DOCSLIB.ORG

SINOPHILIA: a CONCLUSION There Is Something About China That

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
SINOPHILIA: a CONCLUSION There Is Something About China That SINOPHILIA: A CONCLUSION There is something about China that Western thinkers find attractive. For centuries China has been perceived as a feminine variant of Euro- pean civilization: a peaceful, passive and well-ordered society in which individuals subordinate themselves to the common good of the collec- tive. Simon Leys perhaps was right when, in his polemic with Said, he argued that sinology was, in fact, a remedy against Eurocentric hostil- ity. We can easily see that the Swedish China experts in this aspect are very different from the orientalists as they do not share the oriental- ist’s condescending prejudices against the Asian other. As commit- ted China friends, their collecting, research and writing were done in collaboration with Chinese colleagues. Bernhard Karlgren taught Chi- nese students in Taiyuan, where collector Erik Nyström also worked. Johan Gunnar Andersson served as a Chinese official employed by the Chinese Geological Institute. Sven Hedin, like Andersson, wore the insignias of a Chinese official, first during the Swedish-Chinese Expedition and again when he served the Chinese Ministry of Trans- port. The Swedes criticized Western imperialism, saw China as their second motherland and praised the Chinese Empire for whose benefit they worked. They constantly reexamined the Silk Routes as if they seriously needed to comprehend why a wedge came between the two “chosen” cultures: China and Europe. Is not the collecting activity also an expression of such a sinophilia? Is it not built on strong feelings of love for Chinese objects? Swedish collectors wanted to invest pieces from another civilization with the same sublime content they found in the history of their own Euro- pean art. When a treasure hunter has won one coveted object, he is already setting his sights on the next find. The more collectors who want it, the higher the value of an object; the rarest and most difficult to procure compel the strongest desire. Collecting also led to bonding among like-minded males of the Swedish upper class, congregating as they did in a China Committee and a China Club. Sharing a passion for beauty, the members arranged exquisite settings and museums to display the objects brought from China. A great deal of love and effort was devoted to collections, which also gave birth to a whole regimen of acquiring and presenting knowledge demonstrated through describing, 222 sinophilia: a conclusion representing and cataloguing. The Eastern bride was brought home and the collectors saw this rescue as a good deed designed to save this defenseless beauty from the dangers of war-torn, impoverished China. No effort was spared in getting these treasures safely to Sweden. Large amounts of money were raised through requests for help and support to the Swedish government, the King and rich Swedish-Americans. A museum was erected to house the Chinese collections and expertise about China is tied to them. In the collecting stage we find old China hands, like Orvar Karlbeck and Erik Nyström, as well as missionaries, like George Söderbom and Hertig Larsson. To give the collections scientific legitimacy, experts like Gösta Montell and the great sinologist Bernhard Karlgren were called upon. From love for the objects, an institutional foundation for sinology was established. Despite the new Communist leadership’s hostilities toward the West, the Swedish love of China endured. During the seventies, the Swedish Chinese friendship was poised to become a mass movement as this affection was institutionalized in an association that promised unswerving loyalty to the Chinese state and its Communist party. But with the Swedish Maoists’ black-and-white world view, it became clear that the friendship with China needed a common enemy, someone or something imagined to be obstructing the never-achieved communion of China and Europe. Early Swedish-Chinese cooperation, together with the Third Way politics of the Social Democratic Party, provided a basis for the spe- cial relationship that came to exist between Sweden and the People’s Republic of China. Sweden was the first Western nation to achieve mutual diplomatic recognition with the new Communist state; in