China and History

Introduction

China is a rising economic power, and consequently an emerging military power in the world. China with the continental scale area and population is not a usual country; it has different aspects than any other country in the world.[1] China with its deep rooted civilization had been humiliated by a series of catastrophic incidents. The Tiananmen Incident showed that economic recovery and the changing political situation in the world could endanger their legitimacy of Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP started to exert a history education based on humiliating events to increase patriotism and unite people around uniqueness of their civilizations and against the rest of the world.

Historical events in the course of China are used by CCP to increase the nationalism for the legitimacy of the party in an era of economic prosperity. History in China is presented in a way that Chinese people should not forget once the only superior Chinese civilization, which was paid tribute by the other Asian countries, was humiliated by barbarians and Japanese, and the CCP rejuvenating the China again. The contemporary Chinese people see themselves as a superior civilization, especially over Asian countries once were their tributary states[2]; being victimized by the west and Japan for quite time; now think it is the time to rejuvenate and end the humiliation.

Humiliation and Historical Path

The humiliating events started with the defeat of China by the Western powers. The Opium War and the treaties that followed the war revealed the incompetency of the great central kingdom over the barbarians. The military capacity and the weapons of western powers were far beyond the Chinese competency. The treaties granted trade advantages, ports, legal jurisdiction sovereignty of British courts over British subjects in China, and accession of foreign gunboats.[3] The relationship between the China and Western changed to unequal terms after the Opium War. The foreign invasions and lost wars in the century of humiliation affected the Chinese view of the world and made deep impact on the historical memory of the Chinese people. The Opium War was beginning for the humiliation century. The lost wars and invasions kicked off by the Opium War made China a “semi-colonial” country.[4] This defeat started a series of events in Chinese history unprecedented in terms of perception of historical memory of the Chinese people.

In 1895 the Sino-Japanese War over Korea between China and Japan marked the emergence of Japan as a world power and showed the weakness of the Chinese empire.[5] In China the war triggered a reform movement that attempted to renovate the government; it also resulted in the beginnings of revolutionary activities against the Qing dynasty.[6] Japan emergence as a military power in the region affected the perception of Chinese superiority.

The inadequate Self-Strengthening movement, the Japanese ascendance in the region, internal strains and foreign influence in China led to some activist to see the dynasty and Confucianism as the sole malefactor of the humiliation. All the events shifted the view of the Chinese people from all under heaven to nation-state idea.[7] The new reformers try to establish a republic for the Chinese nation. Sun Yat-sen as one of the new reformist established three principles: nationalism, democracy, and people. These three principles attracted too many people.[8] The new reformers were rejecting Confucian ideology. Sun Yat-sen movement evaluated in to Nationalist Party (Guomindang-GMD). After the abdication of the Qing dynasty in 1911, GMD struggled to bring republican government to China. Marxism was seen as a more effective way for modernization by some reformists. It also offers an ideology after the rejection of the Confucian system. The Chinese Communist Party founded in 1921 after the success of the communist revolution in Russia of 1917.[9] The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party work and compete to reunify China politically.[10] The GMD and CCP efforts overall made nationalism as the mainstream within the society. Even today the rulers of China use nationalism to unite people and exert their strategic aims.

After the National Revolution and the abdication of the dynasty, China faced an era of warring lords. In this strife, in 1931 Japan Army invaded Manchuria after a plotted sabotage.[11] The nationalist war started against Japan in Manchuria. The GMD and CCP united against Japan under the forcefully command of nationalist Chiang Kai-shek.[12] Japan Army invaded most of the important cities of China and caused atrocities, which is still remains as contentious issues between two countries.

The situation remained the same during the World War II. Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist movement was recognized as the legitimate power in China by Allies. After the defeat of Japan, Allies issued Japanese Army to submit occupied Chinese territory to nationalists. However Manchuria had been occupied by Soviets to get the industrial assets of Japan, and Soviets let communists to control the region.[13] The nationalists and the communists did not fight to each other since they were fighting against Japanese Army under the umbrella of united front, but the civil war that raged between the nationalists and CCP picked up again as soon as the war ended.

