Engagement and Integration

Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies
Editor-in-Chief
Tongtao Zheng
Xiamen University
Executive Editor
Yu Zhu
Xiamen University
Editorial Assistant
Amy Sung & Han Zhang
Xiamen University
Editorial Board
Ian Duncan, Xiamen University
Lianghuo Fan, University of Southampton, U.K.
Huanhai Fang, Xiamen University
Shengli Feng, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shui-Lung Fung, BNU-HKBU United International College
Wei Hong, Purdue University, U.S.A.
Rulong Li, Xiamen University
King-Long Ling, National Taichung University of Science and Technology
Hong Liu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Jinghui Liu, California State University, U.S.A.
Colin Mackerras, Griffith University, Australia
Shiu-Kee Shum, University of Hong Kong
Chung-Mou Si, University of Hong Kong
Shek-Kam Tse, University of Hong Kong
Ling Wang, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.
Jie Xu, University of Macau
Nora Yao, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Linsheng Zhang, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
Tongtao Zheng, Xiamen Uinversity
Jianchuan Zhou, Albany State University, U.S.A.
Yu Zhu, Xiamen University
Zhen Zou, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.
(Double-blind Peer Review Journal)
Quarterly JOURNAL OF CHINESE STUDIES

Volume 2 Number 4 Summer 2014
QJCS Articles
Engagement and Integration: The Post-exile Poetics of Bei Dao
Chee-Lay Tan
Book Review of The Hos Women: Three Generations Biographies

Fung Kei CHENG
15
Louis Vuitton or Gucci?

A Study into the Internets Role in Influencing Chinese Overseas Students Luxury
Consumption Behaviour and Identity Construction
Jia Liu & Roujie Wang
18
The Dynamics of Political Stability in China

Banwo Adetoro Olaniyi
39
Chinas Contemporary Role in Africas Political Economy

Okolo Abutu Lawrence & Okolo Joseph Akwu
56
Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at Primary School in England

Tingting Chen
67
Islam and Confucianism: between dissonance and harmony

Ayesha Qurrat Ul Ain & Jianyou Lu
84
Quarterly JOURNAL OF CHINESE STUDIES, 2 (4), 1-14

ISSN: 2224-2716
Copyright 2012 Overseas Education College of Xiamen University
Engagement and Integration: The Post-exile Poetics of Bei

Dao1
Chee Lay Tan
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
This paper attempts to investigate the post-exile poetics of one of the most internationally renowned contemporary Chinese poetsBei Dao, who was exiled from China after the 1989 Tiananmen Student Movement. His poetry was later to be labeled Misty poetry (Menglongshi)
emphasising polyvalent imagery and irregular syntax, it engenders a multiplicity of meanings,
often leading to interpretational indeterminacy. In this paper, I hope to focus on Bei Daos
post-exile Misty poetry including its post-exile poetic imagery and language, to show how it has
engaged and integrated Chineseness. I shall attempt to show that the alternative poetics of Bei
Dao progresses to a Borderless nature in exile and that he portrays his exilic literary identity in
even greater hybridity.
Keywords: Bei Dao, Misty Poetry, post-exile, exile poetry, Chineseness, Borderless poetry
The exile of words has begun

Untitled, 1989, Oslo2
The students using my poem [The Answer] in Tiananmen Square gives
me a very complex mixture of feelings. On one hand, of course, I feel incredible pride. But on the other hand, I also feel quite strange because this
popularization of poetry on a mass level makes me feel doubt as to what
this sort of usage means. I think of myself as a nonconformist but not a
revolutionary. It makes me feel that the meaning of my poem may be misunderstood. Especially by Western audiences. I dont see myself as a representative of such-and-such a trend or political opinion. I see myself as
an individual who is trying to create a new form of language, a new mode
of expression.3
Bei Dao (penname of Zhao Zhenkai, 1949-), one of the most renowned Chinese contemporary poets who was exiled from China after the 1989 Tiananmen Student Movement, gave
his personal re-evaluation of The Answer in his exile as shown above, which I believe
helps to illuminate his changing post-exile poetics. His progression from the pre-exile rebellious effort to a post-exile poetics is, as I would like to propose, a double engagement
and integration to form a new language and mode of expression. Such a view diverges
1Requests for reprints should be sent to Chee Lay Tan. E-mail: cheelay.tan@sccl.sg.
2Bei Dao, Old Snow, p.25.
3Ratiner, "Reclaiming the Word."
Tan
from scholar Dian Li (author of The Chinese Poetry of Bei DAO, 1978-2000: Resistance
and Exile, Edwin Mellen Press, 2006) who maintains that Bei Daos post-exilic poetry
continued his rebellion, not against an oppressive political power but against himself as a
person and a poet in reaction to the transformative influence of his exilic experience.4
I believe Bei Daos post-exile poetic language, firstly, increasingly engages his own cultural Chinesenessthe Chinese literary and linguistic traditions, including idioms and literary quotationsbefore proceeding to integrate such Chineseness into a universal setting,
garnering strength to transcend the borders and restrictive exclusivities of different cultures
and traditions. Next, contrary to many critics views,5 Bei Daos poetic content does not
shy away from official Chinesenessthe hegemonic and previously-omnipresent Chinese
political insinuationsbut engages images of official Chineseness and integrates them as
an underlying reciprocal action for his humanistic poetics. In fact, as we shall examine,
these two aspects of Chinesenesscultural and officialare actually closely related as the
engagement of cultural Chineseness helps to integrate (directly and indirectly) official Chineseness, and vice-versa.
The reasons for the transformation of the nature of Bei Daos poetics from rebellious
to enveloping and embracing are complicated. The most prominent reason is of course his
experience of exile. A violent separation from ones homeland, daily habits, culture and
language creates a psychological void that keeps expanding in its desire to be filled. Bei
Daos way of filling this void was writing.
Secondly, Bei Dao needed to continue writing after 1989, not only to justify his professional positions as writer-in-residence or professor in creative writing, but also for practical
reasonsto support himself and his family. Hence, when he found himself in an entirely
foreign literary field particularly dependent on institutions and grant-awarding bodies, he
adapted by not repeating his double rebellion, possibly due to ennui, his desire for self-renewal, or even his apprehension of readers presuppositions of him. Instead, he returned to
his roots of Chineseness to find a new foundation for his exilic poetry. In the highly market-oriented foreign literary field, his poetry can then stand out as one which can perform
to the foreign consumer, not with currency invested straight from Chinese traditions, but as
a revised and revitalised poetics for a universal market.
Thirdly, the technique of Mistiness in Bei Daos poetics serves as a ready platform for
embracing Chineseness and other foreign influences in exile. Mistiness makes it easier for
his continuously-evolving poetry to boost both its engagement and integration with Chinesenessit creates a sense of ambiguity just like traditional Chinese poetry would, by employing similar imagery and syntax. However, he does not do so in a simple and superficial
manner, but attempts to transcend the dichotomies of Chinese/non-Chinese, traditional/
modern and orthodoxy/non-orthodoxy by transforming the resources of Chineseness into
poetic imagery and language that are open to more alternative interpretations and are suggestive of more universal meanings.
4Dian Li, "Bei Dao's 'Run From Writing'."
5For instance, critic Jiang Ruoshui argues that Bei Daos "genes inherited from his race, history and culture
is extremely rarely seen [] in comparison to Western elements, there are much less things that remind us of
Chinese classical traditions in his poetry," see Jiang, "Gudu de Wudao," pp.28-29. Taiwanese critic Li Kuixian
even claims that he "has already begun to gradually lose his unique character as a Chinese [and] in his poetry
one gradually finds less and less of a Chinese flavor," see Li Kuixian, "Liuwang de yuci."
Post-exile Image System

I have chosen Bei Daos poetry collection, Unlock (2000), as a point of comparison with
his pre-exile works as it provides a sufficiently long time horizon (11 years after he began
his exile) for his style progression and for linguistic changes to stabilise.
Table 1
Frequency table of images in Unlock
Image
frequency
SpecificallyChinese Image
Non-specifically-Chinese/
Foreign Image
SpecificallyForeign Image
Political/ exilerelated Image
temple, well
(Total:2)
unlisted due to quantity

(Total:211)
Captain Mozart,
Fifth Street,
Sixth Street
(Total:3)
banner,
blacklist,
politician
(Total:3)
angel, apple, axe,

bride, candle(stick),
chair, clothes, clouds,
corridor, crack, cricket,
crow, fingernail,
floodwater, flower,
fountain, garden, god,
hill, hooves, map, mask,
milk, nest, page, pen,
rabbit, red light, formapplication/registration,
room, root, salt, ship,
shore, tea, trumpet,
uniform, wanderer,
wave, whirlpool, wound,
wrinkles (Total:84)
bank-left/
right, nation,
revolution,
square, war
(Total:10)
bow(string), city(gate),
compass, dark(ness),
director, ground, hair,
head, horizon, house,
lightning, mirror,
newspaper (boy), paper,
piano, rose, school,
stars, storm, town, weeds
(Total:63)
flag, June
(Total:6)
sorghum
alcohol/wine, bell, corner,

earth, eyes, fish-trout,
(wine)glass, letter, snow
(Total:32)
Tan
peach tree
face, field, lamp(light),

tree-birch/fir/locust,
smoke, stair(case), street
(Total:30)
audience, heart,
moon(light), river,
shadow, tree(top)
(Total:36)
morning (Total:7)
8 or more
8-word-ci/zi;
9-sun (light/set)
(Total:17)
home(land)/
motherland
(Total:12)
8-book, door(way),
hand(gesture), road,
(dead)water(surface);
9-window/air shaft,
bird(nest), dawn/
daybreak/day(light);
11-sea;
12-sky;
13-light(ray);
18-wind/cold draft;
19-night(sky)
(Total:140)
Firstly, we can calculate from the above table that Chinese traditional poetic images
occurred even more frequently (163 out of 665, or a massive 24.5%) in Bei Daos exile.
By Chinese traditional poetic images, I include specifically-Chinese images (such as temple, well, sunlight/sunset) and other non-specifically-Chinese images which are commonly
utilised in Chinese classical poetry (universal images such as candle, clouds, ship, shore,
(white) hair, horizon, stars, wine, bell, snow, moonlight, river, wind). Furthermore, many
of Bei Daos post-exilic lexical choices have become more polished linguistically, almost
with the linguistic refinement of classical Chinese.
For instance, yewan (night) and feng (wind) which occur more than 20 times each
in Bei Daos pre-exile book, Notes from the City of the Sun (1983), become yekong (night
sky) and hanliu (cold draft) in Unlock, which are more refined and enriched names;
yekong not only signifies the time, but also attaches an image of the dark (empty) sky to
enrich the entire image, while hanliu not only illustrates the presence of air flow (wind),
but also describes its magnitude and invokes a sense of chilliness and wariness. Other noticeable evolutions of his lexicon are shanshui (landscape, instead of previously preferred
fengjing (scenery)), qiufeng or beifeng (more traditional and elegant ways of saying
autumn winds or melancholic winds respectively, instead of simply wind), sanyue
xue (March snow, instead of snow), mitu (lost, instead of the more colloquial milu).
While Bonnie McDougall is right in saying Bei Daos composition of the poems is
still built around a sequence of powerful images, but the images are now more carefully
chosen and thoughtfully structured,6 she does not explain the underlying reasons for this. I
propose that these new lexicons are the results of his new engagement and integration with
traditional Chinese expressions. For instance, he disregards the fact that traditional Chinese
phrases are generally shunned by avant-garde poets after the May Fourth movement, and
boldly utilises words like zhi (equivalent to the auxiliary word of) to replace the more
vernacular de (of). His return to and reconciliation with traditional Chineseness allow
him to draw strength and sustenance from a rich Chinese literary past, forming images and
IPs (Imagery Phrases) that envelop and transcend Chineseness.
Asking Heaven (Wentian, early-1990s) is an excellent example (which resembles Qu
Yuans (340-278 BC) Heavenly Question (Tianwen)) to demonstrate his integration of
traditional and common phrases, and his subsequent transcendence of them (as evoked by
the line words slide beyond the book):
tonight the rain scatters
fresh breeze flips the book

dictionaries beat about the bush
forcing me to surrender
[]
bright moon sparse stars
a teachers hands
give directions to the lost

[]
their story
slides out of national boundaries
words slide out of the book

[]
The bold phrases (in the original Chinese; its precise sense is necessarily lost in translation) are often seen in traditional Chinese poetry, while the italics are Chinese idioms and
common sayings. Bei Dao integrates these conventional phrases and clichs with modern
and customarily imported nouns such as national boundaries. He subsequently transcends them by evoking entirely ingenious meanings by applying techniques such as personification (for instance, the dictionaries beat about the bush) and the Misty twist (like
words minus their carrier, the book).
Secondly, images with political or exilic insinuationssuch as Tiananmen-related
nouns like banner, blacklist, politician, revolution, Square, June, and exile-related images of the imagination featuring home(land) and nationoccupy 4.7 % of
the total number of images in Unlock. Significantly, in his early post-exilic collection, Old
Snow, Bei Dao largely avoided the painful Tiananmen massacre or even any reference to it,
except for one direct response in Requiemfor the victims of June 4th.7 However, over
time, he became more audacious when creating images linked to this tragic past, instead of
shying away to pursue a purer poetic form with no interference from politics. Of course,
6 McDougall, "Preface." In Bei Dao, Old Snow , p.xii.
7Ibid., p.11.
Tan
he now writes in a more liberated foreign writing environment, or what Leo Lee describes
as a multicultural place overseas [which] need not embrace or resist another larger collectivity.8 Facing politics and exile boldly is merely one of the many factors that constitute
his more humanistic and highly dichotomic poetry. However, political resistance is the only
strength which some Western critics focus on;9 his translator, Eliot Weinberger illuminates:
Like other poets who became famous young, the appreciation of his work remains frozen
in the early writing.10
For instance, political or exilic images in Forms of Distance (1993) include the sledgehammer (a Communist icon), flag, hero, soldiers, dictator, war, dissident,
square, and mother tongue. Furthermore, in Landscape Over Zero (1995), there are
terms like 1949, war, hometown, statesmen, battle, bureaucrat, sun, anniversary and one generation (a direct reference to fellow Misty poet Gu Chengs famous
same-titled poem that insinuate the generation that grew up in the Cultural Revolution), etc.
Besides the more direct associative images listed above, he also plays with numbers to denote the detonated and delirious June 4th tragedy in Midnight Singer (Wuye geshou,
around 1993):
a song
is a thief whos fled across rooftops
getting away with six colors
and leaving the red hour-hand
on 4 oclock heaven
4 oclock detonates
in the roosters head
and its 4 oclock delirium11
Of course, critical readers will acknowledge that these images may also encompass
broader significations including foreign politics, exile and nationhood that are not restricted
to the narrower sociopolitical contexts of China.
Thirdly, the most notable thing about the imagery system above is not what is present,
but what is absent from the listspecifically-foreign imagesthough all were written
outside China. Out of the scarce (three) specifically-foreign images, Fifth and Sixth Street
may not even be foreign though they do follow a Western (especially American) style of
street-naming, and Captain Mozart seems to be a fabrication. This statistic is significantly
lower than his first post-exilic publication, Old Snow, which is divided according to his
residencyBerlin, Oslo and Stockholmand which contains foreign names like Prague,
Kafka, Vltava River, Northern Europe, Bach, etc. It appears that the concrete foreign existence recorded in his early exilic poems has disappeared, and was probably assimilated and
accommodated to avert explicit acknowledgment. Notably, this deliberate avoidance of
foreign space-specificities parallels his pre-exilic avoidance of Chinese fixities, both setting
8See Bei Dao, Wuye geshou .
9For instance Jane Koepp, when reviewing the post-exilic collection, Old Snow , over-emphasised Bei Daos
"status as a spokesperson for all those who share illicit memories which cannot be shared in the legitimate Chinese media." See Koepp, "Old Snow," p.578.
10See Bei Dao, Unlock , pp.109-10.
11Bei Dao, Forms of Distance , p.9.
sight at a larger world stage for his poems. One exception in Unlock is Quiescence and
Shudder (Jijing yu zhanli) dedicated to poet-activist B. Breytenbach (1939- ) who was exiled from South Africa in the 1960s. This poem is reminiscent of Bei Daos pre-exile poem
for Yu Luoke. Both poems have a specific recipient who, like himself, is resisting a larger
institutional power.
The shortage of foreign backgrounds in Bei Daos poetry has three possible explanations. He may be aspiring to create a universal poetry unrestricted by place and time.
Alternatively, the other more mundane or daily events are taken care of by his essays, compiled in Blue House (1998) and Midnights Door (2002), which have an abundance of foreign cultural and geographical specificities written almost jocosely, so his poems are more
serious and reserved for a higher purpose.12 Or rather, he may have a more intimate
knowledge of cultural and linguistic Chineseness because in exile, they act as a psychological shield or, as he claims, a mother tongues line of defence.13 This sense of cultural
and linguistic nostalgia is most apparent in A Local Accent (Xiangyin, 1990):
I speak Chinese to the mirror
[] []
a native land is a kind of local accent
14
In the following section, I shall further examine the engagement and integration within Bei Daos post-exile language.
The Linguistics of Engagement and Integration
Separation from Chinese language in exile prompted Bei Dao to refute the possibility of it
becoming strange and remote: Actually its just the reverseIve become even closer
to the mother tongue, or more precisely, it is a changed relation.15 Chinese critics who are
sensitive to his linguistic change, such as Ouyang Jianghe and Tang Xiaodu, notice features
like increased dialogism, self-mockery and self-satirising characteristics, and call them
middle-period features.16 Others like Lucas Klein comment, The mixture of obliqueness
with emotional accessibility comes from Bei Dao's desire to invent, metaphorically, a new
language [] to tear Chinese away from Maoist associations and conformist dogma.17
However, instead of moving on to a middle-period or a new language, Bei Dao has rediscovered a new direction by returning to the old roots of Chinese literary culture and linguistics, as he testifies:
like blood calling blood: [] the breath and beauty of tradition is like a
huge wind pressing down on a tiny sail, a sailor has to know how to use
the wind if the boat is going to go far [] The emphasis Chinese tradi12Bei Dao explicitly said that he "started to write essay for [his] livelihood." See Preface of Bei Dao, Shibai zhi
shu .
13Bei Dao, Forms of Distance , p.67.
14Bei Dao, Old Snow , p.51. Bold mine.
15Tang, "In My Writing, I'm Constantly Searching a Direction."
16 Ibid.
17Klein, "The Voice of Beidao."
Tan
tional poetry lays on imagery and poetic space is [] our own wealth
(sometimes it comes to us by twisted path, as when we get it by way of
the American Imagist School).18
Although he again acknowledges the Imagists influence, Bei Daos return to the roots
of Chinese traditional imagery, especially the poetic space created by the nuances imbedded in traditional poetic language, warrants more attention. Contemporary critics, such
as Simon Patton in 1993, have labeled him avant-garde,19 but he has moved closer to the
core of Chinese traditional poetics as he drifts further away from political China. Of course,
returning to ones roots is not a novel attempt, but his path is most unconventional, as we
shall see from his representative distorted IPs and their linguistic sources:
Table 2
Examples of post-exilic distorted IPs
IP (Imagery Phrase)
Image
Modifier
Type of Modifier
Source
Text
hedgehog
in exile
action
A Picture
pictograph
thats lost its sound
audio
Rebel
pocket watch
laomou shensuan
(experienced and
astute)
Psychological
sky
scoop-shaped
shape
The
Exhibition
window
timeless
temporal
Terminal
Illness
from Old Snow
Idiom
Coming
Home at
Night
from Forms of Distance

autumn
duoshi zhi qiu

(autumn world in
turmoil
events
idiom
Autumn
World in
Turmoil
buds
lengre zizhi (know

the temperature
himself)
Psychological
idiom
Flash
heart
xinjing ru shui
(hearts quiet as water)
Psychological
idiom
Other than
Tomorrow
tree
plastic
material
18Tang, "In My Writing, I'm Constantly Searching a Direction."

19Patton, "Review," p.206.
Beyond
winter
bureaucratic
Psychological
Corridor
from Landscape Over Zero

daylight
baizhou shengyan
(daylight smolders)
action
classical
Chinese
A Day in the
Mountains
Li Bai
(jigu erge ) beats a

drum and sings
action
Zhuangzi, idiom
Untitled
(Pedestrians
lighting their
own)
memory
jidu huishou (looks

back a few times)
action
common
saying
Another
official policy
beidao er chi(hurries
in the opposite direction)
action
idiom
Theme
waves
endless, sorrowful
appearance,
psychological
classical
Chinese
Showing up
days
diedie buxiu (endlessly chattering)
action
idiom
No
fishes
xiangwang yu jianghe (forget one another

in rivers and lakes)
action
Zhuangzi
Soap
teacher
chuanzhen yinxian
(act as go-between)
action
idiom
The Hunt
word-ci/zi
panting
action
wind
daoling (steal bells)

at night
action
idiom (yaner
daoling
stealing bells with
clasped ears)
Leaving
Home
haoda beifeng (vast

melancholic wind)
scale,
psychological
classical
Chinese
Call
from Unlock
Mission
The most notable characteristic here is the direct engagement of Chinese literary and
cultural traditions, including idioms, common sayings, classics like Zhuangzi and even
literary icons like Li Bai. Furthermore, this trend rises increasinglyin Old Snow (1991),
there are minimal idioms used (only laomou shensuan (experienced and astute), but the
number of idioms gradually increase to include classically-used Chinese idioms and common sayings. By the time he wrote Unlock (2000), Bei Daos IPs are from many more
different sources, including traditional poetic lexis and literary quotations. Such a rebellion
against the unspoken 20th century rule of not directly transplanting traditional or standard
phrases in modern poetry (to avoid being overtly clichd), I believe, adds dimensions to
both his IP and language.
10
Tan
Furthermore, his action modifiers proliferate with time, especially in Landscape Over
Zero and Unlock. The resultant IPs project a sense of imagery in motion, almost like
photographs transforming into a motion picture. In his early poetic manifesto which coincides with the Modernist concept of juxtaposition and creating signification gaps, Bei Dao
pronounced: I try to introduce in my own poetry the technique of film montage, and by
creating juxtaposed images and changes in speed, I want to arouse peoples imaginations to
fill in the substantial gaps between the words.20 We see from the list that he has improved
tremendously on utilising speed and motion. For instance, his endlessly chattering days
remind readers of rapidity and recurrence, while his wind that steals bell in the middle of
the night, possibly meaning the ringing of a bell that seemingly fades into distance with the
passing wind, must be furtive and slow.
Besides returning to cultural Chineseness, Bei Dao also revisits official Chineseness via
a path different from his pre-exile works (like Declaration) which are straightforward and
in a Maoist tone. He injects Misty twists to IPs related to political Chineseness and loosens their political connections: examples listed include the sun (Communist) with no
clock-hand (Misty twist), flower wreaths (Tiananmen-related) with contraception (Misty
twist), hero (Tiananmen-related) in an old book (Misty twist) who spreads autumn
fan (poetic twist, drawing strength from a literary quotation).
Furthermore, he also revisits official Chineseness from a linguistic perspective, as
reflected by the many word (8) and book-related (8) images (writings about words or language, otherwise call metaword or metalanguage), which are among the highest frequencies in Table 1. Bei Dao, who (perhaps unconsciously) utilised political and sloganised
language in his earliest pre-exile poems, and who progressed to mistier and increasingly
unconventional styles immediately before and after exile, has now become even more conscious of his own language use. The apparent increase of character/word (zi/ci)-related IPs
in Unlock, such as the sigh within word, word changes, dancing words, words are
poison in a song, panting words and even sinister words, not only reveals his heightened awareness of transformed and individualised words (and of course language) in a
foreign environment, but also reveals his changed relationship with official and linguistic
Chinesenessfrom subjective rebellion to objective envisagement.
Let me illustrate by comparing pre- and post-exilic poems. Mornings Story (1989,
pre-exile poem) engages (even collides) with the violent Maoist language with ironical
situations like word destroying another word, and book burning another book:
A word has destroyed another word
a book issues order
to burn another book
a morning established by the violence of language
has changed peoples coughing
in the morning21
However, he merely transplants idioms directly from Maoist vocabulary, but has not
poeticised or Misticised the overt clarity and harshness of official Chineseness, or tran20Bei Dao, Notes from the City of the Sun , p.79.
21Bei Dao, Old Snow, p.27.
11
scended it. His post-exilic poem June (late-1990s), however, offers a glimpse of his transcendence of official Chineseness:
Wind at the ear says, June
June is a blacklist
I left in advance
[]
note those annotations:
unending plastic flowers
on the left bank of dead
the cement square
extends from writing
to now
I escape from writing
as dawn is hammered out
a flag covers the sea
and deep bass loudspeakers loyal to the sea
says, June22
He both engages with and integrates the many hard political insinuations (above, in italics) in a much softer tone, giving them a romantic and even melancholic inflection. Thus,
he is able to transcend the memories of political suppression, as well as the imagery and
language so associated with official Chineseness.
Conclusion: Towards An Alternative Borderless Poetry
In exile, Bei Dao pronounced: I see myself as an individual who is trying to create a new
form of language, a new mode of expression.23 While he did not provide details about the
novel language, some critics simplistically attached descriptions such as individualistic
or surrealistic to his language.24 I believe Bei Daos poetics fundamentally attempts to
move away from preceding ideologies: it is neither totally Europeanised (like the translated literatures) nor Maoist orthodoxy, neither completely individualistic nor collectivistic,
neither official truth nor objective truth and neither overwhelmingly intellectual nor
pingmin (commoner). He is, instead, ploughing a kind of middle furrow between some
of these contradictory aims: his poetics portray a didactically critical tone, conventionally
classified as realist, collectivistic and shi (concrete) in the foreground while expressing personalised emotions, usually classified as romantic subjectivist, individualistic, xu (empty),
in the background.
I have thus far attempted to present Bei Daos post-exilic poetics as more of a linguistic
return to Chinese cultural roots via engagement and integration. In exile, Bei Dao becomes
22Bei Dao, Unlock , p.3.
23Ratiner, "Reclaiming the Word."
24For instance, see Zhang Yaxin, Zhongguo xiandai Menglongshi shangxi , p.178.
12
Tan
even Mistier with more private metaphors and irregular syntax, not only to depoliticise his
poetry to escape political stigmatisation, but to further elevate it to a more universal poetics. Consequently, his post-exile poetics not only treads along borders, but further crosses
and transcends them. With minimal clues pointing to his signification, such as the non-telling title (including the increasing untitled poems) and descriptive phrases, he places more
obstacles along the path of decipherment, which, when used appropriately, heightens the
appeal of his work. In fact, his post-exile Misty poetry has gone on to challenge the conventional boundaries between private and public domains, native and foreign culturessomething I would like to call Borderless Poetry. Borderless Poetry displays a kind of poetics
that encompasses the multiplicities of the transcultural, transnational and transpolitical. Its
main focus is in language and imagery, as it attempts to transcend to a borderless platform
of universality that surpasses cultural and linguistic constraints. With more abstruse linguistic experiments, as well as an even higher concentration of imagery, Bei Dao advances
to a Borderless poetics that is even less space/time-specific. Hence, borderless here does
not refer as much to his physical or geographical exile to different countries, as to his embrace of images despite their cultural origin, as well as his creative experiment with poetic
language with highly receptive attitude towards Chinese, Europeanised or international influences. One borderless example is his philosophical treatment of the temporal motif in
A Day in the Mountains (Shanzhong yiri, post-1995):
[]
to wake up
the clock strikes twelve
midnight drops its leaves
daylight smoulders25
Dian Li argues convincingly that night serves as both the context and content of [Bei
Daos] unreal images.26 Here, with a much calmer temperament and a touch of Chan, he
depicts an insomniac moment. With universal images (clock, midnight, leaves, daylight,
smouldering) and themes (fleeting time, insomnia), this poem represents a transcendence
into a Borderless poetics.
Additionally, Bei Daos philosophical thoughts about knowledge and writing (meta-writing) also constitute his Borderless Poetry:
my shadows highly dangerous
this craftsman employed by the sun
brings final knowledge
thats empty
[]
keyword, my shadow
hammers dreamworld iron
[]
an egret writes on water
25Bei Dao, At the Skys Edge , p.146.
26Dian Li, The Chinese Poetry of Bei Dao, p.58.
13
a life a day a sentence

ends

Keyword (Guanjianci, mid-1990s)27
This poem exemplifies Bei Daos critical (even skeptical) view of knowledge (which
is empty). His universal IP, being aesthetically crafted with a Misty twistlike
dreamworld iron and the writings on water by an egretare as refreshing as they are
provocative. Despite how relatively little discussed he is and how relatively denigrated his
post-exile work is in China, I believe such borderless philosophical thought (like the idealistic implications by no ones defeat) and refined linguistics (like phrasal creations in
keyword hammers ironas if meanings of words are being forged and hardened) provide
a necessary counteraction to the mediocrity of banal objective truth and the coarseness of
colloquial language recurrent in the post-1989 Chinese poetry scene. Furthermore, in the
strictest sense of the intellectual concept in Edward Saids Representations of the Intellectual (that one must voice his views with a sense of social responsibility from outside the
official institutions),28 he qualifies more as the intellectual poet gazing upon China beyond
its borders (in both physical and psychological senses). His writing from a de-centralised
and marginalised borderless exile position fits perfectly into the description of Borderless
writing.
In conclusion, I have attempt to show that the alternative poetics of Bei Dao progresses
to a Borderless nature in exile and that he now portrays his exilic literary identity in even
greater hybridity. In terms of imagery, traditional poetic images and the very contemporary
politically-charged and tensioned images interact to develop into the poetics in his Borderless writings. As his translator, Weinberger, critically observes, Bei Daos abrupt changes
in register, bits of daily or bureaucratic speech, an oblique or ironic reference to classical
Chinese literature, Maoist dogma, and contemporary events are juxtaposed with his references to traditional poetic styles to form a complex linguistic individuality unique to him.29
His ultimate goal is not to express Chineseness or anti-official/cultural Chineseness, not
even neo-Chineseness, but to transcend such notions and borders in a vigorous pursuit of a
higher humanity and noble purposes such as freedom, equality, dignity and self-respect in a
Borderless Poetry. This ambition is summed up in a personal reflection: I feel writing is a
kind of exile from daily language [] To write poetry is to try to open up new horizons and
break the circle of existing language.30 His writing is, in fact, an exile from preset Chineseness to new borderless horizons.
References
Bei, D.2001. At the skys edge: Poems 1991-1996. Translated by David Hinton and Yanbing Chen.
New York: New Directions.
Bei, D. (1994). Forms of distance. Translated by David Hinton. New York: New Directions.
Bei, D. (1983). Notes from the city of the sun. Translated by Bonnie S. McDougall. New York: Cornell
University.
27Bei Dao, At the Skys Edge, p.170.