Swe- den, with its strong leftist tradition, a Maoist party was established early on. At the same time, influential writer Jan Myrdal changed the Sweden China Association into an extremely loyal, propagandistic friendship society. The sinocentric view of history held by the sinolo- gists of the 1930s passed to the Maoists forty years later, while much of the orientalism metamorphosed into an occidentalism, convinced as the Swedes now were about the superiority of the Eastern civilization that they believe would conquer the West. That the Swedes worked for Chinese government agencies and esteemed the country, its people, leader and culture—is that something to applaud? Did their China friendship and the criticism of the West .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chinese Privatization: Between Plan and Market
    CHINESE PRIVATIZATION: BETWEEN PLAN AND MARKET LAN CAO* I INTRODUCTION Since 1978, when China adopted its open-door policy and allowed its economy to be exposed to the international market, it has adhered to what Deng Xiaoping called "socialism with Chinese characteristics."1 As a result, it has produced an economy with one of the most rapid growth rates in the world by steadfastly embarking on a developmental strategy of gradual, market-oriented measures while simultaneously remaining nominally socialistic. As I discuss in this article, this strategy of reformthe mere adoption of a market economy while retaining a socialist ownership baseshould similarly be characterized as "privatization with Chinese characteristics,"2 even though it departs markedly from the more orthodox strategy most commonly associated with the term "privatization," at least as that term has been conventionally understood in the context of emerging market or transitional economies. The Russian experience of privatization, for example, represents the more dominant and more favored approach to privatizationcertainly from the point of view of the West and its advisersand is characterized by immediate privatization of the state sector, including the swift and unequivocal transfer of assets from the publicly owned state enterprises to private hands. On the other hand, "privatization with Chinese characteristics" emphasizes not the immediate privatization of the state sector but rather the retention of the state sector with the Copyright © 2001 by Lan Cao This article is also available at http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/63LCPCao. * Professor of Law, College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law. At the time the article was written, the author was Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School.
    [Show full text]
  • Patrick J. Hurley's Attempt to Unify China, 1944-1945
    This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-11 791 SMITH, Robert Thomas, 1938- ALONE IN CHINA; PATRICK J. HURLEY'S ATTEMPT TO UNIFY CHINA, 1944-1945. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1966 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan C opyright by ROBERT THOMAS SMITH 1966 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHCMA GRADUATE COLLEGE ALONE IN CHINA: PATRICK J . HURLEY'S ATTEMPT TO UNIFY CHINA, 1944-1945 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ROBERT THCÎ-1AS SMITH Norman, Oklahoma 1966 ALŒE IN CHINA; PATRICK J . HURLEY'S ATTEMPT TO UNIFY CHINA, 1944-1945 APPP>Î BY 'c- l <• ,L? T\ . , A. c^-Ja ^v^ c c \ (LjJ LSSERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGMENT 1 wish to acknowledge the aid and assistance given by my major professor, Dr, Gilbert 0, Fite, Research Professor of History, I desire also to thank Professor Donald J, Berthrong who acted as co-director of my dissertation before circumstances made it impossible for him to continue in that capacity. To Professors Percy W, Buchanan, J, Carroll Moody, John W, Wood, and Russell D, Buhite, \^o read the manuscript and vdio each offered learned and constructive criticism , I shall always be grateful, 1 must also thank the staff of the Manuscripts Divi­ sion of the Bizzell Library \diose expert assistance greatly simplified the task of finding my way through the Patrick J, Hurley collection. Special thanks are due my wife vdio volun­ teered to type the manuscript and offered aid in all ways imaginable, and to my parents \dio must have wondered if I would ever find a job.
