TRANSFORI4RTIVE OR ABORTIVE? A “DE-VOLUNTARISTIC” ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONALIST REVOLUTION IN MODERN CHINESE HISTORY by CHEN LANYAN B.A., The University of Inner Mongolia, 1982 M.A. (Communication), Simon Fraser University, 1986 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA September 1994 © Chen Lanyan, 1994 ____________________ In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. (Signature) Department of Anthropology & Sociology The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date -1cr 7 100L ABSTRACT Interpretations of the Nationalist Revolution in modern Chinese history, especially the so-called “Nanjing decade” (1927-1937) are dominated by theoretical notions which see the state as autonomous in its relationship to society. This autonomous state model, the dissertation argues, finds its roots in the voluntaristic ideas of Talcott Parsons. Arguments based on Parsons’s ideas view the Nationalist Revolution as abortive. The dissertation rejects these views and develops an alternative perspective based on the construction of a quasi—market model of social relations. The theoretical underpinnings, in contrast to Parsons’s ideas, are termed “de—voluntaristic.” These arguments suggest that individuals participate in, and have influence on, the operation of the state. The application of a quasi-market model suggests that there was a major transformation in Chinese society during the Nationalist period. The dissertation argues that the Nationalist Government after 1927 did not continue to achieve the initial objectives of the Nationalist Revolution which, it is suggested, aimed to build a quasi-market society. The revolution, however, was not abortive. It transformed the political system. In the Imperial tradition of government, local elites protected local communities against state encroachment 11 through their involvement in property management. After 1927, the Naning Government adopted a “free market” approach to political affairs, and centralized the use of military and legal power to protect property against labour and the peasants. Peasant demands for rights to the land they tilled, a key element in Sun Yat—sen’s programme for the revolution, questioned the brokerage market economy, in which local elites acted as the intermediaries of contractual partners. Workers, in the context of industrialization, and with support from Communist organizers, attempted to improve working conditions. Peasants and workers contested the power of active elites that grew in the new political order established by. the Nationalist Government. The Nationalist State abandoned the traditional role of the Chinese state to protect the well-being of society. Deeply influenced by new elites, it protected capital accumulation and safeguarded the sanctity of contracts. The Nationalist Revolution ultimately failed as it was unable to resist the invasions of the Japanese, or the alternative social formulations of the Communist movement. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iv Acknowledgement vi INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter One THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 9 Problems in the Existing Western Interpretations 9 Parsons’ Voluntaristic Model of Social Relations 25 The Quasi-Market Model and Scope of the Work 35 Chapter Two MANDATE OF HEAVEN AND TRANSFORMATION OF PROPERTY RELATIONS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY IMPERIAL CHINA 60 Tian Ming and Imperial Elite Rule 65 Systems of Justice and Propriety 69 Chinese Family and Elite Rule 74 Local Autonomy and Self—Government 80 Growth of Property Relations and Rise of the “Free” Labour Force 87 Property Relations to Land 88 Early Industrialism and the Industrial Labour Force 103 Chapter Three CONTRADICTIONS IN THE THEORY OF NATIONALIST REVOLUTION 126 Sun Yat—sen and His Three People’s Principles 131 Chiang Kai-Shek’s Conception of China’s Destiny 147 Chapter Four BUILDING NATIONALIST ELITE RULE 158 Historical Conditions of Centralization 160 Initial Reform Efforts in the late Qing 161 Reforms in the Last Decade of the Qing 165 The 1911 Revolution and Power iv Struggles Thereafter 171 The United Front and the Division 177 Centralization of Control over the Army 186 Unification of the Party and Government 196 Chapter Five FORMING THE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF A “FREE—MARKET” SOCIETY 218 Foreign Influence and Rising Modern Economic Relations 222 The Growth of a “Free-Market” Society 243 Policies Affecting External Relations 249 In the Rural Lower Yangzi