Ideology and Social Movement in China - Research Paper Example

IDEOLOGY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN CHINA INTRODUCTION In the Orient, modernity developed mainly as its subjugation “to the West’s political, military, and economic control”1. The Orient entered modern times only after it was invaded, defeated, and exploited by the West; thus modernity in China was its reaction to the West. However, Western learning and philosophy have not been adopted in their entirety by China, since Chinese ideologies have been used as the foundation in social processes2. Chinese traditional philosophy, western philosophy and Marxist philosophy “are three independent and interrelated philosophical trends in the 20th Century Chinese academic and cultural world”3. This interrelationship is of great significance in the development of Chinese culture, social movement and modernization. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate what happens to ideas and ideologies when they are transplanted to settings other than their own original time and context. The main focus will be on Confucianism applied to the challenge of modernization in China, modern western liberalism in pre- and post- May 4th era, and Marxism in both pre- and post- 1949 China. DISCUSSION Until 1917, Chinese literary language was regarded as the key cultural domain or “the national essence”, and was one of the few elements of China’s tradition that did not succumb to the challenge of modernization presented by western imperialism4. The Chinese Civil War (1927 to 1949) drew to a close with the Chinese revolution of 1949, and later led to the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). By this time, traditional Chinese culture was believed to have expired, though the decline began soon after 1895. However, Mao Tse-Tung, the Chinese communist leader and others believed that modernization was “a self-renewal of China’s inherent tradition…of thought and culture,”5 and this was the basis on which Western sciences and technologies were transplanted into China, while rejecting the socio-political and ideological culture of the West. From the end of the 1970s, contemporary and modern western philosophical trends were gradually incorporated into Chinese ideologies, eliminating dogmatism and old traditional thought hardened by lack of reform. Confucianism Applied to the Challenge of Modernization in China Confucius (551-479 BCE), the Chinese philosopher, thinker and educator, established various guidelines towards living human life optimally. Confucianism has deeply influenced Chinese philosophy and ideologies. One thousand years before the conceptualization of humanism in the West, Confucianism stressed on the value of humanity, the very first school of thought to do so. Besides Confucianism, other schools of the Chinese tradition include: “Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, Buddhism, Logicianism, etc”6. Though Chinese tradition has been sustained until nearly a century ago, changing world situations have necessitated transformations in Chinese cultural characteristics. “The most influential among the cultural factors making up Chinese tradition was Confucianism”7 which attempted to provide a political ideal, as well as several principles to be followed for achieving the ideal. Confucianism has a history of more than 2000 years; it has undergone several changes and renewals from “Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasty to contemporary Neo-Confucianism”8. Changes in the life situation of the Chinese nation caused the transformations and renewals to take place; with the vitality of tradition being related to its development. Modernization represents the working towards a higher sphere of human existence, hence tradition should be adaptable to modernization. Both tradition and modernization are based on the needs of human existence; the former on historic needs and the latter on society’s actual needs. Tradition should be secondary to modernization, and a modernized tradition is vital since it adapts to the actual needs of human existence. According to Liu & McLean (1997), by separating tradition from the problems of human existence, while considering it as an unchangeable metaphysical substance, modernization will become subordinate to tradition, thus safeguarding and maintaining tradition. However, by making modernization less significant than tradition, authentic, vital and consistent modernization will be difficult to achieve. This is exemplified by the Westernization movement of 19th Century China. Confucianist thought was believed to contain the seeds of modernization, and this was related to Marxism, which in turn was considered to have a foundation similar to that of traditional Chinese philosophy. These schools of thought accepted the perspective that Western ideas on Economics, Management, Science and Technology were required to be imported to China for bringing about modernization; however, the domains of ideology and culture inherent to China did not need to be changed. Confucian tradition is considered to have provided a setting which facilitated the development of wealth and power, though it did not predominantly nurture material values. Once free enterprise was established through some other means, Confucian institutions have promoted social and political approaches towards accelerated economic development. Similarly, Confucianism supported an emphasis on family and social organization “that sustain and intensify the influence of capitalism”9. In the modern era, there has been an increasing use of Confucian ethical thought for various issues. This has resulted in the family being revitalized as a significant model for social organization which it was considered to be in the past. This impacts both the political and commercial domains in China. The indefinite and unsettled approach to Confucian ethics reveals a “profound sense of anguish about the past”10. Confucian ethics conflicts with issues of wealth and power: the functioning of a system that promotes wealth through modern rationality will destroy a social order based on familial hierarchy and corporatism. This conflict is increased by Chinese scholars’ lack of clarity regarding their own culture which had earlier been magnificent, “but by comparison with the West, has apparently caused social repression and economic stagnation”11. Modern Western Liberalism in the Pre- and Post- May 4th Era Several literary schools supported different genres at different times; many of these schools did not acknowledge the difficulties involved in the adoption of western literary ideas in the Chinese context. Any difficulties were considered to be defects in Chinese literary culture, and were not attributed to the western ideologies on realism, romanticism, Marxism, or modernism. These western ideas were not considered to have “any inherent contradictions either in themselves or in their theoretical suitability to the Chinese context”12. These features were distinctive particularly to the May Fourth (May 4th, 1919) period: the short span of years preceding the 1920s, and extending into the early 1920s during which time Western ideas were accepted uncritically. Western literary theory during the May Fourth period asserted that ideas such as “realism, romanticism, and neo-romanticism were universally valid”13, and any disalignment between theory and practice were to be attributed solely to factors unique to China. May Fourth thought alone did not support literary ideas from the west, as there was a general trend towards bringing modern, universally acceptable ideologies to China, to eradicate the backwardness which may lead to the dissolution of the Chinese polity. In this context, the concept of modern was synonymous with “Western”, and formed the main theory underlying secondary intellectual conceptualizations such as “democracy, science, self-liberation, and revolution”14. The predominant means through which these new, liberating ideologies would be brought to China was Literature. The set of modern ideas served two different functions: firstly, it formed the totality of all aspirations to overcome the past traditional features which were believed to form an obstacle to China’s universalizing itself among other nations. Secondly, the modern personified the road to national salvation, particularly a means of “salvaging some sense in which China could maintain a specific identity”15 while at the same time universalizing and modernizing itself. Scholarly, as well as political and popular debate on the decline of China’s civilization advocates the casting off of China’s tradition including the Confucian school of thought, and the country’s modernization along Western liberal thought. This approach first emerged during the May Fourth Movement in the 1920s, when scholars looked towards foreign ideologies, considering Chinese culture to be the root cause of “China’s regrettable fate”16. This has led to debates on China’s suitable course of action, with opposing perspectives from those who favor the renunciation of tradition for modernity and development, and from those who wish to retain China’s tradition while simultaneously promoting social and economic welfare. For modern China, economic globalization, Chinese international diplomacy, international trade and military affairs are cultural relativist concepts, in which the ideas are not absolute, but are relative, differing according to the circumstances and other factors. “China is attempting to construct a distinctive Chinese model of International Relations theory”17. During the May 4th Movement and the Cultural Revolution, traditional cultural values were disfavored, and after these occurrences, they were used to support cultural relativism, towards a “self-chosen rational of the Chinese Communist Party and Marxist philosophy as the official ideology of China”18. Though China uses Western International Relations theories of realism and neo-realism, the country rejects liberalism or neoliberal institutionalism. Similarly, for economic globalization, China does not adopt liberalism or neoliberalism, or the orthodoxy of liberal economic theories. A modern China also struggles to align traditional culture with Marxist philosophy, Marxism in Pre- and Post- 1949 China Marxism, imported from the west, is related to the concept of revolution. The ideology of Marxism took a critical view of all historical issues, both in China and in the West. In literary studies, the concept of “modernity” paved the way toward an even more radical critique of all that was in the past. Marxism “as a total explanatory scheme from the West”19 originated from the concept of evolution, an universal issue which could demonstrate the way in which all the different components formed an important historical movement, while progressing together in the same direction. The different types of realism: “critical realism, socialist realism, proletarian realism, and romantic realism”20 when taken as a whole reveal that realism cannot be considered an ideology with adequate stability for positive intellectual guidance. In a similar way, the belief that Chinese culture was universal in itself was found to be incorrect. Moreover, in modern China of the post-Confucian era, the earlier unquestionable universality of western ideologies, became debatable. Modern China post-1949 Chinese Revolution, prioritizes economic growth, while at the same time excluding both economic development and greater political liberalization. The Chinese model of economic globalization (jingji quanquihua) refers to a broader based economic growth, covering increased exports to distant markets. The extent of increasing domestic problems reveal China’s relative or thin economic globalization. The Marxist philosophy of summum bonum or the greater good, is adopted by China’s polity, and not Chinese traditional culture, or western philosophies particularly liberalism, or economic growth without economic development. These dualities help China to avoid the extreme outcomes of the western concept of economic globalization. “The natural evolution of socio-economic, legal and political development is severely constricted in China”21, with a dominant and artificially imposed Marxist philosophy, rather than Chinese traditional culture mainly of Confucianism. By upholding Marxist philosophy over traditional culture the latter is subjected to political machinations. Thus, cultural conflict and re-adjustment underscores the problem of modern China. After the Cultural Revolution the concept of nationalism is increasingly used as an instrument to ensure unity and loyalty of the citizens affected by despair and discontent. CONCLUSION This paper has highlighted ideology and social movement in China. It was found that ideologies changed in the process of transplantation from the West, to a great extent in keeping with the different cultural characteristics of China. In modern China prevail western ideologies adopted on a foundation of Chinese traditional culture. The main focus of the paper was on Confucianism applied to the challenge of modernization in China, the influence of modern western liberalism consisting of concepts such as democracy, science, self-liberation, revolution, etc. in pre- and post- May 4th era, and Marxism in both pre- and post- 1949 China, with an emphasis on economic growth and philosophy of the common good, in modern China. The Cultural Revolution brought about the decline of Mao’s Marxist, communist utopian ideology, and led to establishing the concept of nationalism among the citizens. BIBLIOGRAPHY Chiang, Y-c. (2001). Social engineering and social sciences in China, 1919-1949. 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