    [Show full text]
  • Part II Chapter 1 How China Became a Communist Country
    Page 64 Part II Chapter 1 How China Became a Communist Country s we have seen the containment doctrine worked well in western Europe. Indeed, after 1945, the Soviet Union did not take over any country where it did not already have troops. Soviet attempts Ato detach Berlin from the West, to infiltrate into Greece, to capture control of Italy and France through communist party victories at the polls, all failed. The Marshall Plan put Europe back on its feet economically; the Truman Doctrine gave Greece and Turkey the help they needed to resist Soviet advances; the airlift saved Berlin; and NATO provided a guarantee of American military aid if needed. Americans had good reasons to be proud of their successes in this vitally important area of the globe. Unfortunately, success among the relatively established industrialized states of Europe could not be duplicated in the shifting, agricultural societies of Asia. Here, and most particularly in China, Americans were confronted with a far more complex situation than in Europe -and it is to this part of the globe that our attention now must turn. Forty Years of Revolution in China There is an old saying known to people who knew Chinese history and culture that no revolution could succeed there without the support of its scholars and its peasants. Unfortunately, most Americans who evaluated policy decisions about China knew little about either its history or its culture. Chinese civilization has a recorded history of some 4,000 years. These can be divided into a series of dynasties or empires, one following another as internal collapse was triggered by strong pressure from the outside.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Reviews / Journal of Chinese Military History 2 (2013) 191-203 197
    Book Reviews / Journal of Chinese Military History 2 (2013) 191-203 197 Honorable Survivor: Mao’s China, McCarthy’s America, and the Persecution of John S. Service. Lynne Joiner. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2009. Pp. 450. $37.95. ISBN: 978- 159114236. Honorable Survivor, by journalist Lynne Joiner, is the latest contribution to the study of the injustice done to America’s China Hands under McCarthyism. It also sheds light on U.S.-China relations during World War II and the Cold War, as well as the mechanism of U.S. foreign policy. The key subject of Joiner’s book, John S. Service, was a prominent figure of the China Hands, a convenient but loosely designated label for a group of American diplomats, jour- nalists, and scholars stationed in China during World War II. Joiner argues that Service was one of the best and brightest Foreign Service officers in China during the war. The son of YMCA missionaries, Service was born and raised in China. He spoke Chinese fluently and also had a deep understanding of Chinese culture and politics. After he joined the Foreign Service, Service quickly distinguished himself as a young, able officer due to his intimate knowledge of China and his insightful analysis of China’s reality. China’s strategic importance to the U.S. was greatly enhanced during World War II. And Chiang Kai-shek, the head of Nationalist China, was favorably regarded by many Americans as the heroic leader of a loyal ally that deserved America’s support. However, Service and others became increasingly disillusioned with Chiang’s regime.
    [Show full text]
  • China Lobby. ------1
    Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2003 In Support of “New China”: Origins of the China Lobby, 1937-1941 Tae Jin Park Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the Asian History Commons Recommended Citation Park, Tae Jin, "In Support of “New China”: Origins of the China Lobby, 1937-1941" (2003). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7369. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7369 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. In Support of “New China”: Origins of the China Lobby, 1937-1941. Tae Jin Park Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Jack L. Hammersmith, Ph.D., Chair Elizabeth A. Fones-Wolf, Ph.D. A. Michal McMahon, Ph.D. Jason C. Parker, Ph.D. Hong N. Kim, Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Henry Wallace's Visit to China: an Ultimate Effort to Send the U.S
    International Journal of Culture and History, Vol. 3, No. 4, December 2017 Henry Wallace's Visit to China: an Ultimate Effort to Send the U.S. Army Observer Group to Yan'an Hu Yueying and to rescue the downed pilots in northern China.2 Abstract—In the later period of WW II, American Vice Wallace's visit was not America's first effort to send an President Henry Wallace became the highest ranked visitor to observer group to the Communist-occupied area in China. China during the war, and even in the modern history of Not long ago, on Feb 10, 1944, President Roosevelt took the Sino-US relations, with a purpose that has been argued over till first initiative to discuss with Generalissimo Chiang about the this day. Based on a thorough study of the event, the cause and effect of Wallace's visit, as well as other related events that issue: happened in the same period, especially in consideration of the As our common war against Japan increases in Operation Matterhorn that "was given top priority in both men intensity and as we steadily move toward the citadel of and materials, second only to the secret Manhattan Project", Japan, it becomes apparent that, in addition to defeating Wallace's visit can be seen as an ultimate effort to send the U.S. Japan on the seas and in the air, we must engage and Army Observer Group to Yan'an and provide crucial technical destroy the main body of the Japanese army before we support to the Operation Matterhorn.
    [Show full text]
  • American China Policy and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1945--1972
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1978 The mythical monolith: American China policy and the Sino-Soviet split, 1945--1972 Rhonda Smither Blunt College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Asian History Commons, International Relations Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Blunt, Rhonda Smither, "The mythical monolith: American China policy and the Sino-Soviet split, 1945--1972" (1978). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625039. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-fq3z-5545 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MYTHICAL MONOLITHs AMERICAN CHINA POLICY AND THE SINO-SOYIET SPLIT, 19^5-1972 A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Rhonda Smither Blunt 1978 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, May 1978 Edward P . Crapol >rvg&v— Richard B. Sherman Crai^/N. Canning ^ DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my husband, Allen Blunt, for his moral support and practical assistance in running our home while I have been occupied with graduate work.
