STUDIES ON THE CHINESE ECONOMY General Editors: Peter Nolan, Sinyi Professor of Chinese Management, Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, England; and Dong Fureng, Professor, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China This series analyses issues in China's current economic development, and sheds light upon that process by examining China's economic history. It contains a wide range of books on the Chinese economy past and present, and includes not only studies written by leading Western authorities, but also translations of the most important works on the Chinese economy produced within China. It intends to make a major contribution towards understanding this immensely important part of the world economy. Published titles include: Bozhong Li AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN JIANGNAN, 1620-1850 Alfred H. Y. Lin THE RURAL ECONOMY OF GUANGDONG, 1870-1937 Nicholas K. Menzies FOREST AND LAND MANAGEMENT IN IMPERIAL CHINA SINCE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Ryoshin Minami THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA Peter Nolan STATE AND MARKET IN THE CHINESE ECONOMY Yuming Sheng INTERSECTORAL RESOURCE FLOWS AND CHINA'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Hong Wang CHINA'S EXPORTS SINCE 1979 Wang Xiao-qiang CHINA'S PRICE AND ENTERPRISE REFORM
Shangquan Gao CHINA'S ECONOMIC REFORM Xiaoping Xu CHINA'S FINANCIAL SYSTEM UNDER TRANSITION Malcolm Warner THE MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN CHINESE INDUSTRY Tim Wright (editor) THE CHINESE ECONOMY IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY Yanrui Wu PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF CHINESE ENTERPRISES Haiqun Yang BANKING AND FINANCIAL CONTROL IN REFORMING PLANNED ECONOMIES Shujie Yao AGRICULTURAL REFORMS AND GRAIN PRODUCTION IN CHINA Xun-Hai Zhang ENTERPRISE REFORMS IN A CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMY Ng Sek Hong and Malcolm Warner CHINA'S TRADE UNIONS AND MANAGEMENT Studies on the Chinese Economy Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-71502-4 (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Dep:utment, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG2 I 6XS, England
Authority and Welfare in China Modern Debates in Historical Perspective Michael Twohey
First published in Great Britain 1999 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-40614-2 DOI 10.1057/9780230375710 ISBN 978-0-230-37571-0 (ebook) First published in the United States of America 1999 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-21746-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Twohey, Michael, 1962- Authority and welfare in China : modem debates in historical perspective I Michael Twohey. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-21746-4 (cloth) I. Authoritarianism-China-History. 2. China-Politics and government. I. Title. JQl510.T95 1998 320.451'01--dc21 98-23638 CIP Michael Twohey 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 978-0-333-72764-5 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written pennission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written pennission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the tenns of any licence pennitting limited copying iss"ued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asse11ed his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copy1ight, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 1098765432 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 ()()
For my parents
Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Focus of the Study 1 1.2 Western Perceptions of Chinese Authority 2 1.3 Post-Mao Perceptions of China's Authoritarian Politics 4 1.4 Themes and Structure of the Book 5 Part I: Ancient Authority and Welfare 11 2 Xunzi and Ancient Chinese Authority 13 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Chaos and Confucius 14 2.3 The Search for Ethics and Order 15 2.4 Authority and Welfare in the Lunyu and the Mencius 16 2.5 Authority and Welfare in thexunzi 19 2.6 Xunzi's Influence on Chinese History and Politics 24 2.7 Conclusion 27 3 Kang Youwei 29 3.1 Introduction 29 3.2 The Challenge to Patriarchal Authority 30 3.3 Detour Toward Confused Authority 31 3.4 Authority and Welfare in Kang Youwei's Writings 34 3.5 The 'Hundred Days of Reform' 41 3.6 Conclusion 43 4 Liang Qichao 45 4.1 Introduction 45 4.2 Two Perspectives on Liang Qichao 45 4.3 Liang's Intellectual Journey to the West 47 4.4 Enlightened Despotism 51 4.5 Liang's Critique of the Revolutionaries 53 4.6 Authority and Welfare in Liang Qichao's Writings 56 4.7 Conclusion 59 Vll
