Manufacturing Modern Chinese Identities Dr. Howard Chiang, H0.16

Chinese Dynasties BCQin Dynasty 206 BC-220 ADHan Dynasty ADThree Kingdoms ADJin Dynasty ADSouthern and Northern Dynasties ADSui Dynasty ADTang Dynasy ADLiao Dynasty AD5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms ADSong Dynasty ADYuan Dynasty ADMing Dynasty ADQing Dynasty

Education Reform First Sino-Japanese War Republican Period 1900s Western-style education 19 th -c. missionary schools (southeast coast; treaty ports – extraterritorial rights) Civil service examination system – producing the bureaucratic elite

Fuzhou Shipyard

Education Reform 1898 math was introduced into the exams 1902 “eight-legged essays” replaced by policy essays 1905 abolished the civil exam system altogether New schools created; old schools converted (still mostly for boys; girls only 2% in 1909) -Transform the people into loyal patriots -Train competent officials

Education Reform 1903 & 1906: Qing issued sets of regulations -restricted the amount of time to be spent in the traditional study of the Chinese classics -new subjects: history, geography, science, mathematics, physical exercise, and music Textbooks: introduced Western ideas, with themes of nationalism and patriotism Guo ( 國 ) from dynasty to country as in Guoyu (“national language” or “Mandarin Chinese”)

Education Reform New schools: -Time – divided into terms and weeks -Costume – new jackets and trousers -Etiquette – no more kowtow (kneeling on the knees and knocking head on the floor) -Anti-Confucian value system – “no father, no monarch”

Race and Revolution Qing government began to send students abroad for advanced study -bring back technical skills -Europe, America, but mostly to Japan (Meiji Restoration since 1860s) -13 students sent to Japan in 1896; by 1905, the number rose up to 8,000-9,000 -Political concerns over technical scientific subjects: for example, Lu Xun (“father of modern Chinese literature”) -Experiences clash with Chinese culturalism

Lu Xun ( )

Liang Qichao ( ): the concept of race

Race and Revolution Liang Qichao’s conception of race: -18 th century: Manchu identity from cultural practices to inheritance -Han Chinese being descendants of the Yellow Emperor, the mythical founder of the Han race, as a kind of lineage binding the whole Han people into a single family -Han vs. Manchu = ‘Chinese’ vs. others (replacing the older concept of flexible boundaries based on degrees of acculturation)

Race and Revolution Liang Qichao’s conception of race: -From “all under heaven” (tianxia, 天下 ) to country (guojia, 國家 ) -“On a New People” - a new emphasis on the relationship between individuals and the collective: the family, society, and country -“Nation” (minzu, 民族 ) taken from Japanese (before 1900, minzu meant “tribes”; after 1900, it became part of anti-Manchu thought) Revolutionary groups: Sun Yatsen, Kang Youwei

Sun Yatsen ( ) Revive China Society “revolutionaries”

Kang Youwei ( ) Protect the Emperor Society“reformers”

Race and Revolution Revolutionary groups -Sun Yatsen – “revolutionaries” -Kang Youwei – “reformers” Huaqiao ( 華僑 ): “Overseas Chinese” -refer to ethnic Chinese living outside the Chinese state -Chinese nationalism was from an early stage pushed towards a definition of national identity that could encompass these groups (emphasis on descent)

Ethnicity Han symbolism of revolution - Ethnic minorities distinguished earlier by bans on immigration, intermarriage, and even the learning of the Chinese language Manchuria & Xinjiang – similar to rest of China Mongolia – independence in 1911 (“kitad”) Tibet – 1912 to 1951 de facto separation from China