Bertrand Russell The problem of China

Lu Yue: "The China Problem" and the Pedigree of Western thoughts

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Original Rong Sword One House Talk 

There is an unchanging way in the world, but there is no unchanging way for a hundred years. —— Yan Fu

The law is also the world's public instrument, and the change is also the world's axiom. —— Liang Qichao

Introduction: Russell His visit to China in 1920 constituted a major ideological event in the early years of the Republic of China. A series of speeches he delivered during his visit to China involved Chugoku Many major theoretical issues that the intellectuals are concerned about, intellectual elites and opinion leaders from different political and ideological backgrounds all look forward to getting the answers and academic support they hope to get from Russell’s speech, and they are interpreting Russell. About China Continual debates were launched during the insights, and these disputes later evolved into actual dominance Chugoku The different ideological and political lines of the changes in modern society.Russell cut in his own way China issue Core: Where is China going ?In what way is China evolving to what kind of society?Facing the dual advantages of Western ideology and politics, the Chinese intellectual elite’s profound introspection and review of the inherent shortcomings of the imperial system did not open up China’s own theoretical situation. They can only observe generally within the framework of the Western nation-state system. The imperial system symptom draws inspiration and seeks solutions to China’s problems in the pedigree of Western modernity.The disintegration of the traditional knowledge system brought about by the collapse of the empire left China's intellectual class with no other way but to seek the truth from the West for reform and strengthening.Is this the unalterable fate of the transformation of the Chinese empire?

"China Problem" and the Pedigree of Western Modernity Thoughts

 Text/Lu Yue

In 1920, the visit of the great British philosopher Russell to China was a major event in the Chinese intellectual circles at that time.Russell’s series of speeches during his visit to China involved many major theoretical issues that Chinese intellectuals were concerned about at that time, such as liberalism, socialism, Bolsheviks, religious issues, philosophical issues, educational issues, analysis of mind, analysis of things, social Structural science, mathematical logic, etc.The speech aroused widespread repercussions. Intellectual elites and opinion leaders from different political and ideological backgrounds all looked forward to the answers and academic support they hoped for from Russell's speech, and continued debates were launched when interpreting Russell's views on China , these debates later evolved into different ideological and political lines that actually governed the changes in modern Chinese society.Russell pair Chinese traditional culture The recognition and positive evaluation of the former directly deepened and dominated the Western culture Discussion and later 科学 Controversy with the outlook on life.The collision of various ideas and viewpoints inspired by Russell's appearance constituted the main problem domain of Chinese intellectual circles in the early 20th century.

According to the book "Chinese Questions" written by Russell based on his observations of China, it seems that he did not extract any deep and meaningful issues from a historical perspective, and he only described them within the scope of experience and appearance. His feelings about China and his revelation of China's internal problems are mainly based on a cultural perspective—he expects Chinese culture 【Related Reading: To explore the road to rejuvenation of China, you must read Dr. Zhang Tianliang's "History of Chinese Civilization" ]'s revival not only solves China's problems, but also solves the world's problems.This questioning method of cultural determinism proved to be superficial in the later historical process of China. China's cultural renaissance without China's institutional changes is like water without a source.However, Russell's standpoint in proposing the "China problem" was unique in the historical context at that time. As a Western observer and famous philosopher, he did not start from the mainstream Western historical point of view and combine Western systems and culture as the only way of China's self-salvation, on the contrary, in his view, because "China has developed its own completely independently without being influenced by Europe Traditional Culture 【Related Reading: To explore the road to rejuvenation of China, you must read Dr. Zhang Tianliang's "History of Chinese Civilization" ], so it has completely different advantages and disadvantages from the West”, China cannot follow the road of the West, and China’s future lies in creating a political and economic system that is completely different from the West. 1 Russell cut into the core of China’s problems in his own way : Where is China going? In what way is China evolving into what kind of society?

