S11: Chinese Enlightenment
History of China Since 1800
January 30, 2026
Key questions
- “New Culture Movement”: What culture? What intellectuals? Tradition vs. Modernity
- “Mr. Science” and “Mr. Democracy”: What do they mean? How do they apply to China?
- What do people remember when they remember May Fourth? Why does the CCP celebrate China’s most famous protest movement?
Imperial Twilight
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1911-10-10 | Wuchang uprising |
| 1911-12-29 | Sun Yat-sen elected as provisional president |
| 1912-01-01 | Founding of the Republic of China (ROC) |
| 1912-02-12 | Abdication of Emperor Xuantong |
| 1912-03-10 | Yuan Shikai inaugurated as president |
| 1912-03-01 | Provisional constitution of the ROC |
Requiem for Qing
What did the Qing accomplish?
- Multinational, universal empire
- Expansion of geographical scope of “China”
- Incorporation of non-Han peoples
- Small government: centrality of indigenous elites and groups in imperial governance
Republican China: Birth Traumas
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1912-08 | Song Jiaoren and supporters restructured the Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui) into Chinese Nationalist Party |
| 1912-12 | Nationlist Party won majority of seats in the National Assembly |
| 1913-03 | Song Jiaoren assassinated; several provincial governors dismissed |
Monarchical Restoration
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1913-10 | Yuan Shikai ordered dissolution of Nationalist party, the National Assembly and constitution |
| 1915-06 | Yuan Shikai accepted Japan’s Twenty-One Demands in exchange for support |
| 1915-12 | Yuan Shikai renamed the Republic to “Empire of China” Cai E, student of Liang Qichao, revolted, launching the “National Protection War” |
| 1916-03 | Yuan gave up bid for monarchy; defection of Beiyang generals |
| 1916-06 | Death of Yuan Shikai |
Discuss: Charles Tenney
- What did Tenney think about the 1911 Revolution? Why could it be understood as “three revolutions”?
- Why didn’t the revolution lead to a stable democracy?
- What did he think of Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai?
- What is your view on Tenney’s view on the Xinhai Revolution?
- What could produce a stable, political order in China?
What the Revolution Accomplished
- Despite “failure” to create a stable constitutional state, birth of a new political culture
- New political class, new institutions, new ideologies (democratic republicanism and mass nationalism)
- Conceptual birth of China as nation-state
- Fundamental change in source of political legitimacy: not tradition, classics, or monarch, but popular sovereignty – “the people”
- Constitutionalism and new politics of rights
An Unfinished Revolution
- Constitutionalism: How to implement rights, equality, and popular sovereignty?
- Chinese identity: Is it a racial concept? Who are the “people”?
- State-building: How to set up a strong centralized state from local powers?
Age of Warlords (1916-1928)
| Warlord Faction | Leader(s) | Regions Controlled | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anhui Clique | Duan Qirui (1865-1936) | Anhui province | Originally part of the Beiyang Army |
| Zhili Clique | Feng Guozhang (1859-1919), Cao Kun (1862-1939) | Northern China, including Beijing | Later figures included Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang |
| Fengtian Clique | Zhang Zuolin (1875-1928) | Northeast China | Succeeded by Zhang Xueliang |
Topography of Warlordism
Men of Guns
Warlordism: Source of China’s Weakness?
- Warlords gained wealth through rents, tributes, taxes, criminal activities, and the opium trade.
- They wielded military power through political patronage but lacked popular support, resulting in unstable regimes with no political legitimacy.
- Most warlords focused on regional control, undermining central institutions.
- China became fragmented socially, politically, and economically due to the absence of a unified gov.
Warlordism: A different view
- Competing nationalist visions: Centralism vs. Regionalism
- Lack of central control allowed for a flourishing of intellectual and artistic expression.
- The publishing industry thrived, coastal regions saw expanded schools and universities.
- Commercialization and trade penetrated rural economies: Chinese-owned businesses thrived in light industries after WWI.
Liang Qichao: Youthful China
Today’s responsibility lies not with others but solely with us, the youth. […] the freedom of the youth is the freedom of the nation; the progress of the youth is the progress of the nation; if the youth surpasses Europe, then the nation will surpass Europe; if the youth is mighty on Earth, then the nation will be mighty on Earth.
