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Course Code: HI168
Course of Study: War, Revolution and Reform: China Since 1900
Name of Designated Person authorising scanning: Alejandro Chiner Arias
Title: China's response to the West : a documentary survey, 1839-1923
Name of Author: Teng, S.
Name of Publisher: Harvard University Press
Name of Visual Creator (as appropriate):
RECOGNITION OF CHINA'S NEED
T O K N O W T H E W E S T , 1839-1860
CHAPTER Ill.
COMMISSIONER LIN'S PROGRAM
FOR M E E T I N G B R I T I S H A G G R E S S I O N
Unlike the Japanese, the Chinese of a century ago did not look back on a tradition
of borrowing from abroad. The empire was vast and its institutions were slow to
change. It took the rulers of China two decades, after the first defeat by British
arms in 1840, to acknowledge the necessity of studying the West - a necessity
which many Japanese students of the "Dutch learning" had reco nized even before the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853. Japanese scholars, t ough secluded
from foreign contact, were evidently more curious about the Western world than
their contemporaries in China, who knew of the Western merchants at Canton
but made little effort to seek them out.'
Since the Chinese officials were supremely ignorant of the West but wellversed in human nature and in Chinese tradition, they at once applied to the
British those concepts and practices which had become traditional in China's
dealings with barbarians -particularly the joint methods of coercion and persuasion which have so often been combined in Chinese statecraft. This was the approach of the famous Commissioner Lin Tse-hsii when he precipitated the Opium
War in 1839 by blockading the British merchants at Canton and destroying their
opium. His letter to Queen Victoria which forms our first document below was
an appeal to conscience, just as his drastic action at Canton was a resort to force.
Unfortunately for Lin, this combined approach failed in both its aspects; for
British gunboats soon retaliated with superior power, while the British refused to
acknowledge that the opium trade was the main and only point in dispute. To
the Western mind, important questions of diplomatic equality, freedom of trade,
and legal safeguards fpr foreigners in China were also at issue. Chinese o inion
saw only the evil of the opium trade, which poisoned an increasing num er of
Chinese smokers and drained China's vital silver supply out of the country. But
this was too simple a view of the problem which China faced.
We present below two brief items by Lin Tse-hsii. One was written when
he tried to chastise the British, and one afterward. There follows a longer selection
from the first famous geography of the 1840's, a book which tried to describe the
West, almost for the first time in Chinese history. Finally, we note the early
%
E
24
C H I N A ' S NEED T O K N O W THE WEST
growth of nationalistic anti-foreignism at Canton, a sentiment which was eventually to motivate great changes.
In the first document, the righteous moral tone of Commissioner Lin's appeal
to Queen Victoria in 1839 is certainly striking. It indicates that the opium question in the minds of Chinese officials was not entirely, as some have alleged, a
matter of economics; the responsibility of the Confucian monarch for the welfare
of the common people was also involved. Lin Tse-hsii had reached Canton as
imperial commissioner on March 10, 1839, and soon coerced the British merchants
into surrendering their opium stocks, which were publicly destroyed. But by
August it had become apparent to him that the opium trade could be finally
checked only at its source. This famous letter to "the ruler of England" (Ying-ktto
wang, i.e., without distinction of sex) was therefore a further and unprecedented
effort to solve an insoluble problem.
Lin's phraseology toward the British ruler is courteous within the limits of
traditional tributary language. His theory that the barbarians must perish without
the rhubarb,2 tea, and other exports from China is a manifestation of Chinese
egocentricity which has not been entirely absent in recent times. Lin's use of
rewards and punishments to make merchants calculate their advantage and disadvantage is in the Chinese tradition of administrative law. It is plain that the
imperial commissioner expected human nature to be the same in Britain as in
China. More important, he expected it to respond equally to the dictates of moral
conscience.
MORALADVICETO QUEENVICTORIA,
1839 S
DOC. 1. LIN TSE-HSU'S
A communication: magnificently our great Emperor soothes i n d pacifies
China and the foreign countries, regarding all with the same kindness. If
there is profit, then he shares it with the peoples of the world; if there is
harm, then h e removes it on behalf of the world. This is because he tdkes
the mind of heaven and earth as his mind.
The kings of your honorable country by a tradition handed down fyhm
generation to generation have always been noted for their politeness and
submissiveness. W e have read your successive tributary memorials saying,
"In general our countrymen who go to trade in China have always received
His Majesty the Emperor's gracious treatment and equal justice," and so on.
Privately we are delighted with the way in which the honorable rulers of
your country deeply understand the grand principles and are grateful for
the Celestial grace. For this reason the Celestial Court in soothing those from
afar has redoubled its polite and kind treatment. The profit from trade has
been enjoyed by them continuously for two hundred years. This is the
source from which your country has become known for its wealth.
But after a long period of commercial intercourse, there appear among
the crowd of barbarians both good persons and bad, unevenly. Consequently
there are those who smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and so
cause the spread of the poison to all provinces. Such persons who only care
to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are not tolerated
by the laws of heaven and are unanimously hated by human beings. His
Majesty the Emperor, upon hearing of this, is in a towering rage [p. 341.
