Western ideas and the fall of the Qing dynasty
Seminar questions
- How far did Western ideas lead to the fall of the Qing empire?
- Was Confucianism to blame?
- How important was 'the search for wealth and power' to Chinese intellectuals?
Core readings: read the works of one of the following thinkers
Yan Fu (Yen Fu)
Kang Youwei (K'ang Yu-wei)
Liang Qichao (Liang Ch'i-ch'ao)
Further readings
William de Bary, Sources of Chinese Tradition, volume 2 (2000). See pp. 260-270, 244-249, 287-293. see here.
Fairbank and Goldman, China, A New History, (chapter 11-12). see here.
Joseph Levenson, Liang Ch'i - ch'ao and the mind of modern China, 1959. See here.
Joseph Levenson, Confucian China and its modern fate, 1968. ACLS E-book.
Ben Schwartz, In Search of Wealth and Power: Yen Fu and the West (1964). E-Book.
Vera Schwarcz, The Chinese enlightenment: intellectuals and the legacy of the May fourth Movement of 1919, 1986. See here.
Rana Mitter, A bitter revolution : China's struggle with the modern world, 2005. See here, and EBSCO e-book.