published_or_final_version / abstract / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

 This thesis sets to sketch Chinese intellectuals’ sustained efforts to search for an alternative modernity to the Western model throughout the twentieth century, and uncover the interaction between intellectual politics and Chinese modernity discourse by historicizing and contextualizing Chinese modernity discourse. This study starts with delineating the consistence and the inconsistence of Chinese modernity discourses by juxtaposing different historical conditions and examining reappeared trends of thoughts. Three intellectual currents, i.e., cultural conservatism, humanism, and professionalism, which emerged in the May Fourth period and remerged in the post-socialist condition, are examined to mirror the spiral dynamics and the locus of Chinese modernity. Their respective roles in reconstructing Chinese cultural, ethical and academic orders in response to Western model of modernity are highlighted in the research. Cultural conservatism attempts to legitimize the Chinese culture in the framework of global modernity by resetting or reinterpreting the dialectical relation between the whole and part, universalism, and essentialism. Humanism emphasizes the standard, the guidance of authority, and the self-perfection to resist the ethical disorder caused by the so-called “modern spirit”, which is embodied by individualism, romanticism, and the immoderate expansion of desire. Professionalism influences the pattern of producing and reproducing knowledge about modernity by re-standardizing the academic and the discursive fields and by remolding the identity of the agents. After exposing how the “alternative modernity” in China, as a discursive-political device, has been produced and repackaged with various contents and meanings, this thesis proceeds to explore the intellectual pedestal of Chinese modernity discourses from two aspects. First, how do the intellectual strategies of self-positioning and position-taking influence knowledge production and reproduction of the Chinese modernity discourse; second, how articulation and re-articulation of modernity discourse reflect the self-adjustments of intellectual politics as well as identity shifts. Through the comparative and diachronic examinations, it poses that, as Chinese modernity discourse is increasingly served as a symbolic capital or a strategy of intellectual politics, it gradually loses its authenticity or even becomes a signifier without signified. Meanwhile, the state-led modernization practice is reversely becoming homogenous, stable, and less diverse, although the dominant ideology, namely, socialism with Chinese characteristics, is, in itself, hybrid, paradoxical, and strategically manufactured. / published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

This study is an analysis of changing attitudes towards education in China from the turn of the twentieth century to the May Fourth Movement in 1919. The focus is primarily on popular education (e.g., public lectures, spare-time schools, libraries), although there is discussion of education in general, since an overall context is required in order to highlight changes of attitudes. With the abolition of the traditional civil service examinations, which had been designed to recruit government officials, in 1905 and the implementation of a modern, government school system designed to train a patriotic, loyal and hard-working citizenry, Chinese officials and educators began to stress the importance of general and popular education. In contrast to previous English-language studies that have tended to emphasize the "democratic" aspect of western educational influence on China (especially with relation to the philosophy of John Dewey), this study will seek to show that Chinese educators were attracted to quite different aspects of western educational practice. With regard to the formal school system, Chinese educators praised the centralisation, uniformity, discipline, strict supervision of textbooks and inculcation of patriotic ideals which characterized education in the West. Popular, or social, education, which "reformed" the lower classes by emphasizing hard work, patriotism and public hygiene, was also seen as an important factor explaining the strength of Japan and the West. There was much discussion, for example, of censorship in the West as a useful tool to "reform" popular culture and hence improve the quality of the people. Another development after 1905 was the change in attitudes towards vocational education. Chinese educators, in fact, argued for a closer link between education and economic development. In order to compete in the international arena, they argued, education had to train people who could "earn a livelihood," thus benefitting themselves and the country. The promotion of vocational education was also accompanied by changes in attitudes towards manual labour. Such a trend was fully evident in the work-study movement, which was promoted among Chinese workers and students in France. Another feature of discussions on popular education during these years was the idea that formal school education was not fulfilling its required task, that of training a united and patriotic citizenry. Schools were criticized for fostering elitism, division and individualism. Thus it was hoped that public lectures, for example, would stress the virtues of cooperation, unity and concern for the public good. The work-study movement was designed, amongst other things, to break down the traditional social barrier between intellectuals and workers. This study also helps to place educational debate in China during these years within a wider context—in two ways. Firstly, reference is made to educational debates in the West which were often very similar to the discussions being carried out in China. The debate on vocational versus a humanist education, for example, which raged in Germany at the turn of the century was occurring in China at the same time. In other features of Chinese educational practice at this time, such as the elimination of the Confucian Classics from the primary and middle school curricula and the overriding importance Chinese educators placed on a single-track system in order to preserve a certain egalitarianism in education, China was in advance of countries such as England or France. Secondly, this study will show that the issues debated in China at this time were to have a crucial relevance for educational debates in post-49 China. Such issues included the relative merits of a well-structured, formal school system versus a wider network of less well-equipped spare-time schools, and the importance of intellectuals participating in manual labour. The primary sources used in this study comprise contemporary educational journals, the writings of educators at the time, and educational laws and regulations. In 1909 the first Chinese journal specifically devoted to education—"The Educational Review" (Jiaoyu Zazhi)—was published. During the early years of the Republic, a number of journals on education appeared, most of them only lasting a few years. Such journals contained essays on educational topics, the texts of educational laws and regulations and educational news from individual provinces. These journals, in addition to the 5-volume and 4-volume collections of documents on education edited by Taga Akigoro and Shu Xincheng respectively have proved indispensable to this study. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

