Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T05:37:25.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Fascism‘ and Modern China Maria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Maria Hsia Chang
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

From the frequency of its employment and the scope of its use, the concept of “fascism” would seem to be one of the most important cognitive tools in the analysis of modern China. At least from the time of Sun Yat-sen, Marxists, of whatever sort, have regularly employed the characterization “fascist” to identify their Chinese opponents. Since Chinese Marxists now employ the same term to identify the Soviet Union, and the Soviets use it to identify Chinese Marxists, some have counselled the abandonment of the expression as serving only polemic purpose.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 79 , September 1979 , pp. 553 - 567
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Cf. Roy, M. N., Revolution and Counter-Revolution in China (Calcutta: Renaissance, 1946), p. 283Google Scholar; Po-ta, Ch'en, Critique of “China's Destiny”: A Review of Marshal Chiang Kai-shek's Book (Bombay: People's Publishing House, 1943)Google Scholar; Snow, E., Red Star Over China (New York: Grove, 1961), p. 450Google Scholar; Tse-tung, Mao, “Greet the new high tide of the Chinese Revolution,” Selected Works (Peking: Foreign Languages, 1967), Vol. IV, p. 120Google Scholar.

2. Cf. Quarantotto, C., Tutti fascisti! (Rome: II Borghese, 1976), p. 9Google Scholar.

3. Jones', S. M. comments in American Political Science Review, Vol. 72, No. 1 (03 1978), p. 309CrossRefGoogle Scholar, in a review of Eastman, L., The Abortive Revolution: China under Nationalist Rule 1927–1937 (Cambridge: Harvard, 1974)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4. Eastman, , The Abortive Revolution, p. 36Google Scholar and Eastman, L., “Fascism in Kuomintang China: The Blue Shirts,” The China Quarterly, No. 49 (01–03 1972), p. 4CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5. Godley, M. R., “Fascismo e nazionalismo cinese: 1931–1938,” Storia contemporanea, No. 4 (12 1973), p. 741Google Scholar.

6. Hung-mao, Tien, Government and Politics in Kuomintang China: 1927–1937 (Stanford: Stanford University, 1972), p. 64Google Scholar; vide reference to Eastman's paper on p. 213.

7. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, p. 38Google Scholar; “Fascism,” p. 1.

8. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, pp. 39 and 54Google Scholar.

9. Eastman, , “Fascism,” pp. 3 and 16Google Scholar; cf. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, p. 55Google Scholar.

10. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, pp. 39 and 40Google Scholar; cf. p. 69.

11. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, p. 54; “Fascism,” p. 15Google Scholar.

12. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, pp. 80–81; “Fascism,” p. 28Google Scholar.

13. Eastman, , “Fascism,” p. 4, fn. 11Google Scholar; Abortive Revolution, p. 325, fn. 20.

14. Eastman, , “Fascism,” p. 6, fn. 25Google Scholar. Eastman claims that Chiang's speeches of 20 September 1933 in Hsing-tzu hsien, and 22 September 1933 in Lu-shan were not included in Chiang's collected speeches, Chiang Tsung-t'ung szu-hsiang yenlun chi (A Collection of President Chiang's Thought and Speeches), (Taipei: Chung-yang wen-wu kung-ying-she, 1966)Google Scholar. However, I was able to locate both speeches, the first on 20 September in Hsing-tzu hsien, the second on 21 September in Lu-shan, in Chiang Tsung-t'ung chi (Collected Works of President Chiang), Vol. I, (Taiwan: Kuo-fang yen-chiu-yuan ying-hsing, 1963), pp. 716–20 and 720–23Google Scholar, respectively. In the version published in Ch. 2 of The Abortive Revolution, all reference to such a search is simply dropped. (See Eastman, , The Abortive Revolution, p. 326, fn. 36)Google Scholar. In addition, the passage that Eastman cited was incorrectly attributed to the speech Chiang delivered on 22 September 1933 at Hsing-tzu hsien. I located the passage in his speech of 21 September 1933, at Lu-shan. (See Chiang Tsung-t'ung chi, p. 722). I was also unable to locate references to fascism such as “for the first time we can truly be called fascists,” which Eastman cited as being part of Chiang's speech.

15. Eastman, , “Fascism,” p. 16Google Scholar; The Abortive Revolution, p. 55.

16. Cf. Wilson, O., Radical Nationalist in Japan: Kita Ikki, 1883–1937 (Cambridge: Harvard, 1973), p. 94Google Scholar; Chs. 5 and 6.

17. Cf. he Present Condition of China with Reference to Circumstances Affecting International Relations and the Good Understanding Between Nations Upon which Peace Depends (Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Embassy, 1932)Google Scholar.