28See Said, Representations of the Intellectual.
29Weinberger. "A Note on the Translation," p.110.
30Featherston, "Renaming the World," p.49.
14
Tan
Bei, D. (1991). Old snow. Translated by Bonnie S. McDougall and Chen Maiping. New York: New Directions.
Bei, D. (2004). Shibai zhi shu (The Book of Defeat). Shantou: Shantou daxue.
BeiD. (2000). Unlock. Translated by Eliot Weinberger and Iona Man-Cheong. New York: New Directions.
Bei, D. (1995). Wuye geshou (Midnight Singer). Taipei: Jiuge.
Featherston, D. (1999). Renaming the world: Interview with Bei Dao. Rain Taxi 4, No. 3 (1999): 48-50.
Jiang Ruoshui . Gudu de wudaocong yipian xuwen tan Beidao shi
(The Lonely DanceDiscussing Beidaos Poetry from a Preface). Tendency 10 (1997):
21-30.
Klein, L. (2003). The voice of Beidao. In Rain Taxi Online Edition, Spring 2003. Accessed December 2,
2004. http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2003spring/beidao.shtml.
Koepp, J. 1992. Old snow: Review. World Literature Today 66 .
Li, D. (2005). Bei Daos Run from writing: The Journey to the Interior in Unlock. ACLA Annual Conference 2002, last modified 2002. Accessed March 5, 2005. http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/complit/
acla02/Seminaren.html.
Li, D. (2006). The Chinese poetry of Bei Dao, 1978-2000: Resistance and exile. New York: The Edwin
Mellen Press.
Li, K. X.(2006). Idioms in exileBei Dao ( ). Taiwan News, last modified 2001.
Accessed April 11, 2006. http://www.etaiwannews.com/showPage.php?setupFile=showcontent.xml&menu_item_id=MI-1123667286&did=d_1131514716_24766_AE058BD57534BF6C99394A08F4CDFA5397D3A9D2_24&area=taiwan&area_code=00000.
Patton, S. (1993).Review: Old Snow. The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 30. PP. 205-07.
Ratiner, S. (2004). Reclaiming the Word: A Conversation with Bei Dao. AGNI 54, accessed January 5,
2005. http://www.bu.edu/agni/interviews-exchanges/print/2001/ratiner-beidao.html.
Said, E. W. (1994). Representations of the intellectual. New York: Pantheon Books.
Tang X. D. (2007). In My Writing, Im Constantly Searching a Direction: An Interview with Bei Dao.
Trans. Haun Saussy. In Mantis (2003): accessed August 16, 2007. http://mantisjournal.stanford.edu/
M4/texts/Bei%20Dao.htm.
Weinberger, E. (2000). A note on the translation. In Bei Dao, Unlock, 107-111.
Zhang Y. X. & Geng, J. H. (1988).. Critique of modern Chinese misty poetry (
).Guangzhou: Huacheng.
Authors Biodata:
Chee-Lay Tan is Assistant Professor of Chinese at National Institute of Education, as well
as the Deputy Executive Director of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore. He completed his PhD degree in Oriental Studies
at University of Cambridge, majoring in Modern Chinese literature. He received his BA
(Chinese language and literature) from National Taiwan Normal University, and his MA
(English Studies) from National University of Singapore. His other research interests are
in Singapore literature, literary pedagogy and multiculturism. Chee-Lay has 20 edited and
authored academic and creative books to his name, which include creative writing, critical
literary research and pedagogical essays.
First Authors Address:
cheelay.tan@sccl.sg

ISSN: 2224-2716
Victor Wan Tai Zheng and Siu Lun Wong (2010). (2010). The Hos
Women: Three Generations Biographies. . Hong Kong: Joint
Publishing (Hong Kong) Company Limited .
Reviewed by: Fung Kei Cheng1, The University of Hong Kong
ISBN 978-962-04-3021-3 (paperback). 286 pp. HK$98.
Creating the Hos Eurasian family, which has been playing an unparalleled role of economic growth and political influence in Hong Kong, resulted from the desire of survival of a
Chinese underclass woman who deviated from the traditional bondage of women. Zheng
and Wong, the authors of the book The Hos Women: Three Generations Biographies,
investigated the personal narratives of three generations of women in the Ho Tungs family,
in which the members have been contributing to various aspects in Hong Kong, involving
business, military, politics, health care, education, and philanthropy, since the early twentieth century. A total of five chapters (including the preface) mainly illuminate: first, the
evolution of this powerful Eurasian family; second, the capabilities of the Hos women; and
lastly, the association of socio-political environment and the fates of the women. While
most relevant publications emphasise the contributions of men in the Hos family, indicating the domination of patriarchal society, this book delineates the intelligence of those
women, reflecting social changes in Hong Kong across three centuries from the nineteenth
to twenty-first.
See Shi ( ) (also named See Tai ), the mother of Sir Robert Ho Tung (
), as articulated in Chapter 1, mastered her life when she was struggling with adversities, starting from her being sold to Hong Kong, and then becoming a Chinese protected
woman (p. 31), who gave birth to nine children for different men, including Europeans.
She, voluntarily and involuntarily, drifted away from the formal marital hierarchy, alien1Requests for reprints should be sent to Fung Kei Cheng. E-mail: oasischeng@yahoo.com.
16
CHENG
ating herself from both Chinese and European traditions, from which she developed her
kingdom of Eurasians gaining political and economic advantages in a British colony. The
power of the Hos family is still maintained nowadays by its extended family members in
Chinese sovereignty, such as a broadcasting enterprise in Hong Kong, and a conglomeration of entertainment business in Macau. Her success demonstrated this womans resilience
towards crises, and has exemplified how grass-roots women tackle life difficulties in a patriarchal society.
Portraying the two Hos wives (the first wife, and the second wife, ), who
were Eurasians and equally treated, namely Margaret Maclean ( ) and
Clara Cheung ( ); the concubine, Zhou Qi Wen ( ); and the
mistress, Katie Archee ( ); Chapter 2 displays their diverse experiences in such a
polygamous family. Variations of their lives were engendered not only because of their
family background and ranks in the Hos family, but more crucially of their free will and
personality. Although Margaret was not an extrovert, she was sociable with Western celebrities that made her become an ambassador connected with prominent foreign figures. Her
introduction of traditional Chinese silkworm technique in an international exhibition was
awarded a British medal of honour.
Similarly, Clara actively formed a strong social network with Eastern political and business circles, from which she was significantly able to contribute to the rapid expansion of
the Hos family. Being a devoted Buddhist, she purposefully established a philanthropic
foundation, which has made substantial impacts on a long-run local development of Buddhism and currently supports Buddhist studies worldwide by ways of building a Bodhimanda and invites renowned scholars and monks to give lectures. She also made specific
efforts to advocate girls education, which was an indigenous social negligence until the
1970s, to prevent animal abuse, increase public awareness of family planning, and participate in women services in China, implying her foresight on social development. Her
picture, rather than a photograph of other members, on the cover of this book explicitly
marks her particular position in the family and the society. In addition to Margaret and
Claras forging ties with the upper class, their soft diplomacy (p. 125) not only strikingly
broke through the domestic social barriers but also compassionately cared for sentient beings. More importantly, their altruistic behaviour presented womens competitiveness in
patrilineal contexts.
On the contrary, women of the third generation in the Hos family, depicted in Chapter 3,
had experienced happiness and suffering caused by the two World Wars; and yet their lives
were so divergent due to their choices. Compared to the others, Eva ( ) and Irene (
) succeeded in their careers and continued Claras philanthropic work. The former
was a famous gynaecologist promoting sex education and family health, while the latter
was committed to both girls and special education by which she was also awarded a British
medal of honour. Moreover, they were patriotic to serve China without compensation. For
instance, Eva joined China's Red Cross during the wars; and Irene helped Chinas women
associations in the 1970s after her retirement and immigration to the United States. The remainder, including Victoria ( ), Daisy ( ), Jean ( ), Grace ( ),
Florence ( ), and Mary ( ), looked after their families; nevertheless, some
accomplished happy families but some did not. Although they were in the same generation
and similar milieu, their life experiences reflected their disparate reactions to the macro-
Book Review of The Hos Women: Three Generations Biographies
17
and micro-environment.
In the prologue and the last chapter, Zheng and Wong offered an overview of the Hos
women from different perspectives, such as bio-anthropology, sociology, and feminism,
to understand the relationships among individual attributes, culture, marriage, and gender.
Having examined the decisive elements of the Hos family prestige largely aided by the soft
power (p. 116) of the first two generations women, who dared to challenge the conventional impediments, which were imposed either on women or on marginalised Eurasians;
the authors conducted limited exploration of their psychological responses and the critical
factors pertaining to those womens success, particularly their interpersonal skills to accommodate the societal needs. Furthermore, the over-emphasis on the link between marriage
and womens well-being might expose the shadow of patriarchal theories. Despite these
limitations, the book showed the trustworthiness of documentary studies which is imperative to uncover the authenticity of historical characters.
The book The Hos Women: Three Generations Biographies, interwoven with life
histories and personal destinies, shares a view of three generations women in a local Eurasian family which combines with political and economic influences, a marginalized social
group, transition of the marital system, multi-cultural life, vicissitudes due to wars, a philanthropic enterprise, applause and suppression to women, development of Hong Kong, and
a close link between Hong Kong people and Mainland China. It appeals to readers who are
interested in any of these facets.
Acknowledgement: I thank Dr Keith Chau for his valuable suggestions on the earlier draft of this
book review.
Authors Biodata:
Fung Kei Cheng, currently a doctoral candidate at The University of Hong Kong, focuses
on integrating Buddhist wisdom into various disciplines, such as counselling, mental health
interventions, complementary and alternative medicine, conflict resolution, peacemaking,
gender studies, sustainable development and business management. Her present inter-disciplinary project is to conceptualise a Buddhist-oriented counselling framework through a
combination of a canonical analysis and qualitative fieldwork. This hybrid research design
not only emphasises the significance of primary data sources for such similar research,
but also gives Buddhist direct voice to its applications in helping professions, which make
marked differences to the available Buddhist-informed therapeutic approaches. Also, it
offers philosophical underpinnings to further develop the Western models. Research outcomes have been published in international academic journals and conference proceedings.
oasischeng@yahoo.com

ISSN: 2224-2716
Louis Vuitton or Gucci?

A Study into the Internets Role in Influencing Chinese
Overseas Students Luxury Consumption Behaviour and
Identity Construction1
Jia Liu & Roujie Wang
Dalian Maritime University & Xiamen University
This study attempts to investigate the Internets role in influencing Chinese international students luxury consuming behaviour, as well as the relationship between luxury ownership and
identity construction. The data presented were generated by sixteen semi-structured individual
interviews, which were mostly conducted in London between June and July 2011. The study finds
that although most participants possess products made by internationally recognized brands, their
definition of luxury, and attitudes toward luxury has a large amount of differentiation. Despite the
traditional criticism that the Internets mass influence runs inconsistent with high-end brands exclusive features, many of the key findings serve as evidence to illustrate how the digital platform
facilitates luxury advertising and luxury shopping from consumers perspective, covering topics
such as online peer communication and online shopping. Additionally, besides media influence,
this study also finds that symbolic capital, peer pressure, the face value, and Western influence are
also potential elements to encourage Chinese overseas students to pursue upscale products. Overall, this dissertation highlights the significance of studying Chinese overseas students luxury consumption behaviour from the dual perspective of online communication and identity construction.
By relating Chinas increasing luxury consumption power with its current economic status, it also
addresses some hotly debated social phenomenon, such as Chinas unsettled social classification
and economic divide between the rich and the poor.
Keywords: Luxury, Internet, Chinese international students, Identity
INTRODUCTION
At the core of this newfound wealth and status was the honest pursuit of better living conditions. Better living conditions meant for higher quality products and upscale brands.
----- Pierre Xiao Lu. 2011
The traditional belief is that luxury and prestige fashion goods are considered as a privilege
for consumers at the top end of the wealth scale (Riley & Lacroix 2003). As explained by
Nueno and Quelch (1998), the word luxury was applied to products, services, or resources,
that were rare and scarce, which were only limited to a selected few. However, due to the
influence of social and business factors (Silverstein and Fiske 2004), changes are taking
1Requests for reprints should be sent to Jia Liu & Roujie Wang. E-mail: Bianca@dlmu.edu.cn.
A Study into the Internets Role in Influencing Chinese Overseas

Students Luxury Consumption Behaviour and Identity Construction
19
place and the contemporary trend is that high-end products are gradually consumed on a
mass level worldwide and becoming more affordable, especially for middle class consumers. Therefore, in response to the changes of the luxury goods market, the concept of luxury
needs to be redefined. For example, Okonkwo (2005: 1) considered that luxury products are
mostly sensory goods because their aesthetic characteristics are best appreciated through
the utilisation of the human senses of sign, touch, and feel. Alternatively, Twitchell (2003:
43) defines luxury as things you have that you think you should not have.
Specifically, luxury consumption is deeply rooted in Chinas cultural and value system,
and is growing in unprecedented popularity. As suggested by Lu (2011), China has recently
become the worlds second largest market for luxury products with an annual increase of
more than 30%, even surpassing Japan. Further statistics reveal that China will eventually
overtake the U.S. and become the largest upscale products market in the world. According
to Understanding Chinas Growing Love for Luxury (Atsmon et al. 2011), a market report
conducted by McKinsey Company, three factors attributed to this phenomenon. First, along
with the accumulation of Chinas economic wealth, symbolic representation of being affluent and having high social status is becoming more and more acceptable for the Chinese as
a social norm. Secondly, the Chinese start to have a better understanding of international
luxury brands largely due to the online information explosion, as well as an increasing
number of Chinese frequent overseas trips. Third, the urbanization of China is taking place
in an unprecedented rate, and many foreign countries share a growing interest in tapping
into Chinas luxury market due to its great unexplored potential.
Taking into consideration of Chinas growing appetite for luxury goods, several scholars, including Pierre Xiao Lu, came up with the belief that there is a homogenous identity
and behavioural patterns that come with new wealth (2011). Lu (2011) further claims that
international luxury brands perfectly fulfil the needs of Chinese mainland consumers from
all angles - cultural, social and economic - attributing for a more modern, powerful, and
self-confident approach to life. Additionally, specific features regarding Chinese luxury
consumers should be noticed. On the one hand, the average age of Chinese luxury consumers are the youngest worldwide. For instance, whereas only 28% of luxury consumers in
Western Europe are younger than 35 years old, this percentage is as high as 45% in China
(Atsmon et al. 2011). On the other hand, due to high luxury tax and limited selection in
mainland China, many affluent Chinese choose to purchase upscale products abroad, which
leads to an increasing possible outflow of luxury consumption in China.
Moreover, international Chinese students in the United Kingdom, as a group of young
consumers with relatively affluent financial backgrounds and easy access to high-end products (Yao 2004), share the characteristics of typical Chinese luxury consumers and can be
considered as one group of potential luxury consumers. Besides, whereas McKinseys 2011
report viewed the exploding online information as a major element for causing Chinas
luxury fever, Chinese overseas students, as Chinas younger generation, possess advanced
online technology and actively participate in the virtual domain, using applications such as
social networking sites (SNSs), online forums and online shopping (McMillan & Morrison
2006). Furthermore, previous literature (Sriviroj 2007) suggested that it is quite common
for overseas Chinese students to own several luxury items, in order to keep up with fashion
or to fit in with friends.
Consequently, the study grew out of a need to explore how Chinese international stu-
20
liu & wang
dents view the phenomenon of Chinas contemporary luxury fever, and how different online facilities have expanded the number of Chinese luxury consumers and influenced their
attitudes toward high-end products. Another aim of the study is to investigate various ways
in which overseas students represent and interpret their identity in relation to luxury ownership, which continues to be a site of contestation today. Through findings generated by sixteen in-depth individual interviews, I hope to challenge the traditional criticism that online
platform has limited influence on promoting luxury products due to the conflict between Internets popularity and high-end brands exclusivity (Geerts & Veg-Sala 2011). Moreover,
the paper also addresses the relationship between luxury ownership and Chinese overseas
students identity, both individually and as a group.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section aims at presenting relevant theoretical concepts and arguments in relation to
this topic, which leads to my research question on the Internets role in influencing Chinese overseas students luxury consumption behaviour, as well as their understanding of
identity construction. Therefore, the literature that I will be drawing on to contextualise my
research question comes from two dominant threads: firstly, about the potential controversy
between luxury brands exploitation of the digital platform, and secondly, the larger more
encompassing concept of identity construction. Moreover, to better situate the conceptual
background for my research question, I will also briefly draw from relevant empirical literature on the Chinese general attitudes toward luxury shopping, as well as the distinctive
consumption patterns of young affluent Chinese.
Luxury Shopping and the New Media
Internet as a tool for companies and consumers

The media landscape has changed dramatically in recent years (Tuten 2008), particularly
with the increasing popularity of the Internet. From the perspective of companies or advertisers, new media based on information and communication technologies have provided them with exciting new approaches about advertising, as an industry and marketing
communication process, as well as a crucially important influence in consumer and public
culture (Spurgeon 2008: 2). Unlike traditional media strategies, Internet advertising is
the convergence of traditional advertising and direct response marketing (Zeff & Aronson
1999), and has the obvious advantage of flexibility and interactivity, as well as in precisely
targeting consumers.
As for audiences, a widely held belief is that audiences in the cyber age are not merely
passive consumers who are totally subject to media effects, but rational human beings who
perceive information and advertisements for their own purposes and demands. That is to
say, the interactive feature of the new media enables consumers, as well as advertisers, to
become actively involved in the information-dissemination process. As suggested by Tuten,
media institutions coexist alongside vast social networks of consumers who exercise their
influence over the spread of content, and consumers now have a platform for producing
content, distributing content, and interacting with content provided by others, consumers,

21
professional media, and commercial entities (2008: 113).

Specifically, among various kinds of online marketing strategies, social media advertising has opened up a whole new range of targeted consumers, particularly for young people.
Social media, according to Tuten, refers to online communities that are participatory, conversational, and fluid (2008: 20), besides, it gradually becomes an ideal brand engagement
platform because its heart is made of relationships (2008: 26). The reason why social media marketing can serve as a tool for building brand awareness is because it can easily perform the tasks of researching consumer opinions and crowd-sourcing, identifying opinion
leaders, driving traffic to brand Web sites and enhancing a brands image among others
(Tuten 2008: 26).
Internets dilemma with high-end brands

Luxury brands and Internet communication are traditionally deemed as inconsistent with
each other, because luxury brands generally have to maintain their control of elitism and
exclusivity, whereas the Internet is defined as a mass media of communication that is basically not selective (Geerts & Veg-Sala 2011). Recent publications have raised the issues of
the compatibility of luxury and the Internet, as well as the suitability of luxury goods in
the virtual environment and strategic approaches to maximizing a luxury brands presence
online (Okonkwo 2009: 302). Other research indicates that the Internet is a dilemma that
luxury brands are required to overcome through avoiding e-commerce, and some scholars
even suggested that the Internet is purely a channel of communications for luxury brands
(Catry 2003).
The reluctance of the luxury industry in establishing online presence in comparison to
other sectors can be primarily explained through the very core of luxury, high-class and
exclusivity. For example, high-end designers, besides emphasising product quality and
design, pay equivalent attention to customers luxurious shopping experiences in order to
show the aura of the brand, which is mostly reflected through the store atmosphere and
the brand message communications (Okonkwo 2005 n. p.). This partly explains why the
upscale brands industry still show low commitment towards integrating advanced Internet
technologies and its accompanying interactive and digital tools in the sectors marketing
and overall business strategies (Okonkwo 2009: 302).
However, researchers, for example Tuten (2008) and Chevalier (2010), argue that luxury brands can benefit from different forms of advertising. Taking luxury brands online
advertising in China as an example, instead of launching direct advertisements, high-end
brands tend to use the most influential portals (e.g. sohu.com and sina.com) and specialist
websites (e.g. onlylady.com and rayli.com. cn), in order to communicate their brand message to a wider audience (Chevalier & Lu 2010: 145).
Besides, Tuten contends that advertising in social-media space can be very effective,
because this approach offers a means to engage consumers, enhance brand reputation and
image, build positive brand attitudes, improve organic search rankings, and drive traffic
to brand locations, both on- and off-line(Tuten 2008: 159). For instance, P1.CN, whose
membership is solely by invitation, is an exclusive private social network for the rising
affluent class in China, and currently has more than 1 million members. Furthermore, this
network site conducts regular surveys on the consumption behaviours of the affluent con-
22
liu & wang
sumers in China, particularly on luxury products such as fashion items and cars.
Luxury Ownership and Identity Construction
Individual Identity: Sameness and Difference

The concept of identity hinges on an apparently paradoxical combination of sameness and
difference (Lawler 2008: 2). The study of identity representation addresses both the sameness within the group members and their distinction from the outside. On the one hand,
identification is a self-hiding process and it involves a recognition of a common origin
or shared characteristics with another person or group (Hall 1996: 2). On the other hand,
Hall identities are constructed through differences since identities can function as points of
identification and attachment only because of their capacity to exclude, to leave out, to render outside, abjected (1996: 5).
In addition, beyond the static representation of an individuals self-identifying characteristics, the term identity also depicts the potential future development of individuals personality and other social features. Hall explains the trend by saying that actually, identities
are about questions of using the resources of history, language and culture in the process of
becoming rather than being: not who we are or where we came from, so much as what
we might become, how we have been represented and how that bears on how we might
represent ourselves (1996: 4). The becoming element of identity construction, in terms
of luxury shopping, can be justified by the fact that, not only the rich, but also increasingly
middle-income and lower-income earners have gone on spending sprees. The prime motivation in this change may have been the increased spending of the super-rich, but more
importantly, it is because the super-richs higher spending level has set a new standard for
the near-rich to emulate, and so on down the income ladder (Frank 1999: 45).
Group Identity: Taste and Distinction

In terms of group identity, French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu discussed how those in power define aesthetic concepts such as taste, as well as how distinctions based on social
classes get reinforced in daily life. Moreover, taste and distinction not only remain aesthetic
concepts, but also have an implication on the differences of social classes and status. According to Bourdieu, an individuals aesthetic disposition depicts ones social status, and indicates ones distance from the lower groups. Bourdieu also claims that individuals tend to
invest in deliberate modifications of appearance, such as hairstyle, make-up, beard, moustache, because these investment can function as social markers deriving their meaning and
value from their position in the system of distinctive signs which they constitute and which
is itself homologous with the system of social positions (1979: 192).
Furthermore, Bourdieus conceptualization of taste and distinction embodies a class
body and helps to shape and reinforce the class body, because the internalisation of distinctive signs and symbols of power help to constitute symbolic capital, which influences
peoples daily consumption style and daily behaviours (1979: 282). Taking clothing as an
example, the working classes make a realistic or functionalistic use of clothing, and pay
more attention to the lasting permanence of the quality. On the contrary, middle and up-

23
per classes care more about fashion and appearances, and have a degree of anxiety about
external appearances, both sartorial and cosmetic, at least outside and at work (Bourdieu
1979:201).
Consequently, based on the concepts of taste and distinction, one can map out a universe of class bodies, and it is no accident that bodily properties are perceived through
social systems of classification which are not independent of the distribution of these
properties among the social classes (Bourdieu 1979: 193). The role of defining the self by
possessing distinctive characteristics from the others has been addressed by many theorists;
furthermore, the elements which identity construction proclaim are actually constructed
within the play of power and exclusion, and are the result of a natural and inevitable or primordial totality but of the naturalized, over-determined process of closure (Bhabha 1994/
Hall 1996: 5).
Luxury and Identity

The widely held belief is that individuals, by possessing luxury products, can achieve a distinctive identity and get a higher social status (Bourdieu 1979). Luxury shopping includes
not only fashion items, but can also stretch to everything within peoples daily life, such
as food, culture, and entertainment consumption. Similarly, it is also observed by Bourdieu that as peoples income increases, they spending more on health and beauty care and
clothing, as well as on cultural and leisure activities (1979: 180).
Besides concrete and tangible products, certain qualities or fame are also deemed as
favourable by luxury pursuers, as if possessing these qualities can help develop their specific identity. For example, slimness is a quality appreciated by girls at large, particularly
in Asia, and the disappearance of economic constraints is accompanied by a strengthening
of the social censorships which forbid coarseness and fatness, in favour of slimness and
distinction (Bourdieu 1979: 185). In addition, even shapeless and abstract fame can be
considered as a luxury brand. Taking the brand London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) as an example, many students applied to this university not necessarily
because of the institutes outstanding academic performance, instead, they are attracted by
the universitys world-renowned fame and the very strong stereotype of getting a career in
investment banking and thus making a fortune.
The Chinese Luxury Fever
The underlying socio-cultural background in which my research is situated, are the intricacies of Chinas rising economy and the increasing consumption of the young affluent
Chinese. Chinas economic boom has opened up a whole new range of target consumers
for luxury brands. According to a KPMG (2007) report on studying Chinas luxury brands,
Chinese consumers spent 10 billion pounds on luxury goods during the London Christmas
sales season. Statistics also indicate that Chinese consumers account for one-fourth or more
of the consumers in the European luxury market. Moreover, the Mail Online Report (Kelly,
29 December 2010) predicted that by 2014, China will become the worlds largest luxury
goods market, accounting for 23% of all global luxury sales. In order to meet their needs,
many companies selling international luxury brands have hired employees who speak Man-
24
liu & wang
darin or place Chinese-written advertisements to provide a better service.

In addition, it is not only the Chinese, but Asians that generally tend to spend a higher
percentage of their income on luxury items. According to the Cap Gemini Merrill Lynch
World Wealth Report (2008), high net-worth Asians on average spend 47% of their income
on luxury products, followed by North Americans (41%) and Europeans (33%). Similarly,
in a 2007 ACNielsen study, one-third of mainland Chinese respondents said shopping for
clothes is their favourite thing to do, and this percentage is 20% higher than the world
average (Chevalier & Lu 2010: 40). For example, P1.CNs data reveal that things, such as
cosmetics, fashion items, and automobiles, are among the most attractive luxury products
for Chinese consumers.
Specifically, one phenomenon is that a large number of Chinese prefer to buy their
favoured luxury items abroad, where the prices are lower than those found in China. For
example, the general thought process when a Chinese tourist visits France almost automatically includes a visit to Louis Vuitton and a memorable purchase (Chevalier & Lu 2010:
132). Besides, Chinese luxury consumers are, according to the KPMG report, aged between
20 to 40 years, which is on average 15 years younger than those in Europe and 25 years
younger than those in the United States. Most of these young brand savvy consumers have
high education levels and are more often self-employed. During the Christmas sales, The
Guardian (Branigan & Tran: 3rd February 2011) reported that Chinese are having a luxury
spree to celebrate the new year by taking advantage of the Christmas sales, and some of
them even queued for several hours in the coldness only to get a discounted design accessory.
Conceptual Framework
This chapter has highlighted key findings and controversies which provide the justification
for the research conducted on Chinese international students and their luxury shopping
behaviour. The main aspects of the theoretical approach which I have used to frame my research project include online advertising, online shopping, as well as the dilemma between
luxury brands and the Internets massive influence. Halls theory of identity and identification is used in relation to understand how identity is constructed within social relations and
is subject to changes. Moreover, Pierre Bourdieus concepts of taste and distinction are also
raised in order to further analyse the relationship between luxury ownership and identity
construction, including factors such as symbolic capital and social classification. To summarize, these theoretical concepts serve as tools in analysing the findings of the research.
Statement of Research Objectives
One intended objective of this research is to investigate the Internets role in forming and
influencing Chinese international students luxury consumption behaviour. That is, how
does the Internet, with its interactive platform in connecting advertisers and consumers,
help to shape and influence overseas students attitudes and consuming behaviour toward
luxury? In addition, the researcher would like to understand through specific examples,
how does owning luxury items help construct these students group identity, as well as their
personal understanding of their individual identity. To summarize, within the specific social

25
contexts of a minority community such as the Chinese students who study in the UK, this
research aims at investigating the Internets role in influencing this groups affection and
pursuit of luxury products, and how owning luxury products help construct their unique
identity. The research question is drawn as below:
What role does the Internet take in encouraging Chinese international students to pursue
luxury accessories, and to what extent does possessing luxury products help construct these
international students identity?
METHODOLOGY
Research Strategy and Rationale for the Methodology
In-depth interviews were chosen over focus group study since individual interviews can
present an advantage in representing individuals opinions and experiences, and can explore
individual interviewees perceptions and world views at great detail. Besides, individual
interviews were considered as more appropriate because some of the interview questions
might be too personal or sensitive, for example, questions about interviewees financial status and their shopping psychology.
One pilot interview with a personal acquaintance was conducted during the early stage
of this research in order to reflect and improve the interview guide. All the formal interviews took place between June and July 2011, and each interview lasted for approximately
25-35 minutes. For ethical reasons, consent forms declaring the privacy of the conversations were signed by respondents before each interview, and the permission to record was
orally obtained at the beginning of the interviewing. All the interviewees are above 18 years
old and their names were changed randomly in order to protect their right of privacy. In addition, respondents were informed at the beginning that they can stop the interview process
at any moment and can request audio or transcripts of their recordings.
Sampling
Sixteen qualified respondents were chosen, including two A-level students, four undergraduates, six Master students and four PhD students. The profiles of participants I have interviewed are provided as below. Recruitment was initially based on my existing network, and
was expanded to a larger circle with resort to the snow-balling technique.
Table 1
Summary of research respondents
A-level
final-year
students
With luxury shopping experience
Without luxury shopping experience
Tommy, male, 18 years old, studies in

a private school in South Kensington,
London, came to London two years ago
Henry, male, 18 years old, studies in

a private school in South Kensington, London, came to London more
than half a year ago
26
liu & wang
Undergraduates
Tracy, female, 20 years old, studies in

LSE, came to London one year ago
Andrew, male, 20 years old, studies

in Manchester University, came to
the UK two years ago
Rebecca, female, 19 years old, studies

in Kings College, came to London four
years ago
Lily, female, 22 years old,
Studies in Sussex University in Brighton, came to the UK three years ago
Master
students
Jane, female, 24 years old, studies in

Bob, male, 25 years old , studies in

Shawn, female, 24 years old, studies

in Sheffield University, came to the UK
one year ago
Eric, male, 25 years old, Edinburgh University, came to the UK two years ago
Chuck, male, 25 years old, studies in
Warwick University, came to the UK one
year ago
PhD students
Scarlet, female, 29 years old, studies in

Imperial College, came to London four
years ago
Nancy, female, 24 years old, studies

in LSE, came to London one year
ago
Mark, male, 27 years old, studies in

York University, came to London two
years ago
Lance, male, 30 years old, from Imperial

College, came to London six years ago
Helen, female, 26 years old, from Westminster University, came to London two
years ago
The coding frame and analytical framework

All individual interviews were transcribed before conducting thematic analysis. In order to
maintain the full range of contextual details and narrative threads through the interviews,
the analysing process involved data coding and the identification of themes through careful
reading and re-reading the data (Rice & Ezzy 1999: 258). Furthermore, as suggested by
Fereday and Muir-Cochrane (2006), both deductive codes from the conceptual framework
and inductive codes from the raw data are integral to the thematic coding process. In the
first sense, theory-driven codes were constructed after the researcher reviewed the relevant
literature and theoretical concepts. In the second sense, data-driven codes emerged by interpreting and choosing themes after obtaining raw data and findings. The key in conducting
thematic analysis is to guarantee a good code, one that captures the qualitative richness of

27
the phenomenon (Fereday and Muir-Cochrane 2006).

