Symbol, Identity And Nation-State:the National Flag During The Morden China

In modern China, the national flag is not only the symbol of the nation-state, but also the identity of the regime (or the political forces). Due to the political unrest, regime change constantly and the existence of long-term more regimes in modern china, so that the political use of the national flag also present a complex facets.As a symbol of the nation-state, the national flag has the imagery of the nationalist, which makes it become one of the important political symbols which was constructed the nation-state identity. In the late Qing Dynasty, on the basis of the symbols of the emperors and the dynasties, the Dragon flag was gradually endowed with the symbol of the nationalism, with the introduction of the concept of the national and sovereignty. After the establishment of the Republic of China, the formulation of the "Five Color Flag" and was endowed the symbolic of "Five Races Under One Union", and was generalized of symbolism of the national flag, which all on the construction of national identity level using the national flag. Even in the period of the Nanjing National Government, after the national flag was endowed with a strong ideology of "Party-State", the national flag of the application of the "Eight Hundred Heroes" in the period of the Anti-Japanese War. Which the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" can also beyond the "Party-State" ideology, highlighted a strong nationalist imagery, and became a political symbol which the people can imagine the nation-state.However, the national flag was also the identity of the regime (or the political forces), which was a political symbol could be constructed the regime identity in modern China. Various political forces used the factions’(or parties) flag competed for the national flag, and by the power to shape the authority of the national symbol, made the people fly the national flag that constructed the regime identification. So, the national flag had become a political symbol which was used to spread the ideology and to construct the political legitimacy by the political forces. Especially in the whole period of the Republic of China, in addition to the central government, there were heterogeneous forces or different regime, which hanged theirs owns’party flag to demonstrate the peculiarity, or hanged the other regime’s flag that expressed the identity to other regime.From the perspective of the long period of history, the evolution and direction of the political use and symbolism which was the epitome of the modern Chinese nation-state building. Nation-State identity inclouds form of the Country, the Regime and the Party identification. If take the Nation-State as the common divisor, from the made of the "National Flag" of the late Qing Dynasty, to KMT with the party flag for the national flag, and used the national flag making the "Party-State" citizen, which the symbolic of the national flag gradually form do "addition" to do "subtraction" That is to say, in the general trend, the symbol of the modern Chinese national flag had experienced the evolution process which from the regime (dynasty) to the nation-state, and then from the nation-state to the regime (political forces).