The history of Modern China since the 1890's and the question of the nature of Hong Kong's society in the 1960's

Résumé du document

Whether the history of Modern China since the 1890's is a history of the radicalization process is difficult to say. The obvious question is radicalization of what? Does this so-called radicalization have to be understood in terms of ideological values, involvement of the state in the society, mass mobilization or something else? Can't China be judged as having been treading a brand new path since the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee (or, at least, since 1992?s Deng Xiaoping's visit to the South, symbolizing the end of the retrenchment era Tienanmen's crackdown had brought about) ? As I guess the question was inspired by Ying-shih Yu's famous Radicalization of China, I will try to address it according to what he meant by radicalization, the one that affected the Chinese mind in relation with tradition. The two main driving forces of this radicalization process were the position of China at the periphery of the world and the disconnection of the intellectuals with the state.

Extraits

[...] One should here keep in mind the debate between Li Ta-Chao and Chen Tu-Hsiu over whether piecemeal solutions or holistic ideological choices would cure the country of its ills, and the conversion of the latter to communism one year only after the events . Totalitarianism is also different from radicalism (at least, in the meaning Ying-shih Yu gives to the word) since, under communism, genuine criticism was not allowed. The very nature of the state doesn't leave enough room for people to express themselves, criticize, and ask for change The quest for a new Tao was not allowed and the latter, which was chosen by the avant- garde of the party, could not be subject to any criticisms. [...]

[...] Lomax towards the end of the movie, has barely any other choices but to sell her body to make a living. May it be because of values widespread belief that no one is entitled to be granted anything by the state) or because of the very structure of the society (rigidly organized, and made up of migrant people who will not engage in the community life of a city which they do not expect to make their home there was hardly any pressure for setting some. [...]

[...] The major goal Charles Elliott therefore tried to pursue regarding the Chinese community right after Hong Kong became a British colony was preserving social order, deemed essential to trade and prosperity. The rationale to achieve this goal was to let Chinese administer order by themselves, according to their own methods. The colonial government thus resorted to reviving the baojia system, a Chinese arrangement using watch- keeping to maintain peace and order at the local level. Relying of the rule of men rather than on the rule of law, the British also asked respected local notables their services as mediators. [...]

[...] Having to cope with the incapacity of the non-Chinese Police to halt criminal activities in the Chinese communities, Chinese peacekeepers (dibao) were further appointed as early as in 1844 while Chinese in towns and villages would be governed by their own system of tithings. Yet, Chinese peace officers were abolished as soon as in 1861, which show Elliot's policy was a failure. Why ? Mainly because, despite of the belief of the British administration, the baojia system didn't have deep roots in the Hong Kong culture. Through legislation, the government recognized the authority of local leaders by accepting the fiction that baojia had existed even before they arrived, which is subject to considerable doubt. [...]

[...] It would even explode, at the occasion of the 1967 riots. We can regard 1960's Hong Kong's society as a pre-modern society asking for changes. The economic take-off of the 1970's which was to bring Hong- Kong to a higher level of development made the need for social upgrading even more acute. In the follow up to the late 1960's public outcry, the new governor McLehose would take note of it What was the major social condition Charles Elliot wanted to preserve right after Hong Kong became a British colony? [...]