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Title: Anarchism in China Date: 2009 Source: *The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest*, Edited by Immanuel Ness. DOI: 10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0048 Authors: Daniel Cairns Topics: History, Anarchist history, China, Chinese anarchism Published: 2020-05-10 06:27:01Z
Anarchism is a significant though neglected
trend in Chinese history. Proto-anarchist ideals that developed during the Warring States
Period in works such as the *Zhuangzi* and
the writing of Bao Jingyan became integral
to traditional Chinese philosophy, followed
later by a modernist anarchism that thrived
as a set of social, political, and ethical ideas
during the revolutionary period. Despite
the proto-anarchist legacy, most studies of
Chinese anarchism limit their scope to the
early twentieth century, focusing on the
movement’s peak, from 1907 to 1919 – when
anarchism was the most influential radical
socialist trend in China – and on its marginalization from 1920 to 1949. Post-1949 history
is without explicitly anarchist activity, yet
because of its earlier influence, anarchism’s
history is a helpful tool with which to analyze both the communist regime and the
post-Mao economic reforms.
The Chinese anarchist movement emerged
when it became clear that the Qing dynasty
was struggling to adjust to the pressures of
foreign imperialism and domestic instability.
At that time, intellectuals were actively seeking out and digesting foreign concepts that
could ease the transition to modern nationhood. The ideas of mutual aid, voluntary
cooperation, and personal liberty that anarchism professed emerged as integral elements
of Chinese social and political discourse in
this context. Anarchism resonated with elements of traditional thought and a distinctly
anarchist sensibility was articulated in the
writings of some Buddhists, Confucians, and
Daoists.
Anarchism emphasized political reorganization and social transformation. Specifically,
anarchists believed that foreign science and
philosophy should be studied, traditions were
pernicious myths that must be dispelled,
the family was deleterious to the individual’s autonomy, patriarchy was harmful and
illegitimate, imperialism should be halted,
authority over others is degrading, and the
state is unnecessary. Anarchists were also
the first to advocate a peasant-based revolution in China, a theory later championed by
Mao Zedong. In fact, in their commitment
to bringing new ideas into revolutionary
discourse, anarchists were instrumental in
introducing Marxism and other forms of
socialism to China. Consequently, while
anarchism has its own history, it is often
difficult to separate it from the broader revolutionary milieu. Especially in the early
years, 1903–6, revolutionaries ignored the
minor distinctions in ideology and so many
strands of socialism were conflated; anarchism was seen as synonymous with nihilism
and populism.
The first explicitly anarchist activity among
Chinese citizens began in 1906–7. Almost
simultaneously, expatriates in Paris and
Tokyo founded anarchist organizations: the
New World Society and the Society for the
Study of Socialism, respectively. Members
traveled to study foreign ideas and methods,
but while abroad discovered various radical
tendencies that impacted their thinking.
Before long, both societies were publishing
their own papers. In Paris the *New Era* spread
anarchist political analysis and social theory;
likewise, the Tokyo group printed *Natural Justice*, which focused on scholarly issues,
feminism, and rural communism. The groups
shared news and opinions through these
organs, but these publications also reveal
their contrasts. The Tokyo anarchists were
agrarian collectivists, inspired by Tolstoy,
while the society in Paris was progressive,
placing an emphasis on science, reason, and
education.
The second wave of anarchism in China,
occurring between the fall of the Qing and
the founding of the communist part of China,
is marked by an increase in domestic activity.
The Society of the Cock Crowing in the
Dark, led by Shifu, was the first domestic
anarchist group. It was founded in 1911,
the year the Qing fell. Shifu was a dynamic
personality, both energetic and intellectual.
He participated in the founding of multiple
anarchist collectives, unions, and publishing
ventures. After his death in 1915, the energy
of the anarchist movement shifted towards
what would become the China, May 4th
movement.