Vlll Contents Part II: Revolutionary Authority and Welfare 61 5 Sun Yatsen 63 5.1 Introduction 63 5.2 Sun's Nationalism and Xunzi's Qun 63 5.3 Sun's Democracy and Xunzi's 'Natural Inequality' 67 5.4 Sun's Socialism and Xunzi's Datong 72 5.5 Conclusion 76 6 Mao Zedong 79 6.1 Introduction 79 6.2 Sun Yatsen's 'Three Principles' and Mao's Early Years 80 6.3 Mao's Retreat from Sun's 'Three Principles' 83 6.4 Explaining Mao's Retreat from Sun's 'Three Principles' 87 6.5 Sun's Authoritarianism in Mao's China 92 6.6 Conclusion 94 7 Deng Xiaoping 97 7.1 Introduction 97 7.2 Sun Yatsen's Influence on Deng's Theory 98 7.3 Sun's Influence on Deng's Economic Reforms 100 7.4 Sun's Influence on Deng's Political Reforms 103 7.5 Deng's Socialism and Sun's Minsheng 106 7.6 Sun's Authoritarianism in Deng's China 107 7.7 Conclusion 109 Part III: New Authority and Welfare 111 8 The 'New Authoritarian' Debates 113 8.1 Introduction 113 8.2 China's 'Confucian Revival' in the 1980s 114 8.3 Old Authoritarianism and New Authoritarianism 116 8.4 The Debate on Institutionalized Confucianism 119 8.5 The Lessons of the Late Qing 122 8.6 The Debate on Sun Yatsen's Authoritarian Politics 125 8.7 The Debate on Mao Zedong's Authoritarian Politics 8.8 Conclusion 127 129
Contents 9 The Impact of Tiananmen 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The First Phase of the Debates, 1988-9 9.3 The Post-Tiananmen Debates 9.4 Tiananmen's Impact on the People 9.5 Transitional New Authoritarianism? 9.6 Conclusion 10 Conclusion 10.l Summary 10.2 Authority, Welfare and Democracy in China Notes and References Bibliography Index ix 131 131 132 137 142 147 149 151 151 158 161 191 217
Pref ace The development of this book follows two extended periods of stay in China. I first travelled to Chongqing in 1985, where I taught until 1987. As well as extensive travels in the country, these two years provided an opportunity to observe the effects of economic reforms on China's political situation and stimulated my interest in research on China's political economy. I returned to China for seven months to carry out fieldwork for my PhD in 1992. Much of the book took shape during this time, and is based on research and interviews conducted at Beijing University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, as well as at Fudan University in Shanghai. I am grateful to have been granted interviews at Beijing University with two of China's most prominent philosophers, Zhang Dainian and Zhu Buokun. Our meetings sparked questions about traditional Chinese political authority that set the tone for the remainder of my research. John Knoblock's translation and exhaustive exegesis of the Confucian philosopher Xunzi's Complete Works became an essential guide along the way. It was through Knoblock's analysis of Xunzi's state theory that I established a connection between ancient and modern authoritarianism in China. I am also indebted to Di Yongjun, Jiang Gangmiao, Li Hong, Wang Zhufeng, and especially Yang Chenqi and Professor Zhang Jiqian of Beijing University, who gave generously of their time in order to assist my research in Beijing. I would also like to express my great appreciation to Professor Peter Nolan of Cambridge University. Peter set me the task of researching political authoritarianism in modern China. His moral support, his reading of draft chapters, his attention to detail and his challenging questions provided invaluable guidance and motivation. I have also benefited greatly from the support and guidance of Geoffrey Hawthorn and Joseph McDermott at Cambridge. I likewise owe a debt of gratitude to Professor David Lumsden and Professor Bernie Frolic of York University in Toronto. It was David who first drew me to the study of China and Bernie who provided a deeper understanding of Chinese politics. Thanking them and the others noted in no way implicates them or my employer in the views expressed in this book. This study would not have reached fruition without the support of a Rotary Foundation Scholarship, a Pacific Cultural Foundation xi
xii Preface Scholarship, a Canadian Centennial Scholarship, a China-Canada Exchange Scholarship and financial assistance from Jesus College, Cambridge. The encouragement of friends along the way also has been a big help. I extend much appreciation to Marie Kallkvist with whom I have shared the challenges and rewards that research can bring. My special thanks to the following people for their assistance, discussions, friendship and good humour, which have all contributed in diverse ways to the completion of this book: Sylvia Chan, David Chennells, Silvana Dean, Kim Ennico, Gerry Fitzpatrick, Rae Fleming, Liz Gordon, Dan Homer, Erling Kagge, Dan and Natalie Kallen, Ake and Ginger Kallkvist, Liu Xiaofeng, Yvette Longman, Andrew Mason, Pankaj Mohan, Suzanne Quay, Susan Reva, Luise Rivolta, Steve Saxby and Tim Weston. My gratitude as well to the editorial staff at Macmillan, and namely to Tim Farmiloe, Sunder Katwala, Linda Auld and their colleagues without whom this book would not have appeared. Finally, I thank my parents, Jack and Rita Twohey, to whom this book is dedicated. They have been a tremendous source of stability, strength and optimism. The book is as much a result of their support, encouragement and patience as it is the product of my own labours. I thank them, my brother Jeff and his wife Nicole for their unstinting loyalty. MICHAEL TWOHEY