H e has especially sent me, his commissioner, to come to Kwangtung, and
together with the governor-general and governor jointly to investigate and
settle this matter.
COMMISSIONER LIN'S PROORAM
25
All those people in China who sell opium or smoke opium should receive
the death penalty. If we trace the crime of those barbarians who through
the years have been selling opium, then the deep harm they have wrought
and the great profit they have usurped should fundamentally justify their
execution according to law. We take into consideration, however, the fact
that the various barbarians have still known how to repent their crimes and
return to their allegiance to us by taking the 20,183 chests of opium from
their storeships and petitioning us, through their consular officer [superintendent of trade], Elliot, to receive it. It has been entirely destroyed and
this has been faithfully reported to the Throne in several memorials by this
commissioner and his colleagues.
Fortunately we have received a specially extended favor from His
Majesty the Emperor, who considers that for those who voluntarily surrender there are still some circumstances to palliate their crime, and so for
the time being he has magnanimously excused them from punishment. But
as for those who again violate the opium prohibition, it is difficult for the
law to pardon them repeatedly. Having established new regulations, we
presume that the ruler of your honorable country, who takes delight in our
culture and whose disposition is inclined towards us, must be able to instruct the various barbarians to observe the law with care. It is only necessary to explain to them the advantages and disadvantages and then they
will know that the legal code of the Celestial Court must be absolutely
obeyed with awe.
We find that your country is sixty or seventy thousand li [three li make
one mile, ordinarily] from China. Yet there are barbarian ships that strive
to come here for trade for the purpose of making a great profit. The wealth
of China is used to profit the barbarians. That is to say, the great profit made
by barbarians is all taken from the rightful share of China. By what right
do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people?
Even though the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do us harm, yet
in coveting profit to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others.
Let us ask, where is your conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium
is very strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused
by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your
own country, then even less should you let it be passed on to the harm of
other countries - how much less to China! Of all that China exports to
foreign countries, there is not a single thing which is not beneficial to people:
they are of benefit when eaten, or of benefit when used, or of benefit when
resold: all are beneficial. Is there a single article from China.which has done
any harm to foreign countries? Take tea and rhubarb, for example; the
foreign countries cannot get along for a single day without them. If China
cuts off these benefits with no sympathy for those who are to suffer, then
what can the barbarians rely upon to keep themselves alive? Moreover the
woolens, camlets, and longells [i.e., textiles] of foreign countries cannot be
woven unless they obtain Chinese silk. If China, again, cuts off this beneficial
export, what profit can the barbarians expect to make? As for other foodstuffs, beginning with candy, ginger, cinnamon, and so forth, and articles
for use, beginning with silk, satin, chinaware, and so on, all the things that
26
C H I N A ' S NEED T O K N O W THE WEST
must be had by foreign countries are innumerable. On the other hand,
articles coming from the outside to China can only be used as toys. We can
take them or get along without them. Since they are not needed by China,
what difficulty would there be if we closed the frontier and stopped the
trade? Nevertheless our Celestial Court lets tea, silk, and other goods be
shipped without limit and circulated everywhere without begrudging it in
the slightest. This is for no other reason but to share the benefit with the
people of the whole world.
The goods from China carried away by your country not only supply
your own consumption and use, but also can be divided up and sold to
other countries, producin a triple profit. Even if you do not sell opium,
you still have this threefo d profit. How can you bear to go further, selling
products injurious to others in order to fulfil1 your insatiable desire?
Suppose there were people from another country who carried opium for
sale to England and seduced your people into buying and smoking it; certainly your honorable ruler would deeply hate it and be bitterly aroused.
We have heard heretofore that your honorable ruler is kind and benevolent.
Naturally you would not wish to give unto others what you yourself do not
want. We have also heard that the ships coming to Canton have all had
regulations promulgated and given to them in which it is stated that it is
not permitted to carry contraband goods. This indicates that the administrative orders of your honorable rule have been originally strict and clear.
Only because the trading ships are numerous, heretofore perhaps they have
not been examined with care. Now after this communication has been dispatched and you have clearly understood the strictness of the prohibitory
laws of the Celestial Court, certainly you will not let your subjects dare
again to violate the law.
We have further learned that in London, the capital of your honorable
rule, and in Scotland (Su-ko-lan), Ireland ( Ai-lun), and other places, originally no opium has been produced. Only in several places of India under
your control such as Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Patna, Benares, and hfalwa
has opium been planted from hill to hill, and ponds have been opened for
its manufacture. For months and years work is continued in order to accumulate the poison. The obnoxious odor ascends, irritating heaven and frightening the spirits. Indeed you, 0 King, can eradicate the opium plant in these
places, hoe over the fields entirely, and sow in its stead the five grains [i.e.,
millet, barley, wheat, etc.]. Anyone who dares again attempt to plant and
manufacture opium should be severely punished. This will really be a great,
benevolent goverment policy that will increase the common weal and get
rid of evil. For this, Heaven must support you and the spirits must bring
you good fortune, prolonging your old age and extending your descendants.
All will depend on this act.
As for the barbarian merchants who come to China, their food and drink
and habitation are all received by the gracious favor of our Celestial Court.