外力一直是左右着民國警察發展的主要因素。礙於海外專業訓練的龐大投資，政府和警政精英會因國家對外關係的變化，因應局勢演變而帶有不同的仿習偏好和傾向。這些精英從外引進歐美新知和先進科技，進而於其所屬的專業群體發表己見。而濃厚的改革氣氛更促進警務從業者對警學的廣泛討論和研究，並益於中國警政戰後重整。警察改革以中國現代化和中央集權為最終的政治目標。國民政府亦然，主張建設一個強大及文明的「現代」中國。故此，除日益繁重的警政事務以外，警察更礙於其角色的模糊理解，往往兼負起其他行政及軍事相關職能，以滿足現代國家的衍生需求。警察的角色衝突更因而觸發起後續的派系鬥爭，也為長期困擾着警政發展的癥結所在。本文以1928年至1949年間民國警政改革為研究對象，通過探討時人對警察不同的政治及專業理解，再而理解警政改革長期於中國急速成長的氛圍下停滯不前的現象。研究所得非但針對警政機構於中國未來所擔當的職能，更嘗指出政治手段何以推動警政統一而又忘卻探索「現代警察」本質的原念。External influence was the major factor which influenced the development of police reforms in Republican China. Following the dynamic changes on diplomacy,both of the Chinese government and police elites had different preferences on their professional studies overseas. The intellectuals brought foreign knowledge and technical skills and thereafter expressed their own ideas in their affiliated parties and communities. Therefore, the reformative atmosphere catalysed wide discussions and benefited the subsequent police reforms throughout the wartime and post-war period in China.Police reforms were always an instrument to reach the ultimate goals of modernization and centralization in the Republican China. Nanking Government also took the missions, and reformed China as a powerful and civilized country in the "modern world". Aside from the stronger demands on policing, they intended to assign policemen with extra duties because of their ambiguous understandings on the "modern police". The role-conflicts triggered the timely power struggles, as well as the crux that troubled Chinese policemen throughout the twentieth century.This thesis studies the police reform in the Republican China between 1928 and 1949. It specifically discusses the variety of professional and politicalunderstandings on policing and therefore examines the disappointed results of police reform amidst the rapid growth in Chinese modernization. More than imagine the future police force in their "modernizing state", the findings highlighted how the political means fulfilled their ambition on unification with the police functions but failed to search for the original belief of the police.