Shifts of Power : Modern Chinese Thought and Society

In Shifts of Power: Modern Chinese Thought and Society, Luo Zhitian explores the causes and consequences of various shifts of power during the transition from imperial to Republican China (1890-1949). Preface to the revised edition -- Original preface -- Acknowledgements -- The worship of the new : a shift of power in modern Chinese thought under the impact of the western tide -- The abolition of the examination system and the disintegration of the four-class society : modern social change in the eyes of an inland member of the gentry -- The impact of the abolition of the examination system on rural society -- Shifts of social power in modern China : the marginalization of intellectuals and the rise of marginal intellectuals -- The worries and responsibilities of educated Chinese in the age of transition -- The monolithicization of Chinese tradition : the development of anti-traditional trends in the late Qing and early republic -- The divided West : the international storm and the development of Chinese thought in the May fourth era -- Reflections on the uniqueness of modern Chinese nationalism -- The state advances, the people retreat : the rise of a trend in the late Qing -- Appendix: List of names -- Bibliography -- Index In Shifts of Power: Modern Chinese Thought and Society, Luo Zhitian brings together nine essays to explore the causes and consequences of various shifts of power in modern Chinese society, including the shift from scholars to intellectuals, from the traditional state to the modern state, and from the people to society. Adopting a microhistorical approach, Luo situates these shifts at the intersection of social change and intellectual evolution in the midst of modern China's culture wars with the West. Those culture wars produced new problems for China, but also provided some new intellectual resources as Chinese scholars and intellectuals grappled with the collisions and convergences of old and new in late Qing and early Republican China.