As a systematic, step-by-step process, each interview was coded by adding the interview quotes under each category. Then, after validating the codes, relevant themes are condensed and corroborated under the most interesting and relevant categories in relation to
the research question. To conclude, theoretical deductive codes from the literature include
online luxury shopping, and social media influences, as well as luxury products symbolic
power. In addition, empirical inductive codes cover topics such as luxurys different definitions, Western influence, and Chinas specific value concepts or social classification.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The results of study are presented as below. After discussing the definition of luxury, this
part moves to analyse the Internets role in forming Chinese international students general
luxury pursuing behaviour, such as how international Chinese students use the Internet to
access luxury products information and conduct online shopping. Then, a deeper analysis is
conducted by relating luxury shopping with the group of students identity construction, as
well as how they perceive Chinese overseas students as a group. Lastly, the interpretation
summarizes the contemporary and future landscape of luxury consumption and brand development in China.
What is Luxury?
The concept of luxury is very subjective and includes various connotations (Geerts &
Veg-Sala 2011). Despite the substantial body of knowledge accumulated during the past
decades, researchers still havent arrived at a universal definition of this term (Lu 2008).
Likewise, the sixteen interviewees voiced various opinions on what luxury is, and they
each emphasize on different characteristics of luxury products, such as prices, brands, quality, or design, etc. For example, Lance, a male PhD student aged 30, gave his understanding
regarding different peoples criteria of luxury:
Lance: I think luxuries are something you cannot afford normally, but you kind of try to
level yourself up to another social class. Everyone has his or her own definition of luxury.
For example, Bill Gates, a spaceship might be luxurious for him. For me, I dont think Louis Vuitton is luxury for me, since its prices are OK.
The traditionally held belief, especially in earlier civilizations, is that the consumption
of luxury was merely limited to the elites, due to clear differences between social classes
(Bourdieu 1979). Nevertheless, the exclusive and high-class feature of luxury products was
hotly debated among different interviewees. Several interviewees deem exclusivity as a
major feature for luxury products. For example, Tommy, an 18-year-old high school boy
whose father is a rich businessman, said:
Tommy: Price is the primary feature for luxuries. Those expensive products, which people normally cannot afford, must be luxuries.
The majority of interviewees hold the opinion that the consumer group for luxury products in China is gradually expanding, and the most frequent consumers may not be considered as elites or privileged. One interesting point is that some interviewees pointed out that
the most frequent luxury consumers in China might be wealthy, but not necessarily with
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liu & wang
good reputation or high social status. Lily, an undergraduate who studies in Sussex University, said:
Lily: The officailings, the 2nd Rich Generation, the corrupted officials and sometimes
their mistresses are among the most typical luxury consumers in China. For example the
recent Guo Meimei scandal is just one case .
Furthermore, the topic of brand awareness also aroused the researchers attention. Most
respondents believe that only brands with international recognition can be considered as
luxury products, and they believe the quality of products made by high-end brands can normally be trusted. According to data taken from the World Luxury Association, while there
are more than 700 luxury brands registered in the World Luxury Association, only around
270 brands have entered the Chinese market. Moreover, it is thought that the Chinese are
only familiar with one-third of all luxury brands (Lu 2008). Indeed, the most frequently
mentioned brand names by the 16 interviewees are concentrated on Louis Vuitton, Gucci,
Hermes and Chanel. Nevertheless, an increasing recognition of high-end brands can be noticed from several interviewees, although their shopping experience is still mostly confined
to the brands which can be recognized by most Chinese. For instance, Jane, a 24-year-old
female Master student, told the interviewer:
Jane: My mom will give me money to buy things like LV and Gucci, but she wont approve me spending same amount of money buying a less-famous brand product, such as
brand like MiuMiu or Mulbery. But I like MiuMiu very much.
Similar to Srivirojs study (2007), the majority of interviewees perceived luxury products as things that are expensive and contain good quality, while others mentioned luxury
are unnecessary items whose cheap replacements can be easily found. In addition, while
Kapferer and Bastien (2009) define luxury as items which provide extra pleasure by flattering all senses at once, several interviewees correspond with this point. Especially for
female interviewees, the majority of them believe luxury products mostly include fashion
items, such as design bags, clothing, fine jewellery and cosmetics.
The Internets Role in Luxury Consumption
Information channel & e-commerce

According to the previous literature, luxury brands have not fully exploited their online
platforms and generally have low ambition for websites, usually valuing design over usage
and function (Riley & Lacroix 2003). However, the low online ambition for luxury brands
does not affect the Internet becoming the most convenient tool for consumers to access
product information and check for prices, as well as search for customers reviews. The
majority of the sixteen interviewees, whether having luxury shopping experience or not,
agreed that the Internet is the primary source for them to get information about high-end
brands. Most of them voluntarily visit luxury brands official websites and well-known
online shopping malls, such as Harrods, Selfridges, etc. Even for students who have little
interest in buying luxuries, the Internet still plays a significant role for them to receive relevant information, and sometimes even arouses their desire to purchase brand products. Andrew, a 20-year-old male undergraduate who has no previous luxury shopping experience,
said:

29
Andrew: I will not go for that kind of information, but sometimes it just came to me
while I was doing something else. I think the Internet has expanded the potential consumer
groups for normally considered luxury products.
However, although the Internet serves as one primary channel for Chinese international students to get relevant information for high-end products, most of them choose not to
make online purchases if they are in the UK. The reason for the lack of e-commerce in the
UK is not because online purchase can mitigate the luxurious and exclusive shopping fun
as suggested by Okonkwo (2005), since few interviewees mentioned valuing the exclusive
store service. In other words, the physical surrounding and personal attention of luxury
stores seem to be less attractive for Chinese overseas consumers. For instance, Tracy, a female undergraduate from LSE mentioned,
Tracy: I have bought a few luxury items, but mostly during the sales season. I dont
think I have ever enjoyed the so-called exclusive service because the stores were always extremely crowded during that time. I sometimes even have to queue to get in. However, I still
dont prefer online shopping, not because online purchase is less fun, but because I want to
have a look at the real thing before I decided to spend a considerable amount of money.
Interestingly, contrary to the lack of e-commerce for high-end brands under the UK
context, a specific kind of online shopping for internationally recognized products, agent
purchasing, is quite ordinary and becomes ever more popular throughout mainland China.
This phenomenon comes into being mainly because of the high imposed tax and limited selection for luxury products in mainland China (Chevalier & Lu 2010). Among all the online
websites, Taobao, functioning similarly with eBay, is the leading business in Chinese consumer e-commerce market, and has many international purchasing agents selling upscale
products on the site (Li etc. 2007). Eric, a male Master student graduated from Edinburgh
University, who frequently travels between mainland China and the UK, said:
Erich: When I was back in China and planned to buy some brand products, I will usually search for the most reliable purchasing agent through Taobao, by comparing prices and
reputation among various international sellers.
Internet: A Facilitating Medium

The Internets facilitating role can be reflected from the fact that it activates all possible
parties involved in the luxury consumption cycle, and combines the power of traditional
media and new media. First, interpersonal communication can be greatly reflected and
expanded by the online environment, such as social networking websites and numerous
online forums, etc. The primary reason is that people-to-people communication can be
conducted using both direct and indirect medium of communication such as face-to-face
interaction, as well as computer-mediated communication (Herman & Chomsky 1998). For
example, Jane said that,
Jane: Whenever I plan to buy some cosmetics, I will consult my best friend, mostly using QQ (instant messaging computer programme) or Sina micro-blogging (Chinese version
of Twitter).
Indeed, online forums and social network sites play an indispensable role in disseminating luxury products information among those young overseas students. During the
interview, Tracy mentioned Powerapple, a social network website which targets mostly at
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liu & wang
international Chinese.
Tracy: In the girls section (of Powerapple), many girls are talking about cosmetics,
clothing, and famous bags, and things like that. I dont know who the posters are, but some
girls will just put up photos with their grand luxury collections, especially during the sales
season, to show to others. I visit those posts very frequently and sometimes it arouses my
desire to buy something.
To illustrate, for Chinese international students, social network sites (SNSs), including
Renren, Facebook, Sina micro-blogging, bound up people with common features and act as
a main information source. As suggested by Tuten, the effect of social media can never be
underestimated since information are shared by friends with similar interests, moreover, the
information becomes available to millions of consumers and which exist in perpetuity due
to the nature of the Internet (2008: 116).
Besides facilitating interpersonal communication, the Internet possesses a dual power
by converging traditional media with new media (Zeff & Aronson 1999: 12), and has the
obvious advantage of flexibility and interactivity. To illustrate, the online version for traditional effective media for luxury promotion, such as celebrities in television programmes
and high-end magazines, can be easily found on the Internet. Besides, the study also finds
that most of the interviewees do not have access to television in the UK, but all of them
watch television series or videos on the Internet. Especially for girls, a very popular kind of
programme is Taiwan-made entertainment programmes, including KangXi is Coming and
The Lady (NV REN WO ZUI DA). Jane said,
Jane: I watched one episode of The Lady on the Internet yesterday. Its called A Recommendation of Entry-level Luxury Products. Those women were crazy. They each carry huge
suitcases to the broadcasting room, and show each other of their luxury collection. For
example, a girl took out a MiuMiu handbag, and another girl immediately took out a smaller-size one. They were discussing which size is more economical, and also recommended
lots of big brands accessories to the audience.
Jane further commented that medias leading influence on luxury consumption for
Chinese international students is inevitable since most of her friends watch those kinds of
programmes online; moreover, she considered medias role in this aspect might be slightly
negative.
Furthermore, one particular phenomenon which needs to be noticed is that, whereas
high-end brands normally avoid obvious online marketing in order to manage their exclusivity (Geerts & Veg-Sala 2011), other products, which want to make profits by copying
famous brands design, normally advertise both for the original products and the imitation
ones. Rebecca, a 19-year-old female undergraduate from Kings College, said:
Rebecca: While I was browsing Taobao (the leading Chinese online market, functioning
similarly with the eBay) a few days ago, I saw many shoppers selling handbags copying
Diors design. They all advertised themselves as high-quality Dior imitation products. By
browsing the information, I suddenly have the desire of owning a real Dior bag that this, so
I went to Diors official website afterwards.
Similarly, agents or online shopping malls, which sell some luxury items, are developing innovative online strategies that can turn a potential customer from browser to buyer
(Zeff & Aronson 1999: 24). To illustrate, although the online platform is still largely unexplored for luxury brands themselves, online advertising provides other possible relevant ad-

31
vertisers, such as purchasing agents, online malls, or online shopping websites, the opportunity to precisely target at audiences and thus deliver advertisements that are customized to
each users particular interest and tastes (Zeff & Aronson 1999: 11). Twelve of the sixteen
interviewees informed the researcher that they have spotted different models of online advertising for high-end brands, including advertising via E-mail, buttons, banners, text links,
and sponsorships. Helen, a 26-year-old female PhD student in Westminster University, who
is not a typical luxury consumer, told the researcher:
Helen: One day, I noticed an email from Amazon, which introduced me a set of Sisley
skincare products. It even included a very impressive video. I just cannot resist the temptation, so I bought the product.
Luxury Ownership and Identity Construction
Class Symbol, Face Value?

Based on Bourdieus concepts of taste and distinction, one can map out a universe of class
bodies, since the internalisation of distinctive signs and symbols of power help to constitute a kind of symbolic capital (1979: 282), which consequently influences peoples consumption style and daily behaviours. Among the sixteen interviewees, 11 of them believe
that owning luxury products, to some extent, can present, or improve, individuals social
status.
In addition, according to Hall (1996: 4), the term identity is not only a static representation, but also depicts the future development of an individuals characteristics. In other
words, it is the becoming rather than being has somewhat caused the Chinese luxury
fever, since increasingly middle-income and even lower-income earners have gone on a
spending spree in order to prove their social and financial status. This phenomenon can be
partly explained by Chinas contemporary social structure. For instance, Lance said:
Lance: I think, in terms of Western countries, their understanding of classes, or social
hierarchy, is more stable compared to Chinas. China has just begun its economic boom,
and the social division is still very obscure. Thats why many Chinese are trying to prove,
or improve, their social status by possessing many resources, including buying luxury products.
Moreover, Sun (1991) argues that consumers in Eastern cultures are accepted into a social group by being expected to purchase luxury items because he/she does not wish to lose
face. Similarly, in this research, besides a few genuine luxury lovers, some interviewees
said they were forced to join the luxury shopping trend under peer pressure. Particularly,
this phenomenon is comparatively more obvious among younger female students. Rebecca,
a 19-year-old female undergraduate, whose friends are mostly Rich Second Generation,
said,
Eating and shopping are almost the only two things we do when we are hanging out.
My friends all have luxuries and tend to compare with each other, although unconsciously.
Its hard to balance money and face, when youre all alone abroad, with rich friends from
the same country around you.
When the researcher probed one step further to ask what Rebecca thought of the characteristics of Chinese international students as a group, she felt it difficult to give an absolute
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liu & wang
answer.
Rebecca: Maybe generally wealthy, at least middle class. Quite open to Western culture, maybe.
Additionally, the result of the interviews corresponds with Li and Sus (2007) study,
which finds that in Eastern culture, parents and grandparents are willing to give their children and grandchildren money to purchase luxury brand products. For example, according
to high school student Tommy,
Tommy: My parents will usually give me money for whatever I want to buy.
Besides face value, gift-giving is also one tradition that is heavily bound in Chinas
culture. Chinese tend to consider relationships, especially family relationship, as the core of
their value system (Qian et al. 2007). Qian also stated that brands are considered as important when purchasing gifts: the closer the family relation, the more luxurious the gift may
be. When asking Lily what gifts she prepared for her family when she goes back to China,
she answered, UK home-made Burberry. Similarly, according to Warwick Master student
Chuck, who hasnt bought any luxury products for himself:
Chuck: Two kinds of Chinese students are buying luxuries. The first kind is obsessed
with luxury products and buying for themselves. The other group is buying as gifts for their
families and friends.
Western Influence & Symbolic Violence

Parker et al. (2004) states that there has been a change in Asian values, especially for young
people, because of the gradual exposure of Western culture and values. Indeed, some interviewees commented that the environment of Western culture does play a role in influencing
Chinese young consumers into purchasing high-end products, and that after a period of time
spent in Western countries has changed their behaviour and opinions of luxury products. A
few interviewees voiced some potential leading elements for luxury shopping, such as media influence, celebrities' image, and fashionable people on the street. For example,
Tracy, who came to UK one year ago, said,
Tracy: Before I came to UK, I never bought, or planned to buy, any luxury products. Ill
just look at them and simply admire. But after coming here, I learnt that my families and
friends around me all have luxuries, and its very common to notice some design bags just
by walking on the street. It gave me the impression that these things are not that far away,
instead, theyre quite approachable.
Interestingly, while discussing the symbolic implications for luxury products, a few
students have brought up the element of Western domination. 18-year-old A-level student
Henry expressed his understanding of the Western influence:
Henry: The Western culture usually places luxury goods as something really good to
have, and most of the brands are from Western countries. With the influence, (Chinese) people tend to have the thinking that having luxuries brands from the West can make you stand
out of the crowd.
Furthermore, when the researcher asked Nancy, a 24-year-old master student in LSE, to
comment on Chinas increasing luxury shopping consumption, she said,
Nancy: (It is) a kind of hegemony. I feel like western dominated. The Western world
generates some icons, a symbolic power to represent their social status, as if showing that

33
they are from the privileged class. And the Chinese people who need this icon to prove their
high status. In my opinion, the Chinese are just like manipulated by Western hegemony.
They bring their design bags back to home to show to their relatives, as if they have the
bag, they are like the upper class. Its symbolic power, a kind of symbolic violence.
International Students: Still a Privileged Group?

Liberal anti-traditionalists in the 1980s called upon the Chinese people to rejuvenate the
nation by assimilating nourishment from the West. Since then, Chinese with western
educational background are generally valued as talents and enjoy comparatively more opportunities (Zhao 2000). Additionally, Ju (1993) explains that there has been a behaviour
change in Chinese who live in Western countries, which shows that they have become more
confident, individualistic and ambitious under Western cultural influences. However, in this
study, the sense of superiority of having international experience has been witnessed from
only very few interviewees; nevertheless, some respondents have voiced very opposite
opinions.
For example, Tommy, who studies in a well-known private high school in South Kensington, London, said:
Tommy: In my opinion, overseas students have more critical thoughts, and are more
confident. They share a sense of superiority than students back in China. As a group, they
seem to be more proud, or a little bit arrogant, as if its cool that Ive studied abroad.
On the contrary, Tommys classmate, Henry, gave different opinions regarding the general feature of overseas students as a group, and brought up an interesting comparison of
the intelligence between overseas Chinese students and students back in China.
Henry: For me, I believe that international students are, lets put the students in top
universities aside, generally not as talented as those in universities in China. The reason is
that the entry level of universities in China is so much difficult than the UK. In my opinion,
I would say international students should not be proud of being abroad, unless they study
in the top universities. Generally speaking, I believe students in China in good universities
are smarter and more hardworking than international students.
Furthermore, PhD student Lance, who has stayed in London for six years, commented
that the traditional sense of superiority gradually begins to dissolve among international
students who study in the West, both because of the increasing number of overseas students
and Chinas economic rise.
Lance: If you go back at my age, you look around, in the US or in the UK, the education
system will not provide you any advantage any my stage. I mean, since you get out of your
country, and the people, your friends back in China, probably of the same status before you
came here, have already gained a lot of resources, both in financial and social level. They
have much more advantage than you because you isolate yourself from your society for so
many years.
Indeed, identities are never unified, but with various fragmentations (Hall 1994). Despite the fact that most interviewees agreed that Chinese international students generally
have strong financial support, mostly from their families, nevertheless, several respondents
suggested it would be more reasonable to view international Chinese students from two
groups, particularly in terms of luxury shopping. According to Master student Bob:
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liu & wang
Bob: Maybe Chinese students in the UK are generally rich. But there are different
groups. Maybe some high school students, or students who got admitted to medium, not
top, universities, are generally richer. Basically, they can afford almost everything, they buy
lots of luxuries, and some of them are not very hard-working. We cannot generalize Chinese
students as one group, because I think there are obviously two distinct groups: those in the
good universities who come to UK relatively late and those young students in the mediocre
schools.
Similarly, Chuck, a Master student from Warwick University, shares Bobs opinion and
believes that:
Chuck: Younger students around me, or students who have stayed in the UK longer, for
example who came here from undergraduate studies, tend to spend a lot on buying luxuries,
and some of them, forgive me I put it this way, are not as talented as Ive expected a Warwick student should be.
Luxury in China: Current and Future
Despite the fact that China has become the second largest luxury consuming country
worldwide and this trend is still increasing at an alarming rate, the traditionally considered
high-end brands only has a very short history in China (Chevalier & Lu 2010). In Scarlets
words, whereas it is quite normal to see Westerners inherit quality branded products from
older generations within family, the majority of Chinese are buying products of famous
brands as their first investment. Similarly, in terms of overseas Chinese students, Eric
commented although they are pioneers in consuming luxuries:
Eric: They are still at a very initial stage, and being curious about high-end brands.
Maybe after two or three decades, this group of students will develop higher and better understanding of high-end brands.
In addition, although at contemporary stage, China is still the market, or manufacturer,
of luxury products, its potential of producing high-end brand and becoming a luxury exporter is very strong (Chevalier & Lu 2010). PhD student Scarlet shared her understanding
of Chinas future luxury landscape,
Scarlet: I think China will have some luxurious brands very soon. This time I went back
to China, I found very luxurious cosmetics. They are very expensive, and have a long history in Shanghai, and I believe they have very good quality.
Additionally, while analysing the topic of luxury consumption, some social phenomenon regarding Chinas specific circumstance appeared as significant to be noticed. In
the first sense, over-spending and heavily dependence on parental support have been very
distinctive characteristic for Chinese students as a group. Shawn, a female Master student
from Sheffield University, considered the young Chinese students a spoiled generation.
Shawn said:
Shawn: In my opinion, what makes the Chinese luxury consumers much younger is because of Chinas family structure. Nowadays, usually there is only one child in the family.
The kid gets all the attention and resources, both financial and emotionally. The family will
just concentrate on just one kid. Thats why theyre able to spend so much.
I even heard stories about kids deceiving their parents in order to get money for buying
luxury products.

35
In the second sense, the economic gap between the rich and the poor is widening rather
than bridging in China. In mention of some overseas students luxury fever, Nancy said,
Nancy: The phenomenon makes me thinking about social inequality. Im confused why
this specific group, the so-called privileged group, have so much money and so many resources.
Besides economic inequality (Nee 1991), another current phenomenon is that a number
of people are crazily and unreasonably consuming luxuries . Bob and Lance commented on
this phenomenon by respectively addressing Chinas showing-off attitude and its undeveloped social hierarchy:
Lance: China is developing. If youre from a normal family from a developed country,
you might inherit something from your mom, or you can position yourself in the social hierarchy in a better way. But in China, everyone is trying to climb the upper stair of the social ladder. People try to show themselves they are in a higher social position, and owning
those so-called luxuries is one possible approach.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, two features hold significance in this study. On the one hand, previous
studies on studying the relationship between the Internet and luxury brands are mainly
concentrated on the advertisers perspective, emphasizing high-end brands low ambition
or reluctant attitudes toward online promotion. However, one innovation of this study is
to analyse the Internets role from consumers perspective, meanwhile, it also addresses
the importance of third parties influence on the digital platform. On the other hand, it can
be deemed as innovative to link the topic of luxury consumption with two theoretical constructs, namely the Internets effect and identity construction. Starting from the media level
of analysing the Internets role in forming the group of students luxury fever, the study
digs one step further to investigate how they relate luxuries with their self, or group, identity construction.
The empirical data collected for this project has highlighted various insights into the
ways the Internet is used by Chinese overseas students to access and disseminate luxury
products information, as well as how they perceive the relationship between luxuries ownership and their identity as a social group. It has shown that the Internet plays an indispensable role for Chinese international students to access information and exchange opinions
with their peers, especially with the help of instant messaging tools and social network
sites. Nevertheless, students adopt very opposed attitudes toward online luxury shopping
based on their geographical differences. Besides individual preferences, the research also
finds that some overseas students are consuming internationally recognized brands products
to demonstrate their wealth and social status, or are influenced to consume luxury products
because of peer pressure or the Western environment. Specifically, another interesting finding is that several interviewees voiced very negative opinions toward luxury upscale products, accusing them of being a kind of Western hegemony, or exerting symbolic violence to
the society. Additionally, issues, such as online third parties effect, the Chinese concept of
face value, and Chinas contemporary social structure, are also discussed.
Nevertheless, the findings of this study cannot be generalized and has certain practical
limitations. First, in terms of methodology, while the method I employed was effective spe-
36
liu & wang
cifically for my research question, individual interviews are only able to provide interesting
personal beliefs and understandings, instead of generalizing claims across the population.
Consequently, if the researchers attention is to generate quantitative and concrete statistics,
designed surveys with a larger sample can be adopted. Secondly, Chinese international
students, although sharing certain common features, should not be viewed as one homogeneous group. Clearly, my respondents do not represent this group as a whole; instead, several interviewees have suggested studying Chinese overseas students from at least two groups
based on their academic backgrounds. Besides, it would be more interesting to develop this
study by intersecting other social variables, such as gender, family background and length
of staying abroad. Furthermore, due to limited space and constraint time, the study cannot
spare too much effort in analysing each part of the topic, both from the perspective of the
Internet and identity construction. Consequently, some of the relevant themes cannot be addressed and deeper analysis might be possible.
Lastly, many illuminating themes in relation to this topic still remain unexplored. In the
first sense, few studies have addressed the contemporary Chinese luxury market, as well
as Chineses gradually changing attitudes toward luxury due to Chinas economic rise in
recent years. In addition, despite that certain scholars, including Okonkow, paid effort to
study luxury brands online platform from the branding or marketing perspective, few studies have paid attention to analyse the Internets role in promoting high-end products from
potential consumers perspective. In the second sense, few literatures have been conducted
to study the group behaviour of Chinese overseas students, specifically on their attitudes
of luxury products and self-perceiving identity construction. Moreover, since this research
is mainly conducted in the UK context, another future direction would be to investigate
Chinese overseas students in other developed countries, for example the US and Germany,
where education tuition system for international students is very different from the United
Kingdom.
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Authors Biodata:
Liu Jia holds a BA degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University, and an MSc degree
in Media and Communications(Governance) in London School of Economics and Political
Science (LSE). Liu Jia currently works as a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages in
Dalian Maritime University. She used to be employed by LSE, and successfully assisted
in the coordination and delivery of numerous world-scale public events. Liu Jias research
area includes second language teaching, national image studies, and cross-cultural communications.
Roujie Wang, currently an English teacher in the International College, Xiamen University, holds the MSc. in Media and Communication Governance in London School of Economics and Political Science (2011) as well as the double bachelors degree in Diplomacy
and English in Beijing Foreign Studies University (2010). Her research interest lies in the
self-representation and national identity establishment of China.
Bianca@dlmu.edu.cn

ISSN: 2224-2716
The Dynamics of Political Stability in China1

Banwo Adetoro Olaniyi
Xiamen University
China is growing to be the newest and emerging super economic power bloc of the century with a
strong government that stirs the political and economical drives of the country. Government adoption of philosophies such as the Mandate of Heaven, putting the people first, rule by virtue and
deep economic reforms has not only bolstered its authority to rule but has fortified the ruling party
position as the only legitimate ruler of the greatest populated country in the world. What factors
have shaped the current stability in China that has enabled it to plan and implement its policies in
face of the teeming challenges it faces, how has the government transformed the lives of the people, and what measure of approach did the government adopt to rule, control and gather a wide
support from the people? This work sets out to explain and examine the nature of the Chinese
Communist Party dynamics in ensuring political stability in China.
Keywords: Legitimacy, Civil order, Efficiency, Chinese Communist Party

China with a one-party rule policy has created an institution that has impacted upon social
processes and human action; they inherently have a stabilizing effect on the society.
Political scientists, in order to understand the concept of stability, try to understand it
within the framework of a political system. Stability can be thus defined as an outcome of
sound structures on one part but also can connote positive function-ability and political
performance. Indicators of stability, therefore, include efficiency, legitimacy, civil order
and consistency. Samuel Huntington, from a modernist perspective, explains stability as
the ability of a strong political party to integrate the masses, to represent a broad variety of
economic, social and political interests and to successfully produce legitimacy. Wolfgang
Merkel, a German political scientist, exemplifies the challenges a political system can have
in its quest for stability:
1. Political and Social integration
2. Mobilization of resources,
3. Maintenance of peaceful and orderly relations with other countries
4. Political participation of the population
5. A fair distribution of GNP by state intervention
He states a political system can only uphold stability if it can respond to these challenges and modify its structures and modes of operation according to the necessary changes that
evolves in the society. (Heberer & Schubert 2009)
Regime stability can be seen as the inherent absence of political adversaries and a high
level of a constant unchanging nature surrounded with a high predictability in the domestic
1Requests for reprints should be sent to Banwo Adetoro Olaniyi. E-mail: banwotoro@gmail.com.
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Olaniyi
and international affairs of a state's affairs. Stability is an important tool to uphold all political regimes and an important indicator that can facilitate the development of a country;
however stability does not imply a policy for peace.
Researchers from the World Bank have tried to measure political stability; they developed Political Stability Indicators (PSI) using a number of factors to measure the degree of
stability of each country. The PSI indicator was one of six indicators developed to measure
overall governance in a country. The researchers developed 194 different measures from 17
different sources of subjective governance data constructed by 15 different organizations
(Guo 2006).
The Worldwide governance indicators uses individuals variables from each data sources
to measure Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism while measuring perceptions of the likelihood that the government will be stabilized or overthrown by unconstitutional or violent means, including politically-motivated violence and terrorism.
Political Stability and Absence of Violence Index in China from 1996-2012.
China 1996-2012
Aggregate Indicator: Political Stability and Absence of Violence
Source: Worldwide Governance Indicators http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#home
Sources considered include: EIU [orderly transfers, armed conflicts, violent demonstrations, social unrests, international tensions/terrorist threat], GCS [cost of terrorism], HUM
[frequency of political killings, frequency of disappearances, frequency of tortures, political
terror scale], IJT [Security Risk Rating],I PD [intensity of internal conflicts, violent activities, social conflicts], PRS [government stability, internal/external conflicts and ethnic tensions], and WMO [civil unrest/ terrorism].
In 1996, Political Stability and absence of violence in China was 40% from an aggregate of 100%, however from that period till 2012, it has fluctuated slightly between 30%
and 34% having an aggregate of 29% in 2012.
Samuel Huntingtons Indicators of Stability would be the framework for the understanding the concept of political stability in China. Huntington used four indicators that a
society should have before it can be understood to be stable: efficiency, legitimacy, civil
order and consistency.
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The Concept of Legitimacy in China

