The rise of ‘Republican fever’ in the PRC: China’s pre-communist legacies and post-Mao national identity

Thesis

The Chinese Communist Party bases much of its legitimacy on its ‘liberation’ of China from the Nationalist government, and its official historiography describes the Republican era as a dark, chaotic and oppressive period and a part of the ‘Century of Humiliation’. However, during the reform era, while the orthodoxy has persisted, a new image of Republican China has emerged. In books, newspaper articles, documentaries and dramas, pre-communist China has sometimes been portrayed as a vibrant society making remarkable progress in modernization in the face of severe external challenges. In the mid-2000s, the growing fascination with the Republican era became known as ‘Republican fever’. This dissertation seeks to find out why positive reassessments of the Republican era, which deviates from the orthodox historiography, have been allowed to emerge in a country where the media remain under strict state control. Using data gathered mainly from China’s official media. I found that the ‘Republican fever’ has been allowed to emerge and even thrive because, in the reform era, China’s official identity narrative has been gradually evolving from that of a revolutionary socialist state into that of a modernizing nationalist state. While the regime has continued to use the negative view of China’s pre-communist history to maintain its historical legitimacy, it has also been promoting a positive view of aspects of the same period in order to support its post-1978 priorities of modernisation and nationalism. The official reassessment meant that some previously off-limits discursive elements, i.e. Republican legacies, became allowable topics of public discussion. Though the regime imposed its own official framings on these topics, ‘authoritarian fragmentation’ meant that media professionals could act as ‘policy entrepreneurs’ and push for alternative framings of the historical legacies. Collectively, the unofficial framings of Republican legacies led to ‘Republican fever’, which has caused damage to the CCP’s official national identity narrative.

Authors: Zhang, Q

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-qq2mm5zgj
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Chinese nationalism; modern Chinese history; national identity; Chinese historiography; Republican fever
• Subjects: Historiography; Politics and government; Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945; Nationalism and historiography; History