Between 1919 and 1920 the May 4th
movement coalesced around ideals of free
expression and personal liberties. Anarchism, sharing similar values, flourished in
this climate. It had a radicalizing effect on
May 4th thinking, moving it beyond aesthetics and culture to economic, political, and
social realms. While May 4th is primarily
seen as an intellectual movement, anarchists
believed that intellectual and manual work
were needlessly divided; they suggested that
one must both study in the schools and
labor in the fields. This ethos pervaded many
educational experiments of the time, from
the Work-Study movement to the National
Labor University, and was even reinterpreted
during the Cultural Revolution.
The next phase of anarchist activity in
China was shaped by its relationship to the
nascent communist movement. The Communist Party of China was founded in 1921,
though Comintern agents started actively
recruiting activists into Marxist study circles
a year prior. These groups initially drew many
anarchists to them. The non-anarchists in
attendance often came because they were
interested in anarchism. Though there were
commonalities between anarchists and communists, the CCP soon purged out many
anarchists for the sake of ideological unity.
Still, aspects of anarchism were not totally
absent from official doctrine: Li Dazhao,
China’s first Marxist, was greatly influenced
by Kropotkin’s doctrine of mutual aid; Mao
Zedong admitted to being influenced by
anarchism; Chen Duxiu’s sons were both
anarchists before converting to Marxism.
Shortly after the founding of the CCP,
the anarchists who did not join the party
distanced themselves from the communist
movement. They disagreed over the doctrine of the dictatorship of the proletariat,
anarchists holding that a transformation
out of class-based society would come once
the general populace became sufficiently
conscious. Debates held in the revolutionary
press proved the CCP to be better rhetorically
equipped.
Sensing pressure to organize against
the communists, some anarchists joined
the Guomindang. Indeed, for years there
was an affinity between anarchists and the
GMD – Sun Yat-Sen actually claimed that
the ultimate aim of the GMD was anarchism
and communism. The GMD also supported
unions and striking workers and helped
anarchists establish the National Labor University, a syndicalist training school. The
Revolutionary Alliance, the precursor to the
GMD, also counted many prominent anarchists as members. Anarchists Liu Shipei,
Zhang Ji, and Zhang Binglin even hosted
lectures by Japanese anarchists through the
RA. Ultimately, however, anarchists proved
to be little more to the GMD than ideological
weapons against the communists. By 1927
the anarchist movement was atrophying; the
last arena of its influence was among sections
of workers in Shanghai and southern China,
where anarchists were active until the 1940s.
There are two main analyses of anarchism in Chinese history. One emphasizes
its anti-traditionalism, stressing the influence of foreign ideas such as socialism and
humanism. This view asserts that while Chinese anarchism was born as an ideology of
rejection of China’s emergent modernity, Chinese anarchists adopted elements of Western
thought even as they negated Western modernity. The second analysis suggests that anarchism is not necessarily imported. This view
points to the long tradition of proto-anarchist
thought in China, encompassing Daoists but
also including Buddhists and Utopians. The
truth lies somewhere in between: anarchists
like Liu Shipei were unquestionably interested in Chinese national heritage, while Li
Shizeng was thoroughly European in outlook.
Anarchists demanded absolute social revolution, that is, a bottom-up transformation
of quotidian life. Therefore, they disagreed
with the nationalist and communist revolutionary groups who believed change could be
instituted through policy, from above. Similarly, anarchists were anti-nationalist. Some
historians posit that anarchists, unwilling to
pander to patriotic sentiments, effectively
forfeited ground to groups like the GMD and
CCP who based their platform on preserving
the Chinese nation-state.
Historians sometimes question the importance of anarchism in China’s revolutionary
history because it was an ideology that did not
achieve success on a nationwide level. Anarchist groups in China never coalesced into
a political party, or even a unified network.
Anarchist activity was scattered and their
platform was inconsistent. However, reflecting on the role that anarchism played in radicalizing communist and nationalist leaders,
bringing new ideas to China, and demanding
a social revolution, clearly anarchism was an
integral and ubiquitous part of the revolution.
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