China's Conservative Revolution: The Quest for a New Order, 1927–1949 (Studies O F the Weatherhead Eas Asian Institute, Columbia University)

In this ambitious examination of the complex political culture of China under Guomindang rule, Brian Tsui interweaves political ideologies, intellectual trends, social movements and diplomatic maneuvers to demonstrate how the Chinese revolution became conservative after the anti-Communist coup of 1927. Dismissing violent struggles for class equality as incompatible with nationalist goals, Chiang Kai-shek's government should, Tsui argues, be understood in the context of the global ascendance of radical right-wing movements during the inter-war period. The Guomindang's revolutionary nation-building and modernization project struck a chord with China's reformist liberal elite, who were wary of mob rule, while its obsession with Eastern spirituality appealed to Indian nationalists fighting Western colonialism. The Nationalist vision was defined by the party-state's hostility to communist challenges as much as by its ability to co-opt liberalism and Pan-Asianist anti-colonialism. Tsui's revisionist reading revisits the peculiarities of the Guomindang's revolutionary enterprise, resituating Nationalist China in the moment of global radical right ascendancy. Cover -- Half-title page -- Series page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on Romanization -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Orthodoxy: Purifying the Revolution -- 3 TheMasses: AYouth Movement for the Conservative Revolution -- 4 State Comes First: Wartime Spiritual Revolution -- 5 Convergence: Liberal Sentimentalities and the Conservative Revolution -- 6 World Revolution: China, Pan-Asianism and India -- Epilogue -- Glossary of Selected Romanized Terms -- Bibliography -- Index Interweaving political, intellectual, cultural and diplomatic histories, Tsui demonstrates how the Guomindang's national revolution turned conservative after the 1927 anti-Communist coup and contributed to the ascendancy of the global radical right. This revisionist reading of Nationalist China will appeal to a wide range of students and scholars. Brian Tsui. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 255-274) And Index.