| Chinese liberalism | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 中國自由主義 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国自由主义 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國自由派 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国自由派 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Chinese liberal groups | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Liberalism (simplified Chinese:自由主义;traditional Chinese:自由主義;pinyin:zìyóu zhǔyì) inGreater China is a development from classical liberalism as it was introduced into China during the later years of theQing dynasty and theRepublican period. It focuses more onindividualism, rather thancommunitarianism; a common feature ofconservatism in China. Prominent liberals were attacked in the early years of thePeople's Republic of China but liberal ideas became influential after the end of theCultural Revolution.
In the People's Republic of China, liberal thought covers a significant range of intellectual currents. Among others, varieties of liberal thought in the PRC include the liberal Marxists of the 1980s and the neoliberals of the 1990s.
Some scholars see a liberal tradition in Confucian thought.[1] However, Confucian thought is generally more closely related to theChinese conservatism.
Taoism andLaozi philosophy are similar to today'sliberalism andlibertarianism. James A. Dorn wrote that Laozi, like many 18th-century liberals, "argued that minimizing the role of government and letting individualsdevelop spontaneously would best achieve social and economic harmony."[2]
Classical liberalism was introduced into China during the later years of theQing dynasty and theRepublican period.[3]
In the years leading up to theRepublic of China in 1912, thinkers such asYan Fu andLiang Qichao translated works ofJohn Stuart Mill,Herbert Spencer,Immanuel Kant,Jean-Jacques Rousseau and many others. These writers had a cumulative effect, as did the ascendancy of liberalism in world powers like Britain, France and the United States. The establishment of arepublic signaled the acceptance (at least in principle) of these models and the liberal values with which they identified, such asconstitutionalism and theseparation of powers.
The writings ofLiang Qichao (1873–1929) played a major role, despite his leanings to a conservative outlook in latter years. TheNew Culture Movement (1915) and its immediate successor theMay Fourth Movement (1919) initially were strongly liberal in character, with key figures likeHu Shih (1891–1962) as the preeminent exponent of liberal values.[4] Other important liberals wereZhang Dongsun (1886–1973) andZhang Junmai (1887–1969).
With the rise of theChinese Communist Revolution and increasing military pressure from Japan, liberalism underwent a steep decline, and by the 1930s, it was largely overshadowed by the more authoritarian ideals represented by the both theChinese Communist Party (Maoism) and theKuomintang (Chiangism). Many liberals left China during this period, including rural reformerJames Yen and university presidentChiang Monlin. Despite this, there were still some prominent scholars espousing the benefits of liberalism, such asChu Anping,Fei Xiaotong, andTao Xingzhi.
In 1947, theConstitution of the Republic of China was formally adopted. Under the new constitution, elections were held for theNational Assembly and, in the following year, for theLegislative Yuan and thepresidency.
In the People's Republic of China, liberal thought covers a significant range of intellectual currents.[5]: 9 Among others, varieties of liberal thought in the PRC include theliberal Marxists of the 1980s (who opposedultra-leftism and supported a reformist socialism) and theneoliberals of the 1990s (who sought market reform and contended that this would necessarily increase political rights).[5]: 9 Academic Hang Tu summarizes, "[A] common thread that runs through these heterogenous intellectual dynamics is the call for the condemnation of Mao's revolutionary legacy in particular and the abandonment of radical approaches to Chinese history and politics in general."[5]: 9
The ascendancy ofMao Zedong and theestablishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 brought the liberal impulse to its lowest level. Ideological attacks were organized against the followers of Hu Shih,[6] and their values were ceaselessly derided as bourgeois delusions which could only weaken the nation.
Liberal ideas increased their influence in China after the end of theCultural Revolution.[7] In the late 1970s, liberalism developed as a loose intellectual faction including proponents ofhumanist Marxism, critics of the government, andhumanist writers.[5]: 85 These intellectuals generally sought to emphasize the cosmopolitan aspects of theMay Fourth legacy in support of Deng Xiaoping's reforms.[5]: 85–86
After the end of the Mao-era, ideals likeintellectual freedom, the separation of powers,civil society and therule of law were reexamined in the light of the destruction wrought by theChinese Communist Party which had been so vociferous in denigrating them. Starting in theCultural Revolution, many younger people experienced virtual conversions to liberalism. This process was given further impetus by the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. The democracy movement espoused (however imperfectly) many liberal doctrines. Among the key figures wereWang Ruoshui (1926–2002), who while remaining aMarxist humanist reconfigured this doctrine along liberal lines,[8] andLiu Xiaobo (1955–2017), initially a literary critic, who broke with Marxism to combineexistentialist themes with liberalism.[9][10]
In the 1990s the liberal wing of the remnant of thepro-democracy movement re-emerged following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, including figures likeQin Hui,[11]Li Shenzhi,[12]Wang Yuanhua,[13]Zhu Xueqin,Xu Youyu,Liu Junning and many others. The writings ofGu Zhun (1915–1974) were rediscovered, providing evidence of a stubborn core of liberal values that the communist movement had failed to extinguish. Ranged against the liberals are theChinese New Left and populist nationalism.[14]
After the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, support among intellectuals support for cultural conservatism increased and support for liberal reform and liberal democracy decreased.[5]: 106–107 Support forseparation of powers also decreased.[15]: 43 Post-crackdown, some liberals increasingly emphasized neoliberalism and the belief that the market was the most effective guarantor of political liberty.[5]: 86 Chinese liberalism itself tends to divide intomarket liberalism, impressed by the US as a political model and adhering to the doctrines ofHayek and other neoliberals, andleft-liberalism, more aligned with Europeansocial democracy and thewelfare state. These tendencies continue to develop in a state of tension.
Li Keqiang is viewed as a liberal in China's ruling elite, advocating foreconomic liberty.[16]Wang Yang is viewed as a liberal in China's ruling elite, representing a school of thought that advocates for gradual political liberalization.[17]
From the Chinese leftist perspective, Chinese liberalism places too great of an emphasis on elite experiences and memory and minimizes the experience of the underprivileged, for whom the socialist state brought improvements in standard of living and cultural dignity.[5]: 119-120
Liberalism in Hong Kong has become the driving force of thedemocratic movement since the 1980s which is mainly represented by thepro-democracy camp which strives for theuniversal suffrage,human rights andrule of law in Hong Kong. It is one of two major political ideologies of theHong Kong, with the other beingconservatism.