Their accumulated wealth is all benefit given with pleasure by our Celestial
Court. They spend rather few days in their own country but more time in
Canton. [p. 351 To digest clearly the legal penalties as an aid to instruction
has been a valid principle in all ages. Suppose a man of another country
f
27
COMMISSIONER LIN'S PROGRAM
comes to England to trade, he still has to obey the English laws; how much
more should he obey in China the laws of the Celestial Dynasty?
Now we have set up regulations governing the Chinese people. He who
sells opium shall receive the death penalty and he who smokes it also the
death penalty. Now consider this: if the barbarians do not bring opium,
then how can the Chinese people resell it, and how can they smoke it? The
fact is that the wicked barbarians beguile the Chinese people into a death
trap. How then can we grant life only to these barbarians? He who takes
the life of even one person still has to atone for it with his own life; yet
is the harm done by opium limited to the taking of one life only? Therefore
in the new regulations, in regard to those barbarians who bring opium to
China, the penalty is fixed at decapitation or strangulation. This is what is
called getting rid of a harmful thing on behalf of mankind.
Moreover we have found that in the middle of the second month of this
year [April 91 Consul [Superintendent] Elliot of your nation, because the
opium prohibition law was very stem and severe, petitioned for an extension
of the time limit. He requested a limit of five months for India and its adjacent harbors and related territories, and ten months for England proper,
after which they would act in conformity with the new re ulations. Now we,
the commissioner and others, have memorialized and ave received the
extraordinary Celestial grace of His Majesty the Emperor, who has redoubled
his consideration and compassion. All those who within the period of the
coming one year (from England) or six months (from India) bring opium
to China by mistake, but who voluntarily confess and completely surrender
their opium, shall be exempt from their punishment. After this limit of time,
if there are still those who bring opium to China then they will plainly
have committed a wilful violation and shall at once be executed according
to law, with absolutely no clemency or pardon. This may be called the height
of kindness and the perfection of justice.
Our Celestial Dynasty rules over and supervises the myriad states, and
surely possesses unfathomable spiritual dignity. Yet the Emperor cannot
bear to execute people without having first tried to reform them by instruction. Therefore he especially promulgates these fixed regulations. The
barbarian merchants of your country, if they wish to do business for a
prolonged period, are required to obey our statutes respectfully and to cut
off permanently the source of opium. They must by no means try to test
the effectiveness of the law with their lives. May you, 0 King, check your
wicked and sift your vicious people before they come to China, in order to
guarantee the peace of your nation, to show further the sincerity of your
politeness and submissiveness, and to let the two countries enjoy together
the blessings of 2eace. How fortunate, how fortunate indeed1 After receiving
this dispatch will you immediately give us a prompt reply regarding the
details and circumstances of your cutting off the opium traffic. Be sure not
to put this off. The above is what has to be communicated. [Vermilion
endorsement:] This is appropriately worded and quite comprehensive
( Te-t'ichw-tao).
In retrospect it is plain that the Manchu-Chinese defiance of Britain never
had the slightest chance of military success. Confident of their power, the British
f
28
C H I N A ' S NEED T O K N O W THE WEST
soon opened hostilities, and in 1840 Commissioner Lin was recalled from Canton
in disgrace for having produced a war instead of a settlement. As unishment
he was ordered to start on his way into exile in Ili.6 On the basis o his recent
experience with the British at Canton, he wrote letters in 1842 to various friends
frankly admitting China's military inferiority to the West and favoring her purchase and manufacture of ships and guns patterned after the Western model.
This confession is in sharp contrast with his former intransigent action in
Canton. Had his plans for making modern weapons been carried out, China's
modernization movement might have been advanced twenty years. Unfortunately,
with the Court opposed to it, he dared not make an overt advocacy of Westernization but told only his friends and asked them to keep it confidential. One of
these letters, translated below, was addressed to Wu Tzu-hsii,? a compiler of
the Hanlin Academy and a good friend of WO-jen and Tseng Kuo-fan (on these
men, see Chapter V1 and Doc. 18).
P
220
REFORM A N D REVOLUTION
CHAPTER X X I I . L l A N G C H ' I - C H ' A O
AND
Liang Ch'i-ch'ao in the early twentieth century became the most influential
of all Chinese pubiicists. When he first rose to fame. during the Reform Movement
in 1898, his thought had been in line with that of his teacher, K'ang Yu-wei. But
after they had both escaped abroad into exile in that year, K'ang made little
change in his ideas, while Liang, as a refugee in Japan, a newspaper editor, and
a voracious reader of Japanese and other new books, made great progress. Instead
of admiring Mencius, he now liked to talk about Rousseau and Montesquieu; instead of urging the protection of Confucianism, he now tried in many respects to
go beyond the scope of K'ang's ideas.
In Japan the name of his periodical was changed three times. From 1898 to
1901 it was called Ch'ing-i pao, "a paper of public opinions." After 1902 it was
changed to Hsin-min ts'ung-pao, "a miscellaneous aper for a new eeople." After
1910 it became the Kuo-feng pao, "a paper for t e national spirit. The second
title has a special significance because, after the repeated failures of the selfstrengthening movement and other reform movements, Liang Ch'i-ch'ao realized
that not only must China's institutions and political and social systems undergo a
change, but the Chinese people themselves must basically be reborn or rejuvenated. Hence the theme of the "new people" or "the renovation of the people" as the
major motif of the magazine. It aimed to lead a patriotic, new culture movement.