Since China entered the 19th century, in the "great changes unseen in three thousand years", how China will develop its future path has been a question repeatedly raised and pondered by Chinese and Western thinkers.Whether to repair or completely replace China's imperial system according to the Western system model is a common problem faced by the rulers and intellectual elites of the Chinese empire.Be beautiful Sinology The author Benjamin Schwartz called “the first Chinese scholar who seriously, closely and persistently associates himself with Western thought” 2 Yan Fu, in his first large-scale connection of Western writings with the West When the theory of social evolution was translated and introduced into China, he was not a thorough "Westernization" theory. In his view, it is a "big thing" to use the Western constitutional system to reform and constrain the relationship between the monarch and the minister of the Chinese empire. Because "the time has not come, the customs have not yet been achieved, and the people are not sufficient for self-government." 3 In the 1898 "Book to Emperors", he advocated "reform", emphasizing that "the world has an unchanging way for eternity, but there is no unchanging law for a hundred years." 4 However, in the ideological framework of Yan Fu's reform and strengthening, he did not form a plan to fundamentally transform the empire, and his reform measures did not go beyond the imitation of "Western France" that he once mocked, such as the General Administration and Shipping Administration. , Investment, manufacturing, navy, mining, school, railway, textile, telegraph, embassy, ??etc.Yan Fu knows very well that these new institutional arrangements used to be "the most beautiful system in the West, with the opportunity to be rich and strong", but in China, there is a sigh of "Huaiju is a trifoliate". 5 In the same period, Liang Qichao had stronger demands for China’s reforms. He emphasized in the "General Discussion on Reforms": "The law is the world's public instrument, and the world's axioms are also changed." School, "and everything needs to be successful, it is changing the official system." 6 Regarding political reform as the core of the reform shows that the ideological elite of Yan Fu Liang Qichao's generation had a thorough knowledge of the inherent shortcomings of the Chinese imperial system and a high degree of recognition of the political advantages of the Western system model, but these did not constitute them. The determination and motivation to completely break with the empire. Their reforms were trapped in a deep paradox in the political practice of the late Qing Dynasty: they tried to use an institutional arrangement that was fundamentally opposed to the imperial system to make up for or solve China’s reality. Institutional issues.Zhang Zhidong’s proposition of "Chinese (old) learning as body, Western (new) learning for use" was actually the consensus of the entire enlightened gentry class in the late Qing Dynasty, and its essence was an attempt to complete it within the framework of the empire. Chinese society Modern transformation.The system design of the constitutional monarchy was launched under this ideological background and led the New Deal reform in the late Qing Dynasty.

The late Qing Qing government finally did not create a new governance model under the imperial system. Instead, it led to the final collapse amidst the gunfire of the Revolution of XNUMX. The establishment of the Republican system of the Republic of China marked China's entry into a new era. Constitution, parliament, political party, responsible cabinet, News Institutional elements such as freedom, at least in form, established a new political system completely different from empire for China, opened up the possibility of Western-style political space in the traditional political structure, and building a modern constitutional state has become a new one. Consensus of the times.The "New Youth" led by Chen Duxiu clearly stated at the time that China can only have a bright future by following the Western path, that is, "building a Western-style new country and organizing a Western-style new society for survival in this world." 7 However, the republican system did not quickly solve the problems left over from the late Qing Dynasty. In the first ten years after the founding of the Republic of China, China was still in a state of seemingly incurable chaos. After two imperial restorations, the society lacked effective integration and warlord separatism. With all kinds of local forces torn up China's land, the ideological circle is still hesitating about the question of "Where is China going".It can be understood from this that why Chinese intellectual elites who have split into different ideological camps have such high expectations for Russell’s visit to China. The importance of this event is that it symbolizes the Chinese intellectuals in a new period of social change. The urgent ideological need: "Seek truth from the West" (Mao Zedong).