Seymour Lipset broadly defines Legitimacy from the macro level of political systems. He
sees it as the capacity of the system to engender and maintain the belief that the existing
political institutions are the most appropriate ones for the society.
Douglass North believes that political legitimacy has to be constantly reproduced as a
result of the fact that institutions have to adapt to an ever-changing environment. He sees
legitimacy as a necessity for the conceptualization of institutional change.
David Beetham proposes three factors that are applicable to all societies before regimes
in them can be seen to be legitimate. Power that seeks legitimacy should be guided upon
these principles:
A. It must conform to the established rules, a concept he called Conformity of Rules.
B. The rules can be justified by reference to share beliefs, a concept he called Justifiability of Rules.
C. There is evidence of consent by the subordinate to the particular power relation, a
concept he called Legitimating through Expressed Consent (Heberer & Schubert 2009).
The bases of political legitimacy upon which a regime is founded will shape state behaviors, and it is upon this political legitimacy that we would understand China's stability
and its inherent state actions.
Legitimacy in China is constructed first and foremost as a function of trust; the attribute
of trustworthiness must be perceived from the people towards its rulers has been influenced
by a complex cognitive system of legitimization. The approach was conceived during the
Pre-Qin era, canonized during the Spring-Autumn period, and institutionalized in the Han
dynasty. It is a core conceptualization of the Confucian ideas of virtue and reinforced by
the two vital pillars, the prescriptive justice and substantive justice justifications, which
are rooted in a set of key values that imminent leaders of the Chinese polity find necessary
to fulfill. The two-dimensional view of political legitimacy provides both normative and
substantive principles towards good governance; it draws its original justification on four
prescriptive values towards good governance that were considered to be self-evident and
truthful: Mandate of Heaven (tian ming), rule by virtue (ren zhi), put people first (ren ben),
and legality and ritual (fa li). The idea of men ben is especially of importance in any nation
of the world.
The utilitarian justification says that individuals will approve or disapprove of a rulers
actions based on whether or not they increase or decrease the amount of happiness of the
party whose interest is in question. Therefore, a legitimate ruler needs to have the Mandate
of Heaven, possess the virtue quality, shows respect to his subjects, follows the rules of the
ancestors, always puts the peoples interest first, and tries to win the hearts and minds of the
people (Guo 2006).
THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN (Tian Ming)
In the Zhou Dynasty (1122-211 B.C.E), the Zhou emperors developed a powerful idea to
legitimize their power, the instantaneous result was the Zhou Kings, whose chief deity was
Heaven, called themselves sons of heaven. From this time on, Chinese rulers were given
the title and assumed as the sons of Heaven while the Chinese Empire was called the
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celestial empire. The transfer of power from one dynasty to the next one was based on
the Mandate of Heaven. The Zhou defined the Emperor as an intermediary between heaven
and earth and he is also seen as an appointee of Heaven to see to the welfare of the people
and meet the human needs. This is seen as the decree or the mandate of Heaven. When
the Emperor fails to perform this task due to his selfishness or corruption, then Heaven
withdraws its mandate and invests it in another. The only way to know that the mandate
has passed is the overthrow of the king or Emperor; when the usurpation succeeds, then the
mandate has passed to another, but if it fails then the mandate still resides with the king.
The Mandate of Heaven is an important social and political concept in Chinese culture and
it asserts that government is based on the selfless dedication of the ruler to the benefit of the
general population. The Emperor was seen as an agent of Heaven and a force that regulates
the moral universe. The Emperor is supposed to act on behalf of the Tao of Heaven (titian-xing-dao). The Emperor was seen as both a human being and a heavenly deity. His
ego was fueled enormously by his religious persona and autocratic monarchy, the result
was often authoritarian and capricious use of power (Chia & Huang 2002).
The conception of Heaven as the supreme being is based on a vivid notion of Heaven
as an embodiment of a set of moral principles (yili zhi tian), they are basic tenets of Confucian doctrines: Heaven is supreme due to the fact that it is a source of moral values and
with Heaven one can develop humans illustrious virtues because it is the ultimate principle
of its transcendence. The path of Heaven lies primarily in the moral path which people lead
in their life, heaven endows humans with a mandate, by which a ruler can rule justly. A
ruler can achieve this just rule with the contentment of the people in a moral way. Thus, in
Confucian politics, the Mandate of Heaven connotes the will of the people, by which the
legitimacy of a government is given and confirmed (Yao 2000).
The initial source of legitimacy for the Chinese communist government after 1949 was
the successful Chinese Communist Party's revolution and the lofty goals of Socialism. A
core difference from the Russian Communist Revolution, which was founded through a
coup that occurred in October 1917, was that the Chinese Communist revolution was a hard
fought struggle that lasted for more than two decades. The success they acquired was astonishing based on the fact that the Chinese Communist Party defeated the Nationalist which
had one of the largest armies in the world despite being supported by the United States.
This success is spectacular and it provided the Chinese Communist Party with its initial legitimacy because of the traditional Chinese belief that only successful revolts are legitimate
revolts. The successful conclusion of the Chinese Communist Revolution gave the new regime a "Mandate of Heaven" which had come to eliminate all social ills of the society such
as corruption, gambling and prostitution and had come to provide economic and social benefits by the installation of a Socialist regime. The promise of a egalitarian society, provision
of food and shelter, provision of free education, affordable medical care, job security, price
stability, the liberation of women and ensuring a social stability in the society (Yang (2012).
Rule by virtue (ren zhi)
The moral teaching of Confucius had profound influence on Chinese rulers; Confucius
believed that the rulers virtue and the contentment of the people, rather than power,
should be the true measure of a rulers political success. In the Confucian paradise of the
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Great Harmony (da tong), there was a system of moral hierarchy in which an emperor is
supposed to be the virtuous man on earth. Since virtue can be nurtured through education,
all government officials should be recruited from gentlemen (jun zi), or learned
scholars. Mencius pushed this virtue based political idealism even further by believing that
government was primarily an exercise of ethics. The rule of a truly moral king, according
to him, was characterized by his benevolence toward his people (Dittmer & Liu 2006).
The first requirement of a benevolent government is the rule of virtue. As a teacher of
political morality, Confucius emphasizes the point that government is subject to the same
ethical rules that apply to individuals. He does not separate ethics from politics, nor does
he advocate the theory that the end justifies the means. Confucius declared that the rule of
virtue is the safest means of achieving the good social life, saying: The people need virtue
more than either fire or water. I have seen men die for treading on water and fire, but I have
never seen a man die from pursuing the course of virtue." The philosopher Chu His comments on this in these words: The want of fire and water is hurtful only to mans body, but
without virtue is to lose ones mind and so it is more necessary to man than water and fire.
Furthermore, the rule of virtue is the easiest means of achieving the proper end of the
state because virtue is closest to man. Confucius says, Is Virtue a thing remote? I wish to
be virtuous, and lo! Virtue is at hand. That is, a government of virtue is one that approaches perfect harmony with human nature, and there is nothing easier than to develop the natural faculties of man. The path of virtue, says the Great Learning, is not far from man.
When men try to pursue a course, which is far from the common indications of consciousness, this course cannot be considered the path of virtue. The Great Learning maintains
that the rule of virtue is dynamic, it always achieves and still remains, and it undergoes
no degeneration or corruption. In a state where the rule of virtue prevails, the people are
always happy and eager to work, and they are optimistic and active. In other words they
are progressive; this is possible because the people enjoy their life. They see the brilliant
results of their work, and consequently, they have renewed spirit and achieve. At the same
time, government of virtue prevents restlessness on the part of the people, under the rule
of virtue; there is a realization of rectification and the application of li, whereby the people
know definitely what their individual status is in the state and what they should do in their
daily life. This definiteness prevents on the one hand, individual and social disorganization
and uncertainty of public opinion, and on the other hand, it promotes unity and order. Finally, a government of virtue is the happiest rule; it is the only form of government that can
develop the greatest possible social harmony. Affection exists between the governor and the
governed; the achievements of the government would be appreciated by the people and the
government would likewise appreciate the goodwill of the people. All persons will incline
toward a virtuous and harmonious life (Hsu Shihilien 2013). From Laozis perspective for
one to act with virtue means one to act not willfully, it means for one not to pursue selfish
purpose, it means for one to abandon all of his personal contemplations and schemes, thus
one with virtue is that person who acts in accordance with the principles of Heaven and
Earth (Banwo 2014).
After the inception of the Chinese Communist Party, they engaged in a series of reform
to win the hearts of the people. The Land Reforms, which were one of the ultimate ones,
touched the lives of the commonest people; furthermore, reforms were set out in Economic
aspects to move forward the country and industrialized the nation using the Maoist-Marx-
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ist-Lenin ideology.
Legitimacy through Eudemonic appeal was one of the ways the Communist Party was
able to gain popular support in the early 1950s because of the achievements it made in the
liberation battle and the planning process it made towards improving the Chinese Economy. A major reform which was launched across the country was the Land Reform which favored over 300 million peasants, an estimate a total of 700million mu (approximately about
1.15 million acres of farm land with farming tools) changed ownership. Ownership was
transferred to peasants for free; it was a remarkable landmark that made Equality in Land
ownership realizable. This strategy generated wide support and legitimacy for the Chinese
Communist Party (Guo 2006). The Land Reform (tudi gaige) was a reform that benefited
the rural poor; it included the reduction in rents and the interest rates on loans that the Chinese Communist Party compelled landlords and money lenders to accept during the 1946
to 1949 Civil War. The economic rationale of the compulsory redistribution of the land was
that most of it was underused and a release of them to the poor would enable them to feed
themselves. The political rationale was that this could guarantee the support of the lowest
socio-economic group in the countryside for the Chinese Communist Party. With the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949, one of the first pieces
of legislation enacted by the new government was the Agrarian Reform Law which came
into force on June 28, 1950. From this time onward, land reform was carried out throughout
the whole of China and the law set out precise regulations for methods of confiscation and
redistribution (Dillon 2009).
PUT PEOPLE FIRST (REN BEN)
The central idea of putting people first can be dated back to the ideas of the early sages of
China. Mencius said, Jie and Zhou lost the world because they lost the people and they
lost the people because they lost the hearts of the people. He further said that one approach
to obtain the world was by simply gaining the people, when one has the people on his side,
then one can gain the world. For him, he postulated that for one to gain the people, he must
gain their hearts, gather for them the things that you desire; one must not impose on them
what one dislikes. For him, to make the people turn towards humaneness is like the water
flowing downward or just like the wild animals heading for the wilds. Thus, as the otter
drives the fish towards the deep and the sparrow hawk drives the smaller bird toward the
thicket, Jie and Zhou drove the people toward Tang and Wu. Mencius further said, if in this
world, there is a ruler who loved humaneness, the lords will drive all the people towards
him, and though he might not wish to become a king, he could not help but do so (Bloom
1983).
In Mencius Moral Theory, the emphasis is based more than simply regulating the
people, it aspires to motivate the ruler to conceive and treat the people as family, for he
believes that when the people are treated as a family they will show familial and warm feelings towards the ruler and towards each other. He develops a concept of maternal relations,
one which there is a strong affection between a mother and a child and who always puts the
love and pleasure of her child first (Birdwhistell & Joanne 2007).
After the news of the Russian Revolution, many radical students had different opinions on the concept of Socialism. They viewed Socialism as a more progressive form of
45
democracy. In 1919, the Journal of the New Society was founded by a group of students
who expressed their aim in their speech; our aim is to build a new, democratic society, and
this is a society in which there is neither class division nor threat of war; this is a society in
which liberty, equality, happiness and peace prevail. In 1919, Mao Zedong propagated the
doctrine of the common people (pingmin zhuyi)- a term with socialist overtones associated with democracy, a concept a group of intellectuals saw was necessary for all humans
in their society to become real humans and obtain happiness. This doctrine of the common
people can further be explained as the respect for the dignity of human life, the guarantee
of a safe environment for the people to make their own contribution to the progress of the
society and further enjoy the benefits that come therein from it (Hung-yok lp 2005).
Legality in China
After the founding of the PRC, the CCP began to establish its own legal and judicial systems to consolidate and maintain its rule in the country. The first step was to abolish the
laws left over from the previous regime.
The Common Program of September 1949 provided that:
"All laws, decrees and judicial systems of the Kuomintang reactionary Government that
oppress the people shall be abolished. Laws and decrees protecting the people shall be enacted and the people's judicial system shall be established".
Prior to that on the February 22, 1949, the CCP issued the "Instructions for Abolishing
the Kuomintang's Book of Six Laws and Determining Judicial Principles for Liberated
Areas", which rendered ineffective all existing laws enacted by the former Nationalist government and, more remarkably, the Instructions requested courts to have regard to party
policies and other programmes in determining cases pending the enactment of new laws.
The rationale behind that was that law, developed under a bourgeois system, could not be
inherited by a socialist system in accordance with Marxist theory. However, the abolishment of all existing laws by the CCP was most likely the only one among all Communist
parties in the world. The Socialist System of China therefore was established with the adoption of the first Constitution in 1954. However, the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a political and social catastrophe, destroyed the young legal system which lead to a rethinking
and a rebuilding of a new legal system by post-Mao Communist leaders to maintain social
order and safeguard economic reform. The Communiqu of the 3rd Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the CCP held in December 1978 set the goals of the construction and the
re-establishment of the legal system in China (Keyuan 2006).
The Communiqu stated that:
"To safeguard people's democracy, it is imperative to strengthen the socialist legal system so that democracy is systematized and written into law in such a way as to ensure the
stability, continuity, and full authority of this democratic system and these laws; there must
be laws for people to follow, these laws must be observed, their enforcement must be strict,
and law breakers must be dealt with (youfakeyi, youfabiyi, zhifabiyan, weifabijiu). From
now on, legislative work should have an important place on the agenda of the National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee. Procuratorial and judicial organizations
must maintain their independence as is appropriate; they must faithfully abide by the laws,
rules, and regulations, serve the people's interests, and keep to the facts, they must guaran-
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tee the equality of all people before the people's law and deny anyone the privilege of being
above the law."
Since then, these statements have become the guidelines for the legal reform in the PRC
(Kjeld & Zheng 2006).
The CCP is more than the traditional notion of a party; it controls society and social
life in every aspect from top to bottom through its organizational cells. The influence of the
Party in the society is immense and its role critical. Since law is used to govern social life,
it is inevitable that it is influenced or more precisely directed by the Party (Keyuan 2006).
Formally established in Shanghai on July 20, 1921, the CCP began as an underground,
Marxist Lenin party organized into smaller groups that operated on the principle of democratic centralism. In theory, the CCPs democratic centralism allows for debate and discussion of policy among Party Members, but requires unquestioning support of policy once
a decision is made. In practice, democratic centralism has created a hierarchical political
dynamic where senior Party officials expect disciplined compliance from junior officials,
but junior officials are allowed to comment on policy proposals before decisions have been
made. The Partys most powerful policy and decision making entity is the Politburo and its
Standing Committee, comprised of the Partys two dozen or so most powerful senior officials.
The rest of the Partys formal structure consists of layers of local, municipal and provincial party congresses and committees. The most important body in this structure of
congresses is the National Party Congress, a key meeting that the Party convenes in Beijing
once every five years to set the countrys overall policy direction and choose the members
of the Partys Political Bureau (Politburo) and other senior Party Officials. Lower party
organizations are subordinate to higher organizations but the members of higher party congresses are selected by lower party committees. The result is an interactive relationship
where senior party officials obtain and retain political power by maintaining the loyalty or
support of lower party organizations.
The Contemporary CCP is organized into an expansive, hierarchical network of organizations that reach into many aspects of the society, their presence exist in universities,
schools, think tanks, state-owned enterprises, private corporations and foreign owned companies (Dumbaugh & Martin 2009).
Characteristics of the Chinese Autocratic Political Tradition and its impact on PRC politics can be elaborated below:
1. A basic congruence occurs between PRC official Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and
Chinese Imperial ideological orthodoxy (an amalgam of Legalism and reconstructed Confucianism). The personality cult of Mao has some elements similar to the traditional emperor
cult, and the two share some identical symbols. The ultimate basis of authority is Military
power.
2. The PRC political system has a centralized power structure similar to the traditional
imperial state in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few persons without institutional constraints on that power.
3. The domination of the party-state over society has its parallel with the dominance of
the emperor-state over the subject populace. The Chinese state continues to enjoy control
over most aspects of social life, including the local community, the economy, communication and organization.
47
4. Law continues to be seen as a penal tool of the rule for the governance of the populace and maintenance of his power (Zhengyuan 1993).
Despite these characteristics of the CCP on the PRC politics and Law which is a major
tool of control of the polity, the CCP has engaged in legal reforms to make the interpretation and the implementation of the Law much easier for the people. In line with legal
reforms and constitutional changes, the CCP plays a major role in this area since China is a
one party state, they try to harmonize the state constitution and the party constitution. The
present State Constitution was adopted in 1982, its main objective being to incorporate the
new policies of economic reform and openness so as to stabilize such policies and guarantee their future by means of their legal form. Subsequently on September 10, 1980, the
3rd Session of the 5th NPC accepted the CCPs advice and established the Committee of the
Constitution Revision. The Party document, The Resolution of the CCP on Certain Historical Issues since the Founding of the PRC, approved in the 6th Plenary Session of the 11th
Party Congress in June 1981, and the documents resulting from the 12th National Congress
of the CCP in 1982 formed the basis of the new State Constitution. The 1982 Constitution
inherited and developed the basic principles embodied in the 1954 Constitution. The provision that all citizens are equal before the law in the 1954 Constitution was reinstalled.
From time to time it can be seen that the constitutional changes just follow changes in
the Party Constitution, each constitutional change happened just after the CCP National
Congress, each proposal for constitutional change was put forward by the CCP, and each
constitutional change was closely related to a change in the CCP constitution. The Partys
dominance of the law-making process is reflected not only in the constitutional changes,
but also in the process of making other laws, essentially those related to the political field
such as those concerning the rights of citizens (Keyuan 2006).
Efficiency and the Chinese Communist Party
As regimes raise conflicts or wars, every state institution have to act quickly to avert
dangers, every state and polity needs to have a competent political leadership and
government agencies which are able to act efficiently. The relationship between efficiency
and legitimacy is a complicated one, but one fact is that efficiency means that the political
system is working in a quick and effective way; legitimacy means that the members of the
state recognize the right of their rulers to govern, to exercise state power and to demand
obedience (Guiseppe 2007).
It is imperative for us to understand the political system and polices of the Chinese
Communist Party to move the nation forward as soon as possible. The Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) since 1949, has continuously paid a lot of effort at institutional reforms which
they consider as an approach to achieve and propel a purposeful change since the inception
of the party into the power politics of China in 1949. As a result, the Chinese society has
been engaged in dramatic transformations which can be seen through policies launched on
its national macro-economy. These transformations are not only limited to the economy
alone, it has been experienced in its rural developments as well. Invariably, the economic
development of China can be grouped into three major phases;
l The Socialist Economy Central plan of land reforms and transformation from 1949
to 1957.
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Olaniyi
l The Social Equality plan of communization and collective economy from 1958 to
1978.
l The Economic efficiency plan of the planned economy to a market economy from
1978 till date (Weiguo 2002).
The pre-reform period was characterized by China transforming itself from a feudalistic
system which was controlled by private ownership to a socialist system which was dominated by collectivization and the People's Commune. Another characteristic was that there
was numerous political movements that where closely associated with the transformation
from a feudalistic society to a socialist society, the land reforms and the Great Leap Forward Era.
One important fact to mention in the pre-reform era was that the economic achievement
was very noble despite the fact that it had some shortcomings and problems. After the 1949
establishment of the Peoples Republic of China, two factors were imminent. One, China
was the most populous nation in the world and also one of the poorest nations in the world;
22 percent of the world's populations were living on 5 percent of its arable land. Thus the
country launched a three-year economic rehabilitation period, the Land Reform Period.
At this period, the government was concerned about economic recovery after the war; as
a result, land was taken up by the state and this land was divided into plots to be used by
individual farmers. Persecution was melted out for the landlords and the rich peasants who
were seen to be exploitative in nature. By 1952, agriculture land therefore was distributed
to farmers according to household size. This land reform stimulated production incentives
among the poor and the semi poor peasants. For China, the land reform was the most institutional radical change in its 5,000 years of civilization (Yao 2005).
Another approach towards bolstering the legitimacy of the CCP was the use of coercion. Opposition to the revolution was met with a magnitude of punishments and force,
during this particular period close to a million of intellectuals called the anti-party rightists were purged and sent to the countryside for a reformation process (Guo Sujian 2006).
In 1956, a group of Hungarian intellectuals formed the Petofi Circle, which held forums
and debates critical of the Hungarian government. The groups sparked a nationwide revolution in Hungary, which was crushed by Soviet soldiers. Mao Zedong took lessons from
this Hungarian incident and in 1957 he called on the Chinese intellectuals and other people
to "help the CCP rectify itself." This movement known as the Hundred Flowers Movement
with a slogan of "letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thoughts
contend". Mao's agenda was to lure out anti-party elements among the people. In his letter
to the provincial party chiefs in 1957, he spoke of his intention of "luring the snakes out
of their holes" by letting them air their views freely in the name of freedom of thought and
rectifying the Chinese Communist Party. Slogans at the time encouraged people to speak up
and promised no reprisals, the Party would not "grab pigtails, strike with sticks, issue hats,
or settle accounts after the autumn," meaning the party would not find fault, make attacks,
place labels, or seek to retaliate. However, soon after the initiation of the Anti-Rightist
Movement, declaring 540,000 of the people who dared to speak up as "rightists". Among
them, 270,000 lost their jobs and 230,000 were labeled medium rightists or anti-CCP, anti-socialist elements (The Epoch Times 2004).
Another radical change that was mounted in the new formed country was the Economic
plan which was meant to plunge the country into a highly industrialized country within the
49
shortest imaginable time. China's first Five Year Plan stemmed from 1953 to 1957, the situations of the adoption quite differed from the Soviet Union, a country China heavily relied
on the adaption of policies and plans for his economy. The Soviet nationalized all its means
of production before the adoption of the Five Year Plan, however, China launched its first
Five Year Plan when a huge bulk of the productive assets remained in the private sector.
The first plan therefore, ranked the socialization of productive means in industry, agriculture, commerce, and handicraft industries among the highest priorities, however, neither
planned investment allocation nor production target for consumer goods validated the plan's
claimed intent. The plan's focus was on rapid industrialization and increasing productivity
via capital accumulation, especially in the industrial sector. It reflected the weight of Chairman Mao's assertion that the following factors such as adequate national defense, improved
welfare, economic prosperity all hinges on the blocks of industrialization. Parallel with
accelerated industrial buildup was the expansion of the energy sector, accentuating growth
in coal, oil and power generation industries. The plan acknowledged the importance of
maintaining appropriate balances between heavy and light industries. Appropriate balances
implied minimal investments in agriculture and only moderate investment growth in light
industries. Prominent among the plan's framework were investment allotments and production targets. A total of 76.6 billion yuan was allocated for investment purposes for the Five
Year Plan period; almost 96.8 percent of the sum was derived from the budget of the central
government, with the balance being generated from lower administrative units. Of the 76.6
billion yuan, 55.8 percent (42.74 billion) was earmarked for capital construction of that
sum, 58.2 percent was allocated to industrial ministries and departments, 19.2 percent to
transport and telecommunication administrations, and only 7.6 percent to agriculture, water conservancy, and forestry projects. 24.4 percent was allocated to the Ministry of Heavy
industry which came from the capital construction funds, the ministry of fuel industry was
allocated 25.5 percent and 26.6 percent was allocated to the Ministry of Machine-building industry. The Ministry of light industry was allocated a 2.6 percent while the Ministry
of textile industry received 4.4 percent. The disproportionate emphasis that the Five Year
Plans placed on capital formation in heavy industries laid the foundation for distorted sectoral distribution, and these sectoral imbalances still require rectifying twenty years after
the reform began (Shen 2000).
Thus since 1953, the plans have the themes and contents which were strong predictors
of the Chinese economy, because any given Five Year Plan is meant to be a sacred document, only to be changed in the case of significant failure of the Chinese economy or disruption in society. One such case where a plan was abandoned was the second Five Year
Plan from 1958 to 1962. Unsatisfied by the pace of change, Mao wanted to revolutionize
China's agricultural productivity and speed up industrialization, the period from 1958 to
1960 has become known as the Great Leap Forward, during and after which ten millions
died from starvation. The disastrous nature of the policy made it to be abandoned halfway
and an adjustment period from 1961 to 1965 focused on back-to-basics agricultural practices.
The Third Five Year Plan was another agricultural plan, with the additional focus on
building up China's national defense capability and infrastructure for the possibility of
conflict. The fourth (1971-1975) and the fifth FYP (1976-1980) plans' focus was centrally
planned production targets with frequent over and under achievements necessitating adjust-
50
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ments midway. With the post-reform and opening up plan, the sixth FYP (1981-1985) and
following plans have become more comprehensive in terms of a greater number of economic, societal and technological development measures rather than targets for specific agricultural and industrial production, as was the norm during the centrally planned Communist
economy government of Mao. This meant that more aspects of the Chinese economy and
society could be managed, including controversial issues, such as population growth.
The period of the 10th FYP (2001-2005) marked a significant transition for the Chinese
economy, the economy was characterized by annual GDP growth of 10 percent or more
from 2003 onward, especially in the coastal regions that hosted the Special Economic
Zones, where regional growth was much higher.
The 11th FYP (2006-2010) was a radical departure from any of the previous plan, its
overall theme was restructuring the economy by encouraging more rural development and a
"Go West" drive for investment and manufacturing away from the more developed coast. It
was also the first indicator of understanding the need to transition to a consumption-based
economy. Finally, this FYP was also renamed a "guideline" rather than a "plan" to emphasize the broad nature of the policy goals and to allow other organizational bodies and planning documents.
The most recent plan, the 12th Five Year Plan, from 2011 to 2015, is one of the most
reliable documents published globally on how China's economic, social, political and technological progress will occur (Inch 2012).
Despite the shortcoming of this First Five Year Plan, it was a remarkable step towards
ensuring the industrialization of China, the adoption of these Five Year Plans for China and
annual plans puts the government in a strategic policy maker that aims at ensuring efficiency of its government towards the citizenry.
The Five Year Plan serves a number of important purposes, not the least of which is
that it forces the leaders and the bureaucratic apparatus to look at medium term economic
trends and goals in a serious, operational way. Projects that are planned could be delayed or
dropped, as unforeseen circumstances force cutbacks or the reallocation of resources. The
five year cycle leaves considerable room for decision making on an annual basis for some
major projects. Some of these decisions concern questions of timing, as circumstances force
significant modifications in the longer term plan. Others deal with actual project approvals
themselves. Only the very largest projects are actually listed as separate items in the Five
Year Plan. Otherwise, the plan specifies overall targets and figures on investment levels and
the sectoral distribution of planned investments (Lieberthal & Oksenberg 1988).
Civil order in China
China has developed a political tradition that has formed its own political culture,
institution and practice, this political tradition which can be dated back to more than two
thousand years has influenced the institution building process of the People's Republic of
China (PRC) and the political practices of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It has also
affected the specific form Marxism-Leninism assumed when integrated into this tradition.
The most enduring significant characteristics of Chinese political tradition is autocracy.
This autocratic tradition is embodied in a social order in which society is almost totally subordinate to the state. Such a social order was installed when China was unified under one
51
centralized political authority in 221 B.C with the establishment of the Qin Dynasty. After
that, China was no longer feudal but became a bureaucratic empire, and its political structure was transformed from a dispersed pluralist pattern to a centralized monist pattern. Politics in the PRC cannot be and has not been detached from this autocratic imperial tradition.
Although the CCP leadership brought new political styles and rhetoric in terms of organization and ideology, more and more evidence appeared showing the persistence of traditional
values underlying institutional and behavioral patterns. Furthermore, the structure of the
PRC state, which was erected by the CCP, has a centralized hierarchical authority pattern
similar to the traditional Chinese imperial political system (Zhengyuan 1993).
The main political structure is comprised of two vertically integrated but interlocking
institutions, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP or Party) headed by the Party Politburo
and its standing Committee, and the state government (State or Government) apparatus,
headed by the Premier who presides over the State Council, a de-facto cabinet. Throughout
China, Party and Government structures closely parallel one another, with Party committee
and representatives present not only in government agencies but also in most organizations
and institutions including universities and foreign owned enterprises. The nominal leader of
the CCP is the General Secretary but control of the Party is held collectively by its Standing
Committee. Chinas government is managed by the State Council, which is headed by the
Premier.
Two major institutions play a role in Chinese Politics. One is the National Peoples
Congress (NPC). According to Article 57 of the Chinese Constitution:
The National Peoples Congress of the Peoples Republic of China is the highest organ
of state power, its highest officers are the President and Vice-President of the NPC, which
are directly elected by the members of the NPC. Articles 85 and 92 of Chinas constitution
state that the State council is the executive arm of the government and reports to the NPC
(Dumbaugh & Martin 2009).
The National People's Congress (NPC) is a fundamental political system in which the
Chinese people are masters of their own affairs, the NPC supervises and is responsible for
several lower branches of government, including the national administrative branch, the adjudication branch, and the procurator branch. The administrative branch is responsible for
carrying out the laws, resolutions and the decisions approved by the NPC. The court and the
procurator organs exercise judicial authority according to the Law. The Chinese Constitution states that the NPC and all local levels of government personnel have five-year terms,
the conference of the NPC and a separate conference of all local levels of government are
held annually. The electoral law of China also states that members of the NPC shall not
surpass 3,000 people. Another provision of the Chinese Constitution is that the NPC may
nominate a committee to hold power in lieu of itself during the annual meeting. The NPC
Standing Committee generally holds a conference once every two months. The NPC standing committee is comprised of a chairman, several vice-chairmen, a secretary general and
several committee members. All local levels of the NPC set up their own standing committees, the members of which are produced through election by the NPC. The tenure of each
term is also five years. The authority of the NPC can be divided into four core areas: legislative duties, surveillance duties, appointment duties, dismissal of personnel functions, and
significant matters decisions (Lin Li et al 2008).
It is important to understand the factors underpinning the development and the success
52
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of China's political stability and success.

