scholarly journals Introducing the Concept of Modernization in China in the 20th Century

This paper is devoted to the complex issues of introduction of modernization theory in modern social science of the People’s Republic of China. Based on the systems approach, the historical-comparative and historical-genetic method, the influence of the theories by K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons and I. Wallerstein on modern Chinese social thought is analyzed. The theory of modernization is recognized as synthetic, but basically correlating with Westernization. It is concluded that in modern Chinese social science the direct comparison of primary modernization in Europe with secondary processes launched in the regions of Asia as a result of colonial expansion is incorrect. The materials of the paper are of interest to the researchers of China’s social thought, the theory of modernization.

Author(s):  
Sebastian Conrad

This chapter shows how in Japan, the year 1945 represented a change of a very different kind. Japanese historians now repudiated the ultranationalist historiography of the 1930s and early 1940s, and turned in significant numbers towards Marxism, which rapidly achieved a kind of hegemony. They criticized the master narrative of the post-Meiji past, centered on the Tennō (emperor), and identified it with Fascism as a failed experiment in modernity. In the 1960s, however, this Marxist historiographical dominance was gradually supplanted by a pluralism of competing approaches. Modernization theory, social science methodologies, and ‘history from below’ coexisted, and historians, inspired by the Japanese economic miracle, tried to come to terms with the fact that Japan’s traditions, long perceived as an obstacle to modernization, actually seemed to foster it.


2021 ◽  
pp. 223386592110183
Author(s):  
Kaushik Roy

Before the onset of the industrial revolution, China and India were the two biggest powers in Eurasia. Their total population comprised almost half of the world’s population. And the GNP of premodern China was half of the combined GNP of the world. Before circa 1600 CE, most of the textiles and iron in the world were manufactured in these two countries. China and India suffered a temporary eclipse during the age of colonialism. However, with the rise of the economic and military power of China and India from the late 20th century, it seems that these two countries are bound to reclaim their traditional positions as big powers in the international system. However, there is a caveat. In the premodern era, the Himalayas prevented any intimate contact between the ‘dragon’ and the ‘elephant’. But, from the mid-20th century, advances in technology, economic competition and the annexation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) among other factors resulted in China and India coming into direct contact with each other. The result has been cooperation–competition–conflict. And this has had consequences not only for these two countries but for the whole world. The present article attempts to trace the troubled trajectory of India’s China policy from the late 1940s (when these two countries became independent) up to the present day.


1976 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 734-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin A. Winckler

Professor Nathan's pungent essay raises important issues for the politics of development in general and for drawing comparative conclusions from the Chinese case in particular. His cleansing scepticism demolishes some positions which may be held by authors in the China field and reminds others that the unstated assumptions in their models need better articulation. However he goes too far. What needs to be re-established is that clear and modest formulations of short-term recurrence, interdependence among policies, and two-sided policy disagreement are not avoidable errors but indispensable heuristic devices in the conceptual repertoire of China watchers. In fact it would be a great disservice to stùdies of contemporary China and to comparative study of the Chinese case if Professor Nathan were allowed to succeed in his attempt to identify all such analyses with his reductio ad absurdum of some of them. Let us try to rescue the possibility of constructive social science modelling of the three principal issues Professor Nathan raises.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Murray

Health psychology formally came of age in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, but it was prefigured by much discussion about challenges to the dominance of biomedicine in healthcare and debates. This articles focuses on what could be termed the pre-history of health psychology in the UK. This was the period in the earlier 20th century when psychological approaches were dominated by psychoanalysis which was followed by behaviourism and then cognitivism. Review of this pre-history provides the backdrop for the rise of health psychology in the UK and also reveals the tensions between the different theoretical perspectives.


