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The Study of Contemporary Chinese Politics: Some Remarks on Retarded Development*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Howard L. Boorman
Howard L. Boorman
Affiliation:
Columbia University
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Extract

Aretrospective assessment at mid-century might have suggested that the course of Chinese history between 1900 and 1950 recorded only two events of enduring political significance: the first, the fall of the Ch'ing dynasty in October 1911 and, with it, destruction of the imperial system which had lasted for two millennia; the second, the establishment of the People's Republic of China in October 1949 and, through it, commitment to accelerated modernization and forced industrialization along lines similar to those plotted earlier by the Soviet Union. Simultaneously, assessment of the future might well have concluded, with prescience born of objectivity, that the effect of the Chinese Communist explosion on both Chinese and world politics would merit a major effort on the part of American social science research.

Type
Research-Note
Information
World Politics , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , July 1960 , pp. 585 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1960

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References

** New York, 1937, p. 380.

1 The imbalance between private and public research efforts on contemporary Chinese politics has been notable. Since the withdrawal of official American representatives from the mainland of China in 1950, the United States government has consistently

2 See the comments by Fairbank, John K., “Introduction: Problems of Method and of Content,” in Chinese Thought and Institutions Chicago, 1957, p. 13.Google Scholar

3 For a note on recent developments in the comparative politics field, seeLucian Pye, W., “Political Modernization and Research on the Process of Political Socialization,” Items (Social Science Research Council), XIII, No. 3 (September 1959), pp. 25–28.Google Scholar

4 See the observations by Armstrong, John A., “Political Science,” in Fisher, Harold H., ed., American Research on Russia Bloomington, Ind., 1959, pp. 50–51.Google Scholar

5 Cf. Berton, Peter A. et al., The Control of Sources for the Study of Contemporary China a preliminary bibliographical survey submitted to the Conference on Contemporary Chinese Studies, Gould House, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., June 19–21, 1959.Google Scholar

6 Cf. Lindbeck, John M. H., “Research Materials on Communist China: United States Government Sources,” Journal of Asian Studies XVII, No. 3 (May 1959), pp. 357–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 All students of contemporary Chinese politics must have some basic understanding of the ideological and philosophical framework within which the Chinese Communist leaders think and react. Recent books on the general theory include Carew Hunt, R. N., The Theory and Practice of Communism 5th rev. ed., New York, 1957Google Scholar; Meyer, Alfred G., Marxism: The Unity of Theory and Practice Cambridge, Mass., 1954Google Scholar; idem, Leninism Cambridge, Mass., 1957; and Marcuse, Herbert, Soviet Marxism: A Critical Analysis New York, 1958.Google Scholar See also Friedrich, Carl J. and Brzezinski, Zbigniew K., To talitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy Cambridge, Mass., 1956Google Scholar, and appended biblio graphical notes on totalitarianism (pp. 307–14).

8 Seufert, Wilhelm, “The End of Missionary Work in China,” International Review of Missions XLIII, No. 171 (July 1954), p. 279.Google Scholar Dr. Seufert was for many years in Tsingtao in Shantung province with the Deutsche Ostasien Mission.

9 This could be a single-country version of the Political Handbook of the World, issued annually by the Council on Foreign Relations. See also Poplai, S. L., ed., Asia and Africa in the Modern World: Basic Information Concerning Independent Coun tries published under the auspices of the Asian Relations Organization by Asia Pub lishing House, Bombay, 1955Google Scholar, and distributed in die United States by the Institute of Pacific Relations.

10 Relevant data are contained in A Guide to New China Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1953Google Scholar; the Handbook on People's China Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1957; editions of the Jen-min shou-ts'e (People's Handbook), 1950–1958, compiled by the Ta Kung Pao; and various issues of the Survey of China Mainland Press and Current Background series issued by the American Consulate General, Hong Kong.

11 See the useful works on the Soviet Party Congresses edited by Gruliow, Leo, editor of the Current Digest of the Soviet Press. These volumes are Current Soviet Policies: The Documentary Record of the igth Communist Party Congress and the Reorganiza tion After Stalin's Death New York, 1953Google Scholar; and Current Soviet Policies, 11: The Documentary Record of the 20th Communist Party Congress and Its Aftermath New York, 1957.

