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This Item Was Submitted to Loughborough University As a Phd Thesis by the Author and Is Made Available in the Institutional Repo View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Loughborough University Institutional Repository This item was submitted to Loughborough University as a PhD thesis by the author and is made available in the Institutional Repository (https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/) under the following Creative Commons Licence conditions. For the full text of this licence, please go to: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ REPRESENTATIONS OF THE HAN DURING THE LATE QING AND EARLY REPUBLICAN PERIOD: CHINESE INTELLECTUALS, SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS AND DICTIONARIES By Yuwei WANG The Department of Social Sciences A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Sociology March, 2013 © Yuwei WANG I Abstract This dissertation examines the discourses of race, nation and ethnicity in late Qing and early republican China, focusing primarily on representations of the Han. It argues that the competing and changing representations of the Han in this period formed an integral part of the process of modern Chinese nation building. The empirical basis of the dissertation consists of three layers: intellectuals’ discourses, school textbooks and dictionaries. These layers constituted interconnected layers of discourses that were involved in the broader process of Chinese nation-building. The dissertation demonstrates that intellectuals’ discourses played a central role in constructing new notions of Chinese identity and the role of the Han, and thereby also in producing different ‘templates’ or for Chinese nation-building during the late Qing and early republican period. After the establishment of the Chinese Republic in 1911, these modern perceptions of Chinese national identity were endorsed by the ruling elites and were gradually disseminated and popularised further by means of school textbooks and dictionaries. Taken together, the examination of discourses on the Han in these three types of sources therefore offers an account of how early Chinese nationalist ideas were produced among the elites and then disseminated among the broader population. II Acknowledgement Undertaking this PhD has been a life-changing experience for me and it would not have been possible to complete this process without the support of many people. Foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Graham Murdock, who was the first person to encourage me to pursue a PhD degree that ‘produces something with a genuine spark of originality’ at Loughborough University. I especially want to say a very big thank you to my supervisors Dr. Iris Wigger and Dr. Sabina Mihelj, who helped me during the whole time of my research and the writing process of this thesis, especially when I faced difficulty and felt a lack of motivation to continue. Their enthusiasm for pursuing social sciences research has been a constant source of inspiration and guidance throughout my study. I also need to thank Prof. Michael Pickering, who has been actively interested in my work and provided many helpful suggestions. Additionally, I am indebted Deirdre Lombard, for her patience, enthusiasm, kindness and very good sense of humour. Many thanks also to Lilia Hadjiivanova, who has patiently proofread the whole draft and helped me greatly to improve this thesis. For the non-academic side of the process of pursuing my PhD project, I particularly want to thank my parents, Wang Haisu and Sun Xihui and my auntie Sun Xifeng. Their love provided my inspiration and was my driving force. Finally, thanks also to James Tan, Raku Wang, Tessa Zhang, Jane Li, Eason Zhao, Erin Hao, and all my friends, for being my eternal sunshine, which has been the best motivation for me during these years. I appreciate all their encouragement and kind help, for those times when I was naïve and other times when I was recalcitrant. III CONTENTS ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………..I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ………………………………………………………………II INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………….1 PART 1: THEORY, METHODS AND HISTORY CHAPTER 1: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON RACE, NATION AND ETHNICITY ……………………………………………………………………9 1. THE DISCUSSIONS OF RACE, NATION AND ETHNICITY IN THE WEST…9 1.1 The Discussion of Race in the West ………………………………………….10 1.2 The Discussion of Ethnicity in the West ………………………………………17 1.3 The Discussion of Nation in the West ………………………………………….20 1.4 The Relations between Nation, Race and Ethnicity ………………………….25 2. THE DISCUSSIONS OF RACE, NATION AND ETHNICITY AMONG CHINESE SCHOLARS: ISSUES OF TRANSLATION AND DEFINITION …………………..28 2.1 The Discussion of Nation and Nationalism in China .