Why is the concept of the Chinese nation widely accepted?
How can the modern country build up the nation as well as the cohesion among its people？
Shi Shuo
The wide acceptance of the Chinese nation concept is primarily driven by a strong desire for unity among the Chinese people.
In 1902, Liang Qichao, a modern Chinese politician and thinker, first proposed the concept of the Chinese nation. Over more than a century, this term has been highly prevalent throughout China and widely accepted by Chinese people of all ethnicities, social strata, and political backgrounds. It has also become a symbol of identity and a topic of daily conversations among overseas Chinese.
The wide acceptance of the Chinese nation concept is primarily driven by a strong desire for unity among the Chinese people, both in spirit and in practice, as China emerged into modernity and shifted from seclusion to engagement with the world.
What is the Chinese nation?
What does the Chinese nation refer to? It is a question that often goes unnoticed. In 1922, Liang gave a precise and concise definition: "While bloodline, language, and faith are significant factors in forming a nation, they should never be used directly to differentiate one nation from another. Instead, the deciding factor for the formation of a nation is the 'national consciousness' which refers to people's awareness of their own identity when encountering others. For instance, when meeting someone from Japan, people may think, 'He is Japanese while I am Chinese.' Those who immediately identify themselves as Chinese when meeting people of another nation can be considered members of the Chinese nation."
The key point is that the Chinese nation is a community united by the national consciousness as its core. In other words, the Chinese nation concept accepts the existence of multiple ethnic groups in China and allows each group to retain its own language, cultural traditions, and way of life. More importantly, it emphasizes more on the collective national consciousness that all these groups share. The national consciousness manifests itself in two aspects, with the latter based on the former: the inextricable bonds between different ethnic groups that have been forged throughout China's long history and the sense of a community with a shared future formed to resist invasions by "the Others" since the beginning of modern China.
According to a renowned Chinese scholar, Fei Xiaotong, the development of the Chinese nation can be divided into two phases: "self-being" and "self-consciousness." He argued that the proposal of the Chinese nation marks the nation's transition from a national entity of self-being to that of self-consciousness. It is within this state of self-consciousness that the national consciousness begins to emerge. The self-consciousness of recognizing one's own identity in the presence of "the Others" reflects the context which shapes the Chinese nation.
However, "the Others" mentioned above (anthropologically known as "the Other") does not refer to other Chinese people, but to other nations at that time.
Why was the concept of the Chinese nation proposed?
In 1902, Liang Qichao introduced the concept of the Chinese nation and also provided a unique modern division of Chinese history in his essay, Commentaries on Chinese History. According to Liang, Chinese history can be divided into three major periods: the period of "China's China," from the Yellow Emperor to the unification under the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC); the period of "Asia's China," from the Qin Dynasty to the late Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty(1636-1912); and the period of "the world's China" which spans from the late Qianlong period to the present.
The concept of the Chinese nation emerged during "the world's China" period. Liang summarized two key features of this period: the interactions and competition with the West and the transition from an absolute monarchy to a modern state. And these two features gave birth to the concept of the Chinese nation, that is to say, undergoing such "major changes unseen over thousands of years," the concept came into being.
In 1840, imperialists launched a war of aggression, and China was gradually reduced into a semi-colonial society. The Westernization Movement in the 1860s marked China's notable endeavor to "adopt foreign expertise for greater control and competition." However, the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895 made those Chinese reformers realize that it was not enough to merely adopt Western superior techniques and that they also needed to embrace their social systems, political models, and ideologies. Consequently, this led to a call for reforms, which sparked the Reform Movement of 1898.
Unfortunately, the Reform Movement was another failed attempt by the Chinese people to save their nation. Liang Qichao, who was involved in this reform, was forced to flee to Japan due to a warrant issued by the Qing court. During this period, Liang came into contact with the Western ideas of "nationalism" and "nation-state" and realized that "nationalism" could serve as a new ideology for the then gloomy China. Hence, he stated that, "Nationalism is the fairest ideology in the world. It grants us the sovereignty to protect our nation from external invasion and also affirms the right of other nations to be free from invasion. If a country embraces nationalism, then its citizens will become independent. If the world embraces nationalism, then every country will become independent."