Nationalist at first was successful in capturing the cities until the July 1947 when the CCP attacked from north. Nationalist government’s inefficiency and autocracy, corruption, the harshness of the army and rivalry between commanders caused oppositions against nationalists. Meanwhile CCP were better in establishing a well-organized government structure and showing a credible leadership in the places that were under their control. CCP mobilized millions of peasants in the north who swept down and gained success. Ultimately they drove the nationalists out of power in 1949. The nationalist government fled to Taiwan and continued resistance while CCP declared the establishment of People’s Republic of China in China mainland.[14]

The End of Humiliation

After seizing power Mao set out reformation of China, however the economic recovery and success did not came till Deng Xiaoping’s era. Deng started a program called “The Four Modernizations” to turn China into a modern industrial country.[15] The Deng’s policy was based on losing the tight of economy, but not the political liberalization. However, later economic prosperity encouraged the incidents that threaten the party.

Tiananmen protest in 1989 was a sign that the communist ideology is no longer could be the motivation to adhere the Chinese people together. The demands for democracy and more freedom was a threat to the CCP. The Tiananmen protesters were undermining the legitimacy of the regime. The CCP’s respond to the protesters was harsh. The Army with heavy tanks crushed the protesters and the soldiers shot anyone on their way.[16] This incident stays as the black stain in China history. However the CCP never confronts this incident.[17] The regime used nationalism and patriotism to keep people together and tried to focus on economic development.

Conclusion

China’s historical interpretation is based on the events of the century of humiliation. The realization of backwardness and the concessions to the westerners, later the Japan aggression and seizure of Chinese territory, the trauma in this period are all being used by the CCP to exert nationalism in the society. The rulers are using revisionist language emphasizing “wealth, national pride and obedience to authority”.[18] The chosen historical events are shaping the internal and external motives of the Chinese ruling elites.

Internally, China has used content of history to shape the norms that enhance the legitimacy of ruling elites. After the Tiananmen Incident, realizing the challenge of the new era the CCP leaders changed their mission statement from establishing communist society to restoration of the glory of Chinese nation.[19] Historical memory infused by education led the Chinese people more nationalist and patriotic. Chinese nationalism is based on historical consciousness of national experiences; it is not a religious, ethnically or ideologically originated nationalism. Historical memory and the interpretation of chosen historical events through the CCP lenses, has socially changed Chinese people and prevented the social mobilization against the CCP. For the rulers it is easier to motivate a nationalist and patriotic society.

Externally, historical memory set the rules for comparisons and references to other groups and increases the sensibility in relations with the others. China’s relations with Japan and other regional countries are based on these historical traumas. The superiority of Chinese over the others is another key aspect of these historical events.

History education emphasizes the superiority of Chinese civilization and CCP as the key factor for the end of the humiliating events. The Chinese people today perceive themselves as superior power in the region exerted traumas over the last century and they are in the time of rejuvenation.

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[1] Martin Jacques, When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order, (New York: Penguin Books, 2013), 571.

[2] Ibid., 566-67.

[3] Conrad Schirokauer and Donald N. Clark, Modern East Asia: A Brief History, (California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008), 128-29.

[4] Zheng Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), 48.

[5] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 208.

[6] Ibid., 213-15.

[7] Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation,77

[8] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 234.

[9] Ibid., 232.

[10] Ibid., 235.

[11] Ibid., 298.

[12] Ibid., 307-8.

[13] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 325.

[14] Ibid., 327-28.

[15] Ibid., 378.

[16] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 384.

[17] Andrew J. Nathan, “Modern China’s Original Sin,” Foreign Affairs (June 2014) .

[18] Perry Link, “What It Means to Be Chinese,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2014): 27.

[19] Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation, 124-25.