Norms and the State in China

Hsiung Ping-chen
China Review International, Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 1996, pp. 434-437 (Article)
Published by University of Hawai'i Press

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434 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996

knowledge production, becomes historically specific rather than subsumed under die universalist pretensions of only one of the imperialisms.
Benjamin A. Elman

University of California at Los Angeles Ben Elman is a professor of history specializing in late imperial Chinese intellectual and cultural historyfrom 1400 to 1900.

Chun-chieh Huang and Erik Zrcher, editors. Norms and the State in China. Leiden, New York, and Kln: E. J. Brill, 1993. xxvi, 416 pp. Hardcover $171.00, isbn 90-04-09665-5.

Like many anthologies these days, this book is a conference volume with a theme. The theme, as the tide indicates, concerns the relationship between the social norms and the state in China past and present. The book grew out of a conference on "Norms and Their Popularization in Chinese Culture," held in in Leiden in July 1991, and the end result is a total of nineteen essays preceded by an introduction and a preface. Other than the one article on ancient cosmology, which appears by itself for the purpose of "setting the stage," the other eighteen pieces are evenly distributed under three headings: "Norms and Popularization in Premodern China," "Traditional Norms and Contemporary Society," and "Norms and Their Propagation in Mainland China." As the contributors vary considerably in their academic training and orientation, and as the topics cover a large area of research interests, the body of knowledge assembled in diese tiiree groups of papers reflects different outlooks and approaches. The first group, "Norms and Popularization in Premodern China," presented in the context of cultural history, stays closest to the original design of the conference, with a particular focus on the ways in which political and social norms were
manifested. Several of the six authors here (Ubelhor, Clunas, Idema, Zrcher,

Zurndorfer, and Wagner) are seasoned hands in diis field and write about topics from their ongoing research. Their command of source materials and the quality of their discussion of die questions at issuecommunity compacts, consumption
ofHawai'i Press

y niversi y practiCes, Ming drama, early Chinese Christianity, Ming and Qing women, and
Taiping ideologyare testimony to their experience and scholarship. This is not to say, however, that new versions of old work are the only things presented here. Clunas' study on Ming consumption law, Zurcher's analysis of a

Reviews 435

Chinese Christian convert in the late Ming, and Zurndorfer's introduction to the eighteenth-century Chinese woman philologist Wang Chao-yuan are all quite fresh and illuminating. One regret is the unusual brevity of these essays; this shortchanges considerably the possibility of displaying the true richness of these studies. (The seemingly random length of the papers, which range from ten to forty-one pages, is a problem throughout the volume, but diis first section suffers most from brevity, with three laconic pieces each no more than eleven pages long,
notes and references included.) Next, considering die title of the book and the heading for this first section, the question of how the notion of "norm" is to be defined in the context of Chinese history is not resolved. In the studies offered here, state institutions and

Confucian values seem to be vaguely accepted as the main foundation of social and cultural norms during the last five centuries. This is an assumption that readers are allowed to walk away with without any clarification. Given the quality of the essays and the recognized stature of the autiiors, one cannot but feel unsatisfied. The end result would have been livelier and more stimulating if there had been some sort of vigorous intellectual exchange on the theoretical and empirical

aspects of the major theme. The offerings do whet one's appetite nonetiieless,
however, and they are individually if not necessarily collectively rewarding. The next group of papers, "Traditional Norms and Contemporary Society," emphasizes social and cultural transformation in postwar Taiwan. Out of the six pieces included here, four focus on changes and developments in the intellectual, social, linguistic, and folklore arenas. One of the other two essays, Bordsgaard's study of Confucianism on the mainland, is included here alongside Huang's work on Confucianism in Taiwan presumably for comparison. The remaining essay, Chou's elaboration of the tradition of respect for the elderly in ancient China, informative as it is, probably belongs in the first section. Out of these studies on the postwar experience of Taiwan emerges a common outlook of cautious optimism that whatever may have taken place or may still be going on in Taiwan's reformulation of such things as Neo-Confucianism, gender relations, national language education, or local opera and handicrafts represents an exciting new area of ex-