Lu Xun: From Curing Bodies to Healing Minds
After that incident, I felt that medicine was not a pressing matter. For any foolish and weak nation, no matter how healthy and robust their bodies might be, they could only serve as meaningless materials and spectators for such displays, and dying from illness should not be considered unfortunate. Therefore, our first priority should be to change their spirit, and I believed that the best way to change the spirit was through literature and art, so I decided to promote a literary and artistic movement.
Discuss: Story of Kong Yiji
- Who is Kong Yiji? What happened to him?
- Describe Xianheng Hotel and people around Kong. What were their daily life and mental state like?
- Explain the symbols: long shirts, fennel beans
- Is Kong Yiji an anti-hero? What does he represent?
Summary: Story of Kong Yiji
- Kong Yiji as a failed scholar symbolizes the literati class’s pride and self-deception.
- Despite his failures, Kong remains in denial about his social status and fabricates stories about his injuries.
- Kong’s character reflects the decline of the literati’s moral authority in changing China, questioning Confucian ideals.
- Society ridicules Kong, illustrating the cruelty and indifference of those around him.
- Lu Xun critiques a society that mocks failure and lacks compassion, highlighting the gap between traditional values and modern life.
From Literati to Intellectuals
- From gentry scholar-officials to newly independent and professionalizing intellectuals
- New public sphere and avenues of intellectual exchange: newspapers, tabloids, magazines
- Nationalistic and patriotic, but also insecure and alienated
- Modern, but also traditional: Inheritance of traditional ideal of self-cultivation and public service
Rise of Chinese Universities
- Cai Yuanpei: President of Peking University from 1917 to 1927
- Independence of higher education
- Recruited key scholars of the New Culture Movement
- Chen Duxiu (1879-1942) and Li Dazhao (1889-1927), instrumental for introducing Marxism to China
- Hu Shi (1891-1962), liberalism
Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science
We believe only these two gentlemen can bring salvation from all the darkness in China, be it political, moral, intellectual, or spiritual. In support of these two gentleman, we are willing to endure any oppression from the state or attacks from society. Even bloodshed and martyrdom are no reasons for abandonment.
Chen Duxiu
On scientific revolution: Zhang Junmai
- Is there a science of society?
- Human life cannot be guided by natural scientific laws
- Interaction between Chinese tradition and Western political philosophy: pragmatisim, romanticism, liberalism
- Humanistic belief in democracy as the most sensible form of political compromise
On scientific revolution: Ding Wenjiang
- Training in Baconian inductionism: emphasis on experience, observation, and experiment
- Attacked Zhang for approaching life with ancient Daoist mysticism, instead of “philosophy” (zhexue), the modern term for academic thought
- Scientific method is all-mighty in the realm of knowledge.
On political revolution: Hu Shi
- “Study More about Specific Problems, Talk Less about General Theories”
- Individualism and liberalism
- Scientific attitude was the root of British and American liberalism
On political revolution: Li Dazhao
- Peking University’s librarian and China’s first true Marxist
- faith in a comprehensive solution to the whole set of social problems facing China, rather than a piecemeal approach
- Marxist historical materialism: social life (the superstructure) is determined by fundamental economic realities
Tradition vs. Modernity?
- Not just complete Westernization, but restructuring and reinterpretation of Chinese tradition
- Scientific method: Western import or timeless, universal ideal also practiced in China’s traditional culture?
Legacies of the May Fourth
- Writing China as part of world history
- Cultural parallels between China and the West
- Historical investigation of folklore, literature, anthropology, archaeology
- Enduring moral idealism of educated elites: administrator and educator
Cosmopolitanism vs. Colonialism: Foreign Demands
- Japan: Twenty-One Demands (1915)
- Xinjiang: Anglo-Russian/Soviet rivalry
- Drawing of MacMahon line (1914), de-facto border between Tibet and British India
May Fourth Protest
- Student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919
- Part of broader New Culture Movement
- Against the Versailles Treaty, which transfers the former German concessions in Shandong province to Japan.
Students and scholars as intellectual actors
People’s Daily on Kong Yiji: Facing the Anxiety
Contemporary ambitious youth will never be trapped in traditional attire; the value of a degree can only be realized through creative practical activities that fully tap into one’s potential!! The reason for Kong Yiji’s predicament in life is not because of reading, but because he cannot let go of the pretensions of a scholar and is unwilling to change his circumstances through labor.”
Lying flat generation
- Tang ping: online meme that arose in April 2021 as an informal social movement
- Personal rejection of societal pressures to overwork and over-achieve
- Part of a global trend? “quiet quitting”