Manufacturing Modern Chinese Identities

1. Manufacturing Modern Chinese Identities Dr. Howard Chiang, H0.16 (H.H.Chiang@warwick.ac.uk)

2. Chinese Dynasties 221-206 BC Qin Dynasty 206 BC-220 AD Han Dynasty 220-280 AD Three Kingdoms 265-420 AD Jin Dynasty 420-589 AD Southern and Northern Dynasties 581-618 AD Sui Dynasty 618-907 AD Tang Dynasy 907-1125 AD Liao Dynasty 907-960 AD 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms 960-1279 AD Song Dynasty 1271-1368 AD Yuan Dynasty 1368-1644 AD Ming Dynasty 1644-1911 AD Qing Dynasty

4. Education Reform 1894-1895 First Sino-Japanese War 1911-1949 Republican Period 1900s Western-style education 19th-c. missionary schools (southeast coast; treaty ports – extraterritorial rights) Civil service examination system – producing the bureaucratic elite

5. Fuzhou Shipyard

6. Education Reform • 1898 math was introduced into the exams • 1902 “eight-legged essays” replaced by policy essays • 1905 abolished the civil exam system altogether • New schools created; old schools converted (still mostly for boys; girls only 2% in 1909) • Transform the people into loyal patriots • Train competent officials

7. Education Reform • 1903 & 1906: Qing issued sets of regulations • restricted the amount of time to be spent in the traditional study of the Chinese classics • new subjects: history, geography, science, mathematics, physical exercise, and music • Textbooks: introduced Western ideas, with themes of nationalism and patriotism • Guo (國) from dynasty to country as in Guoyu(“national language” or “Mandarin Chinese”)

8. Education Reform • New schools: • Time – divided into terms and weeks • Costume – new jackets and trousers • Etiquette – no more kowtow (kneeling on the knees and knocking head on the floor) • Anti-Confucian value system – “no father, no monarch”

9. Race and Revolution • Qing government began to send students abroad for advanced study • bring back technical skills • Europe, America, but mostly to Japan (Meiji Restoration since 1860s) • 13 students sent to Japan in 1896; by 1905, the number rose up to 8000-9000 • Political concerns over technical scientific subjects: for example, Lu Xun(“father of modern Chinese literature”) • Experiences clash with Chinese culturalism

10. Lu Xun (1881-1936)

11. Liang Qichao (1873-1929): the concept of race

12. Race and Revolution • Liang Qichao’s conception of race: • 18th century: Manchu identity from cultural practices to inheritance • Han Chinese being descendants of the Yellow Emperor, the mythical founder of the Han race, as a kind of lineage binding the whole Han people into a single family • Han vs. Manch = ‘Chinese’ vs. others (replacing the older concept of flexible boundaries based on degrees of acculturation)

13. Race and Revolution • Liang Qichao’s conception of race: • From “all under heaven” (tianxia, 天下) to country (guojia, 國家) • “On a New People” - a new emphasis on the relationship between individuals and the collective: the family, society, and country • “Nation” (minzu, 民族) taken from Japanese (before 1900, minzu meant “tribes”; after 1900, it became part of anti-Manchu thought) • Revolutionary groups: Sun Yatsen, Kang Youwei

14. Sun Yatsen (1866-1925) Revive China Society “revolutionaries”

15. Kang Youwei (1858-1927) Protect the Emperor Society “reformers”

16. Race and Revolution • Revolutionary groups • Sun Yatsen – “revolutionaries” • Kang Youwei – “reformers” • Huaqiao (華僑): “Overseas Chinese” • refer to ethnic Chinese living outside the Chinese state • Chinese nationalism was from an early stage pushed towards a definition of national identity that could encompass these groups (emphasis on descent)

17. Ethnicity Han symbolism of revolution - Ethnic minorities distinguished earlier by bans on immigration, intermarriage, and even the learning of the Chinese language Manchuria & Xinjiang – similar to rest of China Mongolia – independence in 1911 (“kitad”) Tibet – 1912 to 1951 de facto separation from China