Archive

15 February 2002, Volume 0 Issue 1 Previous Issue    Next Issue

---

For Selected:

Download Citations EndNote Ris BibTeX

Toggle Thumbnails

Select

On Kang Youwei, the Leader of the Reform Movement in 1898 FANG De-Lin 2002, 0(1): 18-30.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1345KB) ( )   As the core figure of the Reform Movement of 1898, the historic position of Kang Youwei is indisputable, because Kang was the decisive influence on Emperor Guangxu, who presided over the Reform. Under Kang’s influence, the Reform movement followed the example of Meiji Japan’s reform and established the Government Administration Bureau (zhidu ju) which had the potential to eliminate autocratic rule in China. Thus reform, which began with the limited goals of Self-strengthening Movement, progressed into the realm of political reform with distinct bourgeoisie characteristics. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Reassessing the Yuan Shikai’s Secret Report during the Coup Against the Hundred Days Reform GUO Wei-Dong 2002, 0(1): 31-40.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1030KB) ( )   Yuan Shikai’s secret report in the coup against the Hundred Days Reform has been an unsettled question for over one hundred years. This case experienced three levels of judgment: politic, moral and academic and reflected the winding course of study of important“Issues of Historical Figures”with the study of modern history. Regarding this case, the author does not agree that Yuan’s return from Tianjin on September 20, 1898 and the submission of his secret report the following day led to the coup, but the author does maintain that Yuan’s secret report resulted in the coup and brought about the death of the “six martyrs.”The author believes that Yuan did report secretly, but this occurred on September 19 after Yuan met Tan Sitong. Yuan’s secret report was the most direct cause that resulted in Empress Dowager Cixi return to the Palace and the launching of the coup. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Traditional Cultural Reasons for the 1895-1898 Women’s Movement’s Emphasis on National Revolution HAN Lian 2002, 0(1): 41-47.  Abstract ( )   PDF (580KB) ( )   The women’s movement in 1895-1898 emphasized the national revolution against imperialism but neglected criticism of the male-centered gender system. In addition to historical reasons that have previously been mentioned ( national contradictions were sharper than sexual ones ) there were three traditional cultural factors that exerted a subtle influence on the movement. First, the traditional tendency to attach importance to practice but despise theory meant that the women’s movement was more enthusiastic for the practical need of “strengthening the nation and protecting the race”and less interested in criticizing the unequal gender system theoretically. Second, patriotism and a sense of responsibility for“looking upon the rise and fall of China as one’s own mission” made the participants naturally put the nation’s interests in the forefront. Third, the traditional way of viewing the situation as a whole made the participants confuse the contents of women’s emancipation with that of general people’s liberation. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Social Categorization and Intellectual Competition: Subtle Interactions between the Missionaries and the Boxers LUO Zhi-Tian 2002, 0(1): 48-61.  Abstract ( )   PDF (1197KB) ( )   In the eyes of Western missionaries, the Boxers’ concept of “superhuman feats of martial arts”was a rival that Christian teachings must compete against. But to the majority of Chinese intellectuals at the time, both Christianity and the Boxers’claim to superhuman abilities belonged to the realm of the strange and supernatural——things that “Confucius did not discuss.” Thus under the general framework defined by Confucian orthodoxy, the social categorization of Christianity and “superhuman feats” were similar in the sense that they were both considered marginal and heterodox. The Qing court’s making use of the Boxers, by encouraging people to pay attention to such heterodoxies, in effect allowed them to gain greater influence. Thus, under the broad trend of Westernization and modernization, at a time when Chinese culture itself was being increasingly marginalized in the intellectual world, the heterodoxies of the old days had paradoxically become the “orthodoxy” of Chinese tradition in the eyes of the modernizers. Related Articles | Metrics

Select

Folk Culture, Code of Brotherhood, and the Secret Societies LIU Ping 2002, 0(1): 71-78.  Abstract ( )   PDF (595KB) ( )   Secret societies proliferated vigorously in the social and historical environment of the Qing dynasty. An increasingly expansive “floating population” was the social foundation that allowed secret societies to survive and spread. The vagrants’ culture was rooted in and shaped by folk culture, which they collectively embodied. The concept of the code of brotherhood, known as “jianghu yiqi”(code of brotherhood on the rivers and lakes) played up in the folk literature and drama spread widely in the underworld. Secret society members absorbed this code and formed their own characteristic concept of morals and law. The secret societies belonged to the underworld and could not assimilate nutriment from elite culture, and folk culture was the natural elements that they used to form their own culture. This article narrates the secret societies’ code of brotherhood from the following aspects: rites, enigmatic language, secret signals, and prevailing figures. The secret societies’utilization and reconstruction of folkloric concepts of brotherhood served the goals of their organizations, activities, and rebellions. Related Articles | Metrics