12 A useful guide to the literature is Price, Frank W., “Selected Bibliography of Books, Pamphlets, and Articles on Communist China and the Christian Church in China,” Occasional Bulletin (New York, Missionary Research Library), IX, No. 8 (September 30, 1958).Google Scholar

13 Rostow, W. W. et al, The Prospects for Communist China New York, 1954.Google Scholar

14 Walker, Richard L., China Under Communism: The First Five Years New Haven, Conn., 1955Google Scholar; and The Continuing Struggle: Communist China and the Free World, New York, 1958. The second volume is an expansion and revision of the author's “Communist China: Power and Prospects,” which appeared as a special issueof the blew Leader October 20 1958.

15 Tang, Peter S. H., Communist China Today: Domestic and Foreign Politics New York, 1957.Google Scholar

16 Barnett, A. Doak, “The United States and Communist China,” in the American Assembly papers, The United States and the Far East New York, 1956, pp. 105–71Google Scholar; Communist Economic Strategy: The Rise of Mainland China Washington, D.C., 1959; and other writings.

17 Chen, Theodore Hsi-en, Chinese Communism and the Proletarian-Socialist Revoluion Los Angeles, Calif., 1955Google Scholar; “Rectification of Error and the Error of Rectification,” Soviet Survey (London), No. 24 (April-June 1958), pp. 27–31; and other writings.

18 Chu, Djang, “Communist China: The People's Republic,” in Linebarger, , Djang, , and Burks, , Far Eastern Governments and Politics: China and Japan New York, 1954, pp. 206–53.Google Scholar

19 Greene, Fred, The Far East New York, 1957, pp. 138–73.Google Scholar

20 Hinton, Harold C., “China,” in Kahin, George McT., ed., Major Governments of Asia Ithaca, N.Y., 1958, pp. 3–132Google Scholar; and other writings.

21 Michael, Franz H. and Taylor, George E., The Far East in the Modern World, New York, 1956, pp. 453–71.Google Scholar

22 North, Robert C., Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Elites Stanford, Calif., 1952Google Scholar; Moscow and Chinese Communists Stanford, Calif., 1953; and other writings.

23 In addition to his volume on Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao (Cambridge, Mass., 1951) and his contribution to the Harvard, Documentary History of Chinese Communism (Cambridge, Mass., 1952)Google Scholar, Benjamin Schwartz has written widely on the theoretical aspects of Communist rule in China. See, e.g., “China and the Soviet Theory of People's Democracy,” Problems of Communism (September-October 1954), pp. 8–15; “New Trends in Maoism?” ibid. (july-August 1957), pp. 1–8; and “On the ‘Originalityrsquo; of Mao Tse-tung,” Foreign Affairs XXXIV, No. 1 (October 1955), pp. 67–76.

24 H. Arthur Steiner of the University of California (Los Angeles) has been the most active member of the political science fraternity writing professional articles on Com munist China in recent years. He edited the “Report on China” issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 277 (September 1951), and contributed the paper on “Ideology and Politics in Communist China” to the more recent volume, “Contemporary China and the Chinese,” ibid. Vol. 321 (January 1959), pp. 29–39.

25 Thomas, S. B., Government and Administration in Communist China rev. ed., New York, 1955.Google Scholar

26 Following his earlier Soviet Policies in China, igiy-ig24 (New York, 1954), Allen S. Whiting has devoted consistent attention to the foreign affairs of Communist China. See his “Foreign Policy of Communist China,” in Macridis, Roy, ed., Foreign Policy in World Affairs New York, 1958, pp. 264–94Google Scholar; “’ContradictionsD” Journal of Politics XX, No. 1 (February 1958), pp. 128–42; and “Dynam ics of the Moscow-Peking Axis,” The Annals Vol. 321 (January 1959), pp. 100–11.

