The Cambridge History of China - Volume 12 Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY

OF CHINA

General Editors

DENIS TWITCHETT and JOHN K. FAIRBANK

Volume 12

Republican China 1912—1949, Part 1

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

THE CAMBRIDGE

HISTORY OF

CHINA

Volume 12

Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1

edited by

JOHN K, FAIRBANK

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

CAMBRIDGE

NEW YORK PORT CHESTER

MELBOURNE SYDNEY

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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

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© Cambridge University Press 1983

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,

no reproduction of any part may take place withour

the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 1983

6th printing 2005

Printed in the United States of America.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN-13 978-0-521-23541-9 hardback

ISBN-10 0-521-23541-3 hardback

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GENERAL EDITORS' PREFACE

As the modern world grows more interconnected, historical under￾standing of it becomes ever more necessary and the historian's task ever

more complex. Fact and theory affect each other even as sources pro￾liferate and knowledge increases. Merely to summarize what is known

becomes an awesome task, yet a factual basis of knowledge is increasingly

essential for historical thinking.

Since the beginning of the century, the Cambridge histories have set

a pattern in the English-reading world for multi-volume series containing

chapters written by specialists under the guidance of volume editors. The

Cambridge Modern History, planned by Lord Acton, appeared in sixteen

volumes between 1902 and 1912. It was followed by The Cambridge Ancient

History, The Cambridge Medieval History, The Cambridge History of English

Literature, and Cambridge Histories of India, of Poland, and of the British

Empire. The original Modern History has now been replaced by The New

Cambridge Modern History in twelve volumes, and The Cambridge Economic

History of Europe is now being completed. Other Cambridge Histories

recently undertaken include a history of Islam, of Arabic literature, of the

Bible treated as a central document of and influence on Western civiliza￾tion, and of Iran and China.

In the case of China, Western historians face a special problem. The

history of Chinese civilization is more extensive and complex than that

of any single Western nation, and only slightly less ramified than the

history of European civilization as a whole. The Chinese historical record

is immensely detailed and extensive, and Chinese historical scholarship has

been highly developed and sophisticated for many centuries. Yet until

recent decades the study of China in the West, despite the important

pioneer work of European sinologists, had hardly progressed beyond the

translation of some few classical historical texts, and the outline history

of the major dynasties and their institutions.

Recently Western scholars have drawn more fully upon the rich tradi￾tions of historical scholarship in China and also in Japan, and greatly

advanced both our detailed knowledge of past events and institutions,

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

VI GENERAL EDITORS PREFACE

and also our critical understanding of traditional historiography. In

addition, the present generation of Western historians of China can also

draw upon the new outlooks and techniques of modern Western his￾torical scholarship, and upon recent developments in the social sciences,

while continuing to build upon the solid foundations of rapidly pro￾gressing European, Japanese and Chinese sinological studies. Recent

historical events, too, have given prominence to new problems, while

throwing into question many older conceptions. Under these multiple

impacts the Western revolution in Chinese studies is steadily gathering

momentum.

When The Cambridge History of China was first planned in 1966, the aim

was to provide a substantial account of the history of China as a bench

mark for the Western history-reading public: an account of the current

state of knowledge in six volumes. Since then the out-pouring of current

research, the application of new methods, and the extension of scholarship

into new fields, have further stimulated Chinese historical studies. This

growth is indicated by the fact that the History has now become a planned

sixteen volumes, but will still leave out such topics as the history of art

and of literature, many aspects of economics and technology, and all the

riches of local history.

The striking advances in our knowledge of China's past over the last

decade will continue and accelerate. Western historians of this great and

complex subject are justified in their efforts by the needs of their own

peoples for greater and deeper understanding of China. Chinese history

belongs to the world, not only as a right and necessity, but also as a

subject of compelling interest.

