1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910467031103321

Autore

Chen Hon Fai

Titolo

Civilizing the Chinese, competing with the West : study societies in late Qing China / / Chen Hon Fai

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Hong Kong : , : Chinese University Press, , [2017]

©2017

ISBN

988-237-716-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 PDF (xxxix, 276 pages))

Disciplina

951.03

Soggetti

Learned institutions and societies - China - History

Electronic books.

China Intellectual life 1644-1912

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Preface / by Jack Barbalet -- Introduction -- 1. Civilization and its double : genealogy of an essentially contested concept -- 2. Modernity, nationalism and the making of society in late Qing : historical and theoretical perspectives -- 3. Religion, society and the reinvention of Confucian civilization : study societies in the reform era -- 4. Confucian religion in action : the Southern Study Society in Hunan -- 5. Nationalism, military citizenship and civilization : study societies in the revolutionary era -- 6. From social practice to political action : civilization and violence in the making of revolution -- 7. Civilization and social transformation : the moral milieus and local contexts of the study society movement -- 8. Local militarization, semi-colonial commercialization and patterns of gentry dominance : the outcomes of the study society movement.

Sommario/riassunto

This book explores the development of late 19th century study societies in China against the context of the decline of the imperial Qing government and its control on ideological production, widespread social unrest, and intrusions by Western imperialist states. The author uncovers the history of civil society activism in China by examining the study societies in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hunan, which were organized around the goal of promoting and defending the Confucian religion.



Illustrating a facet of the civil society that emerged in China as a reaction to the influences of Christianity, the modernization of Confucianism, and nationalist state formation, this study extends understanding of the unique and complex processes of Chinese political and cultural modernization in ways that differed from that of Western societies.