Chiangism
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Chiangism (Chinese: 蔣介石主義; Wade–Giles: Chiang3 Chieh4-shih2 chu3i4), also known as the Political Philosophy of Chiang Kai-shek (Chinese: 蔣介石的學說; Wade–Giles: Chiang3 Chieh4-shih2 ti4 hsüeh2shuo1), or Chiang Kai-shek Thought, is the political philosophy of President Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who used it during his rule in China under the Kuomintang on both the mainland and Taiwan. It is a right-wing[a] authoritarian nationalist ideology based on mostly Tridemist principles mixed with Confucianism.[3] It was primarily practiced as part of the New Life Movement, as well as the Chinese Cultural Renaissance movement. It is influenced by other political ideologies, including socialism, fascism, party-state capitalism, paternalistic conservatism, as well as Chiang's Methodist Christian beliefs.
Chiangism opposed feudalism, communism, and imperialism while promoting ideals of a unified Chinese national identity. It was initially socialist in outlook but became increasingly aligned with authoritarian capitalism after 1955. The extent of fascist influence on Chiang is debated among scholars. Chiangism was largely diminished in Mainland China by the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries of the communists and began to wane at the start of democratization in Taiwan.[4]
History
[edit]Mainland China
[edit]The socialist ideology of the Kuomintang was one of the ideologies which greatly influenced this philosophy. In the West, Chiang Kai-shek was hailed as one of the world's greatest socialist leaders. His portraits were carried along with portraits of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and other socialist and communist leaders. Despite earlier alliance, Chiang Kai-shek would soon be an enemy of the CCP in the Chinese Civil War following the Shanghai Massacre as he turned into a staunch anti-communist. Eventually, he would lose the civil war to his opponent Mao Zedong and the ideology of Maoism.
Unlike Sun's original Tridemist ideology that was heavily influenced by Western enlightenment theorists such as Henry George, Abraham Lincoln, Russell, and Mill,[5] the traditional Chinese Confucian influence on Chiang's ideology is much stronger. Chiang rejected the Western progressive ideologies of individualism, liberalism, and the cultural aspects of Marxism. Therefore, Chiangism is generally more culturally and socially conservative than Sun Yat-sen ideologically.
The Kuomintang government under Chiang Kai-shek denounced feudalism as counterrevolutionary and proclaimed itself to be revolutionary. He accused other Chinese warlords of being feudalists. Despite being a conservative ideology, Chiangism supported modernization policies such as women's rights, scientific advancement, and universal education.
The Kuomintang and the Nationalist Government supported women's suffrage and education and the abolition of polygamy and foot binding. Under Chiang's leadership, the Republic of China government also enacted a women's quota in the parliament with reserved seats for women. During the Nanjing Decade, average Chinese citizens received the education they'd never had the chance to get in the dynasties that increased the literacy rate across China. The education also promotes the ideals of Tridemism of democracy, republicanism, science, constitutionalism, and Chinese Nationalism based on the Political Tutelage of the Kuomintang.[6][7][8][9][10]
Taiwan
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After losing the Chinese mainland to the CCP and retreating to Taiwan, the KMT under Chiang's leadership established agencies such as the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, the Political Warfare Bureau, and the Taiwan Garrison Command to provide surveillance on the population and suppress dissidents, including suspected communists, during the White Terror.[11][12] Constitutional rights of freedom of speech, assembly, religious expression, and legal guarantees of fair trials were suspended under martial law.[12]
Doctrine
[edit]Anti-imperialism and Chinese nationalism
[edit]Chiang Kai-shek, the head of the Kuomintang, warned the Soviet Union and other foreign countries about interfering in Chinese affairs. He was personally angry at the way China was treated by foreigners, mainly by the Soviet Union, Britain, and the United States.[13] Chiang's New Life Movement campaigned for the end of Soviet, Western, American, and other foreign influences in China. Chen Lifu, a CC Clique member of the KMT, said, "Communism originated from Soviet imperialism, which has encroached on our country." It was also noted that "the white bear of the North Pole is known for its viciousness and cruelty."[14]
Chiang was also staunchly against imperialism and colonialism, as he opposed FDR's offer of China's seizure of Indochina and argued that China had no intent to replace Western imperialism with its own. He also viewed foreign powers, including the USA, the USSR, and the Empire of Japan as imperialist powers that wanted to exploit China.[15][16][17]
Chiang promoted strong Chinese nationalism throughout the territories controlled by the ROC as well as the Tridemist ideal of a unified "Dang Guo" (Party-state). Mandarin Chinese became the sole official language, and standard education curriculums emphasized Chinese history with Confucianism culture.[18][19]
As an opponent of Japanese imperialism, Chiang was the biggest supporter of the Korean independence movement. His Nationalist government supported the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and the secret militant branch Blue Shirts Society (BSS) supported left-wing nationalist Kim Won-bong and Kim-led Korean National Revolutionary Party.[20][21][22]
Anti-capitalism and socialism
[edit]The Kuomintang was a Chinese nationalist revolutionary party that had been supported by the Soviet Union. It was organized on Leninism.[13] Contrary to the view that he was pro-capitalist, Chiang Kai-shek behaved in an antagonistic manner to the capitalists in China, often attacking them and confiscating their capital and assets for the use of the government.
