S27: Conclusion

• Written in 1985, two years before end of martial law
• Part of global initiative to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia (e.g. “We are the World”).
• Performed again in Hong Kong in 1989, at the Concert For Democracy In China

• How to reform the China model?
• What is the future of China’s past?
• What can Chinese history tell us about its future?

• Is there a China model? What is it?
• Is the China model unique? If so, how?
• What can the world learn from China?

• What is the “China system”? How is it different from the “Western system”?
• How could China maintain engagement with the West and “ideational independence”?
• What, according to Pan, explains the rise of nationalism in China since the 1990s?
• Explain the main schools of political thought in contemporary China: neo-leftists, neo-conservatives, etc.

• Promise of political influence: “guiding role” of intellectuals
• Despite disagreements, shared desire to identify “correct thought”
• Despite emphasis on Chinese solution, profound intellectual engagement with “the West”

If the cage was too small, the bird would not survive. If the cage was left open, the bird would fly away.

• No longer teachers of society, voice of the party, or intellectual vanguards of the “people”
• New worlds: Official world, academic world, commercial world
• Wide range of intellectuals: establishment, academic, independent, dissident
• Diverse intellectual positions: Liberals, New Left, New Confucians
• Vibrant and diverse intellectual scene – albeit within limits

• Not all political dissidents
• Key features: Socialist failure, market-reform success, lack of political reform
• Liberalism as the best solution for creating stable, just, prosperous societies in modern history
• Reinvigorate tradition of Chinese constitutional government

• Need for revival of the best of socialism as defense against global neo-liberalism
• Growing statism: Call for strong state as needed bulwark against free market
• Synergy with leftist thoughts in global south: neo-Marxism, post-colonialism
• The West both as a source of critical theory, but also subject of critique

• Motivation: Socialism and liberalism hollowed out Chinese culture and left a spiritual vacuum
• New Roles for Confucianism: State ideology + Cultural identity + Vehicle for moral education
• Blend of cultural exceptionalism and universalism: China’s future – and the world’s – lies in reinvention of Confucian past
• Confucian tradition of “benevolent rule” and “moral meritocracy” as legitimation of authoritarianism

New Confucians:

“Chinese” solutions and indigenous intellectual tradition

Liberals:

Universal norms, often inspired by Western liberal thinkers

New Left:

Not limited to either Chinese or Western thinkers; drawing on Neo-Marxism, post-colonial theory, writings from the global South

• What is the new tianxia? How is it different from the old model?
• Can a Chinese concept offer a universal solution? What makes tianxia values universal and humanistic, rather than particular?

Tian’anmen:

• Large-scale mass movement invovling people of all ages and walks of life
• Focus on broad social, political, economic issues
• Target national party and gov leaders

Post-Tian’anmen:

• More frequent but smaller in size
• Focused on local issues
• Concession with repression

• Lack of fiscal resources from higher level gov
• Need to rely on land sales / local businesses for revenue
• Economic growth AND political stability as criteria for career advancement
• More responsive to central signals than to local concerns

• Protests: Drain resources, security spending exceeds social spending.
• Protest Value: Costly, but better than democratization as a release valve and feedback mechanism.
• Corruption: Vested interests block addressing root causes (party-state role).
• Liberalization Dilemma: Balancing public demands with party control is difficult.

• Settling the war – without Ukraine or Europe
• Weakening of Trans-Atlantic Alliance
• Collapse of “rule-based int’l order”
• New age of empire? Greenland, Canada, Panama, etc.

• Why is US-China rivalry inevitable? Why are great powers doomed to compete?
• Was the US wrong to engage with China? What makes America’s China policy “delusional”?
• What makes cold war 2 different? Can hot war be avoided? If so, how?

• Employment at Dartmouth: Oct 1921 - Jul 1943
• No bachelor’s degree; 20 years in China as English teacher in China (1901-1921)
• Monograph: “A Complete English Grammar for Chinese Students” (1923)
• Self-taught Chinese language and culture
• Reference by Herbert Hoover

The social and economic transformation of China in our time

The course begins with a brief outline of Chinese history, followed by a survey of Chinese institutions as they were before they began to be greatly affected by Occidental influences.

The Far East

A survey of the far eastern situation in its political, economic, and social aspects. The recent development and present problems of the Chinese and Japanese peoples will be given careful consideration.

• From sinology to area studies: “Who Lost China”
• Totalitarian model: Focus on institutions, leaders, ideology
• Opening after Mao: More nuanced and highly variegated image of China: complexity and diversity, rather than uniformity

• Context
• Complexity
• Contingency
• Curiosity