As the decade after 1900 gave increasing evidence of the impending collapse
of the dynasty, the way was opened for the rebel element among the Chinese
scholar class to develop their theories of reform and try further to rationalize and
understand the disaster which had overtaken China's ancient society. In this
~ e r i o d ,Liang Ch'i-ch'ao appeared to represent the more significant wing of the
rebel reformers. While he was less of a political organizer than Sun Yat-sen, Liang
symbolized for the student class the great tradition of Chinese scholarship, face to
face with the unprecedented problems posed by the West. His wide-ranging interests and eloquent style gave his writings great force, and there is little doubt
that he taught his generation many lessons in the principles of patriotism and citizenship, as well as in political theory generally. The following essay of 1902, "The
renovation of the people," from the first issue of his periodical Hsin-min ts'ung-pao,
had its original classical connotation and has also had its unworthy historical descendant, in the "New people's principles" (Hsin-min chu-l), with which the
Japanese puppet government of North China after 1937 tried to compete with the
"Three people's principles" (San-min chu-i) and the Kuomintang. Mao Tse-tung's
"New Democracy" (Hsin min-chu chu-i) is today a sort of semantic nephew of
Liang Ch'i-ch'ao S Hsin-min.
After the abolition of the eight-legged essay, young Chinese students were no
longer supplied with fixed models to follow in writing essays. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao's
articles were widely read for their style in the schools of the Republic as late
as the 1930's. He was a powerful and emotional writer, and articles such as this
roused a whole generation to formulate and meet new issues. Whatever his eventual place as a philosopher of change in modern China, Liang made an enormous
contribution to the promotion of patriotism in the early part of the twentieth
century.
R
DOC. 55. "THERENOVATION
OF
THE
PEOPLE"
BY LIANG
CH'I-CH'AO,1902
A state is formed by the assembly of its people. The relationship of a
LlANG CH'I-CH'AO
AND NATIONALISM
221
nation to its people resembles that of the body to its four limbs, five viscera,
muscles, veins, and corpuscles. There has never been a case where the four
limbs have been cut off, the five viscera wasted away, the muscles and
veins injured, and the corpuscles dried up, while the body still lived. In the
same way, there has never been a nation which could still exist if its people
were foolish, timid, disorganized, and confused. Therefore, if we wish [p. 21
the body to live for a long time, the methods of hygiene must be understood. If we wish the nation to be secure, rich, and respectable, the methods
for creating a new people must be discussed.
The Renovation of the People as the First
and Most Urgent Matter for China Today
Now I wish to explain thoroughly why a new people is the most urgent
and necessary matter. My argument has two bases. One concerns domestic
administration and the other concerns diplomatic affairs.
What concerns domestic administration? There are many in the country
who are discussing political methods. They would say, A misgoverns the
nation or B injures the people; a certain case is a mistake of the government, and a certain system is the fault of officials who have neglected their
duty. I do not presume to say that such things are not true. Nevertheless,
how is the government formed? Where do the officials come from? Do they
not come from among the populace? Is A or B not a member of the citizenry?
. [p. 31 Why do we have to worry about the lack of a new
system, a new government, and a new nation? Even though today we change
a law and tomorrow we replace a person, a little painting in the east, a
little touch in the west, learning and imitating, I cannot see that there is
much help. Why, then, in our country where the new institutions have been
discussed for several decades, are the results invisible? I t is because we
have not yet paid attention to the theory of a new people.
[P. 51 What concerns diplomatic affairs? Since the sixteenth century,
about four hundred years ago, the reason for European development and
world progress has been the stimulation and growth of extensive nationalist
feeling everywhere. What does nationalism mean? I t is that in all places
people of the same race, the same language, the same religion, and the same
customs regard each other as brothers and work for independence and selfgovernment, and organize a more perfect government to work for the public
welfare and to oppose the infringement of other races. When this idea had
developed to an extreme at the end of the nineteenth century, it went further and became national imperialism within the last twenty or thirty years.
What does national imperialism mean? I t means that the industrial power
of the citizens of a nation has been fully developed domestically and must
flow to the outside, and thus they industriously seek to enlarge their powers
in other (dependent) regions as appendages. The way of doing it is by military power, commerce, industry or religion, but they use a central policy
Now, on the Asiatic continent
to direct and protect these activities.
there is located the largest country with the most fertile territory, the most
corrupt [p. 61 government, and the most disorganized and weak people.
As soon as the European race discovered our internal condition, they mobi-
..
..
..
I
REFORM A N D R E V O L U T I O N
222
lized their national imperialism as swarms of ants attach themselves to what
is rank and foul and as a myriad of arrows concentrate on a target. They
were scattered but they concentrated in this corner, the Russians in Manchuria, the Germans in Shantung, the English in the Yangtze valley, the
French in Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and the Japanese in Fukien. All are
urged on by the tide of the new "ism" (national imperialism). They cannot
help doing this.