"Seek truth from the West" constitutes a main thread of the changes in Chinese thought since the 19th century.exist Chinese traditions Under the premise that China’s knowledge system can no longer effectively solve China’s problems, on what kind of problem consciousness did Chinese thinkers make choices in the vast and complex Western warehouse of modern thoughts?This obviously depends on China's actual problem situation, that is, what kind of Western theory China needs to solve the most pressing problems it faces.According to Schwartz, "Yan Fu's response to the West was not a response to the entire Western entity, but only to a few influential thoughts in the Western ideological system of the 18th and 19th centuries." 8 Louis Hartz also talked about this point in his preface to Schwartz’s work. He believed that the problems of social evolution that Yan Fu cared about were not all the problems of Smith, Muller, and Spencer in their time. When Yan Fu translated and introduced the works of these authors in China, a new struggle has been set off in the United Kingdom. In the new struggle, British classical thinkers have been re-evaluated. 9 These circumstances indicate that Yan Fu and Liang Qichao and other Chinese thinkers who first sought truth from the West entered the Western ideological spectrum based on China’s real problems. They sought medical treatment based on the symptoms of the Chinese system and the Western modernism they identified. Sexual treatment programs, even if these programs are outdated or ineffective in the West.It was precisely based on the resolution of the Chinese problem that China continued to learn from the West from the Wuxu Reform to around the May Fourth Movement, presenting a two-way interactive ideological structure: China used its own problematic awareness to "ask" the West and "learn from the West" at the same time. "It has also influenced or shaped China’s problem awareness in its own way; China continues to seek various modernization solutions that can respond to and solve China’s problems in the Western modernity ideological spectrum, while the West is based on its strong military and economic strength and its Promoted by the advantages of the system, a discourse orientation towards Chinese thought circles has been established, which actually dominates the way in which Chinese issues are raised.In this Western-dominated ideological structure, many seemingly Chinese-style questions are actually only raised in the sense of Western historical logic.From the following core keywords that have governed the trend of Chinese thought since the Reform Movement of XNUMX, we can clearly observe the thought trajectory of China under the dominance or influence of Western thought.

Axiom.During the Reform Movement of 10, the main philosophical basis of the Kangliang Reform was the proposal of axioms.The traditional Chinese "View of Heaven" endows the legitimacy and moral significance of the monarchy through the argumentation of "Heaven", while the "View of Axiom" provides legitimacy resources for the creation of new systems.Kang Youwei said: "The world is the public, and everything is the axiom. The public is the same as everyone." 11 Liang Qichao regards the evolution of human beings, the equality and freedom of human beings, and the reform and reform as "axioms and justices". He believes that "ethics, psychology, essays, and essays within the scope of philosophy" and "astronomy and material science within the scope of natural sciences" , Chemistry, Physiology, etc., are all based on "Axioms and axioms". XNUMX Kang Liang's "axiom view" is to strive to construct a worldview and values ??with universal significance for the reform and reform. This is the core value appeal of the rationalist trend of thought generally advocated during the enlightenment period in the West.

View of progress.When Yan Fu was translating Western academic works on a large scale, he was very Evolutionism Special attention was paid. He was not interested in the views on species variation that Darwin described when he was studying the origin of species. "What he was engrossed in was only the content that included the application of Darwin's principle to the field of human action." 12 Starting from the principle of "natural selection in nature, survival of the fittest", Yan Fu found the basis for social evolution and change, and deduced the law of survival of the fittest in nature to human society, thus proving that China will perish if the law does not change.China's initial view of historical progress was constructed through the theory of social evolution, which completely subverted China's traditional view of circular history and the historical evaluation model with the "three generations" as the ideal yardstick.The view of progress history has a profound influence on the changes of modern Chinese thought.