Revolutionary leadership
With the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949, the
revolutionary leaders faced imminent and glaring problems on their hands. The economy
was battered with inflation and great unemployment, public order and moral had declined
greatly, the backwardness of the military hindered and created monumental successes to
the goals elite of national power and wealth with a fragmented polity and state. However
by 1957, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had created a strong centralized state after
decades of unity, it had also created a strong national pride and international prestige by
engaging itself in the Korean War. In addition, it had also taken significant steps towards
industrialization and economic growth had increased with a minimal transformation of the
life of the people. Marxist ideologies became a key theme for the transformation of the
nations social system despite limited divisions within the party elite (Macfarquhar 1997).
At the Eight National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao Zedong rekindled the spirit of the party elites when he summoned all and sundry to unite with
all those forces at home and abroad so that together they can build a great united Socialist
China. He reaffirmed the legitimacy of the CCP by connoting the completion of the bourgeois-democratic revolution and the victory they have gained in the socialist revolution.
The imminent status of the Party, a Party of unity with a lot of consolidations from the past
and which has become a core tool to unit the vast people in the country for the socialist
construction (Mao 1956).
The approach to maintaining political unity became an important feature for Chairman
Mao Zedong based on the organizational core of the party, he states:
Unity within the Chinese Communist Party is the fundamental prerequisite for uniting
the whole nation to win the War of Resistance and build a new China. Seventeen years of
tempering have taught the Chinese Communist party many ways of attaining internal unity,
and ours is a much more seasoned Party. Thus we are able to form a powerful nucleus for
the whole people in the struggle to win victory, Comrades, so long we are united, and we
can certainly reach this goal.
For him a disciplined party came to be seen as the core of this unity, unity grows from
a shared sense of outrage at exploitation and injustice. Seventeen years of tempering in the
struggle of domestic revolution can be seen as a basic concept of Maos approach for political motivation.
Chairman Mao Zedong at the eve of victory made a clear distinction and sharp contrast
between the disciplined forces of revolution and the disintegration of the counterrevolutionary camp:
In the last few months almost all the Peoples Liberation Army has made use of the
intervals between battles for large-scale training and consolidation. This has been carried
out in a fully guided, orderly and democratic way. 'Speak bitterness' meetings and political study have aroused the revolutionary fervor of the great masses of commanders and
fighters, enabled them clearly to comprehend the aim of war, eliminated certain incorrect
ideological tendencies and undesirable manifestations in the army, educated the cadres and
fighters and greatly enhanced the combat effectiveness of the army, Party consolidation
53
nor ideological education in the army, nor land reform, all of which we have accomplished
which have great historic significance could be undertaken by our enemy, the Kuomintang.
On our part, we have been very earnest in correcting our own shortcomings, we have united the Party and the army virtually as one man and forged close tied between them and the
masses of the people. With our enemy, everything is just the opposite; they are so corrupt,
so torn by the ever-increasing and irreconcilable internal quarrels, so spurned by the people
and utterly isolated and so frequently defeated in battle that their doom is inevitable.
The dynamic aspect of Maos approach to building a unity of revolutionary forces
drives from his belief that people are sustained in their political involvement through the
tension of conflict with their oppressors: Struggle is the means to unity and unity is the
aim of struggle. If unity is sought through struggle it will live, if unity is sought through
yielding, it will perish (Solomon 1971).
The Chinese Communist Partys victory in 1949 brought political unity to the Chinese
Mainland; it was formally the formulation of a government that was the recognized political authority throughout China. One crucial factor to show that the Communist party was
ready for leadership was it brought with it a set of political principles that it had tested for
several years in rural areas of China under Communist control. The Republican era had
been marked by confusion and competition among a multitude of ideas and by gross discrepancies between political ideals, as stated in various constitutions, laws and party programs and political realities. The CCP itself was not immune to this atmosphere. In the first
twenty years of its existence, it experienced internal ideological conflicts and ignored political moods and realities. By 1949, however Party had unified its rank under Chairman Mao
Zedongs leadership, it had furthered developed its theory of what government under the
CCP control ought to be and had shown that this theory could be applicable in all spheres
of the polity. Since 1949, political unity in China has meant de facto control by a single
government, plus the existence and conscious application of a single, systematic body of
political theory (Townsend 1986).
Conclusion
Political practicality is a prominent pattern of Chinese development and political culture.
The government has to deal and solve tangible tribulations and issues and does this in a
realistic way. This practicality is characterised by four features: economics, politics, ideals
and legality.
Economically, it converts into the shift from a designed economy to a market economy,
and into the reduction of politics. The latter means that economic advancements controls
politics and the activities of the central and local governments. Economic results and developments achievements are significant of an administrator and his career.
Politically, the Communist Party has developed from a class party into a peoples party. This is authenticated for example by the so-called Three Represents ( sange daibiao)
which was proposed by former party chief Jiang Zemin. According to this principle, the
Communist Party no longer represents classes but the Chinese people as a whole.
Marxism-Leninism was first sinocized attuned to help undertake Chinas practical
problems, and in the 1990s it was complemented by the Deng Xiaoping Theory which,
in fact does not represent a theory but a set of practical advices. Meanwhile, the goal of
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the government is no longer a far away communism but a not too distant harmonious
society.
Government legality is no longer based on philosophy, but rather functionally defined:
by the promises of transformation and development; of achieving power; of protecting political, economic and social stability; and by instituting both a socialist democracy and a
rule of law.
Many examples supply proof for such kind of political practicality. The economy reforms itself, the change from designed to market economy, the restoration of private sector
expansion or the recognition of foreign investment and of speedy social change are only
few examples of such. Practicality also translates into the improvement of the party constitution in the 1950s.
China is not a pure autocratic where no changes have taken place in the last decades,
but a country that is progressively advancing towards a more open nation with an escalating
degree of participation, legal security and individual independence. The cleavages within China are remarkable. It is, therefore, difficult to foresee in which direction China will
ensue in the next decades. This, undeniably, depends mainly on domestic issues. As long
as the economy develops smoothly and the living standard of the majority of the people
continues to progress, and as long as participation is enhanced, social and political stability
could be sealed and China might increasingly become a dependable and liable partner in
world politics. On the other hand, it is easy to envision the negative penalty which a malfunction of the Chinese state could bring about.
Currently, Chinese people are determined with self-reliance for building a reasonably
wealthy society in an all-round way, and undertaking to build an affluent, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, melodious and modern socialist country. Chasing and civilizing the
multi-party collaboration system is favorable to promoting the sustainable expansion of the
social productive forces, realizing overall progress of society, extra rewarding and increasing peoples democracy, and enhancing the structure or a melodious socialist society.
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Authors Biodata:
Banwo Adetoro Olaniyi is currently a Phd research student at Xiamen University, Xiamen.
His research interests include Chinese History, Modern History of China, Politics of China,
Chinese Philosophy and Chinese Culture. He has a BSc in Political Science from Nigeria,
an MA in International Management from England and an MA in Chinese Philosophy from
China.
banwotoro@gmail.com

ISSN: 2224-2716
Chinas Contemporary Role in Africas Political Economy1

Okolo Abutu Lawrence & Okolo Joseph Akwu
Xiamen University & University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Beijings contemporary political and economic inroads into Africa have generated much interest
in the current literature, with media, policymakers and scholars endeavoring to assess the merits
and risks implicit in this renewed engagement. This article fills this void by examining the current
China-Africa relations. However, no substantial empirical underpinning is foundto back upsinister prophesies of coming catastrophe from critics of the direction of ChinaAfrica relations. The
relationship from an economic perspective is promisingand encouraging but more needs to be
doneregardingmultilateral relations, improvement of institutions, and sustainability of resources
management. A number of positive signs suggest that Beijing is heading towards the right direction which would provide openings for a multi-polar dialog. While benefiting in the short run,
African leaders have the capacity to tailor this partnership and address some socio-economic and
political matters arising that may negatively affect the nexus in the long term. Policy implications
are discussed.
Keywords: Africa, China, Economy, Political, Relations
Introduction
In the aftermath of the Cold War and the emergence of globalization, Chinas economic
and political role has gained significant prominence on the world stage. However, Beijings
contemporary presence in the international political economy has attracted distinctive attention from policy makers and media discourse across the globe but more significantly, in the
developing geopolitical terrains such as Africa. China now comes only second to the United
States of America (USA) in its consumption of oil. Based on current projections, Chinas
demand and consumption of mineral resources is expected to grow exponentially in the
foreseeable future, so in an attempt to diversify its source of supply, China has set its sights
on Africa as a partner (Abutu 2013).
Chinas rise as a global actor is often greeted with suspicion, especially in the Western
media (e.g Michel, 2008). China is frequently seen as exploiting African economics, while
showing little genuine concern for their sustainable economic or political development.
Some in the literature point, in particular, to the damaging effects of the influx of cheap
Chinese commodities into African markets (Goldstein,et al. 2008; Broadman 2009), the
substandard working conditions maintained by many Chinese firms (Lee,2009), and the
detrimental ramifications of China's disregard for human rights standards and Beijing's
persistent courtship of the continent's rogue regimes (Chau 2007; Karumbidza 2007;
Brown & Sriram2009).
1Requests for reprints should be sent to Okolo Abutu Lawrence, E-mail: lauren4all2003@yahoo.com, Okolo
Joseph Akwu, E-mail: Okolojosephakwu@yahoo.com.
57
In 2006, Beijing declared that China will unswervingly carry forward the tradition
of China-Africa friendship, and, proceeding from the fundamental interests of both the
Chinese and African peoples, establish and develop a new type of strategic partnership with
Africa. President Hu Jintao confirmed this sentiment at the Beijing Summit of Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in November 2006 (Zhang, C.2013). Still, this relationship has a long way to go. There is now a more balanced development in the political,
economic and societal aspects of this relationship than in previous periods, meaning that
the time has come for this relationship to transition to a new trend in terms of Africas international engagement.
This paper explores Chinas contemporary role in Africas political and economic development for the past six decades and its current state, to understand the basic logic of
its development and provide a fresh angle of analysis. It then explores the future of this
relationship, considering the significant transitions it has taken and the various measures
Beijing has adopted throughout. It concludes by discussing the need for strategic thinking
in promoting the Sino-Africa relationship and moving to new strategic partnership.
The Genesis of the China-Africa Political and Economic Relationship
China has a long history of political contact with Africa and the Han Dynasty is credited
for having made the first contact with the African continent around AD 759, with further
contacts developed under the Ming Dynasty. The fact alone that China never attempted to
conquer Africa makes the current ties considered positively. The more recent economic
relationship with African countries is neither new, as it can be traced back to the Bandung
Asia- Africa Conference of 1955 which is widely regarded as the foundation of modern day
China-Africa relations (Onjala, 2008). Although the economic interactions and cultural
exchanges between China and Africa go back many centuries, then contemporary Sino-Africa relationship began with the formal establishment of diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1956.
China and Africa have since then become all-weather friends that understand, support and
help each other. Fifty-one of the continents fifty-four countries have established diplomatic
ties with China thus far, the most recent being South Sudan in 2011.
China and Africa have shared comprehensive consensus on major international issues,
common interests and a willingness to deepen their cooperation. Frequent high-level reciprocal visits (known by some in Africa the frequent flyer form of diplomacy) have promoted mutual understanding and trust, and have effectively boosted the development of bilateral ties. Presently, the first foreign visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister is always to Africa
(Zhang 2013).
China-Africa relations also contribute to both sides struggle for a higher international
status. Like the political dimension, the economic dimension of this relationship also has
developed rapidly. China-Africa trade volume increased from $12 million in 1950, to $34.74
million in 1955 and to $250 million in 1965. China has attached great importance to friendly cooperation with African nations since its Open Up and Reform policy at the end of the
1970s, and Sino-African trade has seen annual growth of 3.6 percent on average. Bilateral
total export and import volume kept growing throughout the 1990s, during this period it
was as not unusual to see increases of over 40 percent. In 2000, bilateral trade volume ex-
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ceeded $10 billion for the first time, and in 2008 it reached a record $106.84 billion. While
it decreased in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, Sino-Africa trade regained momentum in 2010, with $126.9 billion in 2010 and then $166.3 billion in 2011. It is estimated
that the figure may exceed $200 billion in 2012. In 2008, the number of African countries
with which China had more than $1 billion in trade reached twenty (Xuequan 2013). This
shows that Chinas engagement with Africa is broad and extensive.
To summarize, the Sino-Africa relationship has had three phases of development in the
past six decades. The first phase ran from the early 1950s to the adoption of the Open up
and Reform policy in the late 1970s. During this period, both China and Africa focused on
political development because of their newly gained independence. The aim of this bilateral
relationship was political mutual support, with anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism as the
core. In addition to providing political and military support, China built Tazara, the railway
linking Zambia to Tanzania, which helped free Zambia from its dependence on trade routes
to the sea dominated by white-minority ruled Rhodesia (Zhang 2013).
The second phase took place in the 1980s. After adopting Open Up and Reform policy at the end of 1970s, China turned to the industrialized developed west for its abundant
capital and development experience. China still attached great importance to Africa. For
example, the Chinese Premier, Zhao Ziyang embarked on series of diplomatic overtures in
December 1982 to eleven African countries, promoting the Four Principles of Chinese cooperation with Africa: equality and mutual benefit, stress on practical results, diversification
in form, and economic development (Langan 2012).
China shifted its eyes back to Africa after the end of Cold War. Along with the new
thinking of seeking external support for domestic development, Beijing strengthened the
economic dimension of this relationship - or to use Ian Taylors term, China began to re-engage actively with the continent now on different terms. China-Africa trade has grown
since this period, as has Chinas investment in Africa. Investment patterns has had three
phases since China began to invest in Africa in the 1980s. Chinese businesses first relied
heavily on government-sponsored assistance projects to gain a presence in local markets.
Due to the limited strength of Chinese enterprises, most investment projects were small.
Between 1979 and 1990, China invested $51.19 million in 102 projects in Africa, equivalent to $500,000 per project. In 1990s, Chinas investment in Africa expanded within the
context of improved investment environment in Africa and the emergence of Chinese businesses. Since 2000, Chinas investment in Africa has entered a fast track facilitated by both
governmental policies and market drivers. China has made a sizable investment in Africa
over the past 30 years (Zhang 2013).
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce observes that Beijing invested $2.1 billion in Africa in 2010. Africa has become a major investment destination for Chinese enterprises,
where over 2,000 Chinese companies have invested in various sectors including electronics,
telecommunications and transport. Chinese investment in Africa represents a small (three to
four percent in 2011) yet growing piece of total Chinese outward foreign direct investment
(OFDI) worldwide. Africa is the third largest recipient of Chinese OFDI after Asia and
Europe. By the end of 2011, the cumulative Chinese direct investment net stock in Africa
reached $14.7 billion (Kerry & Zhang 2009).
Current Status and Trend in China-Africa Relations
59
Beijing has gradually upgraded its Africa policy in the 21st Century with the establishment
of The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000. Six years later, Sino-Africa
relationship reached a level as it defined its Africa policy for the first time with four principal guidelines. These include:
- Sincerity, friendship and equality (the political dimension)
- Mutual benefit, reciprocity and common prosperity (the economic dimension)
- Mutual support and close coordination (the international dimension
- Mutual learning and seeking common development (the cultural dimension)
The Sino-Africa relationship gained new momentum under these principles. According
to a 2011 report from African Development Bank, China is a valuable trading partner, a
source of investment financing, and an important complement to traditional development
partners. China is investing massively in infrastructure, which helps alleviate supply bottlenecks and improve competitiveness (Rocha 2007).
More importantly, historically, the availability of cheap raw materials and the prospects
for huge returns on investments, especially from the exploitation of natural resources, has
always provided an incentive for the expansion and deepening of political and economic
ties with Africa. Africa is so blessed with an impressive endowment of mineral wealth, including near-global monopolies of platinum, chromium and diamonds; a high proportion
of the worlds gold, cobalt and manganese reserves; and extensive reserves of bauxite,
coal, uranium, copper and nickle are all abundant in Africa. Rocha, (2007:18) observes that
among oil reserves estimated currently, Africa accounts for 7 percent of the global total.
New oil discoveries have been made in Uganda, Zambia and Madagascar while extensive
exploration is ongoing in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. It was estimated that by 2010,
the Gulf of Guinea will contribute at least one out of every five new barrels onto the global
market. The bulk of this will come from Nigeria and Angola, followed by others (Rocha,
2007).
In the same development, media analysts and scholar,s especially from the West, believe that the main driving force behind Chinas investment in Africa is for natural resources and thus focuses on a few resources rich countries. Presently, Chinese investments actually reach 49 African countries; the fraction of coverage is about 83 percent (second to Asia
and much higher than the average rate of 71 percent). These figures also exceed those of
other powers in Africa, including the US, EU, India, Brazil, Turkey and South Korea. For
instance, in 2010, the top 10 African recipients included South Africa (31.8 percent), Nigeria (9.3 percent), Zambia (7.2 percent), Algeria (7.2 percent), The Democratic Republic of
Congo (4.8 percent), Sudan (4.7 percent), Niger (2.9 percent), Ethiopia (2.8 percent), Angola (2.7 percent) and Egypt (2.6 per cent), comprising 76 percent of all Chinese investment
in Africa (Sarah 2009).
Throughout the 1990s, the US and Western Europe diverted their attention from Africa
to other regions such as Eastern Europe leaving a vacuum in Africa which China is nominally filling. By the mid-1990s, Beijing adopted the Open Door Policy which created
important momentum for Beijings interests in Africa with focus primarily being economic.
The Chinese economic reform agenda was well calculated. It gained momentum at exactly
the same period when the West was pre-occupied with cementing their political position
and projecting their influence elsewhere outside Africa. China seized the opportunity to
emerge from the shadows of an ideologically inspired closed economy to become a pow-
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erful global economic player in the age of rapid globalization driven by liberal ideals. The
establishment of FOCAC in 2000 added steam to the economic relations (Mhandara, et al
2013).
Beijing has built platforms to promote its relationship with Africa. FOCAC brings together the 51 states that have diplomatic relationships with China. Since its establishment,
FOCAC has gradually become an important platform for collective dialogue and an effective mechanism for enhancing practical cooperation between China and African countries.
Since its establishment, FOCAC has held five ministerial conferences (the latest in July
2012) and one summit at the level of heads of state and government (in 2006). It has arguably provided the political umbrella for the boom in bilateral relations. Beijing also engages
with Africa through multilateral organizations, including the UN, the IMF, the World Bank
and the G20. Multilateral organizations give great relevance to the South-South cooperation
mechanism, G7+China, the Non-Alignment Movement and BRICS. The latter has great potential in terms of its ability to support African development. The invitation of South Africa
to the BRICS and recent discussions on the establishment of a BRICS development bank
highlights this, as well as the theme of the most recent BRICS summit (BRICS and Africa) held in March 2013 (Zhang 2013).
In the final analysis, moving to the strategies that Beijing applies to the African case,
there are three major policies that help win the favour of the majority of countries: the policy of mutual respect without asking any political concessions of the counterparts; symbolic
diplomacy, frequent high-level visits shows the world how important the continent means
to China, which indirectly raises the political value of Africa; and impressively, economic
diplomacy. Chinese investments are always accompanied by related infrastructure contracts, debt relief, assistance in public health and agriculture, offering zero-tariff treatment
for some African exports to China, and building schools. All these are warmly welcomed
by the governments and the ordinary people. China has pledged to set up three to five
special economic zones, and institute a $5 billion development fund to encourage Chinese
investments in Africa. Moreover, 100 new schools will be built, 16,000 professionals will
be trained (Meidan 2006:70). All these have significant impacts on the new Sino-Africa
relations.
China-Africa Relations as a Mutually Beneficial Engagement
This is a positive, optimistic perspective of Chinas engagement in Africa. Beijing is regarded as being driven by the realities of the current international economic order by advancing
its economic interest through a sound development involvement with Africa. According to
this philosophy, China is viewed as sharing its experiences on modernization by helping
and equipping Africa with technical expertise, developing managerial capacities, and imparting techniques that enhance industrial production. It is necessary to note that this is all
happening not because Beijing is imposing itself on Africa but the African governments are
importing the Chinese experiences out of their own volition. The determinants of Africas
choice of the Chinese as partners in development are multifarious but mainly rooted in the
evolving global politics in as much as the co-operation is viewed as a model of the SouthSouth co-operation mantra ( Mhandara et al, 2013).
In another breath, Guixuan (2012) observes that the official pronouncements by part-
61
ners in the relationship points to mutual satisfaction further suggesting that the engagement
is deemed mutually beneficial. Speeches from politicians and diplomats from both China
and Africa are saturated with the win-win slogan. This suggests a degree of shared vision
and strategy in realizing developmental goals. The relationship is one presumed to be guided by a commitment to mutually recognized principles including equality of partnerships
and reciprocal respect founded on shared history and common normative values. Since Africa has the resources but lacks the capital and technology to exploit them to its own advantage, it is deemed logical to engage partners with acceptable conditions and better placed to
export their capital and technology and having been through the experiences of modernization (Guixuan 2012).
Another important point to note, at the multilateral level, Beijing has exhibited greater
commitment to peacekeeping activities by increasing its participation in UN operations and
peace building efforts as well as providing diplomatic support to African countries during
debates at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) (Aubyn 2013).With respect to
peacekeeping, Chinas efforts in Africa have, since the 1990s, steadily evolved from a position of unwilling participation to one of active engagement due to its strict adherence to
principles of state sovereignty, non-intervention, consent of host state before peacekeeping
deployment and the non-use of force other than in self-defense.
More importantly, since its first participation in the UN Transition Assistance Group
(UNTAG) in Namibia in 1989, Beijing has deployed its personnel to African countries such
as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Sudan, Western
Sahara, Cote dIvoire and Mozambique. Although the number of Chinese Peacekeepers in
Africa cannot be compared to that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, it ranks as the largest
contributor among the five permanent members of the UNSC and also the seventh highest
provider of assessed contributions (3.93%) to UN peacekeeping operations as of February
2012 (United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations 2013). This is particularly
significant at a time when Western countries are unwilling to deploy personnel to peacekeeping missions in Africa. Beyond these contributions, China, as a permanent member
of the UNSC, has also played a very significant role in the decision-making process with
regards to the deployment of peacekeepers to Africa. Beijing has also put greater emphasis
at the UNSC on the need for improved cooperation between the UN and African regional/
sub-regional organizations towards the maintenance of international peace and security. In
Chinas Africa Policy Paper for example, China urged the UN Security Council to pay attention to, and help resolve, regional conflicts in Africa. On the issue of UN reforms, China
has also called on the UNSC to give priority to increasing the representation of developing
countries, in particular those in Africa (Aubyn 2013).
The opinion of China as a development partner is exemplified in Kenya. The bilateral
relationship between China and Kenya has been continuously developing based on a strong
traditional political bond. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from China to Kenya
have become important in recent years due to the loss in Kenyas competitiveness to attract
FDI (Mhandara, et al 2013). Generally, the position of African governments with strong
political ties with the Chinese government suggests that Chinese investment on the continent has been positive. Felix Mutatiiv stated that there is no doubt China has been good
to Zambia [...], they are bringing investment, world class technology, jobs, value addition.
What more can you ask for? (Polgreen and French 2007: 115). Such expressions are sup-
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ported by positive developments in bilateral trade and Chinese investment in Africa since
the inauguration of the FOCAC. To give some earlier examples: In 2004, the volume of
trade between China and Africa hit a new record high of USD $29.46 billion, an increase of
58.9 percent over the previous year (Guixuan 2012). In 2010, China-Africa bilateral trade
already topped USD $115 billion and continued to grow at a rate of 44 percent annually.
Overall, Africa registered a 5.8 percent growth in 2007, the highest in decades primarily
owing to the positive bilateral trade with China. In terms of investment in Africa, the Chinese government has extended a USD $2 billion loan for infrastructure construction to Angola in March 2004 in exchange for a contract to supply 1000 barrels of crude oil per day.
In Gabon, China National Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC) injected a huge investment into the countrys declining petroleum industry. In Nigeria, Petro-China concluded a
USD $800 million deal in July 2005 with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to
purchase 30,000 barrels per day for a year (Mhandara, et al 2011).
Features of Chinese Investment in Africa
Beijings approach to Africa has several significant characteristics. For instance, a key
feature of Chinese cooperation with Africa is the strong links between the Chinese governments foreign policy objectives and the role played by Chinese enterprises. By June 2003,
the Chinese Ministry of Commerce had given approval to 602 Chinese enterprises to invest
a total of USD $1.173 billion in Africa. The number of Chinese enterprises approval had
reached 715 by the end of 2004. The range of activities that these companies are involved
in differs from trade, processing, communication, transportation, manufacture, road and agriculture, to resources development (Rocha 2007).
For instance in Angola, the USD $2bn deal has lead to the rebuilding of national roads,
the building of a new airport in the outskirts of Luanda, and other significant infrastructural developments. More so, a USD $69 million agreement was signed between Angolas
MundoStartel and Chinas ZTE Cooperation and the Angolan Council of Ministers approved broader ZTE operation. ZTE will invest USD $400 million, or which USD $300
million will be used to modernize and expand Angola Telekom to develop telephone networks in Angola. According to the Angolan government, the remaining USD $100 million
is to be invested in military communications, the development of mobile telephone factory,
and the creation of a telecommunications training institute for Angolan employees (Caulderwood 2013). It is the most multifaceted character of Chinese involvement in Africa that
seems to be a major draw for African countries.
In Gabon in 2007, China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC) signed an agreement to mine 30 million tonnes of iron ore annually for
25 years in the Belinga iron deposits. According to the terms of agreement the Chinese
company will invest about USD $3 billion, equal to Gabon's annual budget, over the next
three years, to, inter alia, develop a railway line and two hydroelectric stations (Centre for
Chinese Studies, 2007).
The latest significant development in this regard is the USD $9 billion deal announced
in May 2008 between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and
China Export Import (Exim) Bank. According to the terms of the deal, the DRC's stateowned mining giant Gcamines will form a 32/64 joint venture with China's Sinohydro
63
and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC). By means of the agreement, the
DRC will receive well-needed infrastructure refurbishment; 3,125km of railways from the
mineral-rich southern Katanga province to the Atlantic port of Matadi; the construction of
more than 6,000km of roads as well as hospitals, schools, health centers, hydro-electric
dams and airport infrastructure (International Mining2008). In exchange, the mining joint
venture has received the right to mine 10.6 million tonnes of copper and 626,000 tonnes of
cobalt.
On the positive development, there is no doubt that Chinese investments in Africa are
having and could continue to have some significant impacts. Beijing is helping African
nations to rebuild their infrastructure and providing other types of assistance to agriculture,
health, water, education and other sectors. This could have very positive spin-offs in lowering transaction costs and assisting African governments to address social calamities such
as poor health services, energy crises, skills developments, etc. Increased Chinese demand
for raw materials has seen an upsurge in commodity prices, putting extra cash in the coffers
of many resources-dependent economics. More importantly, African countries should use
this windfall to make provision for the future by investing heavily in education and training, diversifying the economy and strengthen the administrative and governance systems political, economic and corporate - in order to be more capable to maintain and sustain the
current economic boom throughout the continent (Dambisa 2012).
More so, Richard (2012) observes that while oil and mining remain an important focus,
Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) has flooded into everything from shoe manufacturing to food processing. Chinese firms have also made major investments in African infrastructure, targeting key sectors such as telecommunications, transport, construction, power
plants, waste disposal and port refurbishment. Given the scale of Africas infrastructure
deficit, these investments represent a vital contribution to the continents development.
What is driving this intensifying interest is the recognition in China that the economic
landscape in Africa has fundamentally changed. Over the past decade and a half, much of
Africa has enjoyed uninterrupted growth. Even during the global economic crisis, Africa
proved remarkably resilient, confounding the fears of African policymakers and the international donor community, alike. Chinese investors have been far quicker than their counterparts in developed nations to acknowledge and benefit from this economic out-performance (Richard 2012).
Presently, China derives a quarter of its oil imports from Africa through its oil interests
in Algeria, Chad, Angola, Sudan and increasing stakes in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and
Nigeria respectively. Oil exploration rights were established in Sudan in 1995 by China
National Petroleum Cooperation (CNPC) through ownership of a 40 percent stake in the
Greater Nile Petroleum Operation Company, where it is pumping over 300,000 barrels per
day. Another Chinese firm, SINOPEC, is constructing a 1,500- kilometer (932 miles) pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, whereas Chinas Petroleum Engineering Construction
Group is building a tanker terminal (Willem 2008). More so, China has invested more
than USD $8bn worth of oil exploration contracts in the Sudan. Nigeria for instance, China
National Offshore Oil Cooperation (CNOOC) acquired a 45 percent working interest in an
offshore oil mining license, OML 130, for USD $2.268 billion cash; CNPC invested in the
Port Harcourt refinery (?) while Petro-China is interested in the Kaduna refinery. ONGC
Mittal Energy Ltd (OMEL), the joint venture between the Oil and Natural Gas Cooperation
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and the L.N Mittal Group, will invest USD $6bn in the railways oil refining and power in
exchange for oil drilling rights (Rocha, 2007).
Similar investments have been made in Gabon by SINOPEC and Unipec through a joint
venture with Total while Pan-Ocean exploits the Tsiengui on shore basin and is associated
with Shell to explore Awokou-1. Gabon is now selling one-fifth of its annual oil output to
China.
Conclusion and Recommendations
China-Africa relations should be understood on the basis of the reality of international
political economy where benefits extracted from any engagement are asymmetrical. Therefore, wishing away China-Africa economic relations simply because of lack of equity and
balance in benefits defies reality. The relationship is strong particularly because of historical ties and political expediency. More importantly, the extent to which the relationship
survives is largely dependent upon the Chinese and African elites political will to address
the fear that China is seeking to command African resources and subject the continent to
economic dependence.
Indisputably, the heightened engagement of China in Africa has important implications
for other actors on the continent such as the US, European Union, Brazil, Japan, Canada
and India. Generally, there have been longstanding suspicions among these actors, fostered
in part by different philosophies and approaches towards governance and sometimes a clash
of interests on the continent. For instance, one problematic issue between China and the
West is that of promoting good governance, transparency and human rights in connection
with development aid (Thompson 2005). Thus, while the West and their institutions, such
as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), link development aid to the promotion of political transparency and good governance in African countries, Chinese aid comes with no
strings attached except the One China principle and tying aid and loans to Chinese companies and materials. For this reason, China, for instance, ignored Western sanctions against
Sudan and Zimbabwe and continued to be one of the most important suppliers of military
equipment to both countries.
In another breath, the commitment and speed with which China-Africa partnerships,
including diplomatic initiatives such as FOCAC, move to address concerns related to cheap
imports and developing Africas manufacturing capacity, has the potential to drown Africas
fears. The Chinese government needs to recognize that Africa needs industrialization more
than any other continent and should support manufacturing plants rather than aiming at the
increasing exports of finished goods. More importantly, African governments which rule
predominantly in commodity-reliant countries need to have clear strategic policies for industrialization in order to foster international competitiveness. Chinas government policy
needs to facilitate this transition of African economies from exporter of primary goods to
exporter of quality processed goods by unlocking the manufacturing potential on the continent, if the slogan of partnership is meant in a profound way.
Finally, China-Africa relations are dynamic and therefore, there is a need to constantly
monitor and reassess the various agreements to ensure conformity with the principles and
values of the long history of cooperation. Chinese companies operating in Africa should,
in their own long-term interest, guard against exploitation of the host and ensure that labor
65
conditions in Chinese enterprises are in line with the hosts practice and in conformity to
International Labor Organization Standards. Beijings interest in Africa should not be allowed to follow the experiences of Africa under colonialism which treats Africa as a source
of resources, and a market for finished goods and cheap labor.
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Authors Biodata:
Okolo Abutu Lawrence is a PhD candidate in the School of International Relations, Department of World Economy at Xiamen University, P. R China. His core research interest
includes International Political Economy with a clear focus on Asia-Africa Economic Relations. He has published different books and articles on China-Nigeria Economic Relations.
His recent research articles have appeared or forthcoming in the journals such as Fudan
Journal of the Humanities, Asian Journal Research in Business Economics and Management, Africanus Journal of Development Studies and so on.
Okolo Joseph Akwu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Foundations.
Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has published different articles on
Education in Nigeria.
lauren4all2003@yahoo.com
Okolojosephakwu@yahoo.com

