Labor: The Transformation of the Appeal of New Youth, Journal of Wuhan University, 2015 (5). 236 Zou Xiaozhan, Political Transformation and Social Transformation: Ideological Controversy at the Beginning of the Republic of China, Historical Review, 2015 (1). 237 Yang Guoqiang, Individualism in the New Cultural Movement, Exploration and Free Views, 2016 (8), (9), (10). 238 Wang Hui, Variations of Culture and Politics: War, Revolution and “Ideological Warfare” in the 1910s, Social Sciences in China, 2009 (4).

328  ZENG Yeying 239 Sun Xiangchen, Individualism and Familyism:  Rethinking the New Culture Movement in the Past 100 Years, Journal of Fudan University, 2015 (4). 240 Yang Nianqun, The Rise and Fall of “Individualism” around May 4th, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (2). 241 Ouyang Zhesheng, Expansion of New Cultural Movement Research Field, Teaching and Research, 2015 (8). 242 Zheng Dahua, May Fourth New Cultural Movement:  “Diverse Cultural Concepts”, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (3). 243 Zheng Shiqu, The Intellectuals in the May 30th Movement and the March 18th Movement, A Study of History, 2016 (5). 244 Ma Kefeng, Several Dimensions of Criticism and Reflection on New Youth, Teaching and Research, 2015 (8). 245 Li Weiwu, Confucius and Confucianism in the New Youth, Social Science Front, 2015 (9). 246 Shen Weiwei, The Contest between the Two Forces in the New Cultural Movement, Journal of Sun Yat-​sen University, 2016 (4). 247 Gao Yi, On the French Style of the New Cultural Movement, Journal of Anhui Normal University, 2016 (3). 248 Fang Weigui (ed.), Thoughts and Methods:  Cultural Politics and Knowledge Construction in Modern China, Peking University Press, 2015. 249 Wang Zhongjiang, Nature and People: A Probe into the Pedigree of Two Concepts in Modern China, Commercial Press, 2018. 250 Fang Guanghua, The Concept of “Freedom” and the Communication between China and the West in History of Chinese Thought, Tianjin Social Sciences, 2015 (1). 251 Hu Qizhu, The Internal Difficulties of State Construction in the Late Qing Dynasty from the Perspective of Rights in the Late Qing Dynasty, Tianjin Social Sciences, 2015 (2). 252 Wang Qisheng, The Rise and Fall of Class Discourse in China, Studies of Soviet Area, 2017 (4). 253 Chen Hongjuan, The Origin, Meaning and Understanding of the Concept of “Class” in the Chinese Translation of the Communist Manifesto, CPC History Studies, 2017 (8). 254 Zou Xiaozhan, “Civil Rights” and “National Rights” in the Ideological Discourse of the Late Qing and Early Republic of China, Social Science Journal, 2017 (6). 255 Yi Ming and Chen Xianchu, Multiple Dimensions of Criticism of Family System in Modern History, Chinese Culture Research, 2017 (2). 256 Li Weiwu, The Early Marxist Family Views in China, Academic Monthly, 2017 (6). 257 Zuo Yuhe, Interpretation and Transformation: A Modern Interpretation of the Concept of “Loyalty and Filial Piety”, Social Science Journal, 2017 (6). 258 Huang Xingtao and Chen Peng, The Spreading, Understanding and Application of the Concept of “Modernization” in the Republic of China, A Study of History, 2018 (6). 259 Jia Xiaoye, Academics and Politics in the Period of 1898 Reform, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (6). 260 Gao Ruiquan, Equality in the Perspective of Early Liberalism, Journal of Shanghai Normal University, 2011 (6).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  329 261 Peng Chunlin, The Contrast of Kang You-​wei’s and Liang Chi-​chao’s Thoughts on Whether Confucianism Could be a “National Spirit”, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2011 (5). 262 Zheng Dahua, The Systematic Introduction and Influence of Fichte’s Nationalist Thought after the “September 18” Incident, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2009 (6). 263 Liu Zenghe, Knowledge Transplantation:  Introduction of Budget Knowledge System in the Qing Dynasty, Social Science Research, 2009 (1). 264 Sun Jiang, The Dissemination of Lacouperie’s Statement of “Chinese Civilization Descends from Western Culture” in East Asia, A Study of History, 2020 (1). 265 Xiong Yuezhi, The Numerology of Modern Chinese Scholars, Academic Monthly, 2015 (9). 266 Fu Zheng, Spencer’s “Social Organism” Theory and Nationalism in the Qing Dynasty, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2017 (2). 267 Wang Dongjie, The Dilemma of Promoting Hanyu Pinyin and Unification of the National Language, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (5). 268 Zheng Dahua, On the Theoretical Construction of Modern Chinese Nationalism, Journal of East China Normal University, 2010 (5). 269 Yu Zuhua and Zhao Huifeng, Three Forms of National Revival Discourse in the Republic of China, Chinese Culture Research, 2015 (1). 270 Wei Chunhui, The Liberals’ Path Choice of National Renaissance after the War (1945–​1949), Historiography Research in Anhui, 2015 (2). 271 Yang Xinsheng, A Study of the Modern Gentry Class in Hunan, Yuelu Press, 2010. 272 He Wenping, Local Power in Chaos:  Guangdong’s Bandit Problem and Social Order in the Late Qing and Early Republic of China, Guangxi Normal University Press, 2011. 273 Wang Qin, Female Occupation and Modern Urban Society, China Society Press, 2010. 274 Fan Tiequan and Wang Juguang, Modern Chinese Science Societies, People’s Publishing House, 2011a. Fan Tiequan and Wang Juguang, The Educational Association and Democratic Education of the Republic of China, Hubei People’s Publishing House, 2011b. 275 Zuo Furong, Religious Societies of Beijing during the Republic of China: Literature, History and Influence (1912–​1949), Religious Culture Press, 2011. 276 Xu Maoming, Suzhou Cultural Clans and Social Changes since Ming and Qing Dynasties, China Social Sciences Press, 2011. 277 Luo Huijin, “Cultural Adherents” at the beginning of the Republic, Wuhan University Press, 2011. 278 Feng Jianhui, Research on Modern Anhui Merchants, Hefei University of Technology Press, 2009. Wang Fengshan, Changes of Ningbo Commercial Group in Modern China, Ningbo Press, 2010. 279 Yang Guoqiang, On the Gentlemen, Gentry Power and State Power of China in the Late Qing Dynasty, Journal of East China Normal University, 2011 (1). 280 Ma Jianbiao, Students and the Country:  The Collective Identity and Political Turn of the May 4th Students, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2010 (3). 281 Li Changli, Social Consequences of the May 4th Movement: The Establishment of Women’s Property Rights, Journal of Historical Science, 2010 (1). Wan Qionghua, The Female Principal’s Speech and Silent Protest during the Republic of China, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2016 (6). Hu Zhongsheng, Rites

