The Intellectual Development of Wu Zhihui: A
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THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF WU ZHIHUI: A REFLECTION OF SOCIETY AND POLITICS" IN LATE QING AND REPUBLICAN CHINA. by Paul Gilmore Clifford Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the University of London. v School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 1978 ProQuest Number: 10752626 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10752626 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 2 A bstract This thesis analyses the development of Wu ZhihuiJs ideas and their social and political application .until 1927. Through this biographical approach the intention is to also reach out and achieve an understanding of his contemporaries and so come to broader conclusions about the period of rapid and fundamental intellectual change in which he lived. After establishing WuJs philosophical basis, his Darwinism, Kropotkinite anarchist communism and his materialist lifeview, there follows an analysis of his utopian goals and his view of the mechanics of social revolution. Then these theoretical positions are related to his political practice between 1890 and 1927 with special attention being paid to the degree of fidelity of transmission of these ideas to the Chinese context. His development from conservative reformer to nationalist revolutionary and then to anarchist supporter of the Revolution of 1911 is traced with special reference to his New Century magazine in Paris. His activities in the early years of the Republic are examined with analysis of his role within the Nationalist Party after 1924 and the origins of his fierce anti-communism. Finally two sections are devoted to WuJs contribution to education in China. The main problematic-presented is the relationship in Wu ZhihuiTs thought between nationalism, the key ideological element in modern China, and anarchism. How could a patriotic Chinese genuinely embrace European anarchism without in some way distorting or adapting it? Adaptation of anarchism to the needs of nation building 3 proved impossible and fundamental revisions which occurred in its introduction by Wu to China negated its essential intellectual attraction; opposition to all government. Beyond being a case study of the impact of foreign ideas on China, this thesis offers a general critique of the theoretical weaknesses of anarchism. 4 Contents Page A bstract 2 Acknowledgements 6 Explanatory note on romanisation 7 INTRODUCTION 8 CHAPTER. 1. PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS 15 a. Early Ideas 15 b. Science and Materialism 21 c# Mutual Aid 33 d. Religion 44 e. National Essence, Cultural Conservatism and a New Life View 55 CHAPTER 2. SOCIAL REVOLUTION 113 a. The Utopian Goal 113 b. The Mechanics of Social Progress 122 c. Industrialism: The Function of Science and Technology 128 d. Syndicalism 132 CHAPTER 3. POLITICAL IDEAS (1). 1890-1903 159 a* Conservative Reformism 159 b. Japan. 1901-1902 171 c. The Subao, Shanghai, 180 CHAPTER 4. POLITICAL IDEAS (2). 1903-1911 '■ 198 a* Libertarian Opposition to Authority 198 b. Anti-Qing Position 210 c. Revolutionary Methods; Propaganda, Assassination and Uprisings 223 d. Support for Sun Yat-sen 236 e. Opposition to the Constitutionalists 246 5 Page CHAPTER 5. POLITICAL IDEAS (3). 1911-1927 270 a* The Revolution of 1911 271 b* The Movement for Social Reform 272 c# The Chinese Socialist Party 286 d. The May Fourth Movement 293 e» Nationalism and the Guomindang 294 f. Anti-communism 298 CHAPTER 6. PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 319 a. Education and Revolution . 319 b. Reasons for Study and the Content of Education 327 c. Education, Nationalism and the Guomindang 334 CHAPTER 7. EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 341 a. The Japanese Model 341 b. Military Education 342 c. D em ocratic Education 345 d. The Work-Study Movement 348 CONCLUSION 375 Appendices 1. Frontispiece by Wu Zhihui for the journal Xinzhonghua 393 2. Cartoons from the New Century attacking British style democracy 3 94 3. Table from the New Century comparing anarchist socialism with nationalism and democracy 395 4. Cartoons from the New Century satirizing the Emperor and Empress Dowager 3 96 5. Table of the membership of the Jindehui. 3 97 6. A Brief chronology of Wu Zhihui 3 98 BIBLIOGRAPHY 399 6 Acknowledgements I wish to single out Dr. Charles A. Curwen for special thanks for his unstinting and meticulous supervision throughout the researching and writing of this thesis. I am also greatly indebted to Professor W.G. Beasley for his support and advice over many years. Dr. Martin Bernal should also be thanked for invaluable guidance in the field of early Chinese socialism. I also extend my gratitude to all the staff of the S.O.A.S. Library, in particular John Lust, to the Harvard Yenching Library, to Professor Chen Qinghua of Peking University, and members of the S.O.A.S. Far East Department who gave me the grounding in Chinese which made this research possible. My thanks to Mrs. V. Williams for the typing which is as beautiful as on a previous occasion. Finally, no words can properly sum up my gratitude for the encouragement and help from many fine friends. But I wish to make special mention of the warm support and affection provided by my Mother, Father, brother and sister. This thesis is dedicated to Miriam Mallon. 