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​#202 Liang Qichao: From Subject to Citizen

1/30/2019

 
Unit I feedback (5 minutes)

Partner discussion

First, let’s identify and unpack some of the New Policies (xinzheng 新政). These are best outlined outside the scope of last night’s reading beginning with the second paragraph on page 85 (“Perhaps the most dramatic. . . ) and continuing until the end of the first paragraph on page 86 (. . . “infinitely retreating horizon”).
  • Which of the New Policies stand out to you as especially important? Why?
  • Are the New Policies more or less ambitious than the Hundred Days’ Reforms implemented by the Guangxu emperor (link to previous reading)? Which would you consider to be more moderate or radical—revisiting the terms we discussed last class?

Group discussion of key terms

  • Yan Fu’s imported “social darwinism” keeps popping up. By the last decade of the dynasty, the Empress Dowager seems to implicitly accept this idea; Liang Qichao speaks of China as the “Sick Man of Asia” and fears, as we have seen, that China may become a “lost country” (wanguo 亡国) like Poland. What might be the advantages and disadvantages of driving reform on these terms? And how might this concept further complicate China’s already contradictory relationship with Japan?
  • What does Liang Qichao mean when he notes China’s lack of “national consciousness” (guojia sixiang 国家思想) and envisions a future nation of “citizens” (guomin 国民) on 101? How are those concepts different from what already existed in China up to this point? Would a nation of citizens be more likely to achieve “wealth and power”? Why or why not? Again, how do we make sense of Japan’s role in helping to translate some of this political vocabulary—nation and citizen are both brought into Chinese through Japanese translations of Western terms.
  • What does Liang Qichao mean by “destructivism” (pohuai zhuyi 破坏主义) on page 104? Why might this be a helpful way to engage in substantial reform? What dangers might this approach pose?
  • Reflect on Liang’s political vision. How does it evolve? How does the world around him evolve?

Wrap up activity

Beginning with Liang Qichao’s exile in Japan in 1898, he worked to organize a series of political groups (and eventually a fully-fledged political party). Naturally, he did not have access to social media during this time. If he did, describe an image-driven meme or tweet (140 character limit) that he might have used to promote one or more of his ideas.

#201 Upheaval from Above: Hundred Days’ Reforms

1/28/2019

 
Picture
Essential questions for Unit II (“Slaves of a Lost Country” or Masters of a New Culture?​):
  1. What separates reform from revolution and moderate from radical? Which approaches are preferable in what contexts?
  2. What counts as “political”? What does it mean to see culture as political?
  3. What kind of “truth” can literary sources provide?

Opening question:
  • How does one know the difference between “moderate” and “radical” politics?​ How do we decide which is preferable and when?

Background:
  • Slides on the Hundred Days’ Reforms

Kang Youwei's Memorials
  • First impressions?
  • Context:
    • When faced with a crisis that Kang Youwei belives could destroy the empire, why does he focus so much on Confucius (c.551-479 BCE)?
  • Content:
    • What are some of the major suggestions put forward to the Guangxu emperor by Kang? 
    • What factors does Kang Youwei point to as causes of the Qing empire’s weakness? What kind of reform measures might reasonably follow from Kang’s analysis of the causes of the empire’s weakness?
  • Interpretation:
    • ​Which proposals are likely to be the most controversial? Why?
    • How might conservative opponents of Kang Youwei respond, particularly in relation to the examination system proposals?
    • Are there causes of weakness that Kang does not point to? How would a reform program be different if those causes were brought into the picture? 
    • Do you see this as a politically moderate or radical document? Why?

Guangxu’s Edicts

Consider the following list of edicts issued by the Guangxu emperor in 1898 as described by The Peking Gazette:

1.      The establishment of a university at Beijing.
2.    The sending of imperial clansmen to foreign countries to study the forms and conditions of European and American government.
3.      The encouragement of the arts, sciences and modern agriculture.
4.      The Emperor expressed himself as willing to hear the objections of the conservatives to progress and reform.
5.      Abolished the literary essay as a prominent part of the governmental [civil service] examinations.
6.      Censured those who attempted to delay the establishment of the Peking Imperial University.
7.      Urged that the Lu-Han railway should be prosecuted with more vigor and expedition.
8.      Advised the adoption of Western arms and drill for all the Tartar troops.
9.   Ordered the establishment of agricultural schools in all the provinces to teach the farmers improved methods of agriculture.
10.  Ordered the introduction of patent and copyright laws.
11.  The Board of War and Foreign Office were ordered to report on the reform of the military examinations.
12.  Special rewards were offered to inventors and authors.
13.  The officials were ordered to encourage trade and assist merchants.
14.  School boards were ordered established in every city in the empire.
15.  Bureaus of Mines and Railroads were established.
16.  Journalists were encouraged to write on all political subjects.
17.  Naval academies and training-ships were ordered.
18.  The ministers and provincial authorities were called upon to assist—nay were begged to make some effort to understand what he was trying to do and help him in his efforts at reform.
19.  Schools were ordered in connection with all the Chinese legations in foreign
countries for the benefit of the children of Chinese in those places.
20.  Commercial bureaus were ordered in Shanghai for the encouragement of trade.
21.  Six useless Boards in Beijing were abolished.
22.  The right to memorialize the throne in sealed memorials was granted to all who desired to do so.
23.  Two presidents and four vice-presidents of the Board of Rites were dismissed for disobeying the emperor's orders that memorials [petitions, memorandums, etc.] should be allowed to come to him unopened.
24.  The governorships of Hubei, Guangdong, and Yunnan were abolished as being a useless expense to the country.
25.  Schools of instruction in the preparation of tea and silk were ordered established.
26.  The slow courier posts were abolished in favor of the Imperial Customs Post.
27.  A system of budgets as in Western countries was approved. 

With a partner, address the following questions:
  • If you had to simplify the Guangxu emperor’s reform edicts during the Hundred Days to 4-5 categories (with one or more edicts per category), what would you say?
  • Which of these do you think was most significant? Why?
  • Identify at least two groups or individuals who opposed the reforms. What reasons did they have to be offended?​
  • Historian Jonathan Spence has written that the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reforms “raised the curtain on the cultural crises of the twentieth century”? Why might political problems lead to cultural change?
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