[P. 71 If we wish to oppose the national imperialism of all the powers
today and save China from great calamity and rescue our people, the only
thing for us to do is to adopt the policy of promoting our own nationalism.
If we wish to promote nationalism in China, there is no other means of
doing it except through the renovation of the people.
Today, over the whole country, everybody is worrying about the foreign
trouble. Nevertheless, if the foreigners can really cause us trouble, it cannot
be ended just by worrying. The stubbornness and aggressiveness of national
imperialism is very severe, and yet we are still discussing whether the
foreigners can really cause us trouble or not. How foolish we are! I think
the existence or non-existence of the trouble will not be decided bv, the
foreigners, but by our domestic condition. In general, all nations are certainly using the same "ism." But why does Russia not apply it to England,
and England not apply it to Germany, and Germany not apply it to America,
and the various countries of Europe and America not apply it to Japan? It
depends on whether there is a chance for doing so or not. . . Thus, in consideration of present-day China, we must not depend upon a temporary
wise emperor or minister to allay the disorder, nor expect a sudden rise of
one or two heroes from the rural countryside to lead our struggle for success; it is necessary to have our people's virtue, people's wisdom, and
people's power of the whole number of four hundred million all become
equal to that of the foreigners - then they naturally cannot cause us trouble
and we need not worry about them. . .
..
Explanation of the Meaning of "The New People"
The term "new people" does not mean that our people must give up
entirely what is old in order to follow others. There are two meanings of
"new." One is to temper and grind what is original in the people and so
renew it; the other is to adopt what was originally lacking in the people and
so make a new people. Without one of the two, there will be no success.
Generally, a nation which can endure in the world must have some
peculiar characteristics on the part of its nationals. From morals and laws
down to customs, habits, literature, and fine arts, all share a kind of independent spirit which has been handed down from grandfather to father
and inherited by their descendants. Thus the group is formed and the nation
develops. This is really the fundamental source of nationalism. Our people
have been established as a nation on the Asiatic continent for several thousand years, and we must have some characteristics which are grand, eminent, and perfect, and distinctly different from those of other races; we
should preserve these and not let them be lost. What is called preserving,
however, is not to let (the spirit of the people) naturally appear and grow
..
SUN YAT-SEN
223
and carelessly say, "I'm preserving it, I'm preserving it." It is like a tree unless some new boughs come out every year, its withering may soon be
expected; as with a well -unless there is always some new spring bubbling,
its exhaustion is not far away. Are the new boughs asd the new spring
coming from the outside? They are old, and yet we cannot but cail them
new. Only if we can make something new every day can we find the means
to keep the old complete. . .
[P. 91 If we wish to make our nation strong, we must investigate extensively the methods followed by all other nations and races in becoming
independent. Selecting their superior points, we can appropriate them to
make up our own shortcomings. Now with regard to politics, academic
ideas, and techniques, our critics know how to take the superior points of
others to 611 up our own gaps; but they do not know that the people's
virtue, the people's wisdom, and the people's power are really the great
source of politics, academic learning, and techniques. If they do not take
this but adopt that, neglect the roots but tend the branches, it will be no
different from seeing the luxuriant growth of another tree and wishing to
graft its branches on to our withered trunk, or seeing the bubbling flow of
another well and wishing to take some of the water to fill up our own dry
well. Thus, to adopt and make up what we originally lacked in order to
renovate our people should be deeply and carefully considered.
[P. 101 All the phenomena in the world are governed by no more than
two great principles: one is conservative and the other is aggressive. Those
who are applying these two principles are inclined either to the one or to
the other. Sometimes the two arise simultaneously and conflict with each
other; and sometimes the two exist simultaneously and compromise with
each other. No one can exist who is inclined only to one. Where there is
conflict, there must be compromise, and conflict is the forerunner of compromise. He who is good at making compromises is a great citizen, such as you
find among the Anglo-Saxon race. . . Thus what I mean by "new people"
are not those who are intoxicated with Western customs, despising the
morals, academic learning, and customs of our several-thousand-year-old
country in order to keep company with others; nor are they those who
stick to old paper and say that merely embracing the several thousand years
of our own morals, academic learning, and customs will be sufficient to
enable us to stand up on the great earth.
..
C H A P T E R X X I I I . S U N Y A T - S E N ' S EARLY
REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAM
Compared with the imposing prestige of Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, a leader of the
scholarly elite who had been for a time near the font of power and might be
there again, Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) in his early days was something of a halfcaste. Educated in Hawaii and Hongkong as well as in his native village near
Macao, trained in Western medicine and only semi-trained in the Chinese classics,
he never became an insider among the upper-class literati. His schemes and pro-
224
REFORM A N D R E V O L U T I O N
motions, in league with Japanese liberal-expansionists and among Chinese merchants and laundrymen overseas, eventually led to the organization of a followin which financed rebellions. Sun and the Kuomintang had their ori in on the
cu!
ltural frontier between China and the West. Like many of his fol owers, he
came from the Canton delta, which had known foreign trade longer than any other
area in China and had already led the way in nationalistic anti-foreignism. Sun's
thinking was not formed in the Confucian mold nor, in fact, in any particular
mold. This fitted him to play a shifting ideological role in a period of rapid change.
