Daoism and the Early Twentieth-Century Chinese Anarchist Movement
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Daoism and Anarchism 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd i 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:30:09:30 PPMM CONTEMPORARY ANARCHIST STUDIES A series edited by Laurence Davis National University of Ireland, Maynooth Uri Gordon Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Israel Nathan Jun Midwestern State University, USA Alex Prichard London School of Economics, UK Contemporary Anarchist Studies promotes the study of anarchism as a framework for understanding and acting on the most pressing problems of our times. The series publishes cutting edge, socially-engaged scholarship from around the world—bridging theory and practice, academic rigor and the insights of contemporary activism. The topical scope of the series encompasses anarchist history and theory broadly construed; individual anarchist thinkers; anarchist-informed analysis of current issues and institutions; and anarchist or anarchist- inspired movements and practices. Contributions informed by anti-capitalist, feminist, ecological, indigenous, and non-Western or global South anarchist perspectives are particularly welcome. So, too, are manuscripts that promise to illuminate the relationships between the personal and the political aspects of transformative social change, local and global problems, and anarchism and other movements and ideologies. Above all, we wish to publish books that will help activist scholars and scholar activists think about how to challenge and build real alternatives to existing structures of oppression and injustice. International Editorial Advisory Board Martha Ackelsberg, Smith College John Clark, Loyola University Jesse Cohn, Purdue University Ronald Creagh, Université Paul Valéry Marianne Enckell, Centre International de Recherches sur l’Anarchisme Benjamin Franks, University of Glasgow Judy Greenway, University of East London Ruth Kinna, Loughborough University Todd May, Clemson University Salvo Vaccaro, Università di Palermo Lucien van der Walt, University of the Witwatersrand Charles Weigl, AK Press 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd iiii 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM Daoism and Anarchism Critiques of State Autonomy in Ancient and Modern China John A. Rapp Contemporary Anarchist Studies 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd iiiiii 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM Continuum International Publishing Group A Bloomsbury Company 50 Bedford Square 80 Maiden Lane London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © John A. Rapp, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the permission of the publishers. E ISBN: 978-1-4411-7251-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed in the United States of America This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 2.0 England and Wales License. Permission for reproduction is granted by the editors and the publishers free of charge for voluntary, campaign, and community groups. Reproduction of the text for commercial purposes, or by universities or other formal teaching institutions is prohibited without the express permission of the publishers. 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd iivv 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM For Anita, who for better or worse, insisted that I write this book 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd v 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd vvii 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix PRELUDE 1 PART 1: DAOISM AND ANARCHISM 17 1 Daoism and anarchism reconsidered 19 2 Utopian, anti-utopian, and dystopian ideas in philosophical Daoism 51 3 Daoism as utopian or accommodationist: The Guodian challenge to Daoist anarchism 71 4 Daoism as anarchism or nihilism: The Buddhist-inf uenced thought of Wu Nengzi 89 INTERLUDE 105 5 The twentieth-century Chinese anarchist movement 107 PART 2: MAOISM AND ANARCHISM 123 6 Maoism and anarchism: An analysis of Mao Zedong’s response to the anarchist critique of Marxism 125 7 Denunciations of anarchism in the PRC 159 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd vviiii 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM viii CONTENTS 8 Extra-Party neo-anarchist critiques of the state in the PRC 175 9 Inner Party neo-anarchist critiques of the Leninist Party-state 193 POSTLUDE 213 The continuing relevance of Daoist anarchism 215 APPENDICES 219 Works of Daoist Anarchism 221 1 Zhuangzi, Chapter 9, “Horses’ Hoofs” 221 2 Ruan Ji, “The Biography of Master Great Man” (excerpt) 223 3 Bao Jingyan 227 4 Tao Qian, “Peach Blossom Spring” 229 5 Wunengzi 231 Bibliography 263 Index 283 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd vviiiiii 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Since this book is the product of many years of research and writing, I have many people