330  ZENG Yeying and Customs: Re-​examination of Huizhou Women’s Funeral in Qing Dynasty, Historiography Research in Anhui, 2016 (4). Li Pengcheng, Violence between Women:  A Neglected Gender Violence, Social Science of Beijing, 2016 (1). Xiong Yuanbao, The Spatial Relationship between the Eight Great Hutongs and Beijing City, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2016 (1). Wang Wei, The North China Women’s Salvation Society from the Perspective of Tradition, Revolution and Gender, CPC History Studies, 2015 (2). 282 Li Changli, The History of Social Life in Modern China, China Social Sciences Press, 2015. 283 Zhang Sheng, Research on the Modern Shanghai Housing Famine, Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2009. 284 Wang Min, Public Space of Shanghai City (1843–​1949), Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2011. 285 Ye Zhongqiang, Shanghai Society and Literati Life (1843–​ 1945), Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2010. Song Zuanyou, Shanghai Workers’ Life (1843–​1949), Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2011. Ge Tao and Shi Dongxu, Photography and Social Life in Shanghai at the End of Qing Dynasty and the Beginning of the Republic of China, Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2011. 286 Cheng Weikun, City of Working Women: Life, Space, and Social Control in Early Twentieth-​Century Beijing, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2015. 287 Du Lihong, System and Daily Life: Public Health in Modern Beijing, China Social Sciences Press, 2015. 288 Long Wei, Research on Medical Disputes in the Republic of China, People’s Publishing House, 2011. 289 Du Peihong, Nationality, Women and Business:  Qipao Popularity from the Perspective of Social History, Folklore Studies, 2016 (3). 290 Zhang Wei and Wang Ying, The Life of Female Heroes in the Anti-​Japanese Base Areas in North China and Shaan-​Gan-​Ning Region, Historiography Research in Anhui, 2016 (5). 291 Yue Qianhou and Wang Yali, The Wives of Anti-​Japanese Soldiers in Shaanxi-​ Gansu-​Ningxia Border Area, Journal of Shanxi University, 2016 (5). 292 Geng Jing, Rural Women of the Anti-​Japanese Base Area in Marriage Cases, Journal of Liaocheng University, 2016 (3). 293 Jiang Pei and Wang Wei, Political Mobilization and Female Body in the North China CPC Base Area, Fujian Forum, 2016 (1). 294 Xu Zhimin, The Real Life of Chinese Students Studying in Japan during the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2015 (5). 295 Zhan Xiaobai, Urban Daily Leisure, Nationalism and Modernity, Historical Review, 2017 (2). 296 Wei Bingbing, Evolution of Modern Shanghai Semi-​colonial Municipal and Public Space:  A Case Study of Theater Architecture, Journal of Historical Science, 2017 (3). 297 Zheng Huixin, The Living Conditions of the Senior Civil Servants in the Rear Area During the Anti-​Japanese War, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2018 (2). 298 Wang Xiaosi, Modern Transformation of Jiangnan Rural Society: Research Based on Chen Hansheng’s Survey in Wuxi, Anhui People’s Publishing House, 2009.