Author(s):  
Alevtina N. Pavlova

The article is devoted to the analysis of epistolary sources on the history of educating non-Russian peoples of eastern Russia. The correspondence gives an opportunity to present the work of N.I. Ilminsky on education, methods of his activity, difficulties encountered along the way. The correspondence focuses on the development of Orthodox education among non-Russian peoples. The specific composition of letters is diverse. By correspondents, the sources are divided into the following groups: letters to senior statesmen, to figures of the Russian Orthodox Church, to local education figures. By the content, the correspondence is divided into groups of materials: about translation and publishing activities, about organizing the network of non-Russian schools, about training and appointment of teachers and priests, about introducing church worship in native languages. The letters significantly complement our understanding of N.I. Ilminsky’s personality and his educational activities. Currently, many scientists believe that it is necessary to conduct a deeper study and interpretation of historical events concerning educating the population of the country, including non-Russian peoples of the eastern part of Russia, taking into account their diversity. Epistolary sources provide rich material for historical reconstruction, their information potential is rich and diverse. The research methodology is based on historical methods: historical-genetic and historical-comparative. The historical-genetic method enables to trace the course of events in their chronological sequence, the dynamics of processes related to the history of educating non-Russian peoples of eastern Russia. The comparative historical method, which puts the fait accompli as the basis of all arguments and conclusions, was an important method in the historical reconstruction of educational process of the non-Russian peoples of the region under study on the basis of Orthodox education. A variety of epistolary sources made it possible to conduct a holistic historical reconstruction of the period under study in the history of education and to formulate analytical conclusions on the research problem. The author managed to analyze the collected material. The analysis performed gives the opportunity to make a conclusion about the diverse activities of N.I. Ilminsky on education.


Asian Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Téa Sernelj

Proceeding from the inseparable relation between ethics and aesthetics in traditional (and often also modern) Chinese thought, this article aims to illuminate two important approaches to the aesthetic foundations of Chinese modernity. The relation between the individual and society, which is a core question of modern ethics, is reflected in most of the ethical theories of 20th century China. In this context, the article first presents Li Zehou’s theory of aesthetics and his definition of aesthetic experience. In this way, it aims to illuminate Li’s interpretation of modern art and society, and to posit it into a contrastive position to Xu Fuguan’s ethico-aesthetic theories, especially the ones regarding modernity and Western culture. The basic approaches applied by these two important modern Chinese scholars reveal great differences in attitude towards the spiritual and material development of humanity in the 20th century, which is especially interesting since they are both rooted in the abovementioned belief that ethics cannot be separated from aesthetics. Besides, Li Zehou sincerely admired Xu Fuguan’s work on traditional Chinese aesthetics and referred to his comprehension of general concepts of traditional Chinese aesthetics in many of his own works dealing with aesthetics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2017/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanka Nyirádi

The 19th-century Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen had an unparalleled,posthumous impact on the development of modern Chinese drama. How isit possible that he could influence the literature of a country so remote inspace and so different in its literary traditions? History is a key factor in thisstory. Early 20th century China was at the threshold of taking radical measures in reforming its society, and she was badly in need of a supporting ideology. Ibsen was a thinker and dramatist who, by means of presenting acutesocial problems in his plays, deeply influenced the society of his age. Hedid so in a realistic way and with the help of a clear language, both of whichfactors extremely appealed to modern Chinese intellectuals. It can be stated that it was to a great extent through Ibsen’s plays, mostimportantly through Nora, that modern Chinese intellectuals discovered thelong-range possibilities lying in the adoption of Western dramatic form,namely, transforming minds. Nora stirred the pond water of Chinese society,and came to symbolize the rebellion of the ‘Free Individual’: something that had no precedent whatsoever in China but what has long been in theair. Modern Chinese playwrights began to imitate Ibsen with great fervour,resulting in the flourishing of the social problem play, featuring brave andmodern ‘Chinese Noras’. Although advanced thinkers soon had to realize thatthe ideas of Ibsen cannot simply be adopted but must first be modified to beable to credibly represent contemporary Chinese social, cultural and moralreality, the ‘Nora-phenomenon’ and Ibsenism played a vital role in setting offthe literary and cultural reform in early 20th-century China.


Folklorica ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Klyaus

This article considers the remnants of Russian ritual practices surrounding houses in the Priangun’ie region of China. This region was populated by Russians from the late 19th century on. A large group of immigrants (Russian, Tungus and Buriat) immigrated there from the Transbaikal region of Russia after the establishment of Soviet rule in the early 20th century. The paper examines what remains of Russian traditional practices, how they have been blended with native Chinese traditions, and adapted over time to reflect intermarriage between people of Chinese or Tungus and Russian descent.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document