to thank for their help and encouragement. To the usual disclaimer that the author alone is responsible for any mistakes and shortcomings, I must add a special emphasis that due to the controversial nature of much of this book, none of the people thanked below necessarily agrees with any of the opinions or analysis expressed herein. Thanks and appreciation go f rst to this author’s many teachers in subjects directly related to this book, including, at Indiana University, Judith Berling for her seminar on Daoism and for serving as advisor on my MA thesis, and the late Jerome Mintz and Alan Ritter for their seminar on anarchism. At the University of Wisconsin, I am very grateful to my two main mentors, Crawford Young as whose teaching assistant I was introduced to the literature on state autonomy, and especially Ed Friedman, who continues to impart to me much wisdom about Chinese politics and give generous and patient advice and criticism. I also owe a debt of gratitude to John Clark of Loyola University for his encouragement and support over the years. A second round of thanks go to the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Beloit College, f rst for their tolerance and inspiration in allowing me to teach classes on China, Daoism, and anarchism over the years and for sabbatical grants in 1999–2000 and 2006 and other research support, including a Sanger summer research grant in 2008 that allowed for the translation by Catrina Siu of the entire Wunengzi, work-study monies that allowed for translation assistance from Lauren Jones, and a grant from the Dean’s off ce to help defray costs of rights fees and other translation assistance. My faculty colleague Daniel Youd played an essential role in many of the translation projects related to this book. I owe a great debt also to Cindy Cooley and the entire staff of the Beloit College library who worked many hours locating materials for me through interlibrary loans. I am also grateful to the Pacif c Cultural Foundation of Taiwan for a research grant in 2000 that allowed me to carry out the research that led to the essays used as the basis for Chapters 2 and 6 . Another large group of people to thank includes all the professional colleagues over the years who allowed me to participate in their panels and publish essays in their edited books and journal volumes, including Joseph Cheng for permission to use material from my article in the special 99781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd781441132239_FM_Final_txt_print.indd iixx 66/22/2001/22/2001 66:09:31:09:31 PPMM x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS issue of the Journal of Comparative Asian Development on Utopianism in Chinese Political Culture that was the basis for Chapter 2 , Shiping Hua, the guest editor of that issue who gave me the opportunity to contribute to that volume and also f ne editorial advice, and the past and current editors of Anarchist Studies, Sharif Gemie and Ruth Kinna, who also gave f ne editorial suggestions and permission along with that of Lawrence & Wishart publishers to adapt material for the prelude and Chapters 1 and 6 of this book from articles published f rst in that journal. Ruth, along with Laurence Davis, very kindly included me in a panel on Utopianism and Anarchism at a conference of the Utopian Studies Society of Europe in Tarragona, Spain, in 2006, where I presented a paper that became the basis of material from my chapter in their book, Anarchism and Utopianism , which they and the publishers at Manchester University Press kindly gave me permission to adapt for use in Chapter 3 . Besides their generous editorial suggestions, Ruth and Laurence gave much help and encouragement over the years and included me in other conferences related to the Anarchist Studies Network, whose members have given me excellent feedback and criticism as well. I am grateful to Alexandre Christoyannopoulos for taking the lead in planning a panel on anarchism and religion at the f rst conference of the Anarchist Studies Network of the British Political Studies Association in Loughborough, England, in 2008 and for including my essay on the Wunengzi and giving f ne editorial assistance in the book he edited, Religious Anarchism: New Perspectives , whose publisher Cambridge Scholars Publishing kindly granted permission to adapt that essay as the basis for Chapter 4 of this book. I am also grateful to Susan McEachern and colleagues at Rowman & Littlef eld for permission to adapt for use in Chapter 6 material from the book Autocracy and China’s Rebel Founding Emperors that I cowrote with Anita Andrew. Chapter 9 includes material reprinted and adapted from John Rapp, “Editor’s Introduction,” Chinese Law and Government , 22(2) (Spring 1989), used by permission of M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Thanks go to Van Young for his translation assistance on Chinese articles on the Asiatic Mode of production debate, many of which are referred to in Chapter 9 .