The revolutionary movement led by Sun Yat-sen, which he had launched in
a minor way soon after the Sino-French war of 1884-85, developed side by side
with the imperial reform program. In those first days, however, Sun had not yet
reached any conclusive political principles. His program for China's reconstruction developed more slowly than his persistent plotting to overthrow the Manchus.
From the time of the Sino-Japanese war Sun's political ideas became somewhat
more definite. Their development can be roughly divided into two main periods.
The first is represented by such records as his letter to Li Hung-chang and the
Manifesto of the Hsing-Chung-hui (Revive China Society), both dated 1894.
The former was a plan for the economic development of China which Sun asserted was necessary for the salvation of the country; reliance on ships and cannon
was not enough. As may be seen in the following excerpts,' Sun was concerned
at this time almost exclusively with developing competent personnel and carrying
out technological improvements; his letter does not indicate any interest in the
possibility or prospect of social reorganization aside from the adoption of Western
technology.
k
[P. 71 After deep reflection, I realize that the roots of wealth and power
in Europe do not lie entirely in solid ships, efficient guns, strong forts, and
crack troops, but also in that a man can use his talents to the utmost, a
piece of land can produce to the utmost, natural resources can be exploited
to the utmost, and commercial goods be circulated almost without restriction.
[P. 91 Without good education a man's talents will be wasted; without
tactful encouragement, a scholar will live in melancholy in the countryside,
and without a rational employment policy, a man in the government may
be advanced by sheer good luck. If attention were paid to these three things
in their proper order, then a man would be able to use his ability to the
utmost.
[P. 111 A department in charge of agricultural administration can make
the people work hard; special researches on agriculture can improve plant
and animal husbandry; and agricultural machines can save human labor.
These three procedures should be studied and imitated by our country in
order to raise the yield of the land.
[P. 121 If machines are widely used, it is easy to open mines, to dredge
rivers, and to weave and make cloth, all for the benefit of the people.
Light, heat, and electricity are examples of common natural resources
available to all nations; the degree to which they are put to practical use,
however, varies with the degree of technological advance. The five metals
and the various kinds of grain, o the other hand, are products of the earth
which are not possessed by all n tions and which furthermore require skill
to produce and use.
[P. 131 A high circulation of commercial goods is contingent upon the
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SUN YAT-SEN
removal of [numerous transit] taxesband upon effective laws for the protection of commerce, and possession of many steamships and railways for
transport.
Commerce is of great concern to a nation's wealth and power.
[P. 151 When a man can use his ability to the utmost, all enterprises
will be undertaken; when the land can yield to the utmost, people will have
enough to eat; when natural resources can be exploited to the utmost, the
national economic strength will be great; when commodities can be circulated without restriction, financial resources will b e abundant. Thus these
four elements are the principal sources of wealth and power, and provide
the solid foundations of a nation.
We need not be concerned about our
ability to bring off a large enterprise in this country but w e should worry
about the lack of people to do it. The weakness of China today is caused not
only by the shortage of able people, but also by the large number of
ignorant people. The small number of able people can be supplemented by
inviting in foreign experts.
But the large number of ignorant people,
even though replaced by others who could do their work, would still try
their best to hinder any new enterprise. That is why whenever a new enterprise is undertaken in our nation it is either restricted by precedents or
impeded by a flood of criticism. That is the principal cause of the illness of
Chinese society.
I have admired you, Grand Secretary [Li Hung-chang],
[as one]
who considers the recruiting of talented men as an urgent matter.
A
person like me may also be drilled and enlisted among your employees.
Therefore I disregard the modest dimensions of my own ability in order
to seek your recognition.
[P. 171 Among the four great items, . although the training of personnel in schools to be established throughout the empire should b e a
matter of high priority,
the improvement of agriculture is even more
urgent.
Since our country has attempted to adopt Western knowledge
I have never heard anyone speak of the imitation of western agricultural
methods.
[P. 191 I plan to travel to France this year [l8941 to study under famous
I also plan to travel all over the world to investiexperts on sericulture.
I sincerely hope that the Grand Secretary will
gate agricultural work.
help me to carry out these plans.
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According to the party historian, Tsou Lu, Li Hung-chang is said to have
taken great interest in this letter and to have given Sun a passport in order that
he might raise funds abroad for agriculture and sericulture.
Meanwhile, however, Sun observed that Li was old as well as lacking in initiative, revolutionary ardor, and breadth of view; furthermore, China under the
Manchu government soon suffered defeat by Japan. He therefore went to Honolulu to organize the Hsing-Chung-hui. Had he been emplo ed by Li Hung-chang
as a secretary or in some other capacity he might well ave developed into a
different person, and had a different career.
The Manifesto of the Hsing-Chung-hui claimed to deal with the political
problem of China. Sun was in touch with secret societies, particularly the Triads,
who were strongest in South China and overseas, and was now preaching revolution. The Manifesto was mainly a condemnation of the corruption and weakness
of the Ch'ing government, while the purpose of the organization was stated to
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226
REFORM A N D R E V O L U T I O N
be the revival of China against government repression and foreign aggression.