27 Cf. Fisher, ed., American Research on Russia, op.cit.

28 The present paucity of effort is clearly indicated by the listing of doctoral disserta tions in political science in American universities given in the American Political Science Review LII, NO. 3 (September 1958), pp. 915–30. Of a total of 36 graduate students writing dissertations dealing with Eastern Asia, not one wasworking on Communist China, North Korea, or North Vietnam. Sixteen were working on Southeast Asia, 6 on Japan, and 6 on India. By contrast, the same listing reported 21 dissertations in progress on the USSR and Eastern Europe.

29 See Deutscher, Isaac, Stalin New York, 1949Google Scholar, for an excellent example of a political biography. Similar extended works on Mao and other Chinese Communist leaders would be of great value.

30 See the articles by Houn, Franklin W.: “The Press in Communist China: Its Structure and Operation,” Journalism Quarterly XXXIV (Fall 1956), pp. 502–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar; “Radio Broadcasting and Propaganda in Communist China,” ibid. XXXIV (Summer 1957), pp. 366–77; “Motion Pictures and Propaganda in Communist China,” ibid. XXXIV (Fall 1957), pp. 481–92; and “Chinese Communist Control of the Press,” Public Opinion Quarterly XXII, No. 4 (Winter 1958–1959), pp. 435–48.

31 E.g., MacNair, Harley Farnsworth, ed., China Berkeley, Calif., 1946.Google Scholar The MacNair symposium still stands as one of the best research compilations in the modern China field, paralleled in utility as a one-volume reference and bibliographical source only by Fairbank, John K., The United States and China rev. ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1958.Google Scholar

32 For an example in the Russian field, see Simmons, Ernest J., ed., Continuity and Change in Russian and Soviet Thought Cambridge, Mass., 1955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar This volume, the prod uct of an extensive collaborative effort, is organized around six broad themes rep resenting major focuses in the field of modern Russian studies.

33 E.g., Tuan-sheng, Ch'ien, Min-kuo cheng-chih shih (History of the Governmental System of the Republic), 2 vols., Shanghai, Commercial Press, 1939, 1945, 1946Google Scholar; idem, The Government and Politics of China Cambridge, Mass., 1950; Linebarger, Paul M. A., The China of Chiang Kai-shek Boston, 1941Google Scholar; and Houn, Franklin W., The Central Government of China 1912–1925, Madison, Wise, 1957.Google Scholar

34 E.g., Towster, Julian, Political Power in the USSR,1917–1947 New York, 1948Google Scholar; Fainsod, Merle, How Russia Is Ruled Cambridge, Mass., 1953Google Scholar; and Hazard, John N., The Soviet System of Government Chicago, 1957.Google Scholar

35 E.g., Scalapino, Robert A., Democracy and the Party Movement in Prewar Japan, Berkeley, Calif., 1953Google Scholar; Ardath W. Burks, “The Government and Politicsof Japan,” in Linebarger, , Djang, , and Burks, , op.cit. pp. 257–541Google Scholar; Yanaga, Chitoshi, Japanese People and Politics New York, 1956Google Scholar; Quigley, Harold S. and Turner, John E., The New Japan: Government and Politics Minneapolis, Minn., 1956Google Scholar; and Ike, Nobutaka, Japanese Politics: An Introductory Survey New York, 1957.Google Scholar

36 The most comprehensive survey is by Barnett, A. Doak, Communist Chinaand Asia: Challenge to American Policy New York, 1960.Google Scholar The analytic articles on Soviet foreign policy and foreign relations by Philip E. Mosely in Foreign Affairs and other mjournals suggest the type of continuing coverage needed for Communist China.

37 Studies on nationalism in other non-Western countries include, e.g., Holland, William L., ed., Asian Nationalism and the West New York, 1953Google Scholar; Brown, Delmer M., Nationalism in Japan: An Introductory Historical Analysis Berkeley, Calif., 1955Google Scholar; and Barghoorn, Frederick C., Soviet Russian Nationalism New York, 1956.Google Scholar

38 Peake, Cyrus H., Nationalism and Education in Modern China New York, 1932.Google Scholar

39 Francis, John De, Nationalism and Language Reform in China Princeton, N.J., 1950.Google Scholar