Chiang cracked down on pro-communist unions and peasant organizations, and the wealthy Shanghai capitalists at the same time. Chiang Kai-shek continued Sun's anti-capitalist ideology. The Republic of China's media openly attacked the capitalists and capitalism, supporting a government-controlled economy instead of privately owned ones.
Taylor has noted that Chiang's hybrid revolutionary nationalism ideology is inspired by both the French republican movement and Confucianism. He described Chiang as a "left-leaning Confucian-Jacobinist".[23]
Anti-communism and fascist influences
[edit]The Blue Shirts Society, also known under a variety of other names, has been described as one of the most relevant fascist groups in China at the time. It began as a secret society in the KMT military before being reformed within the party.[24] By the 1930s, it had influence upon China's economy and society.[25][26] Historian Jeffrey Crean notes, however, that the Blue Shirts impacted only elite politics, not the vast majority of China's population.[27]: 64–65 The Blue Shirts held contempt for liberal democracy and stressed the political usefulness of violence.[27]: 64 They were influenced by KMT contact with Nazi advisors and inspired by the German Brownshirts and the Italian Blackshirts. Unlike those organizations, however, the Blue Shirts were composed of political elites, not the popular masses.[27]: 64 The later New Life Movement drew inspirations from the society, although some historians are reluctant to define them as fascist.[24]
Chiang Kai-shek started the New Life Movement under Confucian ideals. It was a government-led civic campaign in the 1930s Republic of China to promote cultural reform and Neo-Confucian social morality and to ultimately unite China under a centralized ideology following the emergence of ideological challenges to the status quo. The movement itself was modeled on Confucianism, mixed with Christianity, nationalism, and authoritarianism that have some similarities to fascism,[28] and thus, it rejected individualism and liberalism. The Kuomintang launched the initiative on 19 February 1934 as part of an anti-communist campaign and soon enlarged the campaign to target all of China. Some historians regard this movement as imitating Nazism and regard this movement as being a neo-nationalistic movement used to elevate Chiang's control of everyday lives. Frederic Wakeman suggested that the New Life Movement was "Confucian fascism".[29]
Historian Jay Taylor, argue that Chiang's ideology does not espouse the general ideology of fascism despite his growing sympathies with fascist ideas in the 1930s.[30] Chiang repeatedly attacked his enemies such as the Empire of Japan as fascistic and ultra-militaristic; he also declared his opposition to the fascist ideology in the 1940s.[31][32] The Sino-German relationship also rapidly deteriorated as Germany failed to pursue a détente between China and Japan, which led to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. China later declared war on fascist countries, including Germany, Italy, and Japan, as part of the Declarations of war during World War II and Chiang became the most powerful "anti-fascist" leader in Asia.[33]
Authoritarian capitalism
[edit]After the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek's economic policy turned towards to economic liberalism. He used Sho-Chieh Tsiang and other liberal economists to promote economic liberalization reforms in Taiwan.[34]
However, Jay Taylor has noted that the developmental model of Chiangism in Taiwan still had elements of socialism, and the Gini index of Taiwan was around 0.28 by the 1970s, lower than the relatively equal West Germany. ROC (Taiwan) was one of the most equal countries in the pro-western bloc. The lower 40% income group doubled their income share to 22% of total income, with the upper 20% shrinking from 61% to 39%, compared to Japanese rule.[30] The Chiangist economic model can be seen as a form of dirigisme or bureaucratic capitalism,[35][36] with the state playing a crucial role in directing the market economy. Unlike most other major capitalist countries, small businesses and state-owned enterprises flourished under this economic model in Taiwan, but it didn't see the emergence of corporate monopolies.