JOHN K. FAIRBANK

DENIS TWITCHETT

March 1982

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CONTENTS

General editors' preface P*ge

v

List of maps

List of tables

Preface to volume 12

1 Introduction: Maritime and continental in China's history

by JOHN K. FAIRBANK, Professor of History, Hmeritus, Harvard University

The problem of foreign influence 1

Maritime China as a minor tradition 9

The treaty-port mixture 20

2 Economic trends, 1912-49

by ALBERT FEUERWERKER, Professor of History, University of Michigan,

Ann Arbor

Introduction: an overview 28

Population 34

National income 37

Industry 41

Agriculture 63

Transport 91

Government and the economy 99

Foreign trade and investment 116

3 The foreign presence in China

by ALBERT FEUERWERKER

The foreign network 128

Diplomats 154

Missionaries 165

Chinese government agencies 177

Economic interests 192

V ll

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Vlll CONTENTS

4 Politics in the aftermath of revolution: the era of Yuan Shih-k'ai,

1912-16

by ERNEST P. YOUNG, Professor of History, University of Michigan, Ann

Arbor

The ambiguous legacy of the revolution 209

The structure of the new order 213

Political parties and constitutional government 217

Yuan Shih-k'ai on the issues 225

The Second Revolution 228

The Dictatorship 237

Yuan's monarchical movement 246

5 A constitutional republic: the Peking government, 1916-28

by ANDREW J. NATHAN, Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

Social and intellectual roots of constitutionalism 259

The Peking government 263

The political role of the modern banks 268

Factionalism and personal connections 271

Election of the Anfu parliament, 1918 274

Decline of the constitutionalist ideal, 1922-28 278

6 The warlord era: politics and militarism under the Peking government,

1916-28

by JAMES E. SHERIDAN, Professor of History, Northwestern University

The view from the provinces: warlords and warlordism 284

The view from Peking: militarism and instability 307

Warlordism and Chinese society 317

7 Intellectual change: from the Reform movement to the May Fourth

movement, 1895-19 20

by CHARLOTTE FURTH, Professor of History, California State University at

Long Beach

Evolutionism in reform thought 322

National Essence and the future of Confucianism: the emergence of

Neo-traditional alternatives 350

Social Utopia and the background of the May Fourth movement

374

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CONTENTS IX

8 Themes in intellectual history: May Fourth and after

by BENJAMIN I. SCHWARTZ, Professor of History and Government, Harvard

University

The May Fourth incident 406

Progress and nationalism 409

Revolution 415

The 1911 Revolution and the 'New Culture' 419

May Fourth and its consequences 427

Introduction of Marxism-Leninism 430

Problems and '-isms' 433

The theme of popular culture 435

'Neo-traditionalism' - finding truth in the heritage 437

The debate on science and human life 439

The ascendancy of Marxism 444

9 Literary trends I: the quest for modernity, 1895-1927

by LEO OU-FAN LEE, Professor of Chinese Literature, the University of

Chicago

Late Ch'ing literature, 1895-1911 452

Butterfly fiction and the transition to May Fourth (1911-17) 461

The May Fourth era, 1917-27 464

10 The Chinese Communist Movement to 1927

by JEROME CH'EN, Professor of History, York University, Toronto

Conversion to the doctrine 505

Foundation of the party 514

Tension in the first united front 518

11 The Nationalist Revolution: from Canton to Nanking, 1923-28

by C. MARTIN WILBUR, Professor of History, Emeritus, Columbia University

Creating a revolutionary movement 527

Competition and dissension within 5 5 3

The drive to unify China - first phase 575

Conflict over revolutionary goals 603

Mounting problems for the Wuhan regime 639

The communists turn to rebellion 673

The final drive - Peking captured and Nanking the new capital

697

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12 The Chinese bourgeoisie, 1911-37

by MARIE-CLAIRE BERGERE, Professeur a I'lnstitut National des Langues

et Civilisations Orientates, Universite de Paris III

The birth of a Chinese bourgeoisie 722

1911: the invisible bourgeois revolution 729

The golden age of Chinese capitalism, 1917-23 745

The political failure of the bourgeoisie 762

From economic crisis to political abdication, 1923-27 787

The return of bureaucracy and decline of the bourgeoisie, 1927-37

809

Bibliographical essays 827

Bibliography 859

Glossary-Index 927

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MAPS

1 Republican China - physical features xii

2 Provinces of China under the Republic 30

3 Major crop areas 65

4 Railways as of 1949 92

5 Foreign 'territory' in China about 1920 130

6 Treaty ports - Shanghai ca. 1915 134

7 Treaty ports - Tientsin ca. 1915 138

8 Wuhan cities ca. 1915 140

9 Distribution of warlord cliques in 1920 298

10 Distribution of warlord cliques in 1922 299

11 Distribution of warlord cliques in 1924 300

12 Distribution of warlord cliques in 1926 301

13 Kwangtung and Kwangsi in the early 1920s 5 54

14 The Northern Expedition 1926-28 580

15 Hunan and Kiangsi during the Northern Expedition 582

16 Hupei 584

17 The Lower Yangtze region 615

18 North China about 1928 703

XI

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TABLES

1 Occupational distribution, 1933 36

2 Domestic product, 1933 37

3 Gross domestic product, 1914-18, 1933, 1952 39

4 Output and employment in modern industry, 1933 44

5 Relative quantities of output of selected industrial products, electric

power, and coal in Kuomintang-controlled areas, 1933, 1938-46 46

6 Index of industrial production of Mainland China, 1912-49 50

7 Handicraft production as percentage of gross value-added in 14 pro￾duct groups, 1933 52

8 Sources of cotton cloth supply, 1875-1931 54

9 Output and number of workers in Chinese- and foreign-owned

factories, 1933 58

10 Percentage of total output by Chinese and foreign firms in selected

industries 60

11 Output of the several sectors of agriculture, 1933 64

12 Gross value of farm output, 1914-57 64

13 Physical output of plant products, 1914-57 66

14 Index numbers of agricultural prices, terms of trade, land values,

farm wages, land tax, 1913-37 68

15 Distribution of rural land ownership, 1934-35 78

16 Tenancy, rented land, farm size, rent systems, and rental rates in the

1930s 81

17 Percentage of farm families in various ownership categories 84

18 Sources of farm credit, 1934 88

19 Index numbers of passenger miles and freight ton miles carried on

the Chinese government railways, 1912-47 97

20 Reported receipts and expenditures of the Nanking government,

1928-37 106

xiv

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LIST OF TABLES XV

21 Note issue and price index, 1937-48 114

22 Foreign investments in China, 1902-36 117

23 Foreign investment in China, 1902-36, by creditor country 118

24 Foreign direct investments in China by industry 119

25 Geographical distribution of foreign investments in China, 1902,

1914, 1931 120

26 Values and index numbers of foreign trade, 1912-36 122

27 Balance of international payments, 1903, 1930, 1935 123

28 Composition of foreign trade 124

29 Distribution of foreign trade among trading partners 126

30 Estimated number of foreign 'firms' and residents in China 148

31 Growth of the Protestant church in China 168

32 Relative strengths of Protestant denominations, 1919 169

33 The largest Protestant missionary societies, 1919 171

34 Protestant missionary schools and enrolments, 1919 174

35 Indoor Staff of the Customs Revenue Department, 1915 184

36 Foreign shares in coal mining and cotton textile industries 200

37 National-level legislative organs of the early Republic 265

38 Increase in population of some Chinese cities over the war years 751

39 Principal secular foreign periodicals in China 834

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