…………………………29 2.2 The Discussion of Ethnicity in China …………………………………………31 2.3 The Discussion of Race in China ……………………………………………….33 3. WHO ARE THE HAN…………………………………………………………………36 4. THE PROCESS OF MODERN NATION-BUILDING AND ITS REFLECTION IN CHINA…………………………………………………………………………………38 CHAPTER 2: SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY ………………………46 1. CHOICES OF HISTORICAL FOCUS ………………………………………………46 2. METHODOLOGY: DISCOURSE, NARRATIVE AND COMPARISON…………47 IV 3. INTELLECTUALS ……………………………………………………………………51 3.1 Zhang Binglin …………………………………………………………………….52 3.2 Sun Zhongshan ………………………………………………………………….54 3.3 Liang Qichao …………………………………………………………………….56 4. SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS …………………………………………………………….58 5. DICTIONARIES ……………………………………………………………………..60 CHAPTER 3: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE LATE QING AND EARLY REPUBLICAN PERIOD ………………………………………63 1. THE LATE QING PERIOD …………………………………………………………..67 1.1 The First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) ……………………………………71 1.2 The Hundred Days’ Reform ……………………………………………………..74 1.3 The Boxer Uprising (1898-1901) ……………………………………………….78 2. THE CHINESE REVOLUTION (1911-1912) ………………………………………84 3. THE EARLY REPUBLICAN PERIOD ………………………………………………87 3.1 The May Fourth Movement ……………………………………………………..89 4. THE IMPACT OF JAPAN’S WESTERNISATION…………………………………91 5. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………94 PART 2: INTELLECTUALS’ DISCOURSES CHAPTER 4: NATION, RACE, ETHNICITY AND THE HAN AMONG INTELLECTUALS IN LATE QING AND EARLY REPUBLICAN CHINA …………………………………………………………………………….…..96 1. ZHANG BINGLIN ……………………………………………………………………99 1.1 Period I: 1894-1898 …………………………………………………………….103 1.2 Period II: 1898-1910 ……………………………………………………………107 1.3 Period III: 1910-1915 …………………………………………………………..116 1.4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………119 V 2. SUN ZHONGSHAN …………………………………………………………………120 2.1 Period I: 1890-1911 …………………………………………………………….121 2.2 Period II: 1911-1914 ……………………………………………………………127 2.3 Period III: 1915-1919 …………………………………………………………...129 2.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….131 3. LIANG QICHAO ……………………………………………………………………..132 3.1 Reflections on ‘History’ …………………………………………………………133 3.2 Discussion of China’s Position and its Relation to the World ………………136 3.3 Ideas on Chinese National Integration ……………………………………….140 3.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….146 4. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES ……………………………………………..147 4.1 The Han and Anti-Manchuism …………………………………………………148 4.2 The Attitude to the West ……………………………………………………….154 4.3 Constructing Han Superiority and the Chinese National Community ……..156 5. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………….159 PART 3: TEXTBOOKS AND DICTIONARIES CHAPTER 5: NATION, RACE, ETHNICITY AND THE HAN IN CHINESE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN LATE QING AND EARLY REPUBLICAN CHINA ………………………………………………………….163 1. THE KEJU SYSTEM ………………………………………………………………..165 1.1 The Main Characteristics of the Keju System ………………………………..165 1.2 Educational Reforms during the Late Qing Period …………………………..167 1.3 The Reasons for the Abolishment of the Keju Examination ………………..169 2. PERIOD I: 1894-1911 ……………………………………………………………….171 2.1 The Origin of China ……………………………………………………………..175 2.2 The Meaning of minzu: Position of the Han ……………………………...…..181 2.3 Minority Groups ………………………………………………………………….185 3. PERIOD II: 1911-1919 ………………………………………………………………188 3.1 The Origin of China ……………………………………………………………..190 VI 3.2 The Meaning of minzu: Position of the Han …………………………193 3.3 Minority groups ………………………………………………………………….195 4. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………….199 CHAPTER 6: THE HAN IN CHINESE DICTIONARIES IN LATE QING AND EARLY REPUBLICAN CHINA ………………………………203 1. THE ROLE AND GENESIS OF DICTIONARIES IN MODERN SOCIETY ……………………………………………………………………………204 1.1 The Definition of Dictionary ……………………………………………………204 1.2 Chinese Dictionaries: Structure, Types and a Brief Historical Introduction ………………………………………………………………………206 1.3 A Brief History of Chinese Dictionaries ……………………………………….209 1.4 Analytical Framework …………………………………………………………..212 2. PERIOD I: THE LATE QING PERIOD ……………………………………………216 2.1 Wenziyu (Literary Inquisition) ………………………………………………….216 2.2 The Kangxi zidian (Kangxi Dictionary) ………………………………………..218 2.2.1 The Definition of Han in the Kangxi zidian ………………..220 2.2.2 The Definition of ren in the Kangxi zidian ……………………222 2.2.3 The Definition of zhong in the Kangxi zidian ………………………..223 2.2.4 The Definition of guo in the Kangxi zidian …………………………..224 3. PERIOD II: 1911-1949 ………………………………………………………………226 3.1 The Definition of zu in Dictionaries of the Early Republican Period ……….230 3.2 The Definition of minzu in Dictionaries of the Early Republican Period ….232 3.3 The Definition of Han ………………………………………………………..…236 4. CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………239 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION ………………………………………………...242 1. THE LATE QING PERIOD…………………………………………………………..242 1.1 Intellectuals ………………………………………………………………..……243 1.2 School Textbooks ………………………………………………….…………245 1.3 Dictionaries ………………………………………………………………….247 1.4 Summary……………………………………………………………………248
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