Different Worlds of Discourse

8/12/2019 Different Worlds of Discourse

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Different Worlds of Discourse: Transformations of Gender and Genre in Late Qing and

Early Republican China, Edited by Nanxiu Qian, Grace S. Fong and Richard Smith,

Brill, Leiden, Boston, 2!, "#"$.

%uring the $ast 2 years there has been a burgeoning interest in late Qing and

early Re$ublican intellectual history and literature as $art o& a larger $ro'ect o& rethin(ing

the nature o& )hinese modernity. *hese $eriods are $articularly germane to such

concerns because they +ere $eriods during +hich )hinese +riters +ere inoled in the

dual $ro'ects o& im$orting ideas &rom the -est and reinter$reting indigenous )hinese

texts in res$onse to the arious $olitical and economic crises. *he edited olume,

Different Worlds of Discourse: Transformations of Gender and Genre in Late Qing and

Early Republican China, ma(es a contribution to the &ield o& modern )hinese cultural

history by &ocusing on a some+hat neglected side o& late Qing and early Re$ublican

studies, namely the intersection o& literary imagination and constructions o& gender. *he

essays in this olume coer a +ide ariety o& to$ics, +hich the editors diide into three

sections, +hich are labeled res$ectiely, /*rans&ormations o& Gender Roles,0

/*rans&ormations o& Genres,0 and /*he 1roduction o& Gender and Genres in Ne+ 1rint

edia.0 *he structure o& the text sho+s ho+ the editors thought&ully begin +ith the

$roblem o& gender, moe to the $roblem o& genres and then $roide essays that

synthesi3e these t+o as$ects in the thirds section, +hich consists o& &ie essays. *he

editors also $roide a hel$&ul introductory essay, in +hich they highlight some common

themes and concerns that $erade the olume. Gien that the olume has a number o&

dierse essays, in this reie+, 4 +ill &ocus on the introduction and certain re$resentatie

essays.

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4n the 4ntroductory cha$ter, the authors sho+ ho+ they contextuali3e the arious

essays in light o& the trans&ormations o& in late #5th and early 2th century )hina. *hey

mention intellectuals +ho /sought some sort o& creatie synthesis inoling both the $ast

and the $resent, a synthesis that +ent beyond the tiyong model, assumed dierse &orms,

and changed oer time, &re6uently in unantici$ated +ays.0 7#8 9ere tiyong o& course

re&ers to the Sel&Strengthening oement and the attem$t to im$ort -estern

technology, +hile (ee$ing )hinese culture 7)on&ucianism8 in tact. *he editors contend

that their boo( ma(es on im$ortant brea(through by &ocusing on authors +ho sought a

creatie synthesis, +hich $oints o$$osition bet+een tradition and modernity and

encourages us to see such categories as &luidly existing /in a ast crucible o& choices.0 728

*he editors examine ho+ +riters in the late Qing made such choices &rom three di&&erent

$ers$ecties, the construction o& gender roles, the deelo$ment o& literary genres and the

emergence o& ne+ &orms o& $rint media. *hese sub'ects +ere generally neglected in the

study o& late Qing and Re$ublican literature and recent studies that deal +ith the aboe

themes do so in a $arochial manner that does not touch on larger issues, such as ho+ to

rethin( late Qing and early Re$ublican history.

*he essays in this olume sho+ ho+ re&ormers and +riters dre+ on both existing

&orms and ne+ genres, such as ne+ &iction and essays, in order to ex$ress ne+ isions o&

and &or +omen. Belo+ 4 +ill brie&ly &ocus on three essays that exem$li&y the com$lex

relationshi$ bet+een ne+ conce$tions o& +omen and noel ie+s on artistic $ractice in

di&&erent +ays. oreoer, the three essays that 4 discuss each attem$t to 6uestion the

hegemony o& the nationstate, and such a 6uestioning is another theme that $erades the

boo(.

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4n her essay, /:*ossing the Brush;< -u =hiying 7#!>!#5?"8 and the @ses o&

)alligra$hy,0 9u Aing contrasts the $ractice o& the &amous &emale late Qing &emale

reolutionary, Qiu in 7#!CD#5C8, +ho discarded her brush in order to 'oin the military

ran(s, +ith -u =hiying, a &emale calligra$her +ho did not /toss the brush.0 *hrough her

study o& -u;s calligra$hy, 9u tries to 6uestion the dichotomies bet+een old and ne+,

+hich is lin(ed to the dichotomy bet+een traditional artistic $ursuits and modern $olitical

endeaors. 4n $articular, she ho$es to loo( at the historically s$eci&ic $olitical meaning

o& -u;s calligra$hy.