Valley 251 In the Urban Lower Yangzi Valley 257 Chapter Six FROM ELITE ACTIVISM TO INDIVIDUAL ACTIVISM: TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC INFLUENCES ON GOVERNMENT 273 Intellectual Pursuit of Freedom and Democracy 277 The Struggles of Labour and the Peasants 286 Chapter Seven TRANSFORMATIVE OR ABORTIVE? CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE “DE-VOLUNTARISTIC” PERSPECTIVE 300 Appendix THE “DE-VOLUNTARISTIC” PERSPECTIVE 309 The Legacy of Voluntarism 311 Smith and Marx: Political Economy of Capitalism 318 Case for a “De—Voluntaristic Approach” 346 Bibliography 374 Figure 1 THE QUASI-MARKET MODEL OF SOCIAL RELATIONS 396 Figure 2 THE “FREE MARKET” MODEL OF SOCIAL RELATIONS 397 Figure 3 THE MODEL OF (LOCAL) SOCIAL RELATIONS IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA 398 Figure 4 THE “DE-VOLUNTARISTIC” PERSPECTIVE 399 v ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to express my deep gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Graham Johnson, who spent numerous hours reading and commenting on the drafts. Without his painstaking efforts, I would not have had the opportunity to pursue the study, and to have carried it through. William Leiss, Patricia Marchak, and Alexander Woodside attended the project with care and provided guidance. I have benefitted from the discussions and debates with teachers and fellow graduate students in and outside the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of British Columbia. Neil Guppy, Martin Silverman, Yunshik Chang, Diana Lary and Pitman Porter offered critical comments. I give my thanks to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Simon Fraser University for the chance to improve many ideas of the thesis during my teaching appointment there in the Fall of 1992. Jan Walls, Ian Angus, and Bob Anderson encouraged me and extended helpful advice. I also acknowledge my appreciation of the teaching opportunity offered by the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies at the University of Victoria in the Fall of 1993 and the Spring of 1994. Michael Bodden, Helen Chancey, Harry Hsiao, Joe Moore, Peter Vandergeest and Yuen— fong Woon offered friendship and made the year of rewriting fruitful. Those who also helped me realize a year of fruitful thinking were my students, who had no idea of how vi much they have taught me. A special thank goes to Bob Cosbey, Andrew Klobucar, and Laurie Ricou, who carefully editted the manuscript at different stages and corrected my faulty gralnmer. I am grateful to many friends who have encouraged me and helped me keep a proper perspective of the challenges in life, work and personal growth. I thank Pat and Roger Howards, Bonnie Eaton, Yukiko Jo, Helen MacDonald, Sharon Fuller, Bill and Marianne Livants, Tan Xiao-bing, Carole Christopher, Rick Pollay, and Joe Roberts for their helpful discussions and heart—warming concerns. - I was able to concentrate on my research and writing in the past years due largely to the support of my family. am indebted to my parents, Chen Yuhai and Guo Fengzhen, and my brother, Chen Zhao, in China. Their understanding and faith comforted me and urged me to move on despite difficulties. It is to them that I dedicated the work. vii 1 INTRODUCTION The objective of this dissertation is to develop a sociologically—informed explanation of the causes and consequences of the transformation of China during the Nationalist Revolution and especially during the so-called “Nanjing Decade” (1927-1937). It is based on arguments that stem from a contrast between two theoretical models. One model portrays the state as autonomous in its relationship to society. It is a view that is dominant in the literature on the Nationalist period in modern Chinese history and is especially reflected in the studies of the late Lloyd Eastman, Theda Skocpol, and John A. Hall. It is my view that the theoretical foundation of these perspectives is the voluntarism of Talcott Parsons, arguably the most compelling theorist in American sociology in the immediate post-Second World War period. A second formulation is elaborated in this study, which I term a quasi-market model of social relations. It forms the basis for an alternative explanation of the nature of the Nationalist period in modern Chinese history. It draws ideas from Adam Smith, Karl Marx, C. B. Macpherson and William Leiss. The assumption that the state represents the ‘general interest’ of individuals in the protection of property is central to Parsons’s voluntarism. The legitimacy of representation by the state derives from the