Country view.Before the large-scale military conflicts and ideological conflicts between the Western powers and China, the legitimacy and legitimacy of the Chinese empire had never been fundamentally questioned within it. Thinkers in the reform period observed in the structure of the Western nation-state The basic outlines of modern countries and the huge differences between Chinese and Western political systems have replaced the traditional outdated expressions of "family, country and world" with the concept of modern countries, which has led to suspicion and vacillation of the imperial system.Liang Qichao wrote in his passionate "Speaking of Young China": "And I have a country in the past in China? But there are court ears. I, the descendants of the Yellow Emperor, live together in tribes, and stand on this earth for thousands of people. Years. When asked what the country’s name is, there is no such thing. The husband’s so-called Tang, Yu, Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing are all dynasty names. It is also the private property of the family; the state is the public property of the people."13 The "young China" that Liang Qichao is looking forward to is a modern country that is fundamentally different from China's "big empire." System is the main historical mission of the Reformists.

Social outlook.Yan reusing "group studies" to translate Spencer's "sociology" shows that in the traditional Chinese "four people" (skilled, agricultural, industrial, and commercial) social structure, there has been a lack of publicity as the main body of modern European autonomous cities. In the field, there is no civil society organization formed in the sense of opposition to the state.Yan Fu realized that the drawback of the traditional Chinese system is to know that there is a country but not an individual, and the rise of "group studies" is to "use the laws of science to observe the changes of the people and the masses, and to use the past to test the way."14 The formation and application of the social outlook provides Chinese intellectual elites with an important ideological tool to re-understand and evaluate the nature and composition of traditional Chinese society.Whether starting from the society or starting from the country to dominate China's future development direction constitutes a huge controversy about socialism and nationalism around the May Fourth Movement.The rise of socialist thoughts in China is the logical result of the development of social outlook.

Freedom.Freedom is not only the main spiritual aspiration of Western modernity, but also the core institutional arrangement of the West. It directly involves the realization and protection of human rights.In Liang Qichao’s view, China has all the rights of freedom stipulated in the Western constitution, such as freedom of transportation, freedom of moving, freedom of home ownership, freedom of religion, freedom of communication, freedom of assembly and speech, which China has had since ancient times. Officials can't help it; but these freedoms in China are just slaves' freedom, and officials can ban it at any time, "freedom can never die."Liang Qichao believes that China only has the form of freedom, not the virtue of freedom.The virtues of freedom lie in: "One is to obey the axioms, the second is to obey the laws set by the group, and the third is to obey the decisions of the majority." 15 Liang Qichao's view of freedom gradually evolved into a mainstream discourse in Chinese intellectual circles during the May Fourth Movement , And finally formed the representatives represented by Cai Yuanpei and Hu Shi Chinese freedom The power of ism.

Scientific view.Science and democracy together constitute the core discourse of the May 16th ideological movement.Chen Duxiu put forward six academic propositions in the publication of "New Youth", one of which is "scientific rather than imaginary."In Chen Duxiu's view, the reason why modern Europe is superior to others is that the prosperity of science is not under the theory of human rights.Science has constructed a new world outlook and methodology for the elites of the May Fourth Movement. According to Hu Shi, science has established a position of “superior dignity in China; people who understand or do not understand, whether conservative or reformed, are all Don’t dare to openly express contempt or insult to him.” 1923 In the face of science being empirical rather than hypothetical, empirical rather than transcendent, rational rather than imaginary, the traditional Chinese knowledge system has suffered. Unprecedented shock, its legitimacy has been fundamentally questioned. In the great controversy of "science and outlook on life" set off in XNUMX, the "Science" obviously has a huge advantage in discourse.At this time, science is not only an epistemology and methodology, not only represents an advanced knowledge system, but has also become an ideology.Science is regarded as a civilization, and even as a synonym for Western modernity.

Democratic view.Democracy has been one of the biggest consensuses in Chinese ideological circles since the May Fourth Movement, and it may also be the most ambiguous political concept.People from different classes, political parties, groups, and ideological backgrounds can accept the idea of ??democracy to different degrees in academic theory, but in political practice they have made different or even fundamentally opposite interpretations of the operation and institutionalization of democracy. .The reason for this situation is that the Western nation-state institutional model is collectively regarded by most Western and Chinese thinkers as the only legitimate model of democratic institutionalization. China can only be regarded as the only legitimate model of democratic institutionalization with the same institutional arrangements as the West. It is understood as a democratic country.Since the modern transformation of the Chinese empire was carried out under its own path dependence from the beginning, how democracy evolved into the main structure of the country’s public political life is not a question of self-clarification, but rather its uncertainty and ambiguity. China's various political forces have opened up the ideological and political space for fully imagining, designing and playing the Chinese-style state system.

