Dying against Democracy: Suicide Protest and the 1905 Anti-American Boycott

The joint rise of popular movements and mass media in early twentieth-century China gave birth to a democratic imagination, which culminated in the anti-American boycott of 1905. The transnational campaign nonetheless disintegrated as a result of partisan division—an ingrained predicament of democratic agonism that is best illustrated by the story of Feng Xiawei, a grassroots activist whose suicide in Shanghai constituted a key moment in the boycott. Juxtaposing a variety of accounts about Feng's death in journalism, political fiction, reformed opera, and advertisements, this article examines how, together, these texts construct democratic agonism and suicide protest as revealing two opposing political sensibilities as well as modes of action. Instead of expressing only nationalist passion, Feng's suicide reveals a deep anxiety of his time to locate a spiritual source of authority in the face of its glaring absence in social negotiation. This fraught dynamic between the democratic and the transcendent continues to characterize modern Chinese political culture to the present.

Chinese Traditional Governing Approach: An Analysis from Ancient to Mao Zedong Politics

The study focuses on the traditional Chinese political culture and it discusses a multitude of rhetorical practices in imperial China. Simultaneously, it investigates the societal norms which alter daily, to fit with the ever-changing global politics. For these purposes, the traditional philosophies are studied, and the most prominent school of thought Confucianism has been discussed thoroughly. This research is an analytical, descriptive study written in the historical context. While tracing back the nature of political culture, it has been found that it has deep roots in the state and society since the ancient times however, is still relevant for the contemporary politics of China. At the same motive, it can be concluded that current Chinese system seems probable to persevere for many a long time to come. This study is fragmented into three portions; first element makes imperial Chinese politics and its problem; the second portion brings governance and politics of cutting-edge China under the lens; and the final and third portion gives the comparison of each and the findings garnered from this study.

Meritocracy and resentment

Lately it has become fashionable to speak of a ‘political meritocracy’ in Chinese political culture, which contrasts with the liberal ‘electoral democracy’ of the west. Here, however, I consider the moral psychology of an emotion that arguably shadows the history of meritocratic practices in China and in liberal democracies: the emotion of resentment, expressed by agents who consider themselves to be wronged by the high-stakes competition for status, income and power inherent in these practices. I examine the unstable nexus between this emotion and these practices and draw on Confucian, Qing era vernacular literature and modern studies of educational credentialism for insights into how the potentially destabilizing, destructive manifestations of resentment can be mitigated and channelled into less destructive, dissenting political and cultural expression. I argue that, on balance, electoral democracies have better resources for mitigating such resentment than does the ‘political meritocracy’ attributed to Chinese political culture.

Концепция Си Цзиньпина "сообщество единой судьбы человечества" – вклад в творческое развитие марксизма в XXI веке

. Концепция Си Цзиньпина "сообщества единой судьбы человечества" (СЕСЧ) является одной из главных философско-дипломатических стратегий КНР в новой эпохе. Цель статьи – показать, каким образом "сообщество единой судьбы человечества" связано с древнекитайскими концепциями политической культуры и марксистской философией. Использованы исторический и структурный методы политологии. Новизна ис- следования состоит в том, что СЕСЧ творчески развивает теорию марксизма, которая отражает взгляд на мир и человечество с точки зрения стран и народов, их культуры и религии. Проанализирована взаимосвязь марксистской теории с политической культурой Китая, основанной на традициях, китайских историко-культурных ценностях. Историко-культурное наследие Поднебесной обогащает и современную политическую культуру Китая, роднит её с марксизмом. Xi Jinping’s concept a community with a shared future for mankind is one of the significant Chinese philosophical and diplomatic strategies in the new era. The purpose of the article is to show how a community with a shared future for mankind is bound with the ancient Chinese concepts of political culture and Marxist philosophy. The authors use the historical and structural methods of political science. The novelty of the study is that the concept creatively develops Marxism, which reflects a view of the world and humanity from the point of view of countries and peoples, their culture and religion. There has been analyzed the relationship of Marxist theory with the political culture of China, based on Chinese traditions, historical and cultural values. The Chinese concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, enriched by Marxist principles, shows the interconnectedness and interdependence in the effective development of large and small countries, opens up the ways of resolving conflicts peacefully for the peoples and governments of various states, leads humanity to a universal prosperity. Chinese historical and cultural heritage enriches the modern Chinese political culture and makes it similar to Marxism.

LIU ZEHUA 劉澤華 (1935–2018)

This obituary surveys the biography and major works of Liu Zehua, a leading scholar of China’s intellectual history, political thought, and political culture. It explores the impact of Liu Zehua’s personal experience, in particular the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, on his conceptualization of Chinese political culture as subjugated to the overarching principle of monarchism. Liu Zehua’s critical engagement with China’s past distinguished him from proponents of revival of traditional values and made him one of the powerful opponents of cultural conservatives in China.