| |
China’s republican era from 1912 to 1949. It is a period that most historians have discarded, a nation in a state of decay that called for revolution. So to read that society was vibrant, cosmopolitan and outgoing is at the very least surprising.
The book is the third in a series under the banner “Understanding China” published by Hong Kong University Press. Each is intended to provide a short, accessible guide to the research highlights of an active field of studies. Concentrating on interdisciplinary work that bridges humanities and social sciences, each title introduces the reader to the subject, discusses the major problems and, by critically analyzing competing solutions and adopting fresh viewpoints, draws readers into the debates.
Subtitled “China before Mao”, it has a compact text of about a hundred pages, and 28 pages of notes and indexing. Following the introduction, its chapters all start with the adjective “open”. Governance, borders, minds and market are announced as open. Then there is a conclusion. For the non-academic, it is a delight due to this simplicity of layout.
The author is Frank Dikötter, Professor of Modern History of China at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is an advocate of the study of modern history from a global perspective, and has written the book in the form of a long essay, drawing on six more detailed research monographs previously published on the globalization of ideas, institutions and commodities in modern China. A highly informative body of secondary literature supports a variety of primary sources, challenging the view of modern China as defined by “warlords”, “imperialism” and “disintegration”. Instead it might be qualified as a golden age of engagement with the world.
The pervasive approach in popular and scholarly accounts has been to assume that revolution was the key to change. After all, was it not an enfeebled Qing dynasty, surrounded by imperialist powers seeking to carve up China that greeted the twentieth century? Yes, there was a hint of political stability achieved by the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) in 1927, but the corruption that had plagued the end of empire was still present. What was needed was revolution and a man like Mao Zedong to bring to an end a long series of humiliations.
It is this doctrine of final causes that, the author says, is to blame. “Teleology held this approach together” he writes in the introduction. Because so much of the history of the twentieth century seems to have been about revolution, researchers have been inclined to seek out the causes, roots, stages and origins of communism. Indeed revolution has provided the rationale for determining which facts were historically relevant and which were not!
Among the overlooked achievements was the growth of participatory politics; in 1912 the electorate numbered 40 million but by 1947 there existed a fully democratic constitution. A multitude of independent associations and organizations, from chambers of commerce to beggar unions, were set up and over one thousand dailies, weeklies or monthlies circulated.
Individuals from backgrounds ranging from farmers to students were interested in the world outside their communities, while the opening of borders created movement in and out of the country and the cultivation of cosmopolitan lifestyles. Evidence is provided of rural schools studying the biographies of Lincoln, Napoleon and Edison. There is no claim of widespread literacy and only a small number of people went on to work abroad, but opportunities for education were more diverse than had been the case before.
China regularly participated in international conferences and contributed to bodies such as the League of Nations. Several of its lawyers became judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Similar observations can be made in other areas, from paleo-anthropology to aviation technology, as a flow of knowledge open to new ideas created educated professionals who were capable of matching their foreign peers.
What makes this book credible is the critical distance we now have. Whether or not a poor republic (and it was always poor) is better than a sometimes mediocre dictatorship is up for debate, but the diversity of pre-Revolutionary China is worthy of recognition, and The Age of Openness thus worthy reading. Now that globalization rather than revolution has become the guiding light, from Latin America to India and China, the fresh perspective offered by Professor Dikötter is a welcome addition.
|
| |
Vincent Heywood was born in London. His background is in training. Qualified as a financial planner through the Chartered Insurance Institute in the United Kingdom, he provided training for bank sales staff in The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Korea, Hong Kong and Macau, and has lectured on financial topics in China. Since obtaining an English language training qualification through the University of Cambridge, he has carried out Business English and presentation skills assignments for Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Police, and has trained Chinese management staff at Hutchison, Bank of East Asia, AIG and other publicly listed companies. His research interests are Chinese culture and business, and his research on the nation’s Olympic football heritage has been dramatized in two TVB television documentaries. |
back to top ▲
|
|
| Issue 6.3 |
|
Remembering—
A Shared Duty
|
|
|