18. For instance, in Eastman's article, “Fascism,” p. 4, fn. 13, and in his book, The Abortive Revolution, p. 326, fn. 25, I found his citation on p. 1, not p. 3, of Ch'ien-t'u (Future) (Shanghai: Ch'ien-t'u tsa-chih-she), No. 1 (8 08 1933)Google Scholar; in his article, p. 6, fn. 24, and in his book, p. 326, fn. 35, Eastman, quotes from She-hui hsin-wen (The Society Mercury) (Shanghai: Hsin-kuang shu-tien). Vol. 3, No. 15 (15 05 1933), p. 226Google Scholar, that, “We must not disguise that we demand China's Mussolini, demand China's Stalin!” The quote should read “Lenin” in place of “Stalin”; again, in his article, p. 16, fn. 76, and in his book, p. 328, fn. 73, the quote he cited was on p. 397, instead of p. 413, of Shehui hsin-wen, Vol. 4 (18 09 1933)Google Scholar; in his article, p. 24, fn. 114, and in his book, p. 331, fn. 158, the passage from Tai Li's Cheng-chih chen-t'an (Political Spying) (n.p.: Kuo-min cheng-fu chiin-shih wei-yuan-hui cheng-chih-pu, 1938, is to be found on p. 38, rather than on pp. 61–62; finally, in his article, p. 24, fn. 116, and in his book, p. 331, fn. 160, I found the passage quoted by Eastman on pp. 77–78. not on p. 127, of Cheng-chih chen-t'an.

19. Fascists took evident pleasure in collecting quotations supportive of Mussolini and Fascism. Many can be found in Marzano, S., Luce nell’ occidente (Milan: Impresa editoriale italiana, 1933)Google Scholar.

20. Godley, , “Fascismp,” p. 742Google Scholar.

21. Eastman, , The Abortive Revolution, p. 36Google Scholar; cf. pp. 54 and 55.

22. Yat-sen, Sun, The Three Principles of the People, translated in Hsu, L. S., Sun Yat-sen: His Political and Social Ideals (Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1933), pp. 164, 199–208 and 212Google Scholar.

23. Ibid. pp. 285–86 and 293–94. (These passages have been retranslated to accord better with the Chinese original, but their substance has not been altered. Cf. the Chinese text of San Min Chu I in Sun Yat-sen, Kuo-fu Ch'üan-chi (Complete Works) (Taipei: Party Historical Archives Committee, 1973)Google Scholar.

24. Cf. Linebarger, P. M. A., The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen (Westport: Hyperion, 1973), Ch. 1Google Scholar; Leng, Shao Chuan and Palmer, N. D., Sun Yat-sen and Communism (New York: Praeger, 1960), pp. 132–33Google Scholar.

25. Yat-sen, Sun, Three Principles, pp. 248 and 252Google Scholar.

26. Ibid. pp. 300, 301, 302, 310, 317–18.

27. Yat-sen, Sun, “Statement on the formation of national government,” in Fundamentals of National Reconstruction (Taipei: Sino-American, 1953), pp. 161–62Google Scholar.

28. Leng, Shao Chuan and Palmer, , Sun Yat-sen, p. 147Google Scholar.

29. Yat-sen, Sun, Three Principles, pp. 350, 361 and 362Google Scholar. The model for such a government is that of the “modern business corporation” in which “shareholders” may have “final authority,” but they meet “only once or twice a year” and “make only a very general examination into the conditions of the corporation. A majority of the shareholders do not know the inside of the business at all. It is the general manager who knows the inside of the business and who has the immediate control of…affairs.…The principles of a moderncorporation would be applied to the government of a political state.”

30. Sharman, L., Sun Yat-sen: His Life and Its Meaning (Stanford: Stanford University, 1968), p. 298Google Scholar.

31. Ct. Linebarger, , Political Doctrines, pp. 34 and 35Google Scholar; cf. pp. 33, 37–38 and 193.

32. Sun, , “History of the Chinese Revolution,” in Fundamentals of National Reconstruction, pp. 92–95Google Scholar.

33. Chien-ch'ün, Liu, Fu-hsing Chung-kuo ke-ming chih lu (The Road To Revitalizing the Chinese Revolution) (Nanking: Chung-kuo wen-hua hsiieh-hui, 1934)Google Scholar.

34. Liu is identified as one of the founding members of the “Blue Shirts” by Chii-wai-jen, (pseudonym), “Chi tang-nien ch'uan-shuo-chung ti 'shih-san t'ai-pao’” (“Recollections of the legendary thirteen princes”), Ch'un-ch'iu (The Observation Post), No. 95 (16 06 1961), p. 5Google Scholar.