9u sho+s ho+ -u;s artistic +or( entailed a $olitical dimension that is obscured

by the sim$le o$$osition bet+een the brush and military action. ore s$eci&ically, the

idea o& o$$osing traditional artistic $ursuits +ith $olitical $ractice usually is $art o& larger

$ro'ect to subsume $olitics in general and +omen;s talent in $articular to the nationstate.

4n 9u;s +ords, /-omen;s talent then became &irmly and directly lin(ed to nationalism

and modern $rogress so that +omen;s education . . . became a $lat&orm +ith ery +ide

a$$eal as literatiintellectuals o& dierse $olitical stri$es su$$orted een as they

denounced this or that strain o& learning as useless.0 7>D8 9u argues that through her

calligra$hy, -u /resisted the inter$ellations o& $o+er&ul &orces een as she engaged them

7+hether such &orces +ere re$resented by im$erial $atronage or nationalist discourse8.0

7!D8 oreoer, she +ould o&ten dra+ on traditional &orms o& calligra$hy in order to

ma(e $olitical gestures, such as +hen she com$osed a $iece to commemorate the death o&

Qiu in. t the same time, her calligra$hy +ould transcend the nationstate by being

lin(ed to Buddhist $ractice, as +hen she meditatiely transcribed the Surangama Sutra.

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-e see elements o& this idea o& transcending nationalism in Grace S. Fong;s

essay, /Recon&iguring *ime, S$ace, and Sub'ectiity L Bicheng;s *rael -ritings on

ount Lu.0 Fong;s contribution analy3es the +or(s o& the &emale author, L Bicheng,

+ho, li(e -u =hiying, de&ied both traditional mores related to her class and resisted the

$reailing nationalist discourse. t a time o& ardent nationalism, L deelo$ed a

cosmo$olitan ision, +hich she ex$ressed in +ritings about the &amous site ount Lu.

-hile many &amous male )hinese authors had +ritten about ount Lu, L deelo$s a

reading o& this s$ace as in&lected by a &oreign $resence and ex$ressing multi$le

tem$oralities.

Hia Hiaohong continues this theme o& 6uestioning the nationstate in her essay on

the late Qing &eminist and anarchist, 9e =hen 7#!!"<8, /*ianyi Bao and 9e =hen;s

Iie+s on -omen;s Reolution.0 9e =hen;s +ritings bring us to another genre, since she

+rote $olemical essays in the $eriodical, Tianyi bao 7ournal o& Natural ustice8, +hich

+as &ounded in #5C. *he 'ournal +as the hub o& a grou$ +ho are no+ (no+n as the

*o(yo anarchists. 4n contrast to the +esterni3ed 1aris anarchists, the *o(yo anarchists

+ere more critical o& im$erialism and -estern culture. 9e =hen;s husband, Liu Shi$ei

7#!!"#5#58 +as &amous &or his classical studies and both 9e =hen and Liu Shi$ei

initially combined classical scholarshi$ +ith the $romotion o& ethnic nationalism against

-estern im$erialism and the anchu em$ire.

9o+eer, by #5C, 9e and Liu began to a&&irm anarchism and &eminism. Hia

notes that Tianyi bao +as concerned +ith both e6uality bet+een the sexes and +ith the

oerthro+ o& the state. Hia contends that these t+o +ere contradictory and this

contradiction might $oint to a &undamental tension in )hinese modernity. S$eci&ically,

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Hia sho+s that the contradiction bet+een &eminism and anarchism in 9e =hen;s +ritings

is closely connected to the o$$osition bet+een tradition and modernity. 9e =hen

ex$lains her &eminist $ro'ect and the name o& 'ournal in the &ollo+ing manner. /Jur

$ur$ose is to destroy the old society and $ractice human e6uality. 4n addition to +omen;s

reolution, +e also adocate racial, $olitical and economic reolutions. *hus its name is

Tianyi bao.0 725C8 9e =hen argues that the o$$ression o& +omen by men is at the heart

o& other o$$ressions and claims that /men are +omen;s mortal enemy.0 72558 She

adocates +omen;s reenge +hich inoles returning to the natural state o& e6uality.

