| The purpose of this study is to re-evaluate the career, reform programs, and national and regional policies of the militarist, Tang Jiyao. An attempt is made to understand his decisions and actions in relation to the concrete circumstances and specific problems which confronted him. The conclusion that Tang, for all his faults, was a nationalistic modernizer challenges the commonly accepted evaluation of Tang as a representative of feudal reaction against Sun Yat-sen, the Guomindang and the Communist Party.; The conditions which shaped Tang's reforms were significantly influenced by his competition with Sun Yat-sen for control of southern China. Both Tang and Sun were committed to transforming China into a modern state, but they differed on the best way to accomplish this end. Their conflict focussed on questions such as the degree of centralization and extrabureaucratic political power necessary to facilitate economic development. These disagreements, which were intermittently relieved by periods of superficial cooperation, resulted in direct rivalry for power in Sichuan, Guangzhou, Guangxi and Yunnan. The struggle with Sun influenced every aspect of Tang's military, political and economic planning, and the formation of his political values and the fate of his reforms cannot be understood without direct reference to these differences with Sun.; The events of these years have most often been told from Sun's point of view, with the perspective of his opponents, such as Tang, either ignored or belittled. It is another primary purpose of this paper to recount the events of this period from an alternative standpoint. This approach will help reconstruct the dynamics which influenced the behavior of the principal actors, and will also serve to clarify the continuities between that time and today. It is assumed that an accurate appraisal of Tang Jiyao's career and reform policies is more important for an understanding of Dengist programs today than the avowedly revolutionary stance of Sun Yat-sen. |
