Contesting the Truth of Revolution,Democracy and Good Governance in the Land of Confucius: The Chinese Reception of Rousseau's "The Social Contract",1898-1906.

详细信息   

• 作者：Fan ; Guangxin.
• 学历：Ph.D.
• 年：2014
• 毕业院校：The University of Wisconsin
• Department：Political Science
• ISBN：9781303986321
• CBH：3624696
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：6363680
• Pages：317

文摘

Why did Rousseaus The Social Contract first gain popularity in China among classics of Western political thought? To what extent did its reception pave the way to the triumph of Marxism-Leninism in the land of Confucius? This dissertation scrutinizes the Chinese reception of Rousseaus work from 1898 to 1906 to explore its legacy in the foundational period of Chinese political thought. I focus on how Rousseaus critical notions of revolution,democracy and good governance were transplanted into the Chinese cultural context and responded to by the most influential voices of the emerging Chinese intelligentsia. Chapter One and Two study how The Social Contract was translated into Chinese. Whereas Nakae Chomins translation contributed to the rise of modern notion of revolution in China,Yang Tingdongs seems less radical by emphasizing the necessity of a strong state,which,however,could be interpreted as advocating revolutionary dictatorship. Chapter Three investigates the reasons behind Liang Qichaos swift conversion away from Rousseaus theory. As it reveals,Liang withdrew his support once he found that the theory encouraged anarchism and radicalism,which had replaced despotism as the main threat to Chinas progress. The last chapter examines Liu Shipeis revaluation of the Chinese populist tradition according to social contract theory. It contends that Lius embrace of anarcho-communism later was prepared by his reading of Rousseaus doctrine of equality. The Chinese reception of Rousseau was a historical practice of comparative political theory CPT) and is useful to test presumptions and methods of CPT as an emerging academic field. A significant question I investigate is the way in which the first generation of Chinese intelligentsia reconciled Rousseaus theory with Chinese culture. On the one hand,they had to make sense of Rousseaus theory by referring to Confucian languages and metaphors. On the other hand,they turned it into a powerful instrument to reflect upon and re-evaluate the Confucian tradition. Consequently the Chinese reception of Rousseau became the practice of comparing and integrating Rousseaus theory with Confucian moral and political teachings.