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  331 299 Huang Hongshan, Research on Modern Chinese Philanthropy, Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House, 2011. 300 Wang Guangyi, Research on the Rural Society of Northeast China in Modern Times (1840–​1931), Guangming Daily Press, 2010. 301 Xiong Yaping, Railway and Social Changes in North China Villages (1880–​1937), People’s Publishing House, 2011. 302 Wu Libao, University Presidents and Localization of Modern Chinese Universities, China Social Sciences Press, 2010. 303 Bi Yuan, Textbooks and Modern Chinese Cultural Transformation, Fujian Education Press, 2010. 304 Zuo Yuhe, Modern Chinese Civilization, Fujian Education Press, 2010. 305 Xia Bang, A Historical Investigation of the Legal Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty, Hefei University of Technology Press, 2009. 306 Liu Xinjie, How to Enforce The Civil Code: Rights and Customs in the Judicial Practice of Xinfan County in the Republic of China, China University of Politic Science and Law Press, 2011. 307 Tang Shichun, Grassroots Justice in the Beiyang Period, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2014. 308 Feng Xiao, Power and Balance: A Study of Township Autonomy in Jiaxing Region of Zhejiang Province (1945–​1949), The Commercial Press, 2014. 309 Yu Xinzhong, The Mechanism of Health and Epidemic Prevention in Qing Dynasty and Its Modern Evolution, Beijing Normal University Press, 2016. 310 Xia Xiaohong, The Construction of Female Common Sense in the Late Qing Dynasty, Peking University Press, 2016. 311 Zhang Qing, Compilation of Western Learning in the Late Qing Dynasty and Local Response, Journal of Fudan University, 2009 (6). 312 Xing Zhaohua, An Investigation on the Regulation of Social Disputes in Guangzhou in the Early 20th Century, Journal of Historical Science, 2014 (8). 313 Zhu Yu, Mass Education Center and the Construction of Grassroots Political Power, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2014 (3). 314 Liang Chen, Selecting College Students and Education Stratification: Enrollment and Thresholds for Universities and Colleges in the Republic of China, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2018 (6). 315 Li Changli, The “Fashion of Foreign Goods” and the Evolution of Consumerism in the Late Qing Dynasty, History Teaching, 2014 (2). 316 Li Hengjun, The Spread and Acceptance of Stethoscope and Western Medical Technology in Modern China (1844–​1910), Journal of Dialectics of Nature, 2016 (4). 317 Zhang Yuan, The Controversy between Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine in the Late Qing Dynasty in Reports of Shenpao, Journal of Zhejiang Normal University, 2016 (5). 318 Zhao Xudong and Zhang Jie, The Great Change of Rural Social Order:  The Readjustment of Rural Social Life Order under the Background of Cultural Transformation, Journal of China Agricultural University, 2017 (2). 319 Li Xianming, “Selling Confucian Temples to Run Schools” and the Transfer of Cultural Power, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2019 (2). 320 Wang Geya, The Marriage Legislation and Marriage Custom Reform in Modern China, Law Press China, 2011.

332  ZENG Yeying 321 Sheng Meizhen, Study on the Changes of Social Fashion in Modern Yunnan, China Social Sciences Press, 2011. 322 Sun Shunhua, Christianity Transmission and Modern Qingdao Society and Culture, China Social Sciences Press, 2010. 323 Zhou Donghua, Research on Christian Education in Zhejiang in the Republic of China:  From the Perspective of “Identity Construction”, China Social Sciences Press, 2011. 324 Lan Xifeng, Research on Social Service of Christianity in the Republic of China, Religious Culture Press, 2015. 325 Fan Zhengyi, Christianity and Folk Deity Beliefs in Fujian, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2015. 326 Wang Xiaofeng, A Study of Japan’s Religious Invasion of the Northeast China During the Manchukuo Period, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2015. 327 Xie Zhuyan, A Study on the School Running Activities of Foreign Presidents of Modern Chinese Christian Universities (1892–​ 1947), Fujian Education Press, 2015. 328 Che Honglan, The Spread and Influence of Christianity among the Koreans in Northeast China in Modern Times, The Border Economy and Culture, 2015 (9). 329 Hou Jie and Wang Xiaolei, Christianity and China’s Anti-​foot-​binding Movement in the Late Qing Dynasty, Journal of Zhengzhou University, 2015 (1). 330 Wu Yanling, Mild Feminism:  The Women’s Messenger and Modern Chinese Women’s Self-​Construction, Journal of Yangzhou University, 2015 (1). 331 Tao Feiya, The Relationship between Government and Education in the Christian Administration of the Late Qing Dynasty, Social Sciences in China, 2016 (3). 332 Li Chuanbin, Church·Village·Medicine:  Christian Rural Health Construction in the Period of Nanjing National Government, Academic Journal of Jinyang, 2015 (3). 333 Ren Yi, The French Concession Authorities’ and the Catholic Relief for Refugees during the two Battles of Shanghai, Republican Archives, 2015 (1). 334 Liu Qingyu, Contributions of Inner Mongolian Catholic Missionaries in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Yinshan Academic Journal, 2015 (4). 335 Wang Miao, On the Patriotic Salvation Activities of the Chinese Christian Church in the Early Period of the Anti-​Japanese War, Journal of Changchun University, 2015 (3). 336 Zhao Xiaoyang, Thought and Practice: Agricultural Missionaries and Chinese Agricultural Modernization, Agricultural History of China, 2015 (4). 337 Liu Yi, The Course of Changing Grassroots Academy of Classic Learning into Schools in Sichuan in the Late Qing Dynasty, Academic Monthly, 2016 (8). 338 Zhaluo, The Marriage between King of Sikkim and the Lamo Family, Journal of Minzu University of China, 2016 (5). 339 Zhang Haipeng and Tao Wenzhao, (eds.), A Brief History of Taiwan, Phoenix Press, 2010. 340 Zhuang Linli, Taiwan, Its Governors and Society During Qing Dynasty, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2015. 341 Jia Xiaoye, The Establishment of Taiwan Province in the Late Qing Dynasty, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (7). Li Xizhu, Liu Mingchuan’s View on the Defense of the Taiwan Strait, Historiography Research in Anhui, 2016 (2). 342 Chen Zhongchun, The Proposition of Local Officials from Fujian and Taiwan to Develop Eastern Taiwan in the Early 19th Century, Taiwan Research Journal,

