Journal of Modern Chinese History

VOLUME 4 NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 2010

CONTENTS

Articles

Crisis, challenge and choice: recent theoretical trends of anti-modernism and Western studies in Chinese history

Sun Jinghao

The return of Xinjiang to Chinese central control during the late period of the Sino–Japanese War: a reappraisal based on Chiang Kai-shek’s Diary

Wang Jianlang

In the name of God: translation and transformation of Chinese culture, foreign religion, and the reproduction of ‘‘Tianzhu’’ and ‘‘Shangdi’’

Zhao Xiaoyang

State, Taoist monasteries, and the Taoist clergy: a study of the zhuchi crises in the Beiping Baiyun Guan Monastery in the 1930s

Fu Haiyan

Between left and right: cooperation and the split between Yu Qiaqing and the CPC during the era of the Northern Expedition

Feng Xiaocai

Review Essay

A great century as reflected in a grand outline: a review of Outline of Twentieth-Century Chinese History by Jin Chongji

Huang Daoxuan

Commentary

Modern China as perceived from the periphery: a century of historiography in Korea

Baik Youngseo

Book Reviews

Notes on Contributors

Crisis, challenge and choice:recent theoretical trends of anti-modernism and Western studies in Chinese history

Sun Jinghao

The Department of History, East China Normal University, Shanghai

During the last three decades, so-called ‘‘postism’’ (a Chinese non-professional, invented referent to postcolonialism, postmodernism and poststructuralism) has powerfully criticized and challenged the hegemonic ideology of the long-standing Euro–American centralism and the authoritative discourse of modernism in Western intellectual and academic circles, albeit it with various different resonances in Chinese and other non-Western societies. By tracing the trajectory of Western conceptual ideas from classical ‘‘rational’’ interpretations of history, this article tries to construct the inner connections and evolution between these conceptions and ways of thinking, and to summarize their impacts on and reactions from the field of Chinese historical studies. This article suggests that these new trends have definitely cast light on macro ideological and perspective concerns but have been less fruitful in concrete historical studies.

The return of Xinjiang to Chinese central control during the late period of the Sino–Japanese War: a reappraisal based on Chiang Kai-shek’s Diary

Wang Jianlang

Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, while considering taking back the Japaneseoccupied areas, the Nationalist government also started to think of recovering the frontier regions, which had been somewhat out of China’s control under the influence of a major ally of China, the USSR. For a long time, Xinjiang had a very close relationship with the Soviet Union under the rule of Sheng Shicai, and the central government of China had little direct control. In April of 1942, Sheng Shicai, suspicious of a Soviet conspiracy to overthrow his rule, conducted mass arrests in Xinjiang, causing a sudden deterioration in the relationship between Xinjiang and the Soviets. At first, the Soviet Union attempted to intimidate Sheng in order to prevent him from turning to the central government, but failed. Paying no heed to the alienation policy of the Soviets, the Nationalist government soon decided to buttress Sheng in an effort to place Xinjiang under centralized control. The Nationalist government first set out to take back the diplomacy of Xinjiang, followed by expropriation of formerly Soviet-controlled enterprises and forced removal of Soviet military advisors, experts, technicians and army personnel from Xinjiang. In the meantime, a large number of party, government, economic, cultural and educational personnel were dispatched by the central government to Xinjiang to infiltrate various sectors.With the weakening of his own power and increasing conflicts with the central government, Sheng Shicai planned another turn of events. By executing a new round-up, this time to cleanse Xinjiang of the central government’s forces, Sheng re-oriented his regime towards the Soviet Union. Yet his gesture was turned down by the USSR because of his loss of credibility. Well prepared militarily, the Nationalist government eventually forced Sheng Shicai to leave Xinjiang, which then was almost fully restored to the authority of the central government.