    [Show full text]
  • Records of the Us State Department's Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955
    http://gdc.gale.com/archivesunbound/ CHINESE CIVIL WAR AND U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS: RECORDS OF THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT’S OFFICE OF CHINESE AFFAIRS, 1945-1955 The U.S. State Department’s Office of Chinese Affairs, charged with operational control of American policy toward China, amassed information on virtually all aspects of life there immediately before, during, and after the revolution. Declassified by the State Department, the Records of the Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955, provide valuable insight into numerous domestic issues in Communist and Nationalist China, U.S. containment policy as it was extended to Asia, and Sino-American relations during the post-war period. This product comprises all 41 reels of the former Scholarly Resources microfilm product entitled Records of the Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955. Date Range: 1945-1955 Content: 46,493 images Source Library: U.S. National Archives Detailed Description: The files of the Office of the Chinese Affairs tell the story of a U.S. policy toward China from 1945 through 1955 that began in confusion, developed in misperception, continued in hostility, and ended in success that had little to do with the conduct of U.S. diplomacy. For the most part, that policy was an afterthought more determined by a preoccupation with Europe and the containment of Soviet communism and influenced by domestic politics than based on accurate information of directly relevant facts, realistic alternatives, or clearly defined goals. Although the Office of Chinese Affairs, the branch of the State Department most responsible for operational control of policy toward China, had access in the early part of that period to the most expert advice, it seems to have been among the weakest of the bureaucratic players in the formation of that policy.
    [Show full text]
  • Old China Hands Oral History Project I and II David M
    Hope College Digital Commons @ Hope College Old China Hands Oral History Project Oral History Interviews 6-25-1976 Walvoord, Jeane Oral History Interview: Old China Hands Oral History Project I and II David M. Vander Haar Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/old_china Part of the Archival Science Commons, and the Oral History Commons Recommended Citation Repository citation: Vander Haar, David M., "Walvoord, Jeane Oral History Interview: Old China Hands Oral History Project I and II" (1976). Old China Hands Oral History Project. Paper 16. http://digitalcommons.hope.edu/old_china/16 Published in: Old China Hands Oral History Project (former missionaries to China) (H88-0113), June 25, 1976. Copyright © 1976 Hope College, Holland, MI. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Oral History Interviews at Digital Commons @ Hope College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Old China Hands Oral History Project by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Hope College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OLD CHINA HANDS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Miss Jeane Walvoord This manuscript is authorized as "open" Hope College Archives Holland, Michigan 1976 ./ / ~ /./ ~ ....../ "-a; Mop o[!he / AMOY i MlSSION / i / / .$,".1; / / / / Fig. 1 Miss Jeane Walvoord Table 0 f Contents Preface ... ........................ v Biographical Sketch and Summary of Contents ......... vi Interview I ......................... 1 Interview II .................•...... 39 Appendix ...................•...... 88 Index .....................•...... 92 iv Preface Interviewee: Miss Jeane WaJ.voord Interview I: June 25, 1976 Miss WaJ. voord I s home in Holland, Michigan Interviewer: Mr. David M. Vander Haar B.A. Hope College Interview II, July 5.
