The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 12: Republican China, 1912-1949, Part 1

944 Pages·1983·59.21 MB·English

by  John K. Fairbank

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY
OF CHINA
General Editors
DENIS TWITCHETT and JOHN K. FAIRBANK
Volume 12
Republican China 1912—1949, Part 1
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
THE CAMBRIDGE
HISTORY OF
CHINA
Volume 12
Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1
edited by
JOHN K, FAIRBANK
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE
NEW YORK PORT CHESTER
MELBOURNE SYDNEY
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Information on this title:www.cambridge.org/9780521235419
© Cambridge University Press 1983
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place withour
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1983
6th printing 2005
Printed in the United States of America.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13 978-0-521-23541-9 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-23541-3 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for
the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or
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and does not guarantee that any content on such
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Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
GENERAL EDITORS' PREFACE
As the modern world grows more interconnected, historical under-
standing of it becomes ever more necessary and the historian's task ever
more complex. Fact and theory affect each other even as sources pro-
liferate and knowledge increases. Merely to summarize what is known
becomes an awesome task, yet a factual basis of knowledge is increasingly
essential for historical thinking.
Since the beginning of the century, the Cambridge histories have set
a pattern in the English-reading world for multi-volume series containing
chapters written by specialists under the guidance of volume editors. The
Cambridge Modern History, planned by Lord Acton, appeared in sixteen
volumes between 1902 and 1912. It was followed by The Cambridge Ancient
History, The Cambridge Medieval History, The Cambridge History of English
Literature, and Cambridge Histories of India, of Poland, and of the British
Empire. The original Modern History has now been replaced by The New
Cambridge Modern History in twelve volumes, and The Cambridge Economic
History of Europe is now being completed. Other Cambridge Histories
recently undertaken include a history of Islam, of Arabic literature, of the
Bible treated as a central document of and influence on Western civiliza-
tion, and of Iran and China.
In the case of China, Western historians face a special problem. The
history of Chinese civilization is more extensive and complex than that
of any single Western nation, and only slightly less ramified than the
history of European civilization as a whole. The Chinese historical record
is immensely detailed and extensive, and Chinese historical scholarship has
been highly developed and sophisticated for many centuries. Yet until
recent decades the study of China in the West, despite the important
pioneer work of European sinologists, had hardly progressed beyond the
translation of some few classical historical texts, and the outline history
of the major dynasties and their institutions.
Recently Western scholars have drawn more fully upon the rich tradi-
tions of historical scholarship in China and also in Japan, and greatly
advanced both our detailed knowledge of past events and institutions,
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
VI GENERAL EDITORS PREFACE
and also our critical understanding of traditional historiography. In
addition, the present generation of Western historians of China can also
draw upon the new outlooks and techniques of modern Western his-
torical scholarship, and upon recent developments in the social sciences,
while continuing to build upon the solid foundations of rapidly pro-
gressing European, Japanese and Chinese sinological studies. Recent
historical events, too, have given prominence to new problems, while
throwing into question many older conceptions. Under these multiple
impacts the Western revolution in Chinese studies is steadily gathering
momentum.
When The Cambridge History of China was first planned in 1966, the aim
was to provide a substantial account of the history of China as a bench
mark for the Western history-reading public: an account of the current
state of knowledge in six volumes. Since then the out-pouring of current
research, the application of new methods, and the extension of scholarship
into new fields, have further stimulated Chinese historical studies. This
growth is indicated by the fact that the History has now become a planned
sixteen volumes, but will still leave out such topics as the history of art
and of literature, many aspects of economics and technology, and all the
