EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 12 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 139 Wu Yidi (University of California, Irvine) FromMoscow to Beijing: Student Activism in Response to Crises in the Soviet Bloc, 1956–1957 Key words: student activism, secret speech, Hungarian Revolution, Hundred Flowers Campaign, Anti-Rightist Campaign Beijing University students made posters asserting that it is time to act. They openly criticized the privilege of Party cadres, and started a journal called “The Square.” Most observers would think that these activities surely occurred in 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Protests. In fact, these events occurred in 1957 during the Rectification Campaign, which came between Chairman Mao’s famous speech to “let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend” and the subsequent Anti-Rightist Movement which stifled dissent. For the first time since the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic, 1957 saw student activists claim that they were carrying forward the May Fourth spirit of 1919, hold a movement of their own, and pay a huge price for doing so. In February 1956, Soviet leader Khrushchev gave his “secret speech” denouncing Stalin’s personality cult. It triggered a series of upheavals in the Eastern Bloc, including the Polish October and the Hungarian Revolution. Using archival documents from the Anti-Rightist Campaign Database, and oral interviews, my paper reassesses the responses of the Chinese leadership and, more importantly, college students to the political crises in the Soviet bloc. One of the most prominent student activists was Lin Xiling, a female law student at People’s University, who disclosed the “secret speech” during her visits to Beijing University. I argue that both Mao and the students were looking for a better socialist path for China, but neither achieved what they intended to accomplish. Although Mao was confident that the Hungarian Revolution would not be replicated in China, he adopted an open-door rectification that in effect encouraged similar events. Meanwhile, the Chinese students were by no means aspiring for revolutionary change, but their critical opinions reminded Chinese authorities of the Hungarian students, and went far beyond Mao’s expectation of the students. Yang Zhiyi (University of Frankfurt) Nationalism, Human-Co-Existentialism and Pan-Asianism: Wang Jingwei's Intellectual Transformations Key words: nationalism, pan-Asianism, Wang Jingwei, intellectual history, human co-existentialism This paper attempts to shed light onWang Jingwei’s intellectual persuasions by tracing his intellectual trans- formation from nationalism, to human-co-existentialism, and finally to pan-Asianism.Wang’s interpretation of these theories has never been fully explored, and their seeming incompatibility has led to a general perception that Wang was a 'turncoat', an opportunist or — at best — a man too susceptible to external influences. I will instead argue that there was a certain consistency underlying these phases inWang's intellectual development. This paper will pay particular attention to the theory of human-co-existentialism, proposed in an article byWang in 1919. After nearly a decade in France, and having observed the First WorldWar first-hand, Wang discarded his earlier vision of nationalism. Social Darwinism, he argued, would lead to a world dominated by one culture or race, and progress would only be possible if diversity were preserved in a peaceful and positive state of competition amongst nations. If China wanted to survive, she would have to champion the cause of human co-existence. Japan’s jingoistic ambitions thus not only threatened the existence of China, but represented a fundamental challenge to the future of humanity. I wish to draw two lines of further observation fromWang’s rhetoric. Firstly, I argue that Wang extended the same logic to the issue of poetry. According to him, despite its self-proclaimed 'triumph', vernacular poetry should not completely replace classical-style poetry in China, since the latter was a vehicle for China’s national spirit and moral essence. These two types of poetry should instead co-exist, with each benefiting fromcompetitionwith the other. Secondly,Wang's 'human co-existentialist stage' represents a bridge between his earlier anti-Manchu nationalism and his later pan-Asianism. Indeed, Wang's wartime pan-Asianism can be seen as nationalism writ large, or human-co-existentialism writ small.