    [Show full text]
  • American Policy and the Downfall of the Nationalist China: a Survey of Major American Historical Literature of China's Civil War
    AMERICAN POLICY AND THE DOWNFALL OF THE NATIONALIST CHINA: A SURVEY OF MAJOR AMERICAN HISTORICAL LITERATURE OF CHINA'S CIVIL WAR By Xiao Lu A sub-thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (International Relations) in the Department of International Relations, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra August, 1987 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: POLICY MODES AND DIVERGENT PERSPECTIVES 6 CHAPTER 2: INTERPRETING THE COMMUNISTS 17 CHAPTER 3: INTERPRETING THE NATIONALISTS 40 CHAPTER 4: UNITED STATES POLICY 50 CONCLUSION 63 BIBLIOGROPHY 66 DECLARATION Except where otherwise indicated this thesis is my own work. >AO)D Xiao Lu August, 1987 Dedicated to my parents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, my gratitude goes to the Australian National University for providing me with the opportunity of making further academic advance. I am particularly obliged to the Australia-China Council for granting me a scholarship which made all my study and research possible. My sincere thanks are due to Dr Paul Keal, my supervisor, whose knowledge and insight have constantly provided me with valuable guidance. I would also like to express my thanks to Mr Geoffrey Jukes, my course coordinator, for not only showing great confidence in me but also generously granting me encouragement and support; to Mrs Brit Helgeby, the departmental secretary, for her kind assistance; to Miss Selena Gan, my Singaporean classmate, for her friendship and willingness whenever help is needed. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Professor Wang Gungwu, vice-chancellor of the Hong Kong University, for recommending me to the Department of International Relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Dixie Mission 1944: the First US Intelligence Encounter with the Chinese Communists
    Intelligence Lost in Politics The Dixie Mission 1944: The First US Intelligence Encounter with the Chinese Communists Bob Bergin The Dustbin of History The communists welcomed the contact; they were frank and open The Dixie Mission was one that and willing to tell the Americans failed in conventional terms, what they wanted to know. Not for it didn’t lead anywhere. For everything the Americans heard Not everything the the moment at least it lies in the or saw was understood, but they dustbin of history.1 Americans heard or gathered a wealth of information, saw was understood, The first deep encounter of Amer- raw intelligence to be analyzed and but they gathered a ican officials with the Chinese Com- pondered by the China experts. A munists came in 1944, during World good deal of it concerned the strength wealth of information, War II, when a US Army observer and disposition of Japanese Forces in raw intelligence to be group was sent to meet with the com- North China and the communist Red analyzed and pondered munist leadership at its headquarters Army’s effectiveness in dealing with stronghold at Yenan in North China. them. But what may have been the by the China ex- It was essentially an intelligence most significant, intelligence on the perts. But what may mission: Chinese Communists themselves, ap- have been the most pears to have been disregarded, then, The DIXIE Mission, which and in the years that followed. significant, intelligence consisted of nine members on the Chinese Com- representing the Air Corps, Dixie acquired facts and insights Medical Corps, Signal Corps into the political and military leader- munists themselves, and Infantry and was followed ship of the Chinese Communists at appears to have been a month later by a second a time when little was known about disregarded, then, and contingent, was sent to observe them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolving Us Intelligence Regime and the Chinese
    IMPROVISING TRADECRAFT: THE EVOLVING U.S. INTELLIGENCE REGIME AND THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY IN THE 1940S Sara Bush Castro A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Michael Tsin Joseph Caddell Michael Hunt Michelle King Wayne E. Lee © 2016 Sara Bush Castro ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Sara Bush Castro: Improvising Tradecraft: The Evolving U.S. Intelligence Regime and the Chinese Communist Party in the 1940s (Under the direction of Michael Tsin) The activities of U.S. intelligence officials in China’s Communist base areas in the 1940s reveal that the underdevelopment of the U.S. national security bureaucracy before World War II impeded the ability of accurate and timely intelligence about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to reach U.S. policymakers. Structural deficiencies in U.S. intelligence practices affected U.S. foreign relations, including U.S.-China relations, in ways historians have failed to appreciate. Because widespread anti-Communist sentiment had significant consequences for postwar U.S. strategic behavior, historians of twentieth-century U.S.-China relations have generally assumed anti-Communism was the most important factor shaping U.S. intelligence about the CCP in the 1940s. Actually, inefficiency in the U.S. intelligence process as a result of inexperienced personnel, interagency friction, and abrupt expansion under the Truman administration were equally, if not more, influential on the content of U.S. intelligence on the CCP. American intelligence collection about the CCP in the 1940s, particularly at Yan’an, where the United States maintained a delegation of intelligence personnel known as the “Dixie Mission,” showcases inherent vulnerabilities in U.S.
    [Show full text]