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  333 2015 (4); Li Lingxia, Policy for Region of Minority Nationality and Evolution of Taiwan Land in the Qing Dynasty, Agricultural Archaeology, 2015 (3); Lin Yuru, The Establishment of Three Regional Economic Zones in Taiwan in the Middle of the Qing Dynasty, History of Northeast China, 2015 (1). 343 Lin Shaojun and Xie Bizhen, Shen Baozhen and the “Taiwan Incident”, Journal of Fuzhou University, 2017 (3). Fu Deyuan, Anhui Military Aid to Taiwan from 1874 to 1875 and the Zhaozhong Temple in Fengshan, Historiography Research in Anhui, 2017 (3). Liu Yibin, Preferential Policy for Taiwanese in Fujian Provincial Examination in the Qing Dynasty and Its Historical Impact on Taiwan, Taiwan Research Journal, 2010 (6). 344 Chen Xiaochong, An Analysis of Taiwan Elementary Education Curriculum and Textbooks during the Japanese Occupation, Taiwan Research Journal, 2015 (4). Tan Jianchuan, “Taiwan Stories” in Modern Japanese Textbooks: Colonial Discourse and Colonial Memory, Dongjiang Journal, 2015 (3). 345 Yue Zhonghao, Textual Research on the “Sovereignty” and “Administrative Power” in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Taiwan Research Journal, 2017 (4); Yang Qifu, Taiwanese Scholars’ Political Identification and Behavior Choice in the Early Period of Japan’s Colonial Rule, Fujian Forum, 2017 (2); Li Xizhu, The Truth of the “Policy for Minorities” during the Japanese Colonial Period in Taiwan, Taiwan Studies, 2017 (2); Dong Jianhui and Zheng Weibin, Japan’s Colonial Rule of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples, Journal of Xiamen University, 2017 (1). 346 Shao Minghuang, The Taiwanese People and Their Resisitance Against Japanese and The History of Indigenous, Tuanjie Press, 2015. 347 Fu Qiyi, Taiwanese’s Anti-​Japanese Struggles During Japanese Occupation: Take the Atayal People as an Example, Tuanjie Press, 2015. 348 Qu Xiaofan, Review of Liu Yongfu and Taiwan Anti-​Japanese Movement in 1895, Journal of Northeast Normal University, 2011 (6). Wang Jian (ed.), An Analysis of the Taiwanese Minority Armed Anti-​Japanese Struggle during the Japanese Occupation, Symposium to Commemorate the 65th Anniversary of Taiwan’s Recovery and Study on the History of Anti-​Japanese War, Chongqing, 2010. Lin Renchuan and Huang Junling (eds.), A  Review of the Activities of Taiwan Compatriots in Fujian during the Japanese Occupation, Proceedings of Symposium on Lin Xiantang, Jiang Weishui and Taiwan Historical Figures and Their Times, Taiwan History Research Center of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, (eds.), Taihai Publishing House, 2009. Xu Weiqin (ed.), Anti-​Japanese activities of Taiwan Compatriots in Fujian and Other Places during the Anti-​ Japanese War, Symposium to Commemorate the 65th Anniversary of Taiwan’s Recovery and Study on the History of Anti-​Japanese War, Chongqing, 2010. He Ping, Taiwan Students’ Participation in the War in the Mainland during the Anti-​Japanese War, Journal of Luoyang Institute of Technology, 2009 (5). Chen Zhongchun, Research on the Press Opinions and Fight Against Ceding Taiwan in 1895, Taiwan Research Journal, 2011 (2). 349 Chen Liwen, Research of Taiwan Retrocession, Nanjing University Press, 2015. 350 Su Xiaodong (ed.), An Overview of Chinese Navy’s taking control of Japanese navy in Taiwan, Symposium to Commemorate the 65th Anniversary of Taiwan’s Recovery and Study on the History of Anti-​Japanese War, Chongqing, 2010. 351 Chu Jingtao, An Analysis of Recapturing Taiwan, The Journal of Studies of China’s Resistance War Against Japan, 2010a (4); Chu Jingtao, The Justice

334  ZENG Yeying and Legitimacy of Taiwan’s Recovery, Nanjing Social Sciences, 2010b (1). Chu Jingtao, A Review of the Mass Conflicts in Taiwan during the Early Period of Recovery, Jianghai Academic Journal, 2010c (2). 352 Feng Lin, Chiang Kai-​shek’s Efforts and Ideas to Resume Taiwan from the Cairo Conference to the Early Postwar Period, Sichuan Normal University Press, 2016. 353 Li Yumin, Relevant Treaties on the Taiwan Issue and the Evolution of Their Legal Status, Journal of Historical Science, 2016 (3). 354 Hou Zhongjun, The Post-​ War Disposal Plan of Britain and the National Government and the Taiwan issue (1941–​1943), Journal of Sun Yat-​sen University, 2016 (3). 355 Xu Xiaowang, Research on the Trade of Traditional Civil Ships in the Taiwan Strait in the Late Qing Dynasty, Fujian Forum, 2017 (4). 356 Wang Xiaoping, Chen Yi’s Fiscal Policy and Its Effect in the Early Period of Taiwan’s Recovery, Fujian Forum, 2016 (10). 357 Huang Junling, Analysis of the Taiwan Relief Branch’s Sale of Relief Flour at a Fair Price in the Early Days of Recovery, Journal of South China Normal University, 2016 (4). 358 Cheng Zhaoyun, From Conception to Practice:  The School of Land Administration and the Creation of the Taiwan Land Bank, Fujian Forum, 2016 (12). 359 Feng Jianlun, The Impact of the National Government’s Taiwan Gold Delivery on Taiwan’s Economy, Taiwan History Research, Zhang Haipeng and Li Xizhu, (eds.), Social Sciences Academic Press, 2016. 360 Wang Xiaoping, The United States and the Origin of Land Reform in Taiwan in the 1950s, Academic Journal of Jinyang, 2017 (2). 361 Cheng Zhaoyun, The Land Reform of Kinmen under the Wartime Financial Background (1952–​1957), Military History Research, 2017 (2). 362 Cheng Zhaoyun, The Effect of Japanese Colonial Rule on Taiwan’s Economic Development Cannot be Overestimated, Modern Chinese History Studies, 2018 (4). 363 Chen Xiaochong, On the Issues of Taiwan Immigration in the Period of Japanese Occupation, Taiwan Studies, 2010 (2). 364 Huang Junling, Taiwanese in Chong’an County of Fujian during the War, Kyushu Publishing House, 2010. Huang Junling, A  Study on the Reclamation of Taiwanese Residents in Chong’an during the Anti-​Japanese War, Taiwan Research Journal, 2009 (1). 365 He Zhuo’en, “National Border” and “Provincial Border” in the Chinese Government’s Acceptance and Transformation of Taiwan Universities:  Based on the Diary of Lo Tsung-​lo (1945–​1946), Journal of Sun Yat-​sen University, 2016 (4). 366 Huang Junling, An Analysis of the Educational Inspection and Supervision System of Taiwan in the Early Period of the Recovery, Studies on Fujian and Taiwan Culture, 2017 (1). 367 Liu Dake, Inheritance and Changes:  Research on Taiwan Hakka Folk Beliefs, Journal of Fuzhou University, 2017 (1). 368 Guo Ronggang, Missionaries’ View of Taiwan’s Aborigines in the Late Qing Dynasty and Its Influence, Religious Studies, 2017 (4). 369 Zhou Xiang, Panrang Myth of Taiwan Ethnic Minorities and Its Origin, Jianghan Tribune, 2017 (8).