Liang claimed that, "Since the sixteenth century, nationalism has been the driving force for the advancement and prosperity of both Europe and the world. What does nationalist mean? It means that the people of the same nation, sharing the same language, religion, and custom, should see each other as kin, strive for independence and autonomy, and form a well-organized government to promote people's well-being and fight against external threats."
Liang upheld nationalism primarily for "protecting the nation from foreign invasion" and "promoting the people's well-being and fighting against external threats." Inspired by these thoughts, he incorporated the concept of the nation into his study of Chinese history, ultimately leading to the concept of the Chinese nation.
The concept filled the void left by the collapsed dynastic state
The concept of the "Chinese nation" was widely disseminated and accepted in China since its advent, which was inevitably linked with China's transformation into a modern state, namely a transition from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional government, as described by Liang Qichao.
In a traditional dynastic state, the imperial power enjoyed absolute supremacy and served as the unifying force for the nation and its people. However, as a dynastic state evolves into a modern one, how can it build up the nation as well as the cohesion among its people?
Judging from the global trends at that time, after the collapse of absolute monarchies and imperial rule, the concept of the nation served as the symbol and unifying force of a modern state. Hence, "nationalism" and "nation-state" became popular throughout the world during that time.
The Chinese nation concept, emerging from historical changes, effectively filled the huge void left by the collapse of the dynastic state. Historically, the populace viewed the state as the emperor's realm, prioritizing personal over collective interests. Today, the "nation" is the central unifying symbol of the country. This shift facilitated the broad acceptance and spread of the concept of the Chinese nation in Chinese society after the Qing Dynasty (1616–1911).
Gained significant traction during two periods
Over the century-long history of the concept of the Chinese nation, there are two notable periods during which the concept became more widespread and popular in Chinese society. The first was the Chinese people's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931–1945), and the second was the reform and opening-up period since the late 1970s.
After the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Gu Jiegang, a prominent Chinese historian, published his essay There Is Only One Chinese Nation in 1939. Gu emphasized the integrity of the Chinese nation, which served as a call to the people and a solemn declaration against Japanese invaders. His essay vividly reflected that the awakening of the Chinese nation was deeply rooted in the resistance against imperialist aggression. This article caused a huge sensation, greatly promoting the spread of the Chinese nation concept.
Since the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, the concept of the Chinese nation has once again made significant progress. At the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in 1978, the Party decided to take economic development as the central task and to fully initiate the reform and opening-up drive. Consequently, China has become more integrated into the global economy, and the ties between Chinese society and the world have strengthened. In this context, the concept of the Chinese nation has gained renewed attention, with "the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" inspiring all Chinese people under new historical conditions.
As China continues to open up to the world, its economic and cultural ties with other countries have become stronger. In this new context, how will China face and adapt to the world? And how will an open China, with its vast territory, diverse cultures, various ethnic groups, and rich history, integrate itself to deal with external challenges and competition? Intellectuals are increasingly contemplating these pressing matters. In this regard, Chinese scholars have entered a new phase of theoretical thinking and research on the concept of the Chinese nation, using the world as a reference.
Around 1980, Fei Xiaotong reviewed the limitations of previous ethnic studies and thus proposed that studies on ethnic groups in China should be conducted based on the holistic pattern of the Chinese nation. In 1988, he published an article titled The Pattern of Unity in Diversity of the Chinese Nation, in which he stated that "the pattern of unity in diversity" is a prominent feature of the Chinese nation through his systematic study on Chinese history. His studies respond to the aforementioned question that many intellectuals raised earlier.
On November 29, 2012, during his visit to the exhibition "The Road to Rejuvenation," General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly declared: "Achieving the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese people since the advent of modern times." This was also a solemn proclamation to the world: The Chinese nation has embarked on a new journey in history.
The views don't necessarily reflect those of DeepChina.
The author is Shishuo, Deputy Director of the Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University, and professor at the School of History&Culture (Tourism), Sichuan University.
Editor/ Liu Xian
Translator/ Lei Jing
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