ISSN: 2224-2716
Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at Primary School

in England1
Tingting Chen
Xiamen University
Modern Languages in the Primary School (MLPS) is brought back to consciousness in almost every country in Western Europe in the last few decades. The aim of this essay is to examine how to
teach Chinese as a foreign language in primary school in England. This essay is divided into four
sections: the first section starting with the introduction of this idea; the second section offers an
overview of the policies in England and examines some of the key issues in the debate about the
inclusion of modern foreign languages in the primary curriculum; then it comes to the classroom
issues, which examines the approaches to instruction both on the theoretical and the practical basis covering teaching and assessment; followed by the implementation, a conclusion was drawn
and some suggestions were given for the further studies.
Keywords: primary school in England, MLPS, Chinese teaching, classroom issues, diversity
INTRODUCTION
This essay discusses Chinese as a foreign language teaching at primary schools in England,
from instruction to assessment, by comparing some popular approaches to each stage of
teaching process, which lead to the conclusion on an effective approach to instruction and
suggestion for further studies. In order to elaborate the issues in a wider context of modern
foreign languages education, general policies and rationale of teaching foreign languages at
England are explained beforehand.
Based on the consensus that the creation of the single European market and currency,
the relaxing of trade restrictions, and closer political and industrial links have highlighted
the value of cross-cultural communication, a fundamental part of which is learning language (P. Driscoll, 1999: 1), a fresh start was made in MLPS. However the development of
MLPS is complex involving the diversity of the objectives, approaches and so on. After a
series of pilot programmes and policy making, the National Strategy for England Languages for All: Languages for Life was brought out in 2002 to give an opportunity for primary
school pupils to learn a foreign language. These shifts in the social, economic and political
environment reflect the need of the emergence and development of MLPS, and provide a
support for a range of research on it.
MLPS is of inclusive, which intellectually and pedagogically draws on areas of research
such as paidology, linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive and educational psychology and
curriculum studies. The research on human brain, childrens mind, cognition and learning
behaviour, all of which feature MLPS compared to general MFL education, is to facilitate
1Requests for reprints should be sent to Tingting Chen. E-mail: tingtingchen0215@hotmail.com.
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the language acquisition and education, cultural and intercultural awareness in this specific
period. A major component of any research for MLPS should be follow childrens progress.
A range of research shows the evidences that favour the language acquisition in early age
and also proposes the characteristics of childrens mind and behaviours, which are beneficial to the pedagogical research on MLPS. Consequently a variety of approaches which
follow both the rational of MLPS and the general MFL education are suggested. Among
these approaches, the most universal and prominence feature is language activity based on
appropriate teaching strategies in a relaxed and playful learning environment.
The history of Chinese as a foreign language entering the primary school curriculum
in England is relatively short. However the research conducted by DCSF shows an upward
trend in the popularity of Chinese at English schools. Because of the short history and lack
of research on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at primary school, the discussion
on the topic is coherent with that of MLPS, which comprises common characteristics of
instruction of foreign languages including Chinese. Therefore, according to the MLPS pedagogy discussed beforehand, classroom practices and assessment for Chinese as a foreign
language at primary school are illustrated combined with my working experience as a Chinese teacher in a boy school in London.
POLICY AND RATIONALE
Policy Issues for Primary Modern Languages in England
The recent resurgence in the research of Modern Languages in the Primary School (MLPS)
reflects the recognition of the necessity and feasibility of MFL teaching for pupils in the
most European countries including England. Driscoll (1999) proposed that the development of the government commitment has been reflected mainly by three facts: a) the parents increasing expectation of including a FL into the existing curriculum (CILT, 1995),
b) the conviction of young is best in terms of foreign language acquisition and c) the
common-sense belief that practice makes perfect. Additionally, economic factors and the
incentive of promoting a growing sense of European identity were also involved in the impetus (L. Low, 1999). Consequently, there is a wide range of MFL provisions for primary
schools adopted by at least 40 LEAs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, varying in
purpose, starting age and the approaches to instruction. In England, the formulation of a
national policy for MLPS has been undertaken by other bodies such as Association for Language Learning (ALL) and the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research
(CILT) (Low, 1999: 53).
However, the development had to get through debates and stagnation at an early stage.
In the 1960s, the Pilot Scheme for teaching French in Primary schools was conducted in
England and Wales. It initiated a sequence of research in this field, which in turn ended the
process. In the 1970s, Burstall and his team researched and re-evaluated the scheme, and
came out with an opposing conclusion, which made the scheme eventually withdrawn by
the government (D. Tierney & L. Gallastegi, 2005). Having learning from the failed Pilot
Scheme, as well as the experience of Scottish experiment, England and Wales continued to
develop new approaches. There was the establishment of the Good Practice Projects across
England and Wales, the National Advisory Centre for Early Language Learning, research
69
commissioned by QCA into the present position in England and Wales, the publication of
QCA guidelines and a detailed scheme of work for key stage 2 (Ibid: 49).
The contemporary policy for MPLS was finalised in 2002 by the publication of the
National Strategy for England Languages for All: Languages for Life (DfES, 2002), where
the government committed Primary schools delivering an entitlement to language learning
so that every pupil at Key Stage 2 is offered the opportunity to study at least one foreign
language by the end of the decade is the centrepiece of our strategy (CILT, 2004: 3). Nevertheless, it is not consistent through all levels. Intentions for Key Stage 4 which stated
schools will no longer be required to teach modern Foreign Languages to all pupils (DfES,
2002) were quite the opposite. There are still many crucial issues that remain the development of MLPS in complexity needed to be considered in the policy-making and other aspects of this field.
The Underlying Rational of MLPS
The growing interest in MLPS is underpinned and supported by some other key ideas
which can be generalized into two central strands. Sharpe and Driscoll (2000) proposed the
first strand concerning with increasing pupils linguistic proficiency which rests on two assumptions at some future date. One is as called the age factor assumption; the other is the
time factor assumption. The second strand was concerned with offering a broader education including linguistic knowledge and skill, interpersonal skills, socio-cultural and intercultural awareness and language awareness for pupils via foreign language teaching and the
culture in which it is embedded. These two strands are elaborated in the sections below.
The Age Factor Assumption

Is it advantageous to start at the primary school or are older learners more efficient?
Driscoll (1999) made a conclusion drawing from Lapkin et al (1991) that as yet there was
little conclusive research evidence to support the proposition of the existence of an overall
critical age for foreign language learning except in naturalistic conditions. However, there
has been a continuous debate about the age issue in terms of MLPS.
The argument about the optimum age of language learning was first brought out by
Penfield and Roberts in 1959, and supported by Lennebergs theory (1967) of optimal age
(Sharp & Driscoll, 2000). It is concerned with the Critical Period Hypothesis. According
to Penfield and Roberts (1959) and Lenneberg (1967) as cited by Jones et al. (2004: 23), it
suggested that in the year before puberty, a childs brain is particularly adaptable for acquiring languages and language acquisition that takes place after puberty will be different
in nature and potentially less successful. It is suggested that the innate capacity endows
younger learners with benefits of the linguistic attainment. Trim (1997) rehearsed the argument about a critical period where the plasticity of the brain favours language acquisition;
but he also argued that in most respects older learners were more efficient. Furthermore,
Marinova-Todd (2000) pointed out it was controversial when the critical period proposition
was extended to L2 learning.
There is empirical evidence to support the proposition that pupils are superior in both
oral and aural performance whether in formal or informal context (Singleton, 1989). Com-
70
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pared to older learners, the superior sound system that younger pupils are considered to
process enables them to imitate sounds more accurately to a native-like extent (Tahta el at.,
1981; Vilke, 1998). A further advantage of younger pupils is their enthusiasm and capacity
for new challenges and enjoyments (Driscoll, 1999). It was observed that young learners
were more willing to take risks and less worried than teenagers about making mistakes.
Consequently they have a very low affective filter which relates to success in second language acquisition. Conversely the self-consciousness always afflicts adolescents when
performing in a foreign language (Driscoll, 1999). Additionally, young learners are more
receptive in terms of attitude formation and the development of their identity and self-concept.
Nevertheless there have also been some contrary research findings. Marinova-Todd
(2000) claimed that the age differences reflect differences in the situation of learning rather
than in capacity to learn. Older learners are also considered that they have a better grasp
of grammatical patterns by transferring from their mother tongue to the foreign language
(Hawkins, 1987), and had more practice in sustaining conversations (Scarcella & Higa,
1981). They appear to be more accomplished in acquiring facts and concepts (Brustall et
al., 1974) and have a better cognitive maturity and better general learning strategies and
skills (Johnstone, 1994). The key points of this series of age debate are concluded in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Advantages of Younger and Older Learners
Category of Advantages
Younger Learner
Innate Capacity of Language Acquisition
Memory Capacity
Oral & Aural Skill
Older Learner
Writing and Reading Skill
Grammar System
Affective Filter
Attitude formation & Sense of Identity
Learning Strategy
Cognitive Competence
Overall Attainment
Long-term Attainment
The Time Factor Assumption

According to Sharpe and Driscoll (2000), the time factor assumption believes that pupils
will achieve higher standards via practice with the time. It is claimed that the time spent in
learning a foreign language is a significant factor in achieving high standards of proficiency
71
(Vilke, 1988), while other factors such as the teaching quality also have impacts on
pupils attainment. As mentioned before, it is a common-sense belief that practice makes
perfect. It is suggested that the more time spent learning, the greater the potential for
increased achievement (Jones et al. 2004). The MLPS can be seen as a preparation stage
for the sophisticated level, also as a supplement and extension education from a holistic
perspective.
Other factors
Aside from the two strands, there are some other factors also affecting the learning
performance and therefore worth mentioning. In Powells study (2000), it notes certain
benefits based on the impressions of the teacher, such as increased motivation, enthusiasm,
interests in other cultures, positive attitudes to language learning and the confidence. Powell
found that 72% of secondary schools surveyed agreed that languages in primary schools
increase pupils motivation to learn foreign languages at secondary school. Most of the
studies show a positive effect on attitude to languages, culture and language learning.
Language awareness The educational goals of MFL teaching in terms of language development were indicated in Figure 1 (DES, 1990).
Primary School Aim
a sound base of skills,

language and attitudes
Educational Goals
effective and appropriate

language
insights into the structure

and awareness of the
nature of language
Secondary School Aims

FIGURE 1: Educational Goals of MFL Teaching
Driscoll (1999) stated that secondary school education tends to give priority to develop
language competence which plays the central role in the external public examinations. At
primary school, developing language learning skills and the cultivation of positive attitudes
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towards language learning may take the foreground instead of developing language competence. There is some evidence that pupils who experienced foreign languages in primary
school develop an interest in the differences between language, and greater metalinguistic
awareness (Sharpe & Driscoll, 2000: 82). Although there is little research evidence that
shows the connection between the cultivation of metalinguistic and intercultural awareness and the success in learning a foreign language in secondary school, Jonstone (1999)
think this does not mean that a connection does not exist, only that as yet one has not been
established. He also suggested that pupils understanding of the structure and concept of
language also needed to be strengthened which promotes overall basic literacy. (Johnstone,
1994) In a word, it is advantageous to set MFL into the primary school curriculum, which
makes a valuable contribution both to the general education of primary children and the
MFL education in a long term.
Cultural awareness and intercultural awareness issues of culture were gradually integrated into MFL teaching. Therefore it is not enough to make learners aware of language
only, but also be aware of culture. It was explicitly documented in the National Curriculum
that cultural awareness should be paid systematic attention in MFL teaching (DES, 1990).
Because many researchers believe that if pupils start to develop a genuine empathy towards
the country and the people it is likely that they will develop more positive attitudes towards
learning the language (Gardner and Lambert, 1972; Mitchell et al., 1992).
The culture edification intends to develop pupils interest and understanding of cultures,
an appreciation of ways of life in other countries as well as within the multicultural society
of their home nation (Sharpe & Driscoll, 2000: 81). By learning about the culture, the pupils can acknowledge the importance of culture and reflect on their own identity. It is suggested that it is not enough for learners to understand difference in the target culture only,
but also to explore ways in which what is familiar to them might be experienced as different by others. Byram (1989) proposed intercultural awareness implies openness towards
others, where pupils own critical perspective of their own cultural conventions, attitudes
and values in developed, through a process of change and self-development.
The cultivation of cultural and intercultural awareness is a complex and long-term process. Sharpe and Driscoll (2000) suggested that the primary school can start the process by
developing pupils curiosity, tolerance and appreciation towards other cultures, ways of life
and people, as well as developing pupils insight into the roots of their own culture.
Chinese as a Foreign Language at Primary School in England
The popularity of Chinese as a language in Englands primary schools initially increased
rather mildly with that of the other European languages, and only gained speed in recent
years as a result of the expansive global influences of China in terms of economy and culture. Drawing on the DCSF research on language learning at KS2 (DCSF, 2007; DCSF,
2008), the number of primary schools, which offer pupils in Key Stage 2 the opportunity to
learn a foreign language within class, increased significantly from 2000 to 2007 (see Figure
2). In terms of the choice of languages, French was the most common language taught in
primary schools in England, followed by Spanish, German, Chinese, Italian and others. The
number of primary schools offering Italian, Chinese, Japanese or Urdu course is as small as
3% (See Figure 3).
FIGURE 2: The proportion of primary

schools in England offer MFL course
73
FIGURE 3: Common language taught in primary

schools in England
In 2007, DCSF conducted the Mandarin Language Learning Research to look at current trends in Mandarin Chinese language learning in schools in England. The Key findings
from the primary school survey were summarised below (CILT, 2007):
l Mandarin teaching in English primary schools is at a relatively early stage.
l From the British Council contact list of 112 primary schools with a partner school
in China. Twenty-six schools out of the 66 primary schools (A total of 66 out of the 112 primary schools completed questionnaires were received) were identified to teach Mandarin.
An estimate of the total pupil numbers learning Mandarin in the 26 schools is 2,179.
l Half of these primary schools teach Mandarin in curriculum time and a third teach
in after school clubs. A few schools reported doing occasional taster Mandarin sessions or
annual events (e.g. celebrations) only (see Figure 4). Provision varied in the schools, some
reported regular lessons (e.g. 30 minutes per week), and others reported termly classes.
l The majority of schools (22 out of the 66) were interested in developing Mandarin
teaching further via developing resources, crossing curricular links or employing Chinese
language assistants.
l The most commonly reported constraint encountered by the primary schools teaching Mandarin was staffing followed by funding, curriculum time, availability of resources
and difficulty for pupils (see Figure 5).
l Most schools reported that their Mandarin teachers did not have Qualified Teacher
Status (QTS), or that they had British Council Chinese foreign language assistants. Only 3
of 26 schools had Mandarin teachers with QTS.
l Of these British Council partner schools (40 out of 66) which do not teach Mandarin, over half said they would consider doing so in future.
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FIGURE 4: Pattern of Provision in Primary

Schools Teaching Mandarin
Figure 5: Constraints of Offering Mandarin in

Primary Schools
Drawing from the research study, a broad overview of the present situation was provided and the development potential of Chinese as a foreign language teaching in the English
primary school can also be detected. From the primary school perspective, they are seen
as offering greater flexibility than secondary schools to offer Mandarin course, because of
fewer curriculum constraints. Being the same as secondaries, most of the primary schools
reported that China featured in other subject areas at school. On the other hand, teachers
felt that student feedback was good with high interest and enthusiasm for learning Mandarin. A teacher offering Mandarin across various age ranges commented that the little ones
do best (CILT, 2007). Constrains mentioned in the primary schools are also reported in the
secondary school. Hanban (China's equivalent of the British Council), which aims to promote Chinese language and culture throughout the world and the Education Section of the
Chinese Embassy on behalf of Ministry of Education of the Peoples Republic of China,
are engaged in improving Chinese teaching in UK cooperating with various local authorities. For instance, in order to meet the increasing need for students learning Chinese in the
secondary schools and primary schools of UK, British Council and HSBC Bank employed
86 Chinese assistants to teach Chinese in UK in 2007 (Education Section of the Embassy,
2007). Moreover there are about 11 Confucius Institute in UK, which were set up for enhancing the understanding of the Chinese language and culture. Although it is a long term
goal to solve constrains, the development of Chinese in primary schools is keeping towards
involving more schools and pupils in more year groups, becoming a regular part of the curriculum in the near future.
In the following parts, the pragmatic teaching strategies adopted in the Chinese as a
foreign language classroom will be discussed combining with some underlying pedagogical
theories and the personal experience as a Chinese teacher in the primary school in London.
75
CLASSROOM ISSUE
Approach to Instruction
Because of the short history and lack of research on the specific classroom issues associated
with Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at primary school, the discussion on the topic
is coherent with that of MLPS, which comprises common characteristics of instruction
of foreign languages including Chinese. As mentioned previously, MLPS varies not only
in terms of age, but also in terms of the approach to instruction. Rixon (1992) noted that
the main approaches to instruction were marked by contrast between the overt teaching
approach and the holistic one. In the overt teaching approach, the MFL is timetabled as an
additional subject in the curriculum and the language is the central focus of the lesson; on
the contrary, the holistic approach integrates the MFL in a variety of ways into the existing
primary curriculum. Each of these two distinct approaches is broken down further into
various methods of teaching.
Since the late 1970s there have been significant developments in Communicative Language Teaching approaches in schools. Consequently, FL teachers started to endeavour to
develop students communicative competence and language skills from a functional perspective. The authentic language rather than contrived language is taught for real communication and real purposes. Hurrell (1999) noted that childrens capacity for acquiring some
rules and strategies underlying communicative language use is intuitive rather than explicit. Therefore MFL teacher will need to provide a language context to facilitate intuitive
learning via proper teaching strategies. He also suggested that a more analytical approach
should be accompanied at times, which will enable children to make more specific links between the FL and their knowledge of L1. The FL can be overlaid onto the existing concepts
of their knowledge of L1 and culture.
The capacity for acquiring a language is considered as a merit of early start. Drawing
from Krashens (1981) second language acquisition theory, the MFL teachers are responsible to supply comprehensible input in an environment conducive to a low filter. As mentioned before, younger pupils are equipped relatively low affective filter which relates to
the acquisition process. Language acquisition is by being exposed to the language which is
a little beyond the learners prior knowledge, but understandable in terms of the meaning
rather than the form. This is done not only with the linguistic competence, but also with
the help of the context, the knowledge of the world, the extra-linguistic information. As
M. Donaldsons seminal work Childrens Minds (1978) claimed, childrens interpretation
is influenced by at least three things and the ways in which these interact with each other:
their knowledge of the language; their assessment of what we intend; and the manner in
which they would represent the physical situation to themselves if we were not there at all.
Meanwhile teachers scaffolding in the comprehensive input process is important for the
young learners. Jones (2001: 96) noted that pupils do not automatically progress in their
foreign language learning. It is a process that needs to be carefully oriented and scaffolded
by the teacher. The scaffolding techniques which help childrens understanding of the flow
of foreign language and support childrens foreign language acquisition in the classroom
were considered having certain characteristics such as exaggerated changes of pitch, louder
volume, simpler grammar, a focus on discrete lexis, facial expression, mime and gesture
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(Hurrell, 1999: 69).

Furthermore there is another characteristic of ML teaching for early start, as Jones
(2001: 96) stated that MFL teaching and learning, especially for younger learners, is often
hall-marked by a lively approach that is centred on pupil participation, with vibrant and
enthusiastic teacher role-models, totally focused on engaging the pupils' attention. Games,
story-telling, songs and etc. may focus on this stage in the process. The approaches which
teacher adopted should encourage the children to pick up the language in the playful tasks
and increase their self-confidence in the language learning experience.
On the basis of these theories and research study, I summarised the strategies that
should be adopted for the effective FL teaching in the primary school (see Table 2). According to the three stages of MFL teaching progress proposed by Rixon (1999: 132), the
strategies of effective FL teaching required in each stage are illustrated in the table below.
TABLE 2
Strategy of effective FL teaching in primary schools required in the teaching process
Stage 2: Controlled
practice of the new
language
Stage 3: Freer communicative use of

the new language
Strategy of effective
FL teaching in
primary schools
Stage 1: Presentation
of new language
Comprehensible
input
Analytical
approaches
A communicative
context
To encourage low
affective filter
Scaffolding
Various & funny

language activities
Drawing from the table, I am going to discuss how to adopt these strategies followed
by the three stages via some teaching examples from my working experience as a Chinese
teacher in a primary school in London where Chinese is taught as an after-class activity one
hour per week.
Implementations for Teachers
Presentation of New Language

In the TCFL classroom of the primary school especially for lower level, the new language
to be presented each session usually refers to pinyin (Chinese alphabets), new words,
text/dialogue and Chinese characters. From my work experience, the audio-visual aids
which include flash cards, pictures, real objects, recording tap/CD and visual props were
77
adopted most frequently. When presenting concrete items of the new words, we as teachers
intend to support pupils comprehension by offering visual supports, through flash cards or
other props. Pupils can be asked to look at the corresponding picture or item and listen to
the teacher or tape recordings. This coincided with Hurrells proposition (1999): it gives
the children the opportunity to relate the sound to the object. Since the FL resource of the
younger learners are always less than that of the teacher and they will give more weight on
those non-linguistic cues that also help to liven up the lesson. Moreover when the breakdown, which is inevitable for the beginners, in communication happens, translation should
be allowed to be given by the teacher to help pupils revert to their mother tongue and support pupils understanding.
Controlled Practice of the New Language

Canale (1983) identified four components of communicative competence including grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, strategic competence. These competences will be attained in a higher level gradually only if the lower level
can hear and use the language in the context where these competences are spontaneously
required. The developmental process that focuses on language use is undertaken through
meaningful communicative activities, combined with conscious self-editing and refinement
of the rules of the language. To start with, the teacher need to consider the functions of
communication through a range of stress-free and fun activities and by moving on to structured opportunities for the child to explore and enjoy this new language (Hurrell, 1999).
For this stage, a variety of activities which will encourage pupils to participate in the learning process and which will develop techniques to build up a powerful visual and auditory
memory and will make them feel able to risk making mistakes (Hurrell, 1999: 76) are suggested to be designed and conducted by the teacher.
There are various classroom activities that can be used for practice and for reinforcing
the new language and to help children remember. As mentioned previously, the main characteristics of the classroom activity are fun; involving language elements and encouraging
pupils participation. Games, songs, rhymes, stories, riddles and video are all attractive and
effective to be adapted in this stage. Several fun controlled language activities which were
adopted in my Chinese class are illustrated in the two examples below.
When the Chinese New Year was coming, I designed a lesson to introduce it. Since
young children can readily imitate sounds and they enjoy singing in general. I taught them
to sing a simple, traditional Chinese song named Xin Nian Hao (Happy New Year). It was
easily adapted as the lyrics only have less than 10 sentences and the key word Xin Nian
Hao is repeated four times. Besides, I told them a story about Chinese New Year, which is
an old story about how twelve zodiac animals in China came from. The story of names of
zodiac animals led to the following session, which was the recognition of Pinyin (Chinese
alphabet) and writing of these names. Such an arrangement of sequence of session intended
to ease up the learners with knowledge that they have been familiar with. A role-play of
the story was carried out by asking each of them to choose several animals to act whilst I
joined them as the narrator, and to be performed on the schools weekly assembly. It was
observed that those students considerably enjoyed the series of class, although the language
and culture content remained obstructive. Rumley (1999) suggested that it is possible to use
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foreign versions of familiar songs and rhymes and original age-appropriate materials from
other cultures and languages. This was proved to be effective in practice. Songs and stories
were attractive and very useful for both presentation and the practice stage. Tunes helped
them to internalise structures and words and the repetition was tolerated because of the fact
that it is part of a song. Additionally, they were encouraged create their own personal songs
and illustrate them with pictures of the people, pets, or places they are singing about. It is
particularly worth noting that the contextual clues were needed to be added for children to
work out exactly what was meant, and the follow up activity was called for allowing the
children to try out the language in a communicative context.
Another example, which involved competition-based games, also took place in the boy
school. Competition-based games were frequently used in my class for the reason that boy
students were observed as more active to learn and take challenge in a competitive context.
A ball game that was usually used to reinforce nouns and phrases in my class is as such: the
children stood in a circle with me holding a ball in the middle. The ball was to be thrown
with a question from me to a random student in the circle, and should be thrown back
with the answer. Or students were sometimes given new names after for instance colour,
animal or fruits in Chinese; and the ball would be thrown to the student whose new name
was called. In this game, children took turns in questioning and answering or repeating
the nouns or phrase both in a communicative and playful context. At an appropriate stage,
children need to see the written word. These can be presented as crossword, which simply
requires the children to identify given Chinese characters, which they have learnt, in a grid
of random characters. This game was demonstrated as follows:
Can you find the following words in the Puzzle?
(cherry) (orange) (strawberry) (pineapple)
As Sharpe and Rumley stated games can be used to reinforce learning of lexis and
phrases and can be justified in a number of ways. Since the format is known to the children
and can be adapted for a variety of situations; second, there is a reason to use the language
in playing the game because it provides a context. Third, playing the game is motivating; it
is a real challenge and they want to win. Finally, a game provides an opportunity and a context for repetition which is otherwise tedious (Rumley, 1999: 120).
These attractive activities such as games, songs, stories and so on, provide a safe,
non-threatening context within which to speak the language. They provide excellent oppor-
79
tunities for repetition and practice which would otherwise be tedious (Rumley, 1999). This
repetition helps learning and this in turn leads to familiarity so that children feel comfortable with a language other than their mother tongue. It is important that language learners
feel motivated and the success they experience in participation in the activities contributes
to the development of positive attitudes which they take with them to the secondary schools
(Rumley, 1999).
Freer Communicative Use of the New Language