Chinese history studies 2009 to 2019  335 370 Yang Lei and Liu Jiayan, The Development of Taiwan Buddhism from the Perspective of Religious Revival, Taiwan Studies, 2017 (3). 371 Zhou Yang, The Turning Point of Taiwan Ethnic Identity after the War: From “Sinification” to “Localization” –​ Based on the Investigation of the Intellectual Circle, Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2017 (6). 372 Kong Suyan and Liu Xiaoxin, The Rise of Taiwan’s Left Wing Thoughts and Interaction with the East Asian Left Wing Knowledge Circle in the 1920s, Journal of Fuzhou University, 2017 (5). 373 Li Lin, The Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement and the “Re-​Sinicization” of Taiwan, Journal of Fujian Normal University, 2017 (4). 374 Zhang Gaojie, An Analysis of the Origin of Taiwan Liberalism in the Early Post-​ War Period, Culture Journal, 2017 (11). 375 Chang Qianfan and Bi Kun, An Analysis of the Basic Form of “Taiwan Confucianism” after the Restoration, Taiwan Studies, 2017 (3). 376 Yang Yanjie, Xu Shoushang and the Reconstruction of National Culture in the Early days of Taiwan’s Recovery, Taiwan History Research, Zhang Haipeng and Li Xizhu (eds.), 2016. 377 Li Xizhu, An Examination of Some Historical Facts about Xu Shoushang in the Early Period of Taiwan’s Recovery, Journal of Sun Yat-​sen University, 2016 (3). 378 Zhu Shuangyi, Language and the “National Identity” of the Taiwanese, Literary Review, 2017 (5).

Index

agriculture in Modern Chinese History studies 280–​1 America see United States, the Anhui Warlords 115; activities of key members of 117–​19; formation of 116; relationship between Japan and 116–​17 Anti-​Japanese War: battlefield behind enemy lines in 143–​6; China’s relations with Britain and the United States during 156–​9; data collection on 215–​19; diplomacy during 154–​9; early 21st century publishing on 220–​4; economy during 159–​63; enemy-​occupied areas and puppet regimes in 150–​3; front battlefield in 146–​50; ideology and culture during 164–​6; Japanese policy of invasion of China and problems left over from 166–​9; prospects for future research on 169–​72; relationship between the KMT and the Communist party in 141–​3; Sino-​French relations during 159; Sino-​German relations during 155–​6; Sino-​Japanese relations during 154–​5; Sino-​Soviet relations during 156; translated works on 241 Baoen Paifang Bei 6–​7 Beijing Government period, Sino-​foreign relations during 286–​7 Beiyang Army 111–​12; see also Yuan Shikai Bo Hai Shou Min 71 Boxer Rebellion 250–​1; modern publishing on 209–​10 Britain: relationship of Zhili Warlords with 120–​1; relations with China during the Anti-​Japanese War 156–​9

Cao Kun 121 Catalog of Data on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 29 Chen Jiongming 57 Chen Tu-​hsiu 189–​90, 197 Chen Xiqi 37 Chiang Kai-​shek 148, 155, 157–​8, 260 China’s Democracy and Populism 40 Chinese Modern History 230 Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression see Anti-​Japanese  War Chinese Politics around the 1911 Revolution 73 Chinese Revolutionary Party 44–​5 Chronicle of Events of the Republic of China, The 71–​2 Chronicles of Chinese Revolution 71 Chronicles of Sun Wen and Chen Jiongming 57 Chronicles of the 1911 Revolution 71 Chronicles of the Historical Events of Sun Yat-​sen and Japan, The 51 Cixi, Empress 196–​7 Cohen, P. A. 250–​1 Collection of Historical Maps of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 29 Collection of the Imperial Systems and Regulations 31 Commemorate Mr. Sun Yat-​sen 73 Commentary on the Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Autobiography, A 6, 7 Communist Party, Chinese see CPC (Communist Party) Complete History of the War of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 20 Comprehensive List of Works on the History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 29

