Nation, people, anarchy: Liu Shih-p'ei and the crisis of order in modern China

This dissertation examines Liu Shih-p'ei's (1884–1919) intellectual development in the context of the contemporary crisis of order. In doing so, I focus on two intellectual problematiques of enduring significance which began to emerge at around the turn of the twentieth century: (1) the problematique of nationalism in relation to universalism and to the Western model of sociohistorical development; and (2) the problematique of the social-political relationship between the intelligentsia and the masses. These problematiques unfolded in Liu's consciousness in the form of three sets of polarities: the polarity between nationalism and universalism, the love/hate polarity in his attitude to modern Western civilization, and the polarity between a populism and elitism in his attitude to the “people” (min). I argue that the tensions generated by these polarities constituted the conceptual dynamics behind the Protean pattern of Liu's development. (In 1903–1906, Liu was committed to (1) an ethnic nationalism which was imbued with the feelings of resentment to the West and hatred against the Manchus; and (2) a popular revolution which aimed to bring forth a democratic order in China. During his sojourn in Tokyo (1907–1908), Liu became an anarchist and advocated a “fundamental revolution” to end both the capitalist-imperialist order and the major human problems since the dawn of civilization. The final decade of Liu's life was cast in a conservative mold. Before 1911, Liu upheld a conservative, anti-capitalist utopianism which sought to bring back an ideal order located in the Chinese past. After 1911, Liu developed a mystical historicism to justify a wholesale restoration of the Confucian ritual-political order.) Furthermore, I argue that in seeking to lift China from its present plight to a position of dignity and prosperity, Liu was much more in need of an intellectual orientation than a motive to act in the present or a sense of hope for the future. This need is evident in the ideological fervor and vacillations Liu displayed in 1903–1909. It is also evident in Liu's life-long quest for an all-embracing vision of reality, a quest which in turn testifies to the fact that underlying China's social, political and cultural crises was an intellectual-spiritual crisis.