Liberalism in China

Liberalism in China is a development from classical liberalism as it was introduced into China during the Republican period and, later, reintroduced after the end of the Cultural Revolution.

During the Republican period, translations of John Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, Immanuel Kant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and many other work produced in China. These writers had a cumulative effect, as did the ascendancy of liberalism in world powers like Britain, France and the United States. The establishment of the Republic of China in 1911-12 signaled the acceptance (at least in principle) of these models and the liberal values with which they identified, such as constitutionalism and the separation of powers.

The writings of Liang Qichao (1873-1929) played a major role, despite his leanings to a conservative outlook in latter years. The New Culture Movement (1915-) and its immediate successor the May Fourth Movement (1919) initially were strongly liberal in character, with key figures like Hu Shi (1891-1962) as the preeminent exponent of liberal values. Other important liberals were Zhang Dongsun (1886-1976) and Zhang Junmai (1887-1969).

Liberalism was to suffer in the wake of the immense challenges China faced from Japanese militarism and the impact of the Communist movement. By the 1930s many of the younger generation felt that only radical, authoritarian doctrines could save the country. The Guomindang or Nationalist party absorbed a good deal of Fascist doctrine and practice. Liberalism increasingly seemed to serve as a forlorn "third force", able only to admonish authoritarian regimes of the Left and Right. Writers such as Chu Anping, however, made a strong case against the Nationalists; educators and scholars such as Fei Xiaotong and Tao Xingzhi made a case for revolution as a cause worthy of liberal support; while many more liberals left China, including the rural reformer James Yen, the university president Chiang Monlin, and many less well known figures.

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