riches of local history.
The striking advances in our knowledge of China's past over the last
decade will continue and accelerate. Western historians of this great and
complex subject are justified in their efforts by the needs of their own
peoples for greater and deeper understanding of China. Chinese history
belongs to the world, not only as a right and necessity, but also as a
subject of compelling interest.
JOHN K. FAIRBANK
DENIS TWITCHETT
March 1982
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
CONTENTS
General editors' preface P*ge v
List of maps
List of tables
Preface to volume 12
1 Introduction: Maritime and continental in China's history
by JOHN K. FAIRBANK, Professor of History, Hmeritus, Harvard University
The problem of foreign influence 1
Maritime China as a minor tradition 9
The treaty-port mixture 20
2 Economic trends, 1912-49
by ALBERT FEUERWERKER, Professor of History, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor
Introduction: an overview 28
Population 34
National income 37
Industry 41
Agriculture 63
Transport 91
Government and the economy 99
Foreign trade and investment 116
3 The foreign presence in China
by ALBERT FEUERWERKER
The foreign network 128
Diplomats 154
Missionaries 165
Chinese government agencies 177
Economic interests 192
Vll
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Vlll CONTENTS
4 Politics in the aftermath of revolution: the era of Yuan Shih-k'ai,
1912-16
by ERNEST P. YOUNG, Professor of History, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor
The ambiguous legacy of the revolution 209
The structure of the new order 213
Political parties and constitutional government 217
Yuan Shih-k'ai on the issues 225
The Second Revolution 228
The Dictatorship 237
Yuan's monarchical movement 246
5 A constitutional republic: the Peking government, 1916-28
by ANDREW J. NATHAN, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
Social and intellectual roots of constitutionalism 259
The Peking government 263
The political role of the modern banks 268
Factionalism and personal connections 271
Election of the Anfu parliament, 1918 274
Decline of the constitutionalist ideal, 1922-28 278
6 The warlord era: politics and militarism under the Peking government,
1916-28
by JAMES E. SHERIDAN, Professor of History, Northwestern University
The view from the provinces: warlords and warlordism 284
The view from Peking: militarism and instability 307
Warlordism and Chinese society 317
7 Intellectual change: from the Reform movement to the May Fourth
movement, 1895-19 20
by CHARLOTTE FURTH, Professor of History, California State University at
Long Beach
Evolutionism in reform thought 322
National Essence and the future of Confucianism: the emergence of
Neo-traditional alternatives 350
Social Utopia and the background of the May Fourth movement
374
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CONTENTS IX
8 Themes in intellectual history: May Fourth and after
by BENJAMIN I. SCHWARTZ, Professor of History and Government, Harvard
University
The May Fourth incident 406
Progress and nationalism 409
Revolution 415
The 1911 Revolution and the 'New Culture' 419
May Fourth and its consequences 427
Introduction of Marxism-Leninism 430
Problems and '-isms' 433
The theme of popular culture 435
'Neo-traditionalism' - finding truth in the heritage 437
The debate on science and human life 439
The ascendancy of Marxism 444
9 Literary trends I: the quest for modernity, 1895-1927
by LEO OU-FAN LEE, Professor of Chinese Literature, the University of
Chicago
Late Ch'ing literature, 1895-1911 452
Butterfly fiction and the transition to May Fourth (1911-17) 461
The May Fourth era, 1917-27 464
10 The Chinese Communist Movement to 1927
by JEROME CH'EN, Professor of History, York University, Toronto
Conversion to the doctrine 505
Foundation of the party 514
Tension in the first united front 518
11 The Nationalist Revolution: from Canton to Nanking, 1923-28
by C. MARTIN WILBUR, Professor of History, Emeritus, Columbia University
Creating a revolutionary movement 527
Competition and dissension within 5 5 3
The drive to unify China - first phase 575
Conflict over revolutionary goals 603
Mounting problems for the Wuhan regime 639
The communists turn to rebellion 673
The final drive - Peking captured and Nanking the new capital
697
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12 The Chinese bourgeoisie, 1911-37
by MARIE-CLAIRE BERGERE, Professeur a I'lnstitut National des Langues
et Civilisations Orientates, Universite de Paris III
The birth of a Chinese bourgeoisie 722
1911: the invisible bourgeois revolution 729
The golden age of Chinese capitalism, 1917-23 745
The political failure of the bourgeoisie 762
From economic crisis to political abdication, 1923-27 787
The return of bureaucracy and decline of the bourgeoisie, 1927-37
809
Bibliographical essays 827
Bibliography 859
Glossary-Index 927
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