35. Ping-li, Liu, San-min-chu-i yu Chung-kuo ke-ming (The Three Principles of the People and the Chinese Revolution) (n.p., 1940)Google Scholar.

36. Kai-shek, Chiang, Outline of the New Life Movement (transl. by Kai-shek, Madame Chiang, no publisher or date, but distributed by the Association for the Promotion of the New Life Movement, Nanchang, Kiangsi), p. 12Google Scholar.

37. While sentiment was divided in the United States, there was considerable support for Mussolini and his Fascism. Cf. Diggins, J. P., Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (Princeton: Princeton University, 1972)Google Scholar. Some of the more important officiate associated with the “New Deal” administration of Franklin Roosevelt were influenced by fascist political notions. Cf. GalatoliLandi, A., “II corporativismoe il New Deal,” in Betti, S. and Rovigatti, F. (eds), Il pensiero di Giovanni Gentile (Rome: Enciclopedia Italiana, 1977), pp. 525–33Google Scholar.

38. Ping-li, Liu, “Min-tsu t'u-ch'uan ti chi-pen t'iao-chien” (”The fundamental conditions of national survival”), in Ch'ien-t'u, Vol. 1, No. 8 (08 1933), p. 4Google Scholar.

39. Chien-ch'ün, Liu, The Road, p. 12Google Scholar.

40. She-hui hsin-wen (editorial), Vol. 3, No. 9 (27 04 1933), p. 131Google Scholar.

41. Kai-shek, Chiang, “Hsin-sheng-huo yiin-tung chih chung-hsin chun-tse” (“The central principle of the New Life Movement”), Chiang Tsung-t'ung chi (Collected Works of President Chiang), p. 738Google Scholar.

42. Liang-chan, Liu, “Fa-hsi-szu-ti chiu Chung-kuo” (“Fascism saves China”), She-hui hsin-wen, Vol. 8, No. 24 (12 06 1933), p. 381Google Scholar.

43. Eastman, , Abortive Revolution, pp. 34–35Google Scholar.

44. Chih-jen, Hsia, “Te-jen yen-mu-chung chih Chung-kuo-jen” (“Chinese in the eyes of Germans”), Ch'ien-t'u, No. 1 (5 05 1933), p. 4Google Scholar.

45. Yü, Hsi, “Ai-yin-szu-t'an chih kuo-chi” (“The nationality of Einstein”), She-hui hsin-wen, VoL 3, No. 3 (9 04 1944), p. 44Google Scholar.

46. Wang T'ieh-fu, “I-ta-li ti wei-chi” (“Italy's peril”), ibid. Vol. 1, No. 1 (4 October 1932), pp. 11–13.

47. Ch'ien-t'u, No. 1 (5 05 1933), pp. 1–6Google Scholar.

48. Chien-ch'ün, Liu, The Road, pp. 3, 14, 42 and 44Google Scholar.

49. She-hui hsin-wen (editorial), Vol. 3, No. 15 (15 05 1933), p. 226Google Scholar.

50. “Fa-hsi-szu-ti yü Chung-kuo ke-ming” (“Fascism and the Chinese Revolution ”), ibid. Vol. 4, No. 25 (15 September 1933), p. 397.

51. Chien-ch'ün, Liu, The Road, p. 42Google Scholar.

52. Kai-shek, Chiang, “Tsung-li sheng-p'ing chih ken-pen szu-hsiang yü keming jen-ke” (“The fundamental thoughts and revolutionary character in the life of Sun Yat-sen”), Chiang Tsung-t'ung chi, p. 743Google Scholar.

53. Chien-ch'ün, Liu, The Road, p. 74Google Scholar.

54. Ibid. p. 75.

55. Cf. Wilbur, C. M., Sun Yat-sen: Frustrated Patriot (New York: Columbia1, 1976), p. 120Google Scholar.

56. Yat-sen, Sun, San Min Chu I, pp. 276–77Google Scholar.

57. She-hui hsin-wen (editorial), Vol. 3, No. 9 (27 04 1933), p. 131Google Scholar.

58. “Lun min-chu cheng-chih” (“Discussions on democratic government”), ibid, (editorial), Vol. 3, No,. 7 (21 April 1933), p. 98.

59. Cf. Chien-ch'ün, Liu, The Road, pp. 3, 14–15Google Scholar; and “Chin-jih chih shih” (“The task of today”), Ch'ien-t'u (editorial), No. 1 (5 05 1933), p. 2Google Scholar.

60. Eastman, , “Fascism,” p. 29Google Scholar.

61. Eastman, , “Fascism,” p. 28Google Scholar.

62. Tai Li, Cheng-chih chen-fan.