After the democratization of Taiwan, it began to slowly drift away from the Chiangist economic policy to embrace a more free market system as part of the economic globalization process under the context of neoliberalism.[37]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ During the 1920s and early 1930s, Chiang and supporters was seen as a 'centrist'[1][2] among 'right-wing' Hu Hanmin supporters and 'left-wing' Wang Jingwei supporters, but the Chinese Communist Party (or Maoism) later emerged as the main rival of the KMT, making Chiangism a 'right-wing' ideology.
References
[edit]- ^ Donald A. Jordan (March 31, 2019). The Northern Expedition: China's National Revolution of 1926–1928. Humanities Open Books program, a joint initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. p. 50.
- ^ Peter Gue Zarrow (2005). China in War and Revolution, 1895-1949. Routledge. p. 239.
- ^ Dirlik, Arif (1975). "The Ideological Foundations of the New Life Movement: A Study in Counterrevolution". The Journal of Asian Studies. 34 (4): 945–980. doi:10.2307/2054509. JSTOR 2054509. S2CID 144316615.
- ^ Rev. Wendell P. Karsen (16 September 2022). The Church Under the Cross: Taiwan - The Cross of Fascism. Taipei, Taiwan: Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. ISBN 979-8759126652. Retrieved 2024-06-28 – via Amazon.com.
- ^ Yat-sen, Sun. "San Min Chu I: The Three Principles of the People" (PDF). Chinese.larouchepub.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ "禁纏足、興女學:南京國民政府在興女權上做出巨大努力 - 雪花新闻". Xuehua.us. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ Huang, Chang-Ling. "Gender Quotas in Taiwan" (PDF). 2.igs.ocha.ac.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ "从合礼到非法:纳妾制度在中国是如何被废除的?". Yangtse.com. 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ "南京国民政府时期的教育". M.xzbu.com (in Chinese). 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ "抗戰前推動「普及教育案」的背景與實際作為 - 大中華民國". Stararctic108.weebly.com. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ Heinlein, Joseph J. (1974). Political Warfare: The Chinese Nationalist Model (Ph.D thesis). Washington, D.C., United States: American University.
- ^ a b Kagan, Richard C. (23 September 1982). "Martial law in Taiwan". Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. 14 (3): 48–54. doi:10.1080/14672715.1982.10412657.
- ^ a b Fenby, Jonathan (2005). Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost. Carroll & Graf Publishers. p. 413. ISBN 0786714840. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Li, Hongshan; Hong, Zhaohui (1998). Image, perception, and the making of U.S.-China relations. University Press of America. p. 268. ISBN 0761811583. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Garver, John W. (1988). Chinese-Soviet Relations, 1937–1945 : The Diplomacy of Chinese Nationalism: The Diplomacy of Chinese Nationalism. Oxford University Press. p. 177. ISBN 0195363744. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ Wertheim Tuchman, Barbara (1985). The march of folly: from Troy to Vietnam. Random House, Inc. p. 235. ISBN 0-345-30823-9. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- ^ "Chiang Kai-shek Quote". Libquotes.com. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ Sandel, Todd (2003). "Linguistic Capital in Taiwan: The KMT's Mandarin Language Policy and Its Perceived Impact on Language Practices of Bilingual Mandarin and Tai-Gi Speakers". Language in Society. 32 (4): 523–51. doi:10.1017/S0047404503324030. S2CID 145703339 – via Cambridge Core.
- ^ Hubbs, Elizabeth (2013). "Taiwan Language-In-Education Policy: Social, Cultural and Practical Implications". Arizona Working Papers in SLA & Teaching. 20: 76–95 – via The University of Arizona.