All of this was formulated in rather vague and indirect terms. Republicanism had
not yet become a force to attract those who were radically dissatisfied with the
existing situation.
According to Sun's own account, it was during his two-year sojourn in Europe
(1898.1898) that the general outline of his later San-min chu-t, the "Three people's principles," was formed. He discovered that with all their technolo and
nationalism, the Western nations were still beset by disturbing economic angocial
problems. Ideas that finally led to the principle of the people's livelihood (minsheng, an ancient phrase) germinated in his mind. Apart from the intellectual
influences of the West, Sun had the melodramatic experience of being 'lidnapped"
or detained in the Chinese Legation at London in 1896 and saved from deportation and death only by the effort of British friends and the Foreign Office itself.
This hair-raising episode was a powerful stimulus toward compelling him to bring
his revolutionary aims into more concrete form, inasmuch as he seemed thereafter
more than ever marked for leadership. Still not completely disillusioned with the
old official hierarchy, however, Sun Yat-sen is said to have approached Li Hungchang again during the Boxer incident and urged him to declare his independence
from the Manchu government, so that his independent regime might then become
a democratic republic. Nothing came of this proposal.
This incident of 1900 seems to have marked the transition into the second
period of Sun's early revolutionary thought. Now the political aim of the revolution had become definitely republicanism, the rallying sentiment of the movement, nationalism. The means was to be revolution by force. Like the French of
1789, Sun believed that all old structures could be torn down and new ones set
up in their place; but, in addition, he showed himself also strongly influenced by
the nineteenth century cult of science, in that he drew up precise formulae for
the revolution, and believed that it could be carried out according to a blue-print.
All this crystallized in the Manifesto issued at the founding of the T'ung-menghui at Tokyo in 1905. The program laid down in this document was elsewhere
referred to by its author as the "revolutionary program." Political questions were
predominant in it. Sun Yat-sen deserves great credit, certainly, for his success in
formulating here the central idea of China's modern political revolution: the conce tion of political tutelage by a provisional government which would train the
poyiticnlly-inert Chinese populace for eventual participation in a constitutionnl
democracy. The three stages set forth in his manifesto of 1905 have remained
theoretically valuable ever since, even though political practice has fallen short.
This manifesto of 1905 also strikes a new and truly revolutionary note in espousing the equalization of land ownership - in short, land redistribution - an old
device, but a potent one. This idea, among all the desiderata and panaceas which
have been quoted above, no doubt appears here because this is one of the first
Chinese documents of modern times which was written ex licitly for purposes of
political revolt. This fact makes it all the more remarka le, however, that no
scholar or high official seems to have raised earlier the issue of land redistribution
as a possible element in self-strengthening or reform. The fact is that all the long
line of individuals we have thus far quoted in this volume had shied away from
the idea of fundamental revolution in the Chinese way of life. Before the time
of Liang and Sun, they had all failed to consider the possibility of raising the
condition of the peasantry to that of literate, property-owning, economically-independent, politically-active citizens. Even Liang was more aware of the "new citizen's" duties than of his rights, while Sun was not able to keep land reform in the
forefront of his mind or program. This Western liberal conception, which began
to drift into the Chinese scene in the 1900's, had certainly never entered into the
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227
SUN YAT-SEN
calculations of the Empress Dowager or Chang Chih-tung in the declining years
of the Ch'ing, for it was antithetic to the privileged status of the landlord-scholarofficial class on which the old order was based.
~esides5ettin~
forth the aims of the revolutionists, the 1905 manifesto was also
to serve as a reclamation by local revolutionary regimes at a future time, wherever
an uprising s ould take place.
g
DOC. 56. THE MANIFESTO
OF
THE
TUNG-MENG-HUI,
1905 S
-
By order of the Military Government, on the
day, - month,
T'ien-yun,4 the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese National
Army proclaims the purposes and platform of the Military Government to
the people of the nation:
-year of
Now the National Army has established the Military Government, which
aims to cleanse away two hundred and sixty years of barbarous filth, restore
our four-thousand-year-old fatherland, and plan for the welfare of the four
hundred million people. Not only is this an unavoidable obligation of the
Military Government, but all our fellow-nationals should also take it as their
own responsibility. We recall that, since the beginning of our nation the
Chinese have always ruled China; although [p. 21 at times alien peoples
have usurped the Ale, yet our ancestors were able to drive them out and
restore Chinese sovereignty so that they could hand down the nation to
posterity. Now the men of Han [i.e., the Chinese] have raised a righteous
[or patriotic] army to exterminate the northern barbarians. This is a continuation of heroic deeds bequeathed to us by our predecessors, and a
great righteous cause lies behind it; there is none among us Chinese who
does not understand this. But the revolutions in former generations, such as
the Ming Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, were concerned
only with the driving out of barbarians and the restoration of Chinese rule.
Aside from these they sought no other change. We today are different from
people of former times. Besides the driving out of the barbarian dynasty
and the restoration of China, it is necessary also to change the national
polity and the people's livelihood. And though there are a myriad ways
and means to achieve this goal, the essential spirit that runs through them
all is freedom, equality, and fraternity. Therefore in former days there were
heroes' revolutions, but today we have a national revolution [Kuo-min
ko-ming,lit., revolution of the people of the country]. "National revolution"
means that all people in the nation will have the spirit of freedom, equality,
and fraternity; that is, they will all bear the responsibility of revolution.