Socialist view.The entry of the socialist trend of thought from the West into China is the most important historical event in Chinese social changes since the May Fourth Movement. It fundamentally changed the trend of Chinese thought, reset the way of putting forward the "China problem" and its connotation, and changed the thoughts. In the past, the world was mainly concerned about whether China was "completely Westernized" or "localized", whether it was scientifically orientated, or whether it was based on industry or agriculture, and whether it was changed to a capitalist road or not. The question of taking the socialist road.The raising of this question not only completely breaks through the problematic framework of the knowledge system of traditional Chinese thoughts, and poses a challenge to the so-called cultural conservatism; it also poses a challenge to the formation of the liberal thoughts that have actually dominated the Chinese intellectual circles for about half a century since the reform period. Great impact.The rise of socialist thoughts in China was finally staged as a grand historical drama that changed the trend of Chinese society, providing unprecedented ideological resources for China's historical interpretation and modernity narrative.The answer to the question of socialism will actually be the answer to the question of Chinese modernity.

In summary, the introduction and dissemination of new Western thoughts and concepts in China since the Reform Movement of XNUMX opened up the world vision of the Chinese intellectuals to observe the changes in Chinese society, shaped their new discourse methods for seeking truth and learning, and was fundamentally shaken. The ideological foundation for them to settle down in the past; their continuous questioning of the "China problem" is not only from the continuous surging pressure within Chinese society to change the imperial system in order to explore the road to prosperity, but also from Western countries. The great challenges and enlightenment given.Japan quickly embarked on the road of modernization in the short period of "Leaving Asia and entering Europe", defeating the two elder empires in one fell swoop in the Sino-Japanese War of XNUMX-XNUMX and the Russo-Japanese War.This fact has fully demonstrated the superiority of the Western system model to all classes in China. The discourse hegemony of Western countries is demonstrated through actual military and political hegemony.In the face of the dual advantages of Western thought and politics, the profound introspection and review of the inherent shortcomings of the imperial system by the Chinese ideological circle did not open up China's own theoretical situation. They can only observe generally within the framework of the Western nation-state system. The imperial system symptom draws inspiration and seeks solutions to China’s problems in the pedigree of Western modernity.The disintegration of the traditional knowledge system brought about by the collapse of the empire left China's intellectual class with no other way but to seek the truth from the West for reform and strengthening.It is precisely in this historical relationship between civilization and others that are shaped by material and spiritual forces that the modern transformation of Chinese society—in terms of world outlook, road choice, institutional design, and cultural integration—has to be profound. Branded with the West.Although, Chinese thought leaders always strive to get rid of the dominant influence of Western thought, and always screen out those thoughts that meet the requirements of China based on Chinese problem awareness in Western thought warehouses, represented by Hu Shi and Chen Xujing. The theory of “Westernization” has never really become the mainstream option of Chinese intellectuals; however, these facts cannot be used to explain what the modern destiny of the Chinese empire will be if the actual effect of Western thought on China is departed. state.

The social changes and ideological changes in modern China have proved Fei Zhengqing His historical model of "impact-response" is still effective in explaining many aspects of the modern transformation of Chinese society, except for the importance of areas that have not been impacted by the West in China’s social changes, as Ke Wen pointed out. Give sufficient estimates. 17 In Fairbank’s historical interpretation model, we can at least gain the understanding that the impact of the West is the most important external condition leading to the change and collapse of the Chinese empire. ), China will remain trapped in traditional changes for a long time without fundamental changes.These external shocks eventually became the driving force of the new society through the growth of new institutional elements within the empire. The profound changes in the Chinese ideological world in the late empire were not only the basic elements of theoretical innovation, but also the decisive force in the formation of new institutions.Putting the Chinese problem in the pedigree of Western modernity and observing it only opened the door of the century to solve the Chinese problem. After crossing the threshold of modernity, the exploration of the question of "Where is China going?" Going through a long and difficult process.