9e =hen connects the existence o& social ine6uality to the existence o& the state in

the &ollo+ing manner

s long as there is astate, there must be goerning bodiesK and these goerning

bodies are +here $o+er is concentrated. s long as there are goerning bodies, theremust be $eo$le sta&&ing them, and thus these $eo$le +ith by necessity ac6uire s$ecial

$riileges. *hus the state is the origin o& human ine6uality. 7?C8

Hia $oints out the 9e =hen;s commitment to both anarchism and &eminism leads

to a contradiction in term o& concrete $olitical $ractice. -e hae seen aboe that 9e

a$$ears to $ut the struggle o& +omen against men at the &ore&ront, but in other essays, she

argues &or the $rimacy o& anarchism

*hus &or +omen o& today, rather than &ighting +ith men &or their rights, it is much

better to oerthro+ the state, and thus to &orce men to gie u$ their $riileges une6ualrightsM, and thus to be e6ual +ith +omen. *hus the +orld +ill no longer hae +omen

+ho are dominated nor men +ho are dominated. 7?#8

9e =hen;s stress on anarchism inoles her con&licting ie+s about traditional

)hinese thought and culture. -e hae seen aboe that she o$$oses traditional alues to

gender e6uality, but both 9e =hen and Liu Shi$ei connected their anarchist ideal to

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%aoism, rather than to modern society. Hia ex$lains that, on this $oint, they +ere

in&luenced by the &ollo+ing comments by Leo *olstoy /%ao in ancient )hinese

$hiloso$hy is the &undamentally humanistic $rinci$le, and is similar in s$irit to the

$rinci$le o& &reedom.0 /*hus -estern Euro$eians +ho lied under ca$italism :hae

com$letely lost their &reedom.;0 7?#28 Follo+ing this logic, Liu and 9e argue that

although the $resent goernment is corru$t, this could actually end u$ being a bene&it. /4t

is because o& the corru$tion and ina$titude o& its current goernment that the )hinese

$eo$le hae been able to some+hat esca$e its control and thus en'oy a small degree o&

&reedom . . . *hus the $olitical custom o& $resent day )hina is closest to anarchism.0

*hey conse6uently conclude that /For )hina to $ractice anarchism is not di&&icult. nd

)hina should there&ore be the &irst to $ractice it among all the countries in the +orld.0

7?#?8 4n other +ords, the %ao has been obscured by corru$t goernment and the

$ossibility o& anarchism lies concealed in a natural realm that lies behind o&&icial enality.

4 hae deled into the 9e =hen;s dilemma in some detail because it ex$resses a

(ey them in the boo(, namely the con&licting ie+s and ealuations o& tradition and

modernity. any o& the contributors to this olume connect the a&&irmation o& modernity

and criti6ue o& tradition to some ty$e o& a&&irmation o& the nationstate. long these

lines, +e hae seen 9u Aing reading o& -u =hiying;s calligra$hy as $artially resisting

the nationstate and Grace Fong;s discussion o& L Bicheng;s cosmo$olitanism.

Hia;s discussion o& 9e =hen brings out the tension bet+een tradition and

modernity in relation to gender and anarchism and also $oints to a direction &or &urther

research. *he essays in the olume o&ten attem$t to 6uestion the dichotomy bet+een the

tradition and modernity, and the editors een state that the signi&icance o& the re&orm era

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has /nothing to do +ith narraties that &ocus on sim$le binary o$$ositions such as

:)hina; ersus :the -est; or :tradition; ersus :modernity;.0 72D8 *he editors also $oint

out that 'uxta$ositions such as those bet+een /tradition0 and /modernity0 /&ramed many

o& the discussions and debates o& the late Qing $eriod.0 72D8 4n this case, $erha$s one

needs to understand ho+ and +hy such debates +ere $roduced in relation to the larger

global context. *he essays in this olume attem$t to address this by ino(ing the nation

stateK ho+eer, Hia;s discussion o& anarchism, suggests the nationstate or nationalist

ideology is not su&&icient to ex$lain the emergence o& dichotomies such as tradition and

modernity, since the sco$e and ideals associated +ith such conce$ts hae as$ects that go

beyond national boundaries. &ull discussion o& this $roblem goes beyond the sco$e o&

this reie+, but the essay seem to call &or a theoretical &rame+or( that is ca$able o&

ma(ing sense o& modernity at a global leel. 4n this +ay, one could aoid dual $it&alls o&

moderni3ation theories that assume the history o& Euro$ean institutions as a model and

the indeterminacy that haunts many contem$orary +or(s that &ail to deal +ith the

category o& modernity in order to deconstruct the o$$osition bet+een tradition and

modernity. By addressing the modernity at a global leel, one could &urther analy3e ho+

gender is constructed in relation to the ne+ categories connected to the global ca$italist

+orld.

*his is o& course a minor $oint and the essays clearly contribute to a richer

understanding o& the intersection bet+een gender and genre in late Qing and early

Re$ublican )hina. oreoer, the essays $roide extremely rich materials to rethin( the

+ay in +hich )hina;s entry into the global ca$italist system o& nationstates entailed

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arious &orms o& cultural trans&ormation. 9ence the boo( should be o& interest to all

serious scholars o& )hinese literature, cultural history and intellectual history.

Iiren urthy

@niersity o& Jtta+a

!

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Different Worlds of Discourse