Index  337 Confucianism 22, 48 Constitution Protection Movement 44–​5 CPC (Communist Party) 45; Chinese relations with the United States and 158; economy during the Anti-​ Japanese War and 161–​2; front line in Anti-​Japanese War and 147–​9; historical figures studies and 180–​2, 190–​1, 197; historical nihilism and 259; in Modern Chinese History studies 289–​96; relationship with the KMT during the Anti-​Japanese War 141–​3 Cui Detian 24 culture, Chinese: during the Anti-​ Japanese War 164–​6; data collection on 213; early 21st century publishing on 219–​20; late 20th century publishing on 206–​7; in Modern Chinese History studies 296–​302; Sun Yat-​sen’s thoughts on 47–​8, 50–​1; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 19–​22; translated works on 233, 234, 245; Westernization and 50–​1 Currencies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 25 Dai Yi 5 Data Series of Modern Chinese History 200–​1 Da Ya-​quan  192 democracy 42; Sun Yat-​sen on 39 Dictionary of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 28–​9 diplomacy: during the anti-​Japanese War 154–​9; during the Beijing Government period 286–​7; early 21st century publishing on 220–​4; in Modern Chinese History studies 282–​9; during the Nanjing national government 287–​9; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 20–​1; translated works on 233–​4, 240–​1, 244 Dong Caishi 18, 26–​7 Duan-​fang  196–​7 Duan Qirui 115, 117–​18 Economic History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 21 Economic System of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 21 economy: during the Anti-​Japanese War 159–​63; early 21st century publishing

on 219–​24; Fengtian Warlords 127–​8; late 20th century publishing on 201; in Modern Chinese History studies 274–​82; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 21–​2; translated works on 232–​3, 243–​4 era of contemplation 197–​8 Fan Wenlan 2 Fengtian Warlords 125; formation and characteristics of 125–​6; politics, military and economy of 127–​8; relationship between Japan and 126–​7; Zhang Zuolin and other staff members of 128–​9 Feng Yuxiang 123–​4 Five Classics 22 foreign investment, Sun Yat-​sen on 48 foreign relations see diplomacy Founding History of the Republic of China, The 71 Four Books 22 France, relations between China and 159, 285–​6, 307 GDP research 281–​2 General History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 28 George, H. 39–​40, 46 Germany, relations between China and 155–​6, 286 God-​Worshipping Society  5, 26 “Great Asianism” 38–​9, 47 Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy, The 248–​9 Great Harmony 55, 56, 58–​61 Guo Cunxiao 24–​5 Guo Jianlin 109–​10 Guo Songling 129 Guo Xiaocheng 71 Guo Yisheng 3, 21; Dictionary of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 28–​9 Gu Zhongxiu 71 historical figures studies: data collection on 214–​15; early 21st century publishing on 224; initial prosperity period in 184–​93; problems in development of 193–​8; reconstructing the value system and the practice in 180–​4; translated works on 234, 237, 241–​2

338 Index historical GDP 281–​2 historical materialism 255; spread of 255–​7 historical nihilism 258–​9 Historical Records of the Period between 1911 and 1912 72 History and Geography of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 29 History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth 250–​1 History of Foreign Relations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 21 History of Modern China, The 2 History of Sichuan Railway Project 79–​80 History of the 1911 Revolution 76–​8 History of the Chinese Revolution 71 History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 27–​8 History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Northern Expedition 19–​20 History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Western Expedition 19–​20 History of the Xiang Army 17–​18 Hong Rengang 13–​14 Hong Xiuquan 13 Hua Qiang 25 Hubei, governance of 124–​5 Hu Sheng 1–​2 Hu Shi 187 idealism 40 ideology: during the Anti-​Japanese War 164–​6; early 21st century publishing on 219–​20; translated works on 234 India 286 International Relations of the Chinese Empire, The 228–​9 Japan: Anhui Warlords and 116–​17; Anti-​Japanese War against (see Anti-​ Japanese War); early 21st century publishing on 220–​4; Fengtian Warlords and 126–​7; in Modern Chinese History studies 284–​5; policy of invasion of China and problems left over from the Anti-​Japanese War 166–​9; Sun Yat-​sen and 51, 55; translated works on 239–​40; Yuan Shikai’s negotiation on the “Twenty-​ One Demands” with 112–​13 Jiang Bingzheng 29 Jiang Jieshi 108

Jiangsu Province: Anti-​Japanese War and 153; Warlords and governance of 124 Jintian Uprising 12–​13 Ji Shucun 17 KMT (Kuomintang): economy during the Anti-​Japanese War and 160; First National Congress and KMT-​CCP Cooperation of 45; front battlefield in Anti-​Japanese War and 146–​50; historical figures studies and 180–​2, 191, 198; in Modern Chinese History studies 289–​96; relationship with the Communist Party during the Anti-​ Japanese War 141–​3; Sun Yat-​sen and 44–​5, 46 Korea 56, 307 Kuomintang see KMT (Kuomintang) Lai Xinxia 108–​9, 111–​12 Landlord Class in the Period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 17 land reform during the Anti-​Japanese War 162 Land Regulations of the Heavenly Kingdom, The 3, 4, 11, 21–​2 Late Qing: political history of 261–​8; Sino-​foreign relations during 283–​6 laws and regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 23–​5 Lenin, V. 40 Liang Ch’i-​ch’ao  195 Liang Shu-​ming  187–​8 Li Chun 19, 23 Life of Traitor Tseng Kuo-​fan, The 182–​3 Li Hongzhang 108 Li Hung-​chang 186–​7, 197 Lin Tse-​hsu  193–​4 Lin Zengping 76 Li Shu 72–​3, 185–​6 Liu Chengyu 57 Liu Yangdong 27 Li Wenhai 27 Li Xin 107 Li Xiucheng 5–​9, 14 Li Xiucheng’s Personal Letter to Li Zhao to Offer His Birthday Congratulations 6 local histories: modern publishing on 207–​8; translated works on 242–​3 Long Shengyun 17–​18