Some full teaching packages are useful for presentation and controlled practice, and the better ones also provide resources for free stage activates such as role play and problem-solving communication games (Rixon, 1999). Role play is commonly used in FL classroom. It
is a dynamic activity which can bring fun and variety into the TCFL classroom. Pupils not
only have to cope with Chinese language, but also have to be imaginative enough to create
their own situations. From my experience, it is worth noting that in the role play, the teachers scaffolding is important, which helps children go through the activities and encourage
them to bring creative output in a low-anxiety environment.
Along with the three stages, the assessment should be integrated into the teaching progress at times, which can modify both the teaching and the learning activities.
Assessment
Johnstone (1999: 202) proposed that the substantial component of future research agenda
in MLPS must pertain to the description, analysis and assessment of childrens developing competence in a foreign language during their primary and early secondary education.
Effective learning required an alternation of feedback, from pupil to teacher and teacher to
pupil. Assessment for learning aims to serve the purpose of promoting pupils learning. The
feedback which is provided by the assessment activity can be used to adapt the teaching
work to meet learning needs (Black & Jones, 2006). Assessment provides information on
whether teaching and learning has succeeded. The information is used both to inform how
FL teacher should adjust their teaching and to determine what kind of feedback is needed to
improve pupils learning.
Black and Jones (2006: 5) summarised four essential ingredients involved in the assessment interactions including challenging activities that promote thinking and discussion;
rich questions; strategies to support participation by all learners and encouraging open discussion, all of which can be adapted as assessment strategies for MFL teachers. Compared
to the three stages of MFL teaching progress, the similarity and the possibility of integration can be found. These assessment strategies can also be the strategies for conducting the
controlled activities and the freer communicative activities, so that the effective language
activities in the class intend to reinforce the new language and develop the communicative
used of it, meanwhile assess pupils learning. The teaching sequence provides an opportunity for reinforcing the new language and combining new with old language knowledge
and for the teacher to evaluate the quality of the learning. It worth noting that, as mentioned
before, the classroom activity should be conducted in a playful environment, which means
that the children could be assessed in this kind of low affective filter context.
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Except for the activity-based assessment, there is also feedback on written work. Research into the motivation and self-esteem of learners has explored several kinds of feedback on written work (Dweck, 2000). One kind gives only marks or grades; the second
kind gives only comments on what needs to be done to improve (Black & Jones, 2006).
This written feedback was also used in my classroom in the form of end of term report.
The report paper was divided into two parts: the level of the pupils language skill that involved oral expression, comprehension skill, writing, Pinyin and sentence construction, and
the comments. The level was presented as three scales: aware, developing and acquired,
which was instead of exact marks. The comment was kept in a positive tone and generally
contained the following aspects: class participation, absorbing of vocabulary and sentence
patterns, reuse of the taught themes and suggestions for improvement. For example, one
of my students was disfavour in learning Chinese characters. In the comments I wrote in a
positive tune, I hope he can be more interested in Chinese characters. The improvement
for the continual learning was prompted as an encouragement. The report was precise and
brought positive effects. It emphasised on personal attainments and improvement rather
than competition of the marks, and the encouraging tone can enhance their confidence in
the following learning process.
Further Consideration
As mentioned above, the situation of MLPS in England highlights the diversity of aims.
Compared with FL teaching in primary school, the secondary school education pays primary attention to improve language competence, because of the stress of the public examinations. Hence it is worth considering the transition issues of FL education from primary
to secondary school. Based on the interviews and surveys, Jones and Driscoll (2004: 92)
reported two barriers concerned with the transition issues: a big brother approach by secondary specialists in building relationships and inadequate liaison and transition arrangements with local secondary schools which led to the single clearest identifiable negative
outcome in terms of pupils demotivation when having to repeat work in Y7 already covered in the primary school.
The transition problem in MLPS is especially outstanding compared to the other subjects. The additional difficulties are caused by the lack of a coherent and common framework at primary school and transition arrangements between primary and secondary school.
In addition, there are problems due to secondary schools lack of understanding on the
situation in primary school and the students diversity. Thus for the sake of the consistency, continuity and effectiveness in modern foreign language education including Chinese
language, effective, funded transition arrangements including the transfer of information
should be made (Jones & Driscoll, 2004); a mutual awareness and understanding of teaching and learning should be raised for better collaborative working (Jones & Coffey, 2006).
The consistency and continuity are not intended to hinder the diversity of approaches to
instruction at primary school. Rather than emphasise the importance of an overall common
framework and a transitional approach for MFL education, which enables maintenance of
the pupils initial interest in and enjoyment of MFL; and ensures the MFL education in the
following education phases makes the best use of the previous outcomes, and to satisfy the
academic requirement at the same time.
81
The issues of transition raised by Jones and Coffey are not confined to the primary to
secondary transfer only. They are concerned with a series of transitions that make up the
childs school career from Pre-school to post-school transitions. As Jones and Coffey (2006)
suggested, not only are the liaison and collaboration between teachers at the surface level
needed, but also a deep level of consideration on the whole childs long-term development.
Since learning, like a tree, grows up towards the light but develops interesting side branches and complex root systems as learners engage in different language learning experiences
in different contexts (Ibid: 154).
CONCLUSION
There is no doubt that teaching FL to primary school pupils is worthwhile with no exception of Chinese language, in particular because of the advantages that children of this age
process, but also, the massive advantages in developing the language awareness, cultural
and intercultural awareness. According to Hawkins (1987), it is called the apprenticeship
of language learning which entails the development of global perspectives and positive attitudes both to language learning and the cultures. Additionally children have more time to
learn and practise a variety of linguistic skills as the MFL course is provided in the primary
curriculum. By exposing children to other languages from an early age, it is hoped that they
will become aware that it is possible to function in another cultural and linguistic environment and will understand how this can be achieved (Rumley, 1999: 124).
In evidence, the development of the Chinese as a foreign language at English primary
school is behind popular European languages such as French, Germen, which result from
the geography, economic and difficulty of the language itself etc. According to the Mandarin Language Learning Research of DSCF (2007), Chinese language continues to show
an upward tendency in MLPS. Since the power of influence of China and the frequency of
economic exchange between two countries are rising up, at the same time, Chinese culture
becomes more and more accessible and attractive worldwide. Due to the developing phase,
there still exist a lot of shortcomings and problems covering from hardware to software
facilities, which called for both theoretical research and supports from Chinese government
or LEAs.
Teaching Chinese as a foreign language to primary school pupils shares common theory
basis with the teaching of the other modern foreign languages. With the guidance of second
language acquisition theories and other theories, the Chinese teaching at primary school
aims to enable the children to enjoy speaking Chinese and not to be afraid to attempt a variety of activities which are designed with a combination of the characteristics of Chinese
language and the rational of MLPS. Games, songs, films and stories have both entertainment and teaching values.
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Authors Biodata:
Tingting Chen is a current doctoral student in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language at
Xiamen University. Chen previously was a Chinese teacher in International College of Chinese Study at Fujian Normal University. She studied Modern Foreign Languages Education
in Kings College London, where she received the MA degree in 2009. Before coming back
to China, Chen worked as a Chinese instructor at Middlesex University London.
tingtingchen0215@hotmail.com

ISSN: 2224-2716
Islam and Confucianism: between dissonance and harmony1

Ayesha Qurrat Ul Ain & Jianyou Lu
Xian Jiaotong University
This piece of research is meant to investigate the relationship of Islam and Confucianism in the
history of Chinese Muslims. It contends that the interaction of Islam with Confucianism has been
unilateral and not dialogical predominantly. Muslims embraced the Chinese cultural and intellectual paradigms and no such effort had been made by the Confucian literati. Furthermore, this
unilateral contact demonstrated a dual behavior towards Confucian thought and rituals respectively. They enacted the Islamic principle of picking up the appropriate and shunning the improper;
thus they adopted and inculcated the Confucian ethical teachings and social values compatible to
Islamic tradition into their intellectual framework and stayed isolated from the rituals contrary to
the Islamic practices. This duality posited a paradox and created ambiguities for the historians of
Islam in China regarding the relationship between Islam and Confucianism. Some suggested that
both of these traditions are poles apart and cannot be reconciled whereas others held that Chinese
Islam borrowed and absorbed lot many ingredients from Confucianism and thus changed its flavor. We suggest that the contact of Islam and Confucianism can be split to two overlapping yet
visibly distinct spheres of ethical philosophy and ritual practices. Muslims showed accord and
harmony to the intellectual part while evaded the incongruous ritual component of Confucianism.
Thus they stood at the continuum between dissonance and harmony.
Keywords: Islam in China, Islam and Confucianism, Islamic and Confucian Ethics, Integration,
Harmony, Reconciliation
Introduction
Islam had been introduced to China since 8th century A.D, to accept the historically authentic claims and it was followed by the emergence of Muslim communities in various regions
of China particularly in southern and Northern parts. Each Muslim community evolved in
different circumstances and exhibited unique behaviors towards their host culture and society(Dillon, 2013; Gladney, 2003). When Islam stepped into the Chinese lands, there were
three traditions constituting the religious framework of Chinese society i.e. Confucianism2,
Daoism3 and Buddhism. Confucianism and Daoism together smeared the panorama of Chinese religious life since ancient times as Confucianism provided the doctrinal grounds and
1Requests for reprints should be sent to Jianyou Lu. E-mail: rwljy@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
2Although Confucianism does not fall into the category of Western archetype of religion and the term itself
is not native rather coined by Christian missionaries yet since the modern scholarship is habitually dependent
upon its frequent usage, it is retained here as it is.
3Daoism is the Chinese tradition attributed to its legendary founder Lao Tzu from 5th century B.C.E. Daosim in China is understood in two distinct ways i.e. religious Daoism and philosophical Daoism. Here our allusion is towards religious Daoism.
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intellectual foundations to the religious activities of imperial China and Daoism served as
institutionalized religion by conducting ceremonies and performing rituals. These rituals
were justified by Confucian ideology indeed. For example, the idea of emperor being the
son of heaven was a Confucian endowment to Chinese cosmology whereas all the rituals
performed at the temple of Heaven were conducted by Daoist priests. Similarly, filial piety was a primal Confucian virtue but all the death rites and ancestral worshipping rituals,
complimentary to filial piety, were the expertise of Daoist priests.4 So, although seemingly
contradictory both of these were crucial to the Chinese common people and elite. For the
Medieval China, we find a lot many historians pronouncing that the elite were Confucian
in the day and Daoist at night. Smith (1991) rightly says, Traditionally, every Chinese was
Confucian in ethics and public life, Taoist in private life and hygiene, and Buddhist at time
of death, with a healthy dash of shamanistic folk religion thrown in along the way.(p.189)
It is significant to understand for a western reader that Chinese religious traditions are not
exclusive at all rather they not only coexist but also complement each other. Interestingly
there is no word in Chinese language both traditional and modern to convey the nuance of
the term religion at all so for them such a defined entity or system is non-existent at all.
They employ the word Jiao i.e. teaching for legacy of an intellectual or a saint. And in
this way they are and have been syncretic and electic in their daily lives choosing between
the teachings whatever they needed or liked. To be succinct, Daoism and Confucianism are
opposite yet complementary to each other in Chinese society exactly the way Yin and Yang
act in Chinese cosmology(Reid, 1917).
As far as Islam and Daoism are concerned, they have never been engaged in an intellectual barter in the history of China. Neither Islam had to interact much with Daoist
philosophy under the historical strain in China as it had to do with Confucian ideology,
that was the essential constituent of Chinese imperial mindset, nor did Daoism find any
affinity for Islam. So, we find nothing noteworthy in this context in the history of Muslims
of Xian or in the writings of contemporary scholars who are engaged with the studies of
Islam and Chinese religions today. Leslie clearly postulates that he finds it hard for Islam
to accommodate with Daoism unlike Confucianism(D. D. Leslie, 1998). Being a monotheistic religion, it was hard for Islam to reconcile with Daoism particularly when there
was no social constraint upon the Muslims to do so. On the other hand, Confucianism with
its foundations upon ethics and morality was logically akin to Islamic ethics. This is why;
this paper is devoted to explore the nature of interaction between Confucianism and Islam
seeking evidences particularly from the site of Xian and the lives of its inhabitants. This
research is intended to investigate that is it possible to name the relationship between the
two traditions as mutual exchange or the process was unilateral altogether? Whether it was
merely an attempt of accommodation by a minority for its survival in an alien culture or an
ardent contact between two rich civilizations? Whether one should perceive it as a dialogue
or monologue?
In order to understand the kind and extent of contact between Confucianism and Islam,
it is necessary to be aware of the integral role the former played in Chinese society. Unlike
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Confucianism was not a religion initiated at the hands of
4This statement does not mean that ancestral worship emerged as a result of Confucian notion of filial piety
as there rites were part of Chinese folk religion even before Confucius, it is just meant to show the way Confucianism and Daoism supported each other and intermingled in the lives of Chinese folks.
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Confucius rather he only served to compile the way of ancient for the Chinese generations
to come. So, Confucianism can be better understood as more a tradition generally rooted
in Chinese culture and nurtured by Confucius and Confucians rather than a new religion
created, or a new value system initiated, by Confucius himself alone.(Yao, 2000) When
one talks of Confucianism, one implicitly refers to the Chinese way of thinking, their cultural values and their social principles. This is the reason that Confucian ideology has been
the essential tool as well as a standard for the integration and sinicization of the non-Chinese minorities in China(Berlie, 2004). Chinese society based upon the concepts of filial
piety and loyalty to the son of heaven was primarily Confucian and these ideas were further
reinforced through the teaching of Confucian classics in order to pass the imperial examination. A contemporary author has rightly observed that, Williams (1916) has rightly observed
that, Confucianism profoundly influences the life of every individual in China. As a child
the Chinese is taught to bow reverently to the tablet of the sage when he enters and leaves
the schoolroom. The sacred scriptures edited by Confucius are the text-books given him to
study, and these he learns by heart. (p.273) So, Confucianism since birth used to become
the integral part of life in Chinese civilization. It has never been an institutionalized religion
and its influence was not limited to a particular segment or sphere of Chinese world order
rather it wrapped and colored all the walks of social life. And whosoever desired to sustain
in Chinese social order, had to adapt to the Confucian thinking and values necessarily. This
is what happened to Muslims of Xian as well; they could not escape the overwhelming
influence of Confucianism and absorbed many of its characteristics and values thus unconsciously transforming their self from a foreign Muslim to Hui in China.
Islam and Confucianism: an overview
The relationship between Islam and Confucianism has been studied by various scholars
with different orientations. Leslie(1986) declared Islam and Confucianism to be reconciliatory and corresponding to each other. He seems to have the social and moral aspects of
Islam in mind which emphasize the same moral values and ethical principles as Confucianism does so both may happily coexist. Israeli(1977), on the contrary found both of these
systems to be totally incompatible and contradictory as his primary concern was the social
hierarchy and political system generated by the Confucian elite. This hierarchy and social
order combining the elements from Chinese folk religion and Daoism spared no accommodation for a monotheistic and exclusive religion like Islam as far as Israeli could grasp.
Zvi Ben-Dor Benite(2005) reconciled the Chinese and Muslim cultures studying the unique
instance of religious literature produced by Chinese Muslim authors and declaring that this
authorship serves to locate Muslims at the overlapping center of a sort of Venn diagram
one that shows two imagined spaces, Islam and China, and their point of intersection.
Gladney(2003) concludes that the accommodation of Islam in Confucian society is a matter
of great diversity and thus restrains one from a definite statement rendering the process as
sinification or assimilation rather it is a continuous dialectic process taking different shapes
in different communities of Chinese Muslims. Lipman(1997) proposes that Muslims as
ethnic minority in China have challenged the transforming power of Chinese civilization
and have stubbornly retained their essential cultural traits. His assumption tells the half
truth as it is evident in their history that Muslims did retain their essential Islamic traits but
87
they could not totally resist the transforming power of Chinese culture. Counterbalancing
his point of view, Petersen(2006) very rightly holds that the interaction of Islam and Confucianism has been a historical interrelationship instead of a syncretism. He abrogates the
stereotype that Muslim integration into Confucian society is a logical consequence of their
abandoning of Islamic way of life.
Islamic and Confucian ethics: harmony and concord
Integration of Muslims in Confucian society

As to what caused Muslims to integrate in the Chinese society both internal and external
factors stimulated the gradual integration of Muslims into the Chinese society. Before
Ming, though Muslims were well aware of Chinese customs and social setup and many of
them voluntarily integrated into Chinese society by participating in the imperial examination and excelling in the Confucian classics and Chinese poetry. But in Ming particularly,
we see the acculturative pressure from the state upon the ethnic minorities fostered the process of integration. Many policy decisions were taken to include the minorities in the sphere
of Chinese social life by making them intermarry with Chinese women and learn Chinese
culture through Confucian classics. In this ambiance, the dialogical process was forged between the Chinese and Muslim selves of Xian Muslim community. Apart from the internal
Chinese policies, the historical devastations in the main Islamic world also determined the
attitude the course of acculturation of Chinese Muslims. As during the Tang and Song rule
in China, the Muslim caliphate was powerful and Muslims had a strong authority back in
their homelands to rely upon in case they had any trouble. They had frequent intercommunication with the Muslim territories so their moral was boosted and they did not lend themselves to accommodation or reconciliation with Chinese culture or Confucianism. With the
termination of Baghdad caliphate, they lost the moral support from the Muslim world and
were left aloof in the midst of an unfamiliar civilization. In this crucial phase, they were
aided by the Mongol empires of China to some extent and were able to accumulate enough
material resources as well as earn acquaintance to sustain and survive in China. Yuan benevolence towards Muslims worked paradoxically as on one hand Muslims got established
economically through enormous trading opportunities and secured high official positions
and on the other, they became subject to wrath and loath of local Chinese majority who
perceived Muslims to be the associates of foreign usurpers i.e. Mongols. Yuan was replaced
by local Ming dynasty only to add the pressure of compulsory sinicization to the Muslims
and now Muslims had a twofold task in front of them i.e. to integrate in the Chinese host
society, a process already started but needed to accelerate, and to wash away the stains of
loyalty to foreign invaders exhibiting reconciliation and harmony of their teachings with
local Chinese culture and traditions.
It is erroneous to call the interaction between Confucianism and Islam as a dialogue between Chinese literati and Muslim scholars rather it was a dialogue and dialectical process
within the Muslim community between their Chinese and Muslim selves and also between
the people who wanted to adhere to the pure Islamic values prohibiting any amalgamation
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of Chinese culture or language5. The Xian Muslims are and predominantly have been Gedimu who took both Chinese and Muslim cultures as essential parts of their lives and learnt
to live in a balanced way. So, during Ming, the inscriptions in their mosques and the books
circulating in their community were indeed an Islamic literature with Confucian flavor
and Chinese characters. As Leslie(1986) very rightly notes that almost all of the Islamic
writings in Chinese are imbued with Confucianism, quoting the Sage rulers Yao and Shun,
Confucius and Mencius. This incorporation of Confucian elements in the form of Chinese
theological/philosophical lexicon and interpretive categories was an essential expression
of the Chinese Muslims self-consciousness. Born in a mixed family of Hui and Han, the
Muslim progeny of Ming was heir to two powerful and rich civilizations which overlapped
each other in their minds. Cognition of this overlapping and responding to it was definitely
a matter of individual choice not determined by a supreme intellectual authority standardizing all such attempts resulting into a uniform and coherent acculturative or syncretic movement. In this way, this process of living as a Muslim in a Confucian society displayed itself
in the life of every individual in a unique and human way making it impossible for us to
develop sharp dichotomies or defined patterns of Muslims accommodation in Chinese society. So, this dialectic process of integration was communal as well individual, theoretical
and intellectual as well as practical and commonplace, comprising of myriad human decisions taken in particular contexts and unable to be presented as an articulated movement.
Regarding the material acculturation of Muslims in Confucian oriented Chinese culture,
the matter was not of such a sharp dichotomy as presented by Israeli(1978) that Muslims
were Chinese outwards and Muslims inwards. It seems logically impossible to live such
an imposed dual life for centuries. The Chinese Muslims were just being themselves; as
they were as equally Muslims as Chinese. In a non-Muslim society, they were abiding by
the laws incumbent upon them by the authorities and simultaneously they were living their
lives as the servants of God, praying five times a day, seeking knowledge of their religion
as well as Confucian classics and practicing the essential Islamic social injunction of eating halal food (qingzhen) etc. So, they did not betray the state by being loyal outside and
non-patriotic inside nor did they contravene divine rules by eating anything though living
among pork-eating majority. They responded humanly to both the constituents of their identity i.e. Chinese and Muslims unconsciously and it seems that they did not see any duality
or demarked boundaries between the two rather these two kept demonstrating themselves in
their life patterns and behaviors without they being the conscious actors all the time. It was
a spontaneous way of life they lived out as their minds cognized the vibrant simultaneity of
their religious affiliation and cultural background since birth and learnt to respond in a peculiar Chinese Muslim atmosphere.
Confucian lexicon in the Chinese Muslim literature

With the passage of time, Muslims were naturalized and indigenized materially in Chinese
soil and unconsciously understood themselves as a part of Chinese society. Speaking Chi5The latter trend emerged during Qing when in 1784; Ma Wanfu founded a new faction condemning the
local Chinese Muslims attitude towards reconciliation of Islam and Confucianism and announced to abstain
from all Chinese labels to the extent that he proudly remained illiterate of Chinese language. This faction had
very less influence in Xian previously but now it enjoys considerable recognition and adherence.
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nese language, they started thinking in the Chinese ways, expressing their ideas in Chinese
lexicon, adopting their terms and idiomatic phrases for their religious notions. This was a
gradual historical process which made them adopt Chinese language and its cultural and
philosophical expressions as they were as Chinese materially as other Han were. Being Chinese was an inevitable part of their identity and unlike the Christian missionaries, they did
not have to look for the linguistic substitutes for their religious terms rather they realized
the true connotation of the religious terms and concepts e.g. Islamic concept of Allah etc
being Muslims and knew proper Chinese vocabulary to express it as Mandarin had become
their mother language since many centuries and Chinese culture had been their cradle since
the time of their genital ancestors. Petersen proposes the difficulties which Chinese Muslim
scholars would have confronted while engaging with the linguistic enterprise of switching
the lexicon from intrinsically Muslim languages like Arabic and Persian to Mandarin that
lacked the alternatives for many essential Islamic terms. It seems true for the Muslims who
came to China in the early centuries that it was hard for them to express their religious
notions to the Chinese audience but for the Ming dynasty scholars who were adept in both
Islamic and Chinese cultures, the problem would have not been that grim. Particularly,
Muslims of Xian living among Chinese since centuries were capable to say their minds in
Chinese more comfortably than in any of Islamic languages.
We suggest that the compilation of Chinese Muslim literature in late Ming was mainly
the beginning of written expression of the religious literature which had been transmitted
orally before among the Muslim generations. Obviously the complex philosophical and
theological terms were translated after the painstaking efforts of Han Kitab authors but they
are not our subject right now. The basic terms like Allah, oneness of Allah, prophet, angels
and devil were certainly the part of Chinese Muslim vocabulary much before they were
penned down. This hypothesis can be strengthened with two logical arguments. Firstly, the
Muslims had been living in Xian since Tang and inevitably they had been communicating
with Chinese officials, Emperor and others till Ming about their religious practices and
ideas. These communications could be multifunctional i.e. sometimes to satisfy the queries
of the royalty regarding their alien religion and sometimes to seek permission to build a
mosque or make a pilgrimage etc. for such a discourse, there surely have evolved a preliminary translation of the basic Islamic terms in Chinese language. Secondly, in the early Ming
there are no records of any common language of Muslims which they used to communicate
among themselves, in fact there never existed a Hui vernacular among Chinese Muslims
contrary to what is assumed by some scholars. They used to converse in mandarin at their
homes and outside so they had adopted the language as their own much earlier than the
written Chinese Islamic literature came to the surface. Islamic knowledge was transmitted
orally from the elder generations to the younger ones usually in the mosques and the language of instruction for the sake of explanation was Chinese although the written literature
was in Arabic and Persian. Only those individuals who wished to be Muslim scholars used
to learn Arabic and Persian otherwise the common Muslims confined themselves to the understanding of basic tenets of Islam in mandarin.
Here are some instances of how the translation of Islamic religious terms into mandarin
evolved among the Chinese Muslims. They used the Chinese interpretive categories for
Islamic concepts despite the fact that their connotations in the Chinese context dont correspond to the Islamic nuance of religion, prophet, Allah and the eschatological terms fully. It
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is reported on the basis of historical evidences that in Tang, Muslims explained the notion
of Allah to Chinese audience by using the term Tian or heaven and in Song; they oscillated between Buddha and Heaven. At the end of Ming when Chinese Islamic body of literature was about to be written, the words like Zhn Zh (Real Lord) and Zh (Lord)
were in use(Murata, 2000). Tawd(oneness of Allah) is translated as Kuei-yi (returning
to one). Similarly, the Islamic archetype prophet is substituted with Confucian archetype
sheng ren (sage) as Islamic understanding of the term associated with prophet could be approximated only with it. In all the writings of Chinese Muslim scholars, whether classical
or contemporary, we come across the alternative usage of sage and prophet although to a
non-Chinese Muslim mind both of these categories do not seem interchangeable so conveniently. But to a Chinese Muslim mind, the Chinese categories are flexible enough to represent the meanings of Islamic terms and no reconciliation is required for this purpose.
This effort was meant not to convince the Han minds or to make Islam intelligible to
them merely rather to facilitate Muslims to seek religious knowledge in mandarin that became their primary language through the centuries of integration. The Chinese Muslims
were living and experiencing a Confucian society and their descendants were absorbing
Confucian elements from their host majority through education, cultural interaction and
unconscious integration so rendering pure Islamic concepts into the categories prevalent in
their surrounding society and culture was a way to provide them an account of Islam in an
expression they could grasp conveniently and manage to live comfortably in harmony with
both Islamic beliefs and Confucian cultural values.
Interaction of Islam with Confucianism

