National Polity And Local Power: The Transformation Of Late Imperial China (harvard-yenching Institute Monograph Series)

Despite efforts to attain a more balanced approach, Western historians have largely interpreted China's modern period in terms of China's'response to the West.'To a surprising extent, this bias has prevailed even among Chinese historians, for whom the reaction to imperialism has remained a dominant concept. This book, by a scholar who is neither Chinese nor Western,goes far to set the balance right. Min Tu-ki, Korea's leading Sinologist, shows how China's own internal agenda has conditioned Chinese political life during the transition to modernity. Min sets the stage with two chapters about Chinese scciety under Ch'ing rule, one on a Korean visitor's reaction to eighteeenth-century China, the other on the social condition of the lower gentry. Each casts new light on the Chinese elite and their relation to state power. The chapters that follow-particularly the discussion of'political feudalism'-examine the conceptual resources available within the Chinese tradition for coming to terms with modernity. Min's internalist approach provides both a creative new vision of the encounter between two civilizations and a distinguished introduction to Korean Sinology. National Polity and Local Power: The Transformation of Late Imperial China Foreword CONTENTS Author's Preface 1 The Jehol Diary and the Character of Ch'ing Rule Social and Political Changes Ethnic Differences Sinocentrism and the Acceptance of the Status Quo Editorial Projects and the Chinese Literati Chu Hsi Studies under the Ch'ing 2 The Sheng-yuan-Chien-sheng Stratum (Sheng-Chien) in Ch'ing Society The Shen-shih and the Sheng-chien: Basic Characteristics of the Shen-shih Debates on the Structure of the Gentry and the Problem of the Sheng-chien Stratum Political Aspects of the Sheng-chien Social Aspects of the Sheng-chien 3 Chinese "Principle" and Western 'Utility, " a Reassessment Ethics/Technology (Tōyō dōtoku seiyō geijutsu ron) in Japan Principle/Utility in China 4 The Theory of Political Feudalism in the Ch'ing Period Introduction Feng-chien as a Theory of Institutional Reform Debates over Feudalism from the K'ang-hsi through the Chia·ch'ing Era Debates over Feudalism in the Late Nineteenth Century Late·Ch'ing Debates on Local Self-Government The 1898 Reform Movement and Debates on weal Self-Government 5 The Late-Ch'ing Provincial Assembly Debates on the Establishment of the Provincial Assembly {1900-1907) The Establishment of the Provincial Assemblies (tzu-i-chü) Characteristics of the Newly Established Provincial Assemblies The Authority of the Provincial Assembly 6 The Soochow-Hangchow-Ningpo Railway Dispute The Background of the Dispute The Movement to Annul the Sino-British Loan Agreement The Movement to Abrogate the Loan Deposit Agreement and Oppose the Dismissal of Tang Shou·ch'ien The Changing Attitude of the Gentry Class Conclusions Notes Notes Bibliography Glossary/Index HARVARD-YENCHING INsTITUTE MoNOGRAPH SERIEs Despite efforts to attain a more balanced approach, Western historians have largely interpreted China's modern period in terms of China's 'response to the West.' This book, by a scholar who is neither Chinese nor Western, goes far to set the balance right. Min Tu-ki, Korea's leading Sinologist, shows how China's own internal agenda has conditioned Chinese political life during the transition to modernity.