Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/21638 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation. Author: Shu, Chunyan Title: Pride and loathing in history : the national character discourse and the Chinese search for a cultural identity Issue Date: 2013-09-04
Pride And Loathing In History The National Character Discourse And The Chinese Search For A Cultural Identity SHU Chunyan 舒春艳
ISBN: 978-94-6191-835-2 Printed by Ipskamp Drukkers 2013, SHU Chunyan, Leiden, The Netherlands
Pride And Loathing In History The National Character Discourse And The Chinese Search For A Cultural Identity PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus Prof. mr. P. F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 4 sepember 2013 klokke 11.15 uur door SHU Chunyan geboren te Loudi, China in 1980
PROMOTIECOMMISSIE Promotor: Mede-Promotor: Overige Leden: Prof. dr. S. R. Landsberger Prof. dr. A. Schneider (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) Prof.dr. Pal Nyiri (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Prof. dr. F. N. Pieke Prof. dr. K. J. Cwiertka Dr. D. Stockmann This research was financially supported by China Scholarship Council (CSC) and Leiden University Fund (LUF).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was initially inspired by a discussion with my M.A. supervisor at Beijing University, Prof. Xu Hong. I would like to thank her for giving me great opportunities during my years at PKU, as well as her confidence in me years after I left. Prof. Axel Schneider has led me to this fascinating journey of intellectual discovery and self-discovery, and I have benefited enormously from his guidance at the most critical moments, without which this dissertation would have never been finished. Thank you for having faith in me from the beginning to the end. Xiexie ni, Lao Shi. Prof. Stefan Landsberger has suffered more than anyone else during all these years of reading literally every word of my countless zero drafts and piles of drafts that followed. I thank him for the stimulating discussions, his prompt feedbacks, his help with the administrative burdens, and especially his now get back to work at the end of each conversation. Bedankt! I will always remember that this is not just a conclusion to my PhD life, it is also an introduction to a new world. I have been truly blessed to have inspiring and empowering friends. Danie Stockmann has always been there for me with her crisis management skills and helping hands, either in Beijing or in Leiden. Els van Dongen never ceases to lighten me up with useful tips, sharp observations, and a soft heart at the darkest moments. The intellectual, emotional and practical supports from them have been vital to this challenging project, and I want to say to their students: lucky you! The PhD community has supported me in all possible ways. My gratitude goes to Hosen Chan, Mu Zhibo, Guo Hui, Melody Lv, Jeroen Groenewegen, Zeng Guohua, Gladys Chong, and Bas Snelders. Special thanks go to Ma Xinrong and Ma Xiao, who spared their time to babysit and made it possible for me to keep a writing schedule; and to Agnoek Sprangers, who helped me with Japanese bibliography. Prof. Sun Ge from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Prof. Iain Johnston from Harvard University, Prof. Rod Aya from the University of Amsterdam, i
and Prof. Maghiel van Crevel from LIAS, I thank you all for your kind advices and encouragement. I would also like to express my gratitude to the organizers of China in the World Seminar at Leeds University and the organizers of Seventh Annual Graduate Seminar on China at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. During my field trips, many people have cleared their busy schedules for me without even knowing me in the first place. I am grateful to Prof. Chen Lai, Prof. Qin Hui, Wang Xiaofeng, Prof. Zhang Haipeng, and Prof. Chen Pingyuan: many thanks for trusting me and sharing your insights and wisdom with me. My friends Wang Xiaomei and Xie Na not only helped me enormously with paperwork, but also taught me on Chinese practical philosophy. Duoxie! Beijing would not be the same old home without you. It is pure luck that I have met many wonderful colleagues at Brill. Matthias Wahls, Albert Hoffstadt, Herman Pabbruwe, Mieke de Vries Robbe and Ivo Romein, you have impressed me with your intelligence, elegance, kindness, as well as your fun attitude towards work and life. I don t believe anyone can ask for more than that from his or her colleagues. I have lived in countless places, and what makes me feel home is not the suitcases I dragged around with me but the people I met: Yue Tao, Lee Mao-Hwa, Floor and Jonna den Uijl and their amazing parents, Marc Matten, Wang Hongyan, Debora Craig, Sebastian Guerrero, Alexandra Ip, Somesh Mitra, thank you for the many homes in the Netherlands and for enriching my otherwise rather constrained life of research. Towards the end of this dissertation, Sinterklaas gave me a big surprise. Friends of our little United Nations Mother s Club in the Hague: Edna, Archana, Klara, Vesna and Vicky, allow me say Gracias! Děkuji! Хвала! Thank you! I will never forget your heart-warming friendship and the life-saving joys you brought me. Special thanks to Edna and Arjan for their help, love, and care. My Dutch family have given me incredible support and I would like to thank ii