In the name of God: translation and transformation of Chinese culture, foreign religion, and the reproduction of ‘‘Tianzhu’’ and ‘‘Shangdi’’

Zhao Xiaoyang

Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing

Translation between one language and culture into another assumes that a fundamental set of commonalities exist between the two cultural and linguistic contexts. In the case of the Christian Bible, Chinese translations not only involved translating words into Chinese, but also adapting and transforming an exotic Western religion for local sensibilities in such a way that Christianity might be recognized as a legitimate system of thought within a Chinese cultural milieu. Focusing on the perspective of different Chinese translations of the name of the Christian God, this article examines the history of the debate regarding the issue of translation, and the approaches adopted by the Catholic and Protestant faiths. It examines the reclamation and evolution of traditional Chinese vocabulary into new terminology through the application of Western religious concepts, and the ways in which indigenous Chinese society accepted these concepts, with an eye towards examining the course of historical progress through the history of social adoption of these ideas.

State, Taoist monasteries, and the Taoist clergy: a study of the zhuchi crises in the Beiping Baiyun Guan Monastery in the 1930s

Fu Haiyan

The Institute of Chinese Modern History, Huazhong Normal University, Wuhan

Two zhuchi crises occurred in the Beiping Baiyun Guan Monastery during the 1930s. The first occurred in June 1930, when the zhuchi, or abbot, ChenMingbin was dismissed by the Shehuiju, the Bureau of Social Affairs, for failing to register in time at its order. He was restored only after agreeing to pledge contributions to those in authority. Unfortunately, this stability did not last for long.When Chen passed away in early 1936, a new crisis occurred surrounding the qualifications of the new zhuchi. Because of the urgency in registering the monastery, the Beiping Shehuiju reversed its policy, and validated An Shilin, the monastic manager, in the capacity of jianyuan, or prior, as the interim zhuchi. This arrangement planted the seeds of violent internal strife in the Baiyun Guan during the 1940s, which led to An’s death by burning. These two crises manifested strong state control over the Taoist monastery, which was nevertheless aggravated by poor state administration; they also reflect the complicated conflicts within the Baiyun Guan during its decline.

Between left and right: cooperation and the split between Yu Qiaqing and the CPC during the era of the Northern Expedition

Feng Xiaocai

History Department, Fudan University, Shanghai

During the Northern Expedition, the Communist Party of China (CPC) had close contact with certain businessmen; one of these was Yu Qiaqing of Shanghai, who played a role in the background of the Three Armed Uprisings of Shanghai Workers. Because of this contact, Yu Qiaqing was regarded as a leading figure of the leftist bourgeoisie. He was also considered an important collaborator with the provisional municipal government after these uprisings. However, his cooperation with the CPC did not jeopardize his alliance with the Nationalist Party. When Chiang Kai-shek, an old friend of his, arrived in Shanghai, Yu soon turned himself into one of Chiang’s financial advisors. Although it is hard to argue that Yu Qiaqing’s behavior was representative of most businessmen’s party preferences, it does demonstrate that some businessmen had a profiteering attitude in politics and were open to taking advantage of the nexus between politics and business. Influenced by the political context and situation, the CPC was also able to flexibly apply its ‘‘class analysis’’ theory during that time to justify the policy of cooperating with people like Yu Qiaqing. However, the failure of cooperation with the bourgeoisie by 1927 became an excuse for opposing factions within the party to criticize this policy, and even affected the CPC’s subsequent policy line afterwards.

Modern China as perceived from the periphery: 

a century of historiography in Korea

Baik Youngseo

Department of History, Yonsei University, Seoul

This paper examines how Korea has studied and perceived modern China in the last 100 years, to address the need to identify and understand both the ways in which China and Korea have perceived each other and the transformations of their perceptions throughout history. The paper aims to analyze not only the production and dissemination of knowledge within institutionalized academia, but also from outside its confines, tracing the locus of the field of modern Chinese history in Korea to its colonial period. In particular, it examines the output of the field after the year 2000, focusing on the following: (1) political history in relation to formation of the modern nation–state; (2) traditional and modern dichotomy; (3) is China one?; (4) East Asian perspective and relativization of China; and (5) return of interest in Korea. In so doing, this paper asserts the necessity for a co-employment of the ‘‘dual peripheral perspective,’’ namely that of the East Asia oppressed by the West in the Western-centric world order, as well as the peripheral perspective born of those oppressed by the hierarchy within East Asia, to reach a universal understanding of one another in China and Korea.