The Military Government is but their agent. From now on the people's
responsibility will be the responsibility of the Military Government, and
the achievements of the Military Government will be those of the people.
With a cooperative mind and concerted effort, the Military Government and
the people will thus perform their duty. Therefore we proclaim to the
world in utmost sincerity the outline of the present revolution and the
fundamental plan for the future administration of the nation.
1) Drive out the Tartars: The Manchus of today were originally the
eastern barbarians beyond the Great Wall.They frequently caused border
228
REFORM A N D R E V O L U T I O N
troubles during the Ming dynasty; then when China was in a disturbed state
they came inside Shanhaikuan, conquered China, and enslaved our Chinese
people. Those who opposed them were killed by the hundreds of thousands, and our Chinese have been a people without a nation for two hundred
and sixty years. The extreme cruelties and tyrannies of the Manchu government have now reached their limit. With the righteous army poised against
them, we will overthrow that government, and restore our sovereign rights.
Those Manchu and Chinese military men who have a change of heart and
come over to us will be granted amnesty, while those who dare to resist will
be slaughtered without mercy. Chinese who act as Chinese traitors in the
cause of the Manchus will be treated in the same way.
2 ) Restore China: China is the China of the Chinese. The government
of China should be in the hands of the Chinese. After driving out the
Tartars we must restore our national state. Those who dare to act like Shih
Ching-t'ang or Wu San-kuei [both were traitors] will be attacked by the
whole country.
3 ) Establish the Republic: Now our revolution is based on equality, in
order to establish a republican government. All our people are equal and
all enjoy political rights. The president will be publicly chosen by the
people of the country. The parliament will be made up of members publicly
chosen by the people of the country. A constitution of the Chinese Republic
will be enacted, and every person must abide by it. Whoever dares to make
himself a monarch shall be attacked by the whole country.
4 ) Equalize land ownership: The good fortune of civilization is to be
shared equally by all the people of the nation. We should improve our social
and economic organization, and assess the value of a11 the land in the
country. Its present price shall be received by the owner, but all increases
in value resulting from reform and social improvements after the revolution
shall belong to the state, to be shared by all the people, in order to create
a socialist state, where each family within the empire can be well supported,
each person satisfied, and no one fail to secure employment. Those who dare
to control the livelihood of the people through monopoly shall be ostracized.
The above four points will be carried out in three steps in due order.
The first period is government by military law. When the righteous army
has arisen, various places will join the cause. The common people of each
locality will escape from the Manchu fetters. Those who come upon the
enemy must unite in hatred of him, must join harmoniously with the compatriots within their ranks and suppress the enemy bandits. Both the armies
and the people will be under the rule of military law. The armies will do
their best in defeating the enemy on behalf of the people, and the people
will supply the needs of the armies, and not do harm to their security. The
local administration, in areas where the enemy has been either already defeated or not yet defeated, will b e controlled in general by the Military
Government, so that step by step the accumulated evils can be swept away.
Evils like the oppression of the government, the greed and graft of officials,
the squeeze of government clerks and runners, the cruelty of tortures and
penalties, the tyranny of tax collections, the humiliation of the queue - r
shall all be exterminated together with the Manchu rule. Evils in social
SUN Y A T - S E N
229
customs, such as the keeping of slaves, the cruelty of foot-binding, the
spread of the poison of opium, the obstructions of geomancy (feng-shui),
should also all be prohibited. The time limit for each district (hden) is
three years. In those hsien where real results are achieved before the end of
three years, the military law shall be lifted and a provisional constitution
shall be enacted.
The second period is that of government by a provisional constitution.
When military law is lifted in each Wen, the Military Government shall
return the right of self-government to the local people. The members of
local councils and local officials shall all be elected by the people. All rights
and duties of the Military Government toward the people and those of the
people toward the government shall be regulated by the provisional constitution, which shall be observed by the Military Government, the local
councils, and the people. Those who violate the law shall be held responsible.
Six years after the securing of peace in the nation the provisional constitution shall be annulled and the constitution shall be promillgated.
The third period will be government under the constitution. Six years
after the provisional constitution has been enforced a constitution shall be
made. The military and administrative powers of the Military Government
shall be annulled; the people shall elect the president, and elect the members of parliament to organize the parliament. The administrative matters
of the nation shall proceed according to the provisions of the constitution.
Of these three periods the first is the period in which the Military
Government leads the people in eradicating all traditional evils and abuses;
the second is the period in which the Military Government gives the power
of local self-government to the people while retaining general control over
national affairs; the third is the period in which the Military Government is
divested of its powers, and the government will by itself manage the national affairs under the constitution. It is hoped that our people will proceed
in due order and cultivate their free and equal status; the foundation of the
Chinese Republic will be entirely based on this.
[The last paragraph of the manifesto consists of an exhortation to the
Chinese people to rise to the occasion, support the ever-faithful Military
Government, and shoulder the responsibility of protecting the country and
preserving their own ancient and superior race.]