Indeed Islam and Confucianism did not merge together to produce a syncretic movement or
a new religious faction drawing a combination of tenets and practices from both of the traditions. The process of accommodation was totally electic, dynamic and lithe. Muslims neither sacrificed the essential of their religion nor did they compromise their Muslim identity
rather they managed to live in coherence and balance between the two cultures i.e. Islam
and Confucianism. Their communities and personalities were the living images of a consistent amalgamation and coexistence of both of the civilizations they inherited i.e. Chinese
and Islamic. Islam was being practiced in their lives with a local flavor. And they were not
unique in exhibiting this behavior as everywhere in the world, Muslim minorities managed
to live among different cultures and they survived due to the flexibility and accommodative
nature of Islam. Islam is not a code of life for a specific territory or culture and language;
it is a universal religion with the capacity to embrace local cultures and inculcate some basic concepts transforming their ways of life within a broad spectrum, not confiscating the
freedom to live within a certain culture. To take the example of Muslims in India, Islam
and Hinduism affected each other and we see many syncretic movements emerged owing
to this mutual exchange of ideas. But in China, Islam was never the religion of rulers unlike
India rather of an ethnic minority who aided foreign invasion in Chinese Han understanding so Muslims were subject to wrath and dislike, what to say of local Chinese borrowing
their ideas and getting influenced by their religion. Chinese culture and civilization was and
is confident of itself and there is a specific sense of superiority over the barbarian culture
and knowledge in Chinese minds. Since the age of Confucius, we can trace this sentiment
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and even in the modern ages, when Chinese were defeated by Western powers in early 20th
century, they admitted the supremacy of Western technology and scientific knowledge but
still proclaimed their culture to be superior to the Western one. So, this sense of superiority prevented them from borrowing anything or reconciling with the religion or culture of
Muslims. It were only the emperors who, for the sake of peace and order in the country,
provided religious freedom to the Muslims in Xian and elsewhere and built mosques under
imperial patronage. They realized the reconciliatory spirit of Muslims and found Islamic
teachings to be positive towards filial piety and submission to the ruler. And practically
they observed Muslims participating in the official ceremonies and performing their duties
patriotically in army and bureaucracy so they took Islam to be a religion in alignment with
Confucianism as both of these teach loyalty to the state. And these are only the imperial
tablets in the mosques which provide an account of considering Islam and Confucianism to
be non-contradictory from the side of Han people. No scholarly work is there from Han literati to serve his purpose as compared to the magnum opus produced by Chinese Muslims
about Islam and Confucianism.
Dealing specifically with the issue of confrontation of Islam with Confucianism, the
scholars opinion can be categorized into two poles with no serious reconciliatory attempt
made to find a middle way between two extreme opinions. On one end, Israeli stands proclaiming with full zeal that both of these traditions are totally incompatible and there is no
room for such rebellious religion as Islam in a society based upon the Confucian principles
of filial piety and submission to the Emperor, son of heaven. He says, Muslim presence
in China, which dates back to the Tang Dynasty, has always posed a challenge, at times
even a threat, to the Chinese establishment. This was due to that Islam, far from willing to
acculturate into Chinese society, on the contrary nurtured its distinctive traits and stressed
its own superiority.(Israeli, 1977) at another point, he goes on to assert that any attempt
of reconciliation between Islam and Confucianism is a betrayal to their different philosophies(Israeli, 1978). So, for him, the fissure between the two cannot be filled up and they
are intrinsically unable to get along. On the other hand, we see the scholars like Zvi BenDor Benite who views Chinese Islam as a tradition totally incorporated into the Chinese
way of learning Dao with Muhammad as worthy a sage as Confucius. Leslie, being moderate, finds Confucian ethics to be disposed to accept Islam unlike Daoism or Buddhism but
he also finds it hard for Muslims to adapt to the ritualistic part of Confucianism. He says, I
believe that Jewish or Islamic monotheism can accommodate with Confucianism, though
not with religious Taoism or Buddhism. But certainly, there would have been problems for
Muslim or Jewish officials who would have had to conduct Confucian ceremonies as part
of their duties, and might have difficulties when faced with popular religious customs.(p.18)
In this statement we find a clue to comprehend the ambivalent relationship of Islam and
Confucianism. In the forthcoming part, we will analyze the correlation of Islam and Confucianism in Chinese history in two dimensions. Firstly, how both of these traditions are related to each other at the conceptual/theoretical level, secondly how did Muslims manage to
live in accordance with their religion and the Confucian social hierarchy particularly when
the standardization attempts were at full swing by the state and the minorities including
Muslims had no choice.
The concurrence of Islamic and Confucian teachings
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To begin with, the ambiguous relationship of Islam and Confucianism in Chinese history
can be figured out only if we have a clear picture of Confucianism in mind. Confucianism
has enjoyed a long history of two thousand years and thus has been interpreted in different
ways and it teachings expounded with diverse orientation at the hands of various Confucian
masters and thinkers but here we shall confine ourselves to its basic sources i.e. Confucian Classics and Analects. It has been generally portrayed as a philosophy of ethics or an
intellectual thought lacking any particular ritualistic or spiritual dimension but the truth
contrasts this stereotype sharply. Li, an essential Confucian virtue is to perform rituals in
a perfect way both spiritually and apparently and there is a whole book attributed to Confucius in this regard known as Record of Rituals. The reason behind the misconception of
Confucianism being secular is rightly traced by Taylor and Arbuckle (1995)Confucius, his
teachings, and his followers were characterized as agnostic; and once their religious beliefs
had been defined as undefined, they could in good conscience be left unresearched.(347)
Xinzhong Yao (2000)very rightly says about Confucianism that it contains a socio-political programme, an ethical system, and a religious tradition.(p.31). This discussion will
demonstrate that Islam corresponds very well to the ethical aspect of Confucian tradition
and to some extent the societal values but it stands in sharp contrast with its religious rituals of ancestor worship etc and as far as the political system is concerned, there is a unique
solution developed by Chinese Muslims to manage their coexistence with it.
The Confucian idea of the universe identifies three main entities i.e. Heaven, earth and
human being who work in harmony and coherence. In order to preserve the harmony and
accordance in the functioning of these three powers of the universe, one has to understand
the way Dao of Heaven and earth and follow it in all the human systems and disciplines
of life. Thus the ultimate meaning of human life resides in achieving the Universal Way
and practicing it in order to create a harmonious universe and peaceful society. Thus, to
be human is to practice the Universal Way and this practice encompasses all the matters
and phases of human life whether it be the rituals, moral values, education or political
system etc. Confucius said to his disciples once, If the Way were realized in the world,
then I would not need to change anything. (18.6) This way is manifested in the wisdom
of ancient sage-kings, in the teachings of Confucius and in the way of life of good people(Yao, 2000).Broadly speaking the Islamic idea of cosmos corresponds to the Confucian
cosmology as the Holy Quran also presents Allah Almighty, the universe and the human
beings as three main entities. This analogy does not necessitate that the implied connotations of Confucian Heaven and Islamic Allah are same rather it just aims to elaborate that
the basic understanding of Islam and Confucianism towards the cosmos is not in essential
dissonance. In Islamic understanding, human beings are created on the imitation of the
good nature of Allah himself. As the Holy Quran says, it is the nature of Allah upon which
He has created the Human beings.(30:30) So, their innate nature is good and they have
to keep it attuned with good following the Dn of Allah. Dn usually translated as
religion is quite akin to Confucian Dao in its denotation as it is the complete code or way
of life revealed by Allah to all his messengers in the human history and then finally to the
prophet of Islam Muhammad P.B.U.H and it is manifested in the lives of the companions of
the prophet and the righteous people following him. This way of life is ultimately meant to
unite man with his creator and to establish order and peace in this universe with human beings working as viceroy of Allah. So in both the traditions, it is the way of Heaven or Allah
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which needs to pertain in order to bring peace and harmony to the society whereas going
against it results into chaos and confusion.
Now what are the basic constituents of this way and how to inculcate them in the human lives? The conceptual foundations of this universal way are almost in accord in both
the traditions and this accordance rendered many of thinkers to consider Islam as a natural
ally to Confucianism. But on the other hand the rituals and ceremonies based upon these
ideas and notions, constructed in Chinese peculiar social context, are quite dissimilar to
Islamic rituals and customs. And this divergence led some other scholars to assume that
Islam is incompatible with the Chinese social order(Israeli, 1977). The truth lies in between
as the Muslims being a part of Confucian Chinese society understood Confucian ideology
and ethics very well and were able to relate its ethical values with the Islamic injunctions of
morality thus to them Confucianism seemed akin to their way of life. On the other hand, to
their host Confucian majority the principles of Islam were unfamiliar and unidentified; they
could only observe the Muslims reluctance to participate in the ancestor worshipping rituals and the sacrifices organized to fulfill the virtues of filial piety and loyalty to the Emperor
(son of heaven). This unwillingness and aversion caused Confucian elite to think Muslims
at anti-Confucian without probing the matter in detail. This is what generated a readily
conceivable inconsistency between the behaviors of Islam and Confucianism towards each
other in China. Chinese Muslim authors affirmed basic Confucian principles and employed
Confucian lexicon conveniently to elaborate the meanings of Islamic metaphysics and ethics etc whereas Confucian scholars and elite did not pay any heed to Islamic literature or
body of knowledge considering it something alien and strange not conforming to their values and customs.
Muslims had a very clear idea of divine guidance being sent to each nation and every
region of the world and thus they believed that all the messengers of Allah sent through
the human history were propagating the same ultimate truth and thus all of them are to be
revered. The Holy Quran explicitly states, And for every nation there is a prophet.(10:47)
(Mawdudi, 1997) And the Holy Quran teaches Muslims to pronounce, We do not make
any distinction between His prophets.(2:136) They were also acquainted with the fact that
the basic virtues transmitted by all the prophets have been same and the rituals and sacraments of each nation have differed from nation to nation and time to time. So, they understood Confucianism as a teaching of an ancient messenger known as prophet in Muslim
understanding and sage in Confucian nomenclature as Confucian teachings had enough
rectitude to prove the worth of this analogy. It would be remarkable to know that Muslims
never had a reluctance to accept the sages or saints of a land or group of people as prophet
if he existed before the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H. to mention an instance, among Indian scholars we find Maulana Manazir Ahsan Gailani(1987) interpreting Zul Kifl, the prophet mentioned in the Holy Quran, as Gutama Buddha and calling him the prince of Kapal Wastu.
Another dignified Muslim scholar Dr. Hameed ullah(1993) speculated that fig is mentioned
in the Holy Quran in a revered and emphatic way and this seems to allude to Buddhism as
Buddha attained Nirvana under the fig tree.
The foundational virtues of Confucianism include humanity Rn, filial piety
Xio, propriety L, virtue de, the doctrine of the mean and seeking knowledge
Xu and all these collectively help one to attain the Ultimate Way Dao . There are
fifty eight chapters in The Analects which mentioned Rn and the word appeared for one
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hundred and eight times in the book. The Chinese character for the word Rn comprises of
two Chinese characters i.e. man and two which indicates that Rn includes all the virtues
necessary to make human interrelationship beautiful and ethical. Man, guided by humanity and righteousness, should cultivate the virtues of wisdom, faithfulness and others such
as loyalty, altruism filial piety, fraternity, sincerity, respectfulness, magnanimity, diligence,
generosity, reverence, firmness, resolution, simplicity, prudence in speech, and uprightness.6 These virtues are considered to be an innate part of human nature and if one goes
astray can rectify oneself through learning these virtues again. Analects says, By nature
people are similar; they diverge as the result of practice.(Slingerland, 2003) Filial piety
is an ancient Chinese concept existent in pre-Confucian China as well and refined and expounded by Confucius as an essential virtue. Rainey(2010) quotes Confucius explaining
its prerequisites as follows, A filial son serves his parents in the following ways: he offers
them the utmost respect when at home; he serves them so as to give them the greatest joy; if
they are ill, he feels the greatest anxiety; he is completely devastated at their funerals; when
he sacrifices to them (as ancestors), he is completely reverent. If he can do these five things,
we can say that he is able to serve his parents.(p.24) Filial piety, apart from its domestic
and familial implications, had far-reaching influences in Chinese social and political order
and the rituals associated with this notion served Ming emperors in the standardization of
Chinese society.
Another quite recurrent subject of Analects is L usually understood as ritual propriety. This principle encompasses a wide range of meanings ranging from performing the
rituals with sincere mind and proper observance to play the role assigned to one as a member of society with utmost efficiency and honesty. Edward Slingerland(2003) introduces
L as a set of traditional religious and moral practices, which in the Confucian context
were believed to have been revealed to the Zhou kings by Heaven. The scope of ritual is
quite broad, encompassing not only sacrificial offerings to the spirits, but also aspects of
ones daily lives that we might be tempted to label as etiquette (p.241). Following these
etiquette and code of life one can perform ones duties in the society properly establishing peace and order and may win the heavens favor too by incurring more blessings and
harmony in the universe. The next significant idea of Confucianism is De translated as virtue in English but its connotations are far more inclusive. It is the charismatic power one
acquires by being a perfect human being ethically and morally following all the rituals and
principles flawlessly. This virtue confers the rulers and officials the status of role models
for the laity and the masses become good and morally sound without hassles of penalties
and punishments. Slingerland(2003) elaborates it as the power of Virtue to attract people
in a non-coercive, almost magical way that allows a moral ruler to govern by means of
w wi or effortless action.Confucius explains it to one of the governors of his time, If
you desire goodness, then the common people will be good. The Virtue of a gentleman is
like the wind, and the Virtue of a petty person is like the grass. When the wind moves over
the grass, the grass is sure to bend.(12.19)
Seeking knowledge or learning Xu seems to convey the meanings of theoretical
studies but in Confucian mindset it is far more the mere reciting scriptures or memorizing
something. Although the classical Confucian learning emphasizes upon teaching and un6A History of Chinese Confucianism by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, p.35
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derstanding the Confucian classics and other texts yet actually it aims at internalizing the
ideals prescribed in these texts and emulate the behaviors of the ancient sages after being
acquainted with it through reading the sacred texts. The Analects(2003) says, Learning
broadly and firmly retaining what one has learned, being incisive in ones questioning and
able to reflect upon what is near at handGoodness is to be found in this.(19.7) Dao or
way which is the ultimate goal of a Confucian disciple or follower is said to be incumbent
upon each and every human being. Who is able to leave a room without going out through
the door? How is it, then, that no one follows this Way?(6.17) The Way is said to be endorsed by Heaven and revealed to the ancient sage-kings and it is inevitable to establish
a prosperous and peaceful society. Confucian intellectual/religious tradition of course does
not confine itself to these few teachings only but undoubtedly these may be considered the
hard core of Confucian thought and foundation stones of a traditional Confucian social order.
Now coming to Islam, the essential counterpart of Chinese Muslims life and identity,
we see that the highest goal Islam sets before its followers is to follow the way of Allah
with full commitment and dedication. And this goal is impossible to be achieved without
practicing high moral values and the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H himself is set as a role model before the Muslims as Holy Quran says, indeed the Prophet of Allah is the best role
model for you.(33:21) Following the sayings of the messenger of Allah becomes easier
when Muslims see his deeds to be exactly translating his teachings. Sayyida Ayesha, the
wife of the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H once said that the Prophet P.B.U.H was The Holy Quran
personified and definitely with the charisma of his virtuous personality he became able to
influence a big part of the world and transformed it without austere reprimand or atrocious
battles. So, Muslims found the idea of De or virtue very appealing and akin to their mental outlook. Keeping the role model of Muhammad P.B.U.H in front of us, we see that his
life is an extraordinary illustration of humanity and compassion towards mankind without
any distinction of creed, race, language or color. He is well-known for his divine bestowed
title of the Mercy for all the worlds. Before he publicly proclaimed prophet hood, his wife
Khadija R.A bore testimony upon his benevolent character saying, You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously
and assist the deserving calamity-afflicted ones."(Hadith 3, book 1, vol.1) (Al-Bukhari,
1987) So, the rights of human beings or Rn make a quintessential category of Islamic ethics and legislation. There is a defined set of penalties in case the rights of other humans are
surpassed or confiscated by any member of society whether it be at family level or the communal. The holy Quran elaborates the matter saying, Do good to your parents, to near of
kin, to orphans, and to the needy, and to the neighbor who is of kin and to the neighbor who
is a stranger and to the companion by your side, and to the wayfarer, and to those whom
your right hands possess. Allah does not love the arrogant and the boastful.(4:36)
Filial piety or the obedience of parents is the prime duty of every Muslim. The Holy
Quran mentions the submission to parents as a virtue very next to the submission to Allah
Almighty, and be good to your parents. Another verse says, Your Lord has decreed:
Do not worship any but Him; Be good to your parents and should both or any one of them
attain old age with you, do not say to them even "fie" neither chide them, but speak to
them with respect. Pray to Allah to have mercy upon both of them as they raised me with
mercy in my childhood.(17:23, 24) Even if the parents are non-Muslims, Allah Almighty
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instructs Muslims to respect them and behave them very well in the worldly matters. The
Holy Prophet P.B.U.H emphasized the rights of parents and declared that whoever did not
revere the parents and please them, would never be able to please Allah. So, filial piety is
a virtue ingrained in Muslim society and ethics. This is also reflected in the Hui folk stories which narrate that unfilial daughter in law was punished by becoming a pig, the most
loathed animal among Muslims(Li & Luckert, 1994). And this insistence of Islam upon
the submission to the parents led Muslim apologetics to consider ancestral worship to be
an extended form of natural reverence of the parents and they allowed keeping tablets as
memorials to the ancestors(D. D. Leslie, 1998). Another vital Confucian social value is the
doctrine of Mean and it is equally valued in Islam. The Holy Prophet P.B.U.H said, The
best thing is the moderate one. Another saying of the Prophet P.B.U.H is, whoever takes
the moderate path never fails.(Hadith 4269)(Hanbal, 1999) As far as seeking knowledge
is concerned, the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H declared, To seek knowledge is obligatory upon
every Muslim. (Hadith 224, Ibn e Maja) The Holy Quran says, It is only those who know
that fear Allah.(35:28) Another Quranic verse says, Are those who know equal to those
who do not know? Only those who endowed with understanding take heed.(39:9)
So, seeking knowledge is the desirable quality in a Muslim society and we see its evidences in the intellectual progress and scholarly achievements in both religious and scientific fields during the Muslim reign in the middle Ages. So, we may easily perceive that
Confucian principles are not theoretically contrary to the Muslim social values rather two
are easily compatible then what sets them apart and lets scholars hold the opinion that both
these traditions are at odds sharply.
The dissonance between Islamic and Confucian social orders
The trouble begins when it comes to the social hierarchy and religious rituals expounded on
the basics of Confucian principles. The significance of rituals is unsurpassed in Confucian
social order as Zhu Xi puts, A person who does not understand ritual has no idea where
to focus his eyes and ears, and has no place to put his hands and feet.(Slingerland, 2003)
The Confucian social hierarchy places emperor as son of heaven and a mediator between
the heaven and the earthly beings so ultimate submission to the Emperor is obligatory upon
every individual in the Chinese social order. This submission and loyalty blooms into the
officially institutionalized religion where people are required to participate in the rituals and
ceremonies held at the imperial temple and show reverence to the imperial ancestral tablets.
Muslims obviously had a serious conflict with these rituals and ceremonies as the refusal
from Kowtow by their very first embassy in China marks a distinct attitude of Muslims
towards Chinese religious observances. Islam does not allow its adherents to bow before
anyone except Allah or to pray in any sort of ancestral temple. Muslims in China followed
their religion and avoided any religious intermingling with Chinese Han majority till Ming
when standardization was adopted as a tool by the state to form a coherent Chinese society, absorbing and integrating the foreign and ethnic cultures assimilating them into the
mainstream Chinese social order. Watson postulated that Ming state attempted to produce
cultural standardization by controlling and manipulating the officials, literati and the local
elite(Sutton, 2007). These strata of society acted as the representatives of the government at
the regional level and they made it certain to permeate the ritual standardization to the grass
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root level. So, the officials and bureaucrats from different ethnic minorities had to perform
the religious rituals according to the state instruction and this is where Leslie(D. D. Leslie,
1998) saw it problematic for the Muslims.
Suttons theory of Split-level discourse gives an idea of how the ethnic minorities
managed to retain their identity following the Chinese Confucian culture. He doubts that
the non-Han literati of Ming-Qing age pleased emperor by participating in standardized
rituals in the center and keeping silent or participating simultaneously in the local rituals. Thus they pretended cultural unity to Confucian government and sustained their nonHan cultural traits within their local ethnic community. The Chinese state concentrated
more upon rituals and symbols in Confucian vein than the beliefs. Because not only it was
impossible for the state to change the belief but also the ritual standardization was much
easier and more significant for a Confucian mind. Moreover the apparent cultural unity belongs to the uniform practices of rituals. Although li as a Confucian principle, involves both
sincere state of mind and the proper performance of ritual, common Chinese mind seemed
to be more attuned to the goals and rites not the way or belief. This is why it was very convenient for Chinese laity to substitute Daoism with Buddhism. Sutton(2007) observed that
the Chinese state did not in fact achieve a thoroughgoing dominance over cultural expression at any point in its history thus there always remained room for unstable and syncretic
religious practices. So, the Ming cultural standardization and the resultant integration in religious arena was only in structure and symbols not the beliefs and content. We can see the
glimpses of Suttons theory in the lives of Muslims during Ming as some Muslim apologetics allowed keeping ancestral tablets believing it a form of reverence of parents. So, when
some Muslim officials kept the ancestral tablets, the form and structure of ritual was in
consonance with the state religion but their belief was just to commemorate and revere the
parents not to worship them. Similar is another Muslim practice of bowing to the Emperors tablet kept in the mosques in Ming-Qing China. there were imperial tablets placed in
the mosques and all the worshippers had to bow before them while entering the mosques. It
seems ambivalent to worship the emperor in a place restricted for the worship of Allah only
but this conundrum gets resolved once we get acquainted with the notion of double loyalty among the Chinese Muslims. Mi Shoujiang explains this idea saying, to coordinate the
relations between the two, the Chinese Islamic scholar asserted that being loyal only to ruler and father, but not to Allah, was not true loyalty, and being faithful only to Allah, but not
to ruler and father, was not true faith; being faithful to Allah, loyal to ruler and obedient to
parents were three virtues that one should pursue throughout life. It is in this way that they
successfully settled the problem of how to coordinate the relations between faith to Allah
and loyalty to ruler of a country where Islam was not the state religion. (p.103). So, Muslims when bowed to the Emperors tablet in the mosque, they merely showed their respect
and did not intend worship at all. In this way, they accommodated to the standardization
policies of the state but did not compromise their religious duties. This notion of double
loyalty is a unique creation of Chinese Muslims and owes itself to the influence of Confucian teachings of harmony and balance most probably. The characteristic Chinese Confucian way of dealing with the incongruous issues is to avoid confrontation and find a middle
way. This is what Chinese Muslims learnt from their host society and practiced during the
rituals of worshipping the ancestral and imperial tablets. Thus the Islamic instructions of
revering the parents and obeying the ruler provided the Chinese Muslims with a rationale to
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accommodate with the apparently contradictory Confucian rituals.

Conclusion
Islam in China has been a long pursuit of Muslims in a predominantly Confucian society
hence it has been inevitable for Muslims to accommodate to the prevalent patterns of the
host society. The process of adjustment and accommodation was facilitated by the natural
concurrence between Islamic and Confucian ethical principles. Chinese Muslims produced
a lot of literature focusing upon the similar elements between Confucianism and Islam and
thus reinstating their dual identity. The previous discussion reveals that in the philosophical and ethical paradigms, we find a clear overlapping between Islamic and Confucian
teachings. But since both of these traditions developed in two distinct cultures initially and
belonged to different orientations, they contrast sharply in rituals and social practices. So,
the relationship of Islam and Confucianism swings between harmony and dissonance from
theory to practice. This is why we see that the standardization policies of Ming though created an apparent integration of Muslims in Chinese Confucian order but could never efface
duality in the behavior of Chinese Muslims. This dual behavior of Muslims in a Confucian
social order is in fact a translucent reflection of the relationship of Islam and Confucianism.
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Authors Biodata:
Lu Jianyou is professor of Chinese culture in philosophy in the faculty of humanities and
social sciences Xian Jiaotong University China. He has published more than forty articles
and hosted various academic conferences both in China and abroad. He is a member of Chinese Confucian Studies Council and part of editorial board of a Chinese academic journal.
He has also published various monographs and a book on Chinese philosophy in Chinese
language.
Ayesha Qurrat ul ain (aqmz86@gmail.com) is a doctoral student pursuing her studies in the
department of Chinese culture and philosophy at Xian Jiaotong University China. Her doctoral dissertation is about the comparative study of integration of Islam and Buddhism in
China. She is focusing upon the Muslim and Buddhist communities of Xian in this regard
and her research is an outcome of an extensive three years field work in the area.
rwljy@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
Prospectus of Confucius China Studies Plan

In order to foster a deeper understanding of China and the Chinese culture among young
generations from around the world, to enable the prosperous growth of China studies, to
promote the sustainable development of Confucius Institutes, and to enhance the friendly
relationship between China and the people of other countries, the Confucius Institute Headquarters has set up the Confucius China Studies Program. The Program consists of six
subprograms in the academic areas of Humanities and Social Sciences, namely Joint Ph.D.
Fellowship, Ph.D. in China Fellowship, Understanding China Fellowship, Young Leaders
Fellowship, International Conference Grant and Publication Grant.
Applicants for Sino-Foreign Joint Ph.D. Subprogram and Ph.D. in China Subprogram should submit their applications to the Confucius Institute Headquarters by the end
of February each year. Applicants shall log in http://ccsp.chinese.cn, set up an individual
account, consult the university information and research topics, fill in the online application
information, upload the relevant certification materials, submit and print out the Application Form. Please send the signed Application Form and other application materials (see
About CCSP) to the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Chinese university (including the
Chinese versions). The Headquarters will organize the Confucius China Studies Program
Expert Committee to conduct the appraisal and interview. The result of appraisal will be
announced in the spring each year. The Ph.D. candidates will start their programs from the
autumn each year. The starting and termination time of other five subprograms will be determined in accordance to their specific situations.
Currently there are fourteen universities appointed by Hanban to receive applications of
the program and Xiamen University ranked number one last year in terms of the number of
successful applicants admitted. Xiamen University was founded in 1921 by the well-known
patriotic overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee, the first university in China to be founded
by an overseas Chinese. Xiamen University has a strong team of academic and administrative staffs, making it possible to provide a full range of educational programs. It is a key
comprehensive research university directly affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China,
a first-class university with extensive international influence and is ranked in the top 20 of
the over 2,000 universities and colleges in China. Xiamen Universitys campuses lie on
either side of Xiamen Bay, opposite the Taiwan Strait, between the feet of green hills and
the blue sea, and are recognized as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world. Deans
College of the Confucius Institute Headquarter will be established in Xiamen University in
the next few years, which will set up a model in training leaders of Confucius Institutes all
over the world. Qualified doctoral students supervisors in the Overseas Education College
of Xiamen University are Professor Tongtao Zheng, Professor Huanhai Fang, Professor
Daqun Chang, and Professor Yu Zhu. Detailed information about these supervisors and supervisors from other colleges can be found on the Hanban website http://www.cnconfucius.
com or on the colleges website http://oec.xmu.edu.cn/website.aspx?website_id=164&website_class=2
Overseas Education College of Xiamen University look forward to seeing you in the near
future!
Office of Confucius Institute Affairs is responsible for the overall promotion of Confucius
China Studies Program.
Tel: +86 (0) 592 2185303
Fax: +86 (0) 592 2185382
Email: xmuci@xmu.edu.cn Web: http://www.cnconfucius.com
Admissions Office is responsible for the enrollment of Confucius China Studies Program
students.
Tel: +86 (0) 592 2184792
Fax: +86 (0) 592 2180256
Email: admissions@xmu.edu.cn Web: http://admissions.xmu.edu.cn
Department of Personnel is responsible for the employment of Understanding China
-Chinese Visiting Scholar.
Tel: +86 (0) 592 2182253 Fax: +86 (0) 592 2183984
Email: rs@xmu.edu.cn
Web: http://rsc.xmu.edu.cn
Graduation Office is responsible for the teaching of Confucius China Studies Program.
Tel: +86 (0) 592 2181497
Fax: +86 (0) 592 2094971
Email: yjsy@xmu.edu.cn Web: http://sy.xmu.edu.cn
Office of International Cooperation and Exchange is responsible for the management of
CCSP students.
Tel: +86 (0) 592 2183606
Fax: +86 (0) 592 2183663
Email: osao@xmu.edu.cn Web: http://ice.xmu.edu.cn
Add.: 422 South Siming Road, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China Postcode: 361005
Confucius China Studies Program (2014 Version)

No.
Program
Purpose and Eligibility
Joint Ph.D.
Fellowship
doctoral students
(candidates) registered
with foreign universities
to come to China for
study, research and
writing of their doctoral
dissertations
Ph.D. in China
Fellowship
foreign students
to pursue full-time
Ph.D. degrees in the
humanities and social
sciences at Chinese
universities
Duration
Funding
From 6 months
to 2 years
Lodging and living stipend (80,000 RMB per

year); Research fund (20,000 RMB per year);
Round-trip international airfare; Tuition fees;
Expenses for the foreign supervisors visit or
research in China; Expenses for life and medical
insurances in China; Group activities and
cultural experience.
From 3 to 4
years
Lodging and living stipend (80,000 RMB per

year); Research fund (20,000 RMB per year);
Round-trip international airfare; Tuition fees;
Expenses for life and medical insurances in
China; Group activities and cultural experience.
Understanding
China-Fellowship
Visiting Scholar to
China
teachers, researchers,
postdoctoral scholars
with the credential of
assistant professor (or
equivalent) and above
from foreign universities
and academic institutes
to undertake research
with Chinese researchers
in China.
From 2 weeks
to 6 months
Understanding
China-Short-term
Visit
senior officials
from government,
education and culture,
non-governmental
organizations and
business
From 2 weeks
to 2 months
Accommodation and travel expenses in China;

Round-trip international airfare; Expenses for
life and medical insurances in China.
Understanding
China-Chinese
Visiting Scholar
Chinese senior scholars

to give credit courses
on Chinese economics,
business, finance, law,
and culture etc. in
foreign universities and
Confucius Institutes
From 6 to 12
months
Scholars will be paid according to the standard

of Government-sponsored teachers; Extra
research grant will be given to the scholar when
needed.
Young Leaders
Fellowship
outstanding youths with

at least a Bachelors
Degree hold a certain
position in politics,
economics, finance,
law, education, culture,
arts, and media; senior
undergraduates or
graduates with a position
in students associations
From 2 weeks
to 6 months
Accommodation and travel expenses in China;

International
Conference Grant
Confucius Institutes,
universities, research
institutes, and scholars
to hold or attend
international academic
conferences on Sinology
and/or China Studies
The accommodation and travel expenses

of conference speakers; Registration fees;
Publication fees of conference proceedings.
Publication Grant
foreign scholars to
publish or translate
relevant monographs,
doctoral dissertations,
or founding relevant
academic journals on
Sinology and/or China
Studies.
Expenses for editing, translation, publication,

circulation and advertising. The exact expenses
will be approved according to the application.
10,000 RMB per month;

Long-term Chinese program

Overseas Education College, xiamen university
xiamen City, Fujian province, China
Duration: at least 1 semester, about 20 class hours per week, 18 weeks per semester
Spring Semester: February/March to July
Fall Semester: September to the next January
Core Courses: Elementary Chinese, Intermediate Chinese, Advanced Chinese, Oral Chinese, Chinese Listening, News Listening, Chinese Reading and Chinese Writing.
Elective Courses: HSK lectures (elementary and intermediate), Chinese Customs, Elementary Oral Chinese for Economy & Trade, Computer Application in Chinese Language,
Newspaper Reading, Modern Chinese Phonetics, General Introduction to Chinese Character, Modern Chinese Grammar, Modern Chinese Rhetorics, Chinese language and social
culture, Peoples and Customs in China, Translation, Poems of Tang Dynasty, Chinese Movies, Chinese Music, Chinese Calligraphy, I-go Game, Minnan Dialect, Chinese Kungfu,
Chinese Dances, etc.
Credit Hours: students can choose courses of their own levels according to results of
placement interview and/or test, their needs, and suggestions of OEC office. The maximum
is 24 credit hours per semester.
Extracurricular Activities: free campus tour, all kinds of gala evenings organized by the
OEC every semester, Chinese language competitions, field and track sports competitions,
and football matches. Visit to historic cultural spots, Marathon and so on are self-paid.
Certificates Awarded: Certificate of Completion issued by Overseas Education College of
Xiamen University
Qualification to Apply:
1. Healthy foreigners over 18 years old
2. High school diploma or above
Time for Application:
1. Spring Semester: October to the middle of January the next year
2. Fall Semester: March to the end of July
The exact deadlines are published on our website at http://oec.xmu.edu.cn
Documents Needed for Application:
a) application form (downloadable at http://oec.xmu.edu.cn/file/Applc.doc)
b) a photocopy of the passport
c) certificate for highest education
Way of Application:
Simply complete the application form (downloadable at http://oec.xmu.edu.cn/file/Applc.
doc) and email to us (oec@xmu.edu.cn).
Fees:
a) Enrolment Fees: 400RMB (for new students only)
b) Tuition Fees: 8000RMB per semester
c) Textbook costs: About 300RMB/ semester/ person (depends on the courses you choose).
A Summary of Chinese Programs

Overseas Education College, Xiamen University, China
Type
programs
Requirements
Eight-week Basic Chinese Class
Early May, 8 weeks
Over 18 years old, (nearly) zero-level
Four-week Oral Chinese Class
Early July, 4 weeks
Over 18 years old with

basic Chinese oral skills
Early July, 4 weeks
Over 18 years old with

basic Chinese oral
Flexible
Over 15 students of similar Chinese level
China Study Program for groups
Flexible
Chinese teacher training
Flexible
Short term Chinese Four-week China Study Program

(less than 1 semester)
Chinese class for groups
Face-to-Face teaching
Long term Chinese Regular long term Chinese

Undergraduate
Chinese
(4 years or 2+2)
Opening time
(1) Business Chinese

(2) Chinese culture
(3) teaching Chinese as a foreign
language
Spring & Fall semesOver 18 years old

ters
Fall semester,
4 years or 2+2 years
High school graduates or

above; Students
with HSK 6 certificate
can join the third year
directly
Distance Learning
(1) teaching Chinese as a foreign

language
Postgraduate Chi(2) Comparative study of Chinese
nese Language and
and foreign languages
Literature
and cultures
(3 years)
(3) Chinese culture
and communication
B.A. degree or two years

Fall semester, 3 years after junior college
graduation
MTCSOL (2 years) Master of Teaching Chinese to

Speakers of Other Languages
B.A. degree or two years

Fall semester, 2 years after junior college
graduation
Doctoral Degree
(3 years)
Doctor of Chinese Education to

Speakers of Other Languages
Fall Semester, 3 Years Master degree
Undergraduate
Chinese
(correspondence)
(1) Chinese language and literature

(2) Chinese language and literature 5 years
(for teaching)

above; fluent Chinese
Undergraduate
Chinese
(on-line)
(1) Chinese language and literature

(2) Chinese language and literature 3 to 5 years
(for teaching)

above; fluent Chinese
Address: Overseas Education College, Xiamen University, Fujian, China (post code: 361005)
Tel: +86-592-2186211, 2182451, 2187728 Fax: +86-592-2093346
Website: http://oec.xmu.edu.cn
Email: oec@xmu.edu.cn
MSN: xmuoec@hotmail.com
CALL FOR PAPERS

The Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies (i.e., former Journal of Chinese Studies, ISSN:
2224-2716), recently indexed by the EBSCOhost database system and ProQuest
database system to improve its visibility, is an international peer-reviewed academic
journal (in English) which is edited by the Overseas Education College of Xiamen University in China. It publishes articles and reviews on a full gamut of Chinese studies which
include but are not limited to Chinese language education, Chinese linguistics, Chinese
culture, Chinese literature, Chinese arts, Chinese history, Chinese society, Chinese politics
and economy. It intends to promote research and provide an interface for scholarly communications and discussions in the fields.
All submitted articles should be original and are subjected to blind peer review and to the
discretion of the editors. As a benefit, authors and co-authors will receive two free copies of
the issue including the printed manuscript.
INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS
All submissions should be saved as Microsoft Word files and emailed to jcs@xmu.edu.cn
Papers
The length of each paper is expected to be in the range of 6,00010,000 words. The text
should be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font on A4 paper, and double-spaced.
The title should be on the first page followed by an abstract around 200 words together with
3 to 5 keywords. The second page should list author name(s), title(s), brief biographical
data, institutional and email address(es), and indicate the corresponding author.
The wording of the text and bibliographic reference should be in the APA style.
Reviews
Reviews can be in the range of 1,000-6,000 words. Contributors should follow the
guidelines for papers.
Editorial correspondence
Queries may be directed to Yu Zhu (Ph.D.), the executive editor at jcs@xmu.edu.cn

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