- ^ Ji-yun, Lee. "한국독립운동을 지원한 장제스와 쑹메이링" [Chiang Kai-shek and Song Mei-ling, who supported the Korean independence movement]. Independence Hall of Korea (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-17.
국민정부 조직부를 통한 임시정부 지원 ... 중국국민당의 준군사 조직이였던 삼민주의역행사의 황푸군관학교 출신 김원봉에 대한 지원이었다.
[(Chiang Kai-shek) supported the Provisional Government (of the Republic of Korea) through the Nationalist Government Organization ... The Society of Practice of the Three Principles of the People, a paramilitary organization of the Kuomintang, supported Kim Won-bong, a former Huangpu military school.] - ^ "일제가 가장 무서워한 김원봉, 우린 왜 모르지?". OhmyNews (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-17.
김구 중심의 우파 민족주의 세력과 김원봉 중심의 좌파 민족주의 세력
[right-wing nationalist forces centered on Kim Gu and left-wing nationalist forces centered on Kim Won-bong] - ^ "제 정당의 통합노력과 양대 정당체제의 성립". National Institute of Korean History (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-17.
민족혁명당은 중국국민 당정부와 긴밀한 관계를 이루면서 활동했다. 이 당은 장개석(蔣介石:장제스)이 이끄는 남의사(藍衣社 ; 중국국민당의 비밀특무기관)와 정보를 교환하고 재정과 무기의 원조를 받았다.
[The (Korean) National Revolutionary Party had close ties with the KMT government. The party exchanged information with Chiang Kai-shek's Blue Shirts Society and received financial and weapons aid.] - ^ "Chiang Kai-shek: Biography & Facts". China Underground. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
According to Jay Taylor, Chiang Kai-shek was a "left-leaning Confucian-Jacobinist" and a revolutionary nationalist.
- ^ a b "Origins and Development of Chinese Fascism". Divulga UAB - University research dissemination magazine. February 2015.
- ^ Hans J. Van de Ven (2003). War and nationalism in China, 1925-1945. Psychology Press. p. 165. ISBN 0-415-14571-6. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Suisheng Zhao (1996). Power by design: constitution-making in Nationalist China. University of Hawaii Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-8248-1721-4. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ a b c Crean, Jeffrey (2024). The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History. New Approaches to International History series. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-350-23394-2.
- ^ Schoppa, R. Keith. The Revolution and Its Past (New York: Pearson Prentic Hall, 2nd ed. 2006, pp. 208–209 .
- ^ Wakeman, Frederic, Jr. (1997). “A Revisionist View of the Nanjing Decade: Confucian Fascism.” The China Quarterly 150: 395–432.
- ^ a b Taylor, Jay (2009). The Generalissimo. Harvard University Press. pp. 102–103. ISBN 9780674054714.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Chiang Kai-shek's victory speech in 1945 - YouTube". 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2022-07-19 – via YouTube.
- ^ Guido Samarani, ed. (2005). Shaping the Future of Asia: Chiang Kai-shek, Nehru and China-India Relations During the Second World War Period. Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.
- ^ 台灣經濟轉型的故事:從計劃經濟到市場經濟. 聯經文庫. 27 May 2015. ISBN 9789570845655.
- ^ Coppa, Frank J. (2006). Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. Peter Lang. p. 58. ISBN 0-8204-5010-3. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ Coble, Parks M. (1986). The Shanghai capitalists and the Nationalist government, 1927–1937. Vol. 94 of Harvard East Asian monographs (2, reprint, illustrated ed.). Harvard Univ Asia Center. ISBN 0-674-80536-4. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Chiang Kai-shek
- Anti-communism in China
- Anti-communism in Taiwan
- Anti-imperialism in Asia
- Authoritarianism
- Chinese nationalism
- Conservatism in China
- Conservatism in Taiwan
- Eponymous political ideologies
- National conservatism
- Far-right politics in Taiwan
- Government of the Republic of China
- Ideology of the Kuomintang
- Korean independence movement
- Paternalistic conservatism
- Political theories
- Politics of the Republic of China
- Right-wing anti-capitalism
- Social philosophy
- Socialism in China
- Socialism in Taiwan
- Syncretic political movements
- Three Principles of the People
- White Terror (Taiwan)