my mother-in-law Betty van Oortmerssen especially for her Wednesday oppassen, aunt Annemieke Schutte for her Thursday oppassen, Thomas, Fianne and Christine for standing by my side as brother and sisters, opa and oma for being the coolest grandparents, tante Diane, oom Han, Hugo, Lotte, Evelien, and Vincent for the positive energy you give me everytime we meet. Simon, with all the time sacrificed and energy consumed, this dissertation is half yours, just as everything else in our lives. Only you know what it means when I finally say: we made it! My dear Felicia, you have brought me a whole new world of innocence, tenderness and happiness. This project, you, and I have been growing together through the most significant and insignificant times; while this project draws to an end, you and I have a great future ahead of us. I am deeply indebted to my exceptionally brave and open-minded parents. I thank both of them for their unconditional love, for embracing who I am, and for accepting and respecting whatever choices I make even if they do not agree. Last but not the least, Grandma, you do not read but your wisdom weighs more than any academic title. iii
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements...i Chapter 1. Introduction...1 1.1. Whither China? : A Cultural Question and the Intellectual Answers...4 1.2. The National Character Discourse...7 1.3. Nationalism and Cultural Identity...13 1.4. Self in the Other: the International Dimension...21 1.5. The Presence of the Past: the Historical Dimension...30 1.6. Dissertation Structure...38 Chapter 2. Chinese Characteristics and the National Character Discourse...41 2.1. Chinese Characteristics and Its Critique on Chinese National Character...44 2.2. Context of Chinese Characteristics: Western Perceptions of China...49 1) From the Mighty Kingdom to a Stagnant Empire...50 2) Perceptions of China and Orientalism...56 3) Orientalism personified: the Heathen Chinee and the Yellow Peril...62 2.3. Chinese Discourse of National Character: the Case of Liang Qichao...66 1) Liang Qichao s Ideal of New People...67 2) The West in Chinese Intellectual Search for New People...74 3) Did Culturalism Ever Give Way to Nationalism?...78 2.4. Concluding Remarks: New Culture for A New Nation?...84 Chapter 3. The National Character Question in post-mao Cultural Critique...88 3.1. Discourse of National Character in Contemporary Cultural Critique...91 1) When the Sheep Meets the Wolf: the National Character Question in Wolf Totem...93 2) Wang Xiaofeng s Problem with Chinese Characteristics...98 3) Modernity Imagined and Past Revisited...103 3.2. Historical Legacies of the 1980s and the May Fourth Movement...106
1) Cultural Fever and the National Character Discourse in the 1980s...106 2) River Elegy and the Anti-traditionalism of the 1980s...110 3) Revisiting the May 4 th : Another Battle between the Old and the New...112 3.3. Liberal Optimism and Its China Complex...116 1) The Rise and Fall of America s China...117 2) Winds of Change for "the Grey China"...120 3) The West as the Other...123 3.4. Concluding Remarks...126 Chapter 4. Chen Lai s Cultural Subjectivity...129 4.1. National Character or National Spirit...131 1) The National Character: the Limits of Guomin Xing...133 2) The True National Spirit: Minzu Xing...138 4.2. National Character: A Question of Tradition and Modernity...143 1) On the National Character Critique during the May 4 th Movement...143 2) Anti-traditionalism and criticism towards Confucianism in the 1980s...146 3) Cultural Conservatism: A Concept Misunderstood?...149 4.3. Cultural Subjectivity: China and the West...153 1) The Particular and the Universal...155 2) Revisiting the Ti-Yong Concept: Chinese Learning as Substance?...158 3) Cultural Subjectivity and Cultural Nationalism...161 4.4. Concluding Remarks: Confucian Revival and Modernization...165 Chapter 5. Qin Hui: A Proposal of Western-Confucian Convergence...171 5.1. National Character and Culture...174 1) Critiques of the National Character as Cultural Determinism....176 2) The Incomparable National Character...178 3) Culture as a Social and Historical Phenomenon...180 4) The Trap of Cultural Determinism...183 5.2. Confucianism: The Wrong Target...184 1) Confucianism, Legalism and Daoism...185 2) The Twist in Anti-traditionalism: Late Qing to the May 4 th Movement...187
3) Anti-Confucianism: Radical or Conservative?...189 5.3. Confucian Spirit in a Liberal Society...192 1) Confucianism as the Local Source of Anti-autocracy...193 2) Confucianism as a Transcendent Spirit...195 3) The Convergence of Confucianism and Liberalism...197 4) Liberalism and Nationalism...199 5.4. Concluding Remarks...202 Chapter 6. Conclusion...206 6.1. Perceiving Self through the Other...207 6.2. The Problem of the Past...212 6.3. Revival of Confucianism: Cultural Nationalism?...216 6.4. Confrontation of Perceptions: beyond the Intellectual Debate...218 List of Chinese characters...221 Selected Bibliography...225 SAMENVATTING...246 Curriculum Vitae...251