A Tale of Two Utopias: Kang Youwei’s Communism, Mao Zedong’s Classicism and the “Accommodating Look” of the Marxist Li Zehou
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2017.5.1.103-122Keywords:
Kang Youwei, Li Zehou, Confucianism, Chinese Utopianism, Chinese MarxismAbstract
In the Datong Shu the Confucianist philosopher Kang Youwei (1858–1927) attempted to describe in an utopian fashion the end of history, as consisting of the abolition of private property, the institution of a world government, the disruption of marriage and the eradication of social differences. With his book, Kang somehow anticipated Mao’s use of the traditional ideal of datong as a revolutionary concept. In my paper, I will discuss a debate on the Datong Shu from the 1950’s, when a young Li Zehou (1930–) defended Kang’s utopianism from the accusations of ‘conservatism’ moved by orthodox Marxists. Li’s “benevolent look” on Kang may serve as an interesting anticipation of his later efforts to synthesize Marxist and Confucianism.Downloads
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References
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–––. 1982. Gonghe Pingyi 共和评议 (Impartial Words on Republicanism) Kang Youwei Zhenglunji 康有为政论集 (A Collection of Political Essays by Kang Youwei), edited by Tang Zhijun, 2 vol. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
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Xia, Tingting 夏婷婷, and Du Juhui 杜菊辉. 2010. “Mao Zedong yu Kang Youwei shehui sixiangguan zhi bijiao 毛泽东与康有为社会思想观之比较 (Comparing the Social Ideologies of Mao Zedong and Kang Youwei).” Hunan Gongxue Daxue xuebao 湖南工学大学学报 (Journal of the Hunan University of Technology) 15 (6): 78–81.
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Chan, Sylvia. 2003. “Li Zehou and New Confucianism.” In New Confucianism: A Critical Examination, edited by John Makeham, 105–25. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
De Giorgi, Laura, and Guido Samarani. 2005. La Cina e la storia. Roma: Carocci.
Ding, John Zijiang. 2002. “Li Zehou: Chinese Aesthetics from a Post-Marxist and Confucian Perspective.” In Contemporary Chinese Philosophy, edited by Chung-ying Cheng and Nicholas Bunnin, 246–59. Oxford: Blackwell.
Du, Enlong 杜恩龙. 2002. “Kang Youwei ‘Datongshu’ shougao faxian ji chuban jingguo 康有为大同书手稿发现及出版经过 (The Discovery of the Manuscript of Kang Youwei’s Datongshu and the Process of Its Publicati).” Wenshi qinghua 文史精华 (The Essence of History and Literature) 5: 60–63.
Foucault, Michel. 1984. “Des Espaces Autres.” Architecture/Mouvement/Continuité, 46–49.
Fourier, Charles. 1971. Design for Utopia: Selected Writings. Studies in the Libertarian and Utopian Tradition. New York NY: Schocken.
Gao, Ruiquan 高瑞泉. 2009. “Lun pingdeng guannian de rujia sixiang ziyuan 论平等观念的儒家思想资源 (Discussing the Classicist Sources of Egalitarian Views).” Shehui kexue 社会科学 (Social Sciences) 4: 120–7.
Hsiao, Kung-chuan. 1975. A Modern China and a New World. Kang Yu-wei, Reformer and Utopian, 1858–1927. Seattle WA: University of Washington Press.
Kang, Youwei 康有为. 2010. Datongshu 大同书, edited by Jiang Yihua and Zhang Ronghua, Beijing: Zhongguo Renmin Daxue Chubanshe.
–––. 1982. Gonghe Pingyi 共和评议 (Impartial Words on Republicanism) Kang Youwei Zhenglunji 康有为政论集 (A Collection of Political Essays by Kang Youwei), edited by Tang Zhijun, 2 vol. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
Li, Zehou 李泽厚. 1979a. “Datongshu de pingjia wenti yu xiezuo niandai 大同书的评价问题与写作年代 (The Problem of Classifying and Dating the atongshu).” Wenshizhe 文史哲 (Literature, History, Philosophy), 1957. In Zhongguo jindai sixiangshi lun 中国近代思想史论 (Essays on Modern Chinese Intellectual History). Beijing: Renmin chubanshe.
–––. 1979b. “Lun Kang Youwei de Datongshu 论康有为的大同书 (On Kang Youwei’s Datongshu)”. Wenshizhe 文史哲 (Literature, History, Philosophy), 1955. In Zhongguo jindai sixiangshi lun 中国近代思想史论 (Essays on Modern Chinese Intellectual History). Beijing: Renmin chubanshe.
Li, Zehou 李泽厚, and Liu Zaifu 刘再复. 1999. Gaobie geming: ershi shiji duitan lu 告别革命: 二十世纪对谈录 (Farewell to the Revolution: a Discussion on the 20th Century). Taipei: Maitian Press.
Pines, Yuri. 2012. The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and its Imperial Legacy. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.
Thompson, Laurence G. 1958. Ta-tung shu. The One-World Philosophy of Kang Yuwei. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Wang, Jing, 1996. High Culture Fever: Politics, Aesthetics and Ideology in Deng’s China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Xia, Tingting 夏婷婷, and Du Juhui 杜菊辉. 2010. “Mao Zedong yu Kang Youwei shehui sixiangguan zhi bijiao 毛泽东与康有为社会思想观之比较 (Comparing the Social Ideologies of Mao Zedong and Kang Youwei).” Hunan Gongxue Daxue xuebao 湖南工学大学学报 (Journal of the Hunan University of Technology) 15 (6): 78–81.
Zarrow, Peter. 2012. After Empire. The Conceptual Transformation of the Chinese State, 1885–1924. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.
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Published
30.01.2017
How to Cite
BRUSADELLI, F. (2017). A Tale of Two Utopias: Kang Youwei’s Communism, Mao Zedong’s Classicism and the “Accommodating Look” of the Marxist Li Zehou. Asian Studies, 5(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2017.5.1.103-122
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A Specific Path to Chinese Modernization
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