 

Notes for this article:

 

1 [English] Russell: "China Issues", translated by Qin Yue, Shanghai : Xuelin Infomation , 1996, p. 2, p. 198. 2 [US] Benjamin Schwartz: " Seeking prosperity - Yan Fu and the West ", translated by Ye Meifeng, Nanjing: People of Jiangsu Publication Society, 2005, p. 2. 3 Yan Fu: "Bihan", "Social Upheaval and Norm Reconstruction—Selected Works of Yan Fu", edited by Lu Yunkun, Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House, 1996, p.38. 4 Yan Fu: "The Emperor's Book", "Social Upheaval and Norm Reconstruction—Selected Works of Yan Fu", edited by Lu Yunkun, Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House, 1996, p. 72. 5 Yan Fu: "Putting Korea", "Social Upheaval and Norm Reconstruction—Selected Works of Yan Fu", edited by Lu Yunkun, Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House, 1996, p.17. 6 Liang Qichao: "General Discussion on Reform", "Liang Qichao's Classical Essays", edited by Hong Zhigang, Shanghai: Shanghai University Press, 2003, pp. 7, 10. 7 Chen Duxiu: "The Constitution and Confucianism", "New Youth", Volume 2, No. 3 (November 1916), see Chen Song, ed.: "Selected Works on Eastern and Western Cultural Issues Before and After the May Fourth Movement", Beijing: China Social Sciences Publishing Society, 11, p. 1985. 4 [US] Benjamin Schwartz: "Seeking Prosperity--Yan Fu and the West", translated by Ye Meifeng, Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 8, p.2005. 3 See Benjamin Schwartz: In Search of Prosperity—Yan Fu and the West, translated by Ye Meifeng, Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 9, Preface, p.2005. 5 See Xiao Gongquan: Research on Kang Youwei's Thought, translated by Wang Rongzu, Beijing: Xinxing Publishing House, 10, p.2005. 135 Liang Qichao: "New Historiography", edited by Hong Zhigang: "Liang Qichao's Classical Works", Shanghai: Shanghai University Press, 11, p. 2003. 209 [US] Benjamin Schwartz: "Seeking Prosperity--Yan Fu and the West", translated by Ye Meifeng, Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 12, p. 2005. 65 Liang Qichao: "Young China", edited by Hong Zhigang: "Liang Qichao's classics", Shanghai: Shanghai University Press, 13, p. 2003. 66 Yan Fu: "Preface to Translating <Qun Xue Xun Yan>", "Social Upheaval and Norm Reconstruction—Selected Works of Yan Fu", edited by Lu Yunkun, Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House, 14, p. 1996. 123 Liang Qichao: "Ten Kinds of Virtues Contradictory and Complementary", "Liang Qichao's Classical Works", edited by Hong Zhigang, Shanghai: Shanghai University Press, 15, p.2003. 14 Hu Shi: "Preface to Science and Outlook on Life", see "Science and Outlook on Life", Shanghai Yadong Library, 16, pp. 1923-2. 3 Ke Wen believes that the impact of the West on Chinese intellectual history in the 17th and 19th centuries is extremely important, but how to confirm this importance is a very difficult methodological problem.In his view, a defect of Fairbank's "shock-response" model is that it lacks a comprehensive dialectical analysis of the response to Western shocks in China, and fails to estimate the impact of different fields and aspects of China in the face of Western pressure. completely different changes.He sharply criticized Levinson's following view: "The West is the founder of China's modern transformation, and it is also the West that stipulates the Modern Chinese History All themes of "." Jian Shi: "Discovering History in China—The Rise of China-centric Views in the United States" (updated edition), translated by Lin Tongqi, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2002, p. 68.

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