Index  339 Luo Ergang 2–​3, 6, 12; History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 27–​8; on modern warlords 107–​8 Luoyang Warlord Group 121–​3 Luo Zhi-​tian  247 Ma Chuande 25 Ma Dingxiang 25 Manchu-​Han struggles  182–​3 Manuscript of Li Xiucheng’s Autography, The 6 Mao Jiaqi 21; General History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 28 Mao Zedong 31; Anti-​Japanese War and 166; historical figures studies and 184; on Sun Yat-​sen 37; on the Three People’s Principles 41 Marxism 2; Anti-​Japanese War and 166; establishment of Marxist historiography in China and 257–​8; historical figures studies and 181–​3, 185–​6; historical materialism and 255–​7; 1911 Revolution research and 72–​3; Sun Yat-​sen and 39–​40, 41; translated works on 246–​7 Masters of Chinese Culture 198 materialism 40 May Fourth Movement: in Modern Chinese History studies 302–​3; modern publishing on 204–​6; translated works on 236–​7 Mencius 48 military: early 21st century publishing on 219–​20; Fengtian Warlords 127–​8; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 19–​20; translated works on 243 Military History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 19 Mill, J. 40 Modern Chinese History studies: criticism of historical nihilism in 258–​9; economic history in 274–​82; equal and straightforward discussions in 259–​61; establishment of Marxist historiography in China and 257–​8; historical materialism in 255–​7; historical theories, methods and seminal discussions in 254–​61; history of Sino-​foreign relations in 282–​9; history of the Chinese revolution in 289–​96; history of thought and culture in 296–​302; political history of the Late Qing in 261–​8; political

history of the Republic of China in 268–​73; social history in 302–​7; Taiwan in 307–​12 modernization, China’s: Northern Warlords and 129–​30; Sun Yat-​sen and 49–​50; Yuan Shikai and 113–​14 Mufu 18–​19 Nanjing Massacre 240 Nanjing national government, Sino-​ foreign relations during 287–​9 nationalism 38–​9, 42 Natural History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, The 24–​5 New Culture Movement: in Modern Chinese History studies 297–​8; modern publishing on 206 New Culture School 56 newspapers 224–​6 New Treatise on Administration 4 Nian Uprising 16 nihilism, historical 258–​9 1911 Revolution and Yuan Shikai, The 72–​3 1911 Revolution research 71–​3; deepening of research at the beginning of the 21st century (2000–​2009) 89–​98; initial stage (1949–​1966) 73–​6; Marxism and 72–​3; in Modern Chinese History studies 267–​8; overview of modern publishing on 203–​4, 210; retrospect and prospect of 98–​103; revival and rising stage (1976–​1990) 76–​86; stage of sustainable development (1991–​1999) 86–​9; translated works on 243 Ni Sichong 118–​19 Northern Warlords 106–​7; Anhui 115–​19; class basis and nature of regime of 108–​9; data collection on 211–​13; defined 107; Fengtian 125–​9; few wholistic studies on 133–​4; historical status and role of 109–​10; in Modern Chinese History studies 270–​1; noteworthy problems of 129–​34; origin, time limit and cause of modern warlord politics and 107–​8; overview of modern publishing on 201–​2; relationship with the imperialist powers 110–​11; reliability of historical data on 131–​3; Sun Yat-​ sen and 47, 57; theoretical issues in history of 107–​11; too many repeated

340 Index works on 130–​1; too much imitation but little innovation among 129–​30; Yuan Shikai and 111–​15; Zhili 119–​25 Opium War 194, 202, 208–​9 Overseas Studies on Chinese Modern History 230–​1 overseas works see translated works Pan Min 109 Peng Ming 108 People’s Daily 1 People’s Livelihood, Principle of the 39–​40, 42–​3, 46 politics: early 21st century publishing on 219–​20; Fengtian Warlords 127–​8; and political history of the late Qing 261–​8; and political history of the Republic of China 268–​73; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 4–​5, 15–​16; translated works on 233, 243 Preliminary Exploration into the Laws and Regulations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 23 puppet regimes in Anti-​Japanese War 150–​3 Qing Dynasty: political history of late 261–​8; Sino-​foreign relations during late 283–​6 Qu Qiu-​bai  190 Record of the Imperial Inscriptions 31–​2 Record of The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Geography 25 Record of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Officials, A 23 Re-​examination of the Assassination of Song Jiaroren, A 261 Reform Movement of 1898 194–​5, 196 regional history, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 25–​7 religious history: in Modern Chinese History studies 306–​7; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 25–​7 Research on Sun Yat-​sen and China’s Road of Modernization 50 Research on the Calendar of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 24 Research on the Criminal Law of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 24

Research on the Proper Words and Expressions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 23–​4 Research on the Relationship between Sun Yat-​sen and Japan 51 Research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s System of Taboo on Using the Personal Names of Emperors 23 Sato Diplomacy 154–​5 Scienticism 236 Shang Binghe 72 Shan Xiaoming 261 Sheng Xun 23 Shi Jian-​yun  249 Shi Shi 23–​4 Sichuan-​Hankou Railway  79–​80 Sino-​foreign relations see diplomacy Sino-​Japanese Treaty, The 51 Sino-​Japanese War of 1894–​1895 265–​6 Skinner Model 247–​8 Small Sword Society 16 social construction, Sun Yat-​sen on 60–​1 social customs 306–​7 social history: in Modern Chinese History studies 302–​7; Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 25–​7; translated works on 244 socialism 46, 61 sorting and publishing, history materials: data collection of several hot topics in 210–​19; issues for future studies and 226–​7; overview of publishing work in the early 21st century and 219–​27; overview of publishing work in the second half of the 20th century and 200–​10 Soviet Russia: in Modern Chinese History studies 286; relations with China during the Anti-​Japanese War 156; Sun Yat-​sen and 52–​3, 55 Study of Sun Yat-​sen’s Thought on Social Construction 60 Study of Zeng Guofan’s Mufu, The 18–​19 Sufu Province 26–​7 Summary of the Military History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, A 19 Sun Chuanfang 124 Sun Yat-​sen 31; Chen Jiongming and 57; China’s modernization and 49–​50; Chinese and Western culture and 50–​1; Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Constitution Protection