7 Explanatory Note on Romanisation The form of romanisation used for Chinese words is hanyu pinyin, with the following exceptions: 1. In English language quotations I have retained the romanisation used by the author. 2. I have used common Western renderings of certain Chinese names. For instance, for persons, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang K*ai-shek, Carsun Chang, and places, Tientsin, Peking and Canton. INTRODUCTION The history of modern China has been fundamentally a pro cess of social fragmentation followed by prolonged reconstruction and nation building. The drive Eastward of the capitalist powers led to a confrontation between China and nations with historically unparalleled technology. Given the imbalance of military might, China had either to yield or be broken. The Chinese view of the world, the cultural self-sufficiency, if not arrogance, of her ruling class made relations with other equivalent cultures extremely difficult. But it should be remembered that the Great Powers were not offering to China rela tions on the basis of equality, for Imperialism arose from economic forces which demanded that China be opened up, made a subject market and a semi-colony. Ultimately this could come about only through resort by the Great Powers to war; invasion, occupation and the imposition of the Unequal Treaties. This led to the shattering of Chinese society, a breakdown in social cohesion until the Chinese people became a ’’heap of loose sand". But as Marx pointed out, the assault of Imperialism on China had its liberating as well as its destructive aspects. The First Opium War ended the isolation which was the "prime condition for the" preservation of the Old China". By breaking down the great door of China and bringing, as he put it, the Chinese mummy into the open air, Britain had begun the revolutionary ( 1) process in China. The basic problem in China this century has been how to 9 (2) reintegrate the Chinese polity , how to reconstruct a new society out of the rubble. The mobilizing force for this rebuilding has been nationalism, born of a century of national humiliation and patriotic resistance. This nationalist impulse led to a questioning of the old society and culture which had proved inadequate in the struggle for national survival. Resistance to the foreign threat led naturally to social revolution within China. But nationalism has taken many forms in modern China. The old cultural structure having been demolished, the choice was open to Chinese intellectuals to rebuild using the old bricks or to import new ones. Nationalism expressed itself both in the cultural conservatism of those who sought to use parts of the old culture to reinforce the new nation-state, and in the violent iconoclasm which sought a clean break with the past. But whether the iconoclasts found their inspiration in Western liberalism, Marxism or in the case of Wu Zhihui, anarchism, they were still basically seeking foreign solutions to Chinese problems. China, albeit a New China, remained the central object of their loyalty. Thus a key problematic of this study isi 1) The relationship in Wu Zhihuirs thought and political practice between nationalism and anarchism. The analysis of Wu*s early ideas is taken up to 1927 in order to examine fully not only his nationalism but also the genesis of its most extreme form, his anti-communism, and then to relate these two currents to his utopian socialism. From this other questions follow:- 10 2) The role of anarchism in the Chinese political and intellectual world before and after the Revolution of 1911. The Chinese anarchist movement has remained unexplored by Chinese historians largely because its facts serve neither the Communists nor the Nationalists. In fact, anarchism was the major leftist tendency in China up to the May Fourth Movement. a) What part did the New Century group of anarchists play in Sun Y at-senJs Tongmenghui, both in the realm of revolu tionary theory and of political support and organisation? After the revolution, what was the role of Wu and his coll eagues in Republic politics? b) In this period, how significant was the contribution of anarchism in the struggle with the old culture, in promoting scientific theory and method, and bringing about "thought liberation" in China? 3) The impact of foreign ideas.