Index  341 Movement and 44–​5; construction of harmonious society and 58–​61; cultural thoughts of 47–​8; deepening and expanding research on 49–​53; on democracy 39, 42; early thoughts and activities of 38; family background of 46; First National Congress of the KMT and 45; “Great Asianism” and 38–​9, 47; Great Harmony and 55, 56, 58–​61; Japan and 51, 55; Korea and 56; major works in studies of 36–​7; monographic studies on 43–​5; on nationalism 38–​9, 42; New Culture School and 56; new progress in research on 53–​4; on opening up and utilizing foreign investment 48; overview of initial studies of 37–​41; philosophical thought of 40–​1, 43; on the Principle of the People’s Livelihood 39–​40, 42–​3, 46; prosperous period of research on 45–​8; reflection and recovery of research on 41–​5; relationship with his contemporaries 56–​7; relationship with modern Chinese warlords 47, 57; Soviet Russia and 52–​3, 55; suggestions for improvement in research on 62–​4; three major policies of 46; on the Three People’s Principles 38–​40, 42–​3; view of Asia and the world 47; Wang Chonghui and 57; on women 56; world view of 54–​6; Wuchang Uprising and 43; Yuan Shikai and 43–​4, 112 Sun Yat-​sen and Japan 51 Sun Yat-​sen before the Establishment of the Chinese Revolutionary League 37 superstition movements 273 Su Sheng 71 Sweden 286 taboo words, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 23–​4 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 194; anti-​Confucianism struggle of 22; as autocratic monarchy 15; Baoen Paifang Bei and 6–​7; compilation, publication and related research of historical documents of 9–​10; engraving time and regulations of 24–​5; as feudal regime 11–​12, 21–​2; geography of 25; God-​Worshipping Society and 5, 26; historical figures

of 13–​15; Hong Rengan and 13–​14; Hong Xiuquan and 13; interpersonal relations in 17–​18; Jintian Uprising and 12–​13; laws and regulations of 23–​5; Li Xiucheng and 5–​9; maturity and harvest period in research on 8–​29; military, diplomacy, economy and culture of 19–​22; Modern Chinese History studies on 266–​7; Mufu and 18–​19; nature of the 11–​13; Nian Uprising and 16; opposite sides of 16–​19; overview of modern publishing on 202–​3, 209; political power in 4–​5, 15–​16; publication of batch of large-​scale reference books and monographs on general history of 27–​9; religious, regional, and social history of 25–​7; status of research on 29–​32; Sufu Province and 26–​7; taboo words in 23–​4; vigorous development of research on 1–​7; Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui and 14–​16; zigzag development and retrogression in research on 7–​8 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Big Powers, The 21 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Suzhou, The 26–​7 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Social Customs, The 27 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s System of Official Documents, The 24 Taiwan 307–​12 T’an Ssu-​t-​ung  196 tax system: during the Anti-​Japanese War 162; in Modern Chinese History studies 275–​7 Three People’s Principles 38–​40, 42–​3 Tian Xiaosheng 72 Tibet 158–​9 trade wars during the Anti-​Japanese War 163 translated works: flourishing era of 230–​7; mainly for criticism 228–​30; proliferation of, since 1998 237–​52 United States, the: relationship of Zhili Warlords with 120–​1; relations with China during the Anti-​Japanese War 156–​9; translated works on China and 245–​6 urban life 303–​4

342 Index Wang Chonghui 57 Wang Fangzhong 109 Wang Zhanyuan 124–​5 Warlords see Northern Warlords Wei Yingtao 79–​80 Western culture: in Modern Chinese History studies 305–​6; Sun Yat-​sen and 50–​1 Wo Hing Society 55 Wuchang Uprising 43, 108 Wu Peifu 121–​3 Wu Shanzhong 24 Xia Ming-​fang  246–​7 Xiang Army 17–​18 Xiao Chaogui 14–​16 Xu Shuzheng 118 Yan Fu 195 Yang Xiuqing 14–​16 Yuan Shih-​kai  196 Yuan Shikai 43–​4, 108; class attribution and evaluation problem of 114–​15; founding of Beiyang Army by 111–​12; modernization of China’s economy and 113–​14; negotiation with Japan

on the “Twenty-​one Demands” by 112–​13; reasons for succession of Sun Yat-​sen  by  112 Yuan Shikai-​the Arch Usurper of State Power 115 Zen Guofan 107–​8 Zhang Kaiyuan 76, 86–​7 Zhang Shouchang 19–​20 Zhang Xiaohui 109 Zhang Yiwen 19 Zhang Zuolin 125–​6, 128–​9 Zhan Jian 79 Zhejiang, governance of 124 Zhili-​Fengtian War  119–​20 Zhili Warlords 119; Cao Kun and 121; Feng Yuxiang and 123–​4; reasons for defeat in the Zhili-​Fengtian War 119–​20; relationship with Britain, America and other big powers 120–​1; Sun Chuanfang and 124; Wang Zhanyuan and 124–​5; Wu Peifu and 121–​3 Zhou Xinguo 24 Zhu Congbing 24 Zhu Dong’an 18–​19 Zhu Zhefang 19–​20