ploration and experimentation, with new trends boldly developing out of a cultural fabric rooted in traditional norms. This exploration and experimentation, the authors seem to suggest, although tentative and difficult in many respects, nevertheless is meaningful from a historical perspective and certainly worth further investigation. The essays by scholars from Taiwan (who, incidentally, contribute the only non-Western input in the volume), though more descriptive and explanatory than critically analytical, have merit as informative contributions from experienced insiders. Observations on the power of the state are quietiy left out of their discussions, however, which may seem odd for a book conceived as this one is.

436 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996

This by itself is a noteworthy statement on the experiential reality of Taiwan as well as on the open-mindedness of its intellectuals; one only wishes that diese writers were a little bolder and more willing to venture their expertise in a consideration of potential "new norms to be created" rather than "old norms that have been transmitted, challenged, and transformed." In contrast to the second section, the last group of papers, "Norms and Their Propagation in Mainland China," definitely bring the state and politics back into the discussion. More tightly tied to the main theme of the volume (which has a somewhat different orientation from the original theme of the conference), the essays here cover a variety of ways in which Chinese political culture propagates itself through the formulation of myths, party and county histories, special terminology, and role models and through the staging of mass movements. These studies deal with attractive subjects, and the authors are scholars whose methodological approaches are quite innovative, involving, for instance, the exploration of psycholinguistics, the symbolic implication of visual expressions, and die ritual or performance nature of protests. A curious finding that emerges out of their investigations, however, is how very "traditional" most of these mindsets and behaviors seem to be. This unexpected impression may have derived from the particular approaches or assumptions under which these researches were conducted. This view may simply reflect the actual nature of the subjects under investigation. Or it could well be a combination of all of diese things. Regardless, the fascinating question remains as to whether there is a grain of truth in it. One is reminded again of the statement that irony is often the essence of history. For what these studies are telling us is that while the ruling authority in Taiwan opted to continue with the established Chinese tradition, the society and culture on the island began to assume a character that seemed farther and farther removed from the old normswhat happened was a "breaking away" from the past. In contrast, the mainland Chinese government firmly resolved to sever connections with die past, but the reality is that whatever it doeswhether it involves politics, the economy, society, or cultural eventsthe traditional patterns
are what seem to be evoked.

These studies call for further debate. One is inclined to ask whether any of the questions prompted by these papers is founded on substance or on misperceptions. Is this group of researchers too interested in looking for signs of continuity when significant counterforces are just as much in evidence? Could the same phenomena be interpreted from another quite different angle? In all, this book has many features characteristic of a conference volume, with all its particular strengths and weaknesses. When there is such a meeting of
the minds involving researchers who are actively engaged in their respective con-

cerns, each using a particular methodology, it may be asking too much for them to come together in some truly common purpose, using the same techniques and

Reviews 437

aiming toward a unified result. A large group of participants with a wide array of
interests and backgrounds can promise themselves and their immediate audience an exciting event, with lively communication and intense debate in the confer-

ence hall. But when the same assembly of voices and opinions appears in a collection of published essays, the reading audience may not necessarily be treated to
the same level of fruitful intellectual stimulation. This is the perennial curse of

conferences and conference proceedings, though some may fare better than others.
Readers usually look to the editors of this kind of volume to provide the right touch that will make an assemblage of papers resound with lively debate and at the same time bring out a coherent voice. Here, the two editors, Chun-chieh Huang and Erik Zrcher, have overall succeeded in putting together an attractive

collection and have made a thoughtful attempt to glue the various contributions
together with appropriate introductory material. They have made a clear effort to open up a dialogue between past and present and provide a forum in which scholars in the humanities converse with their colleagues in the social sciences, and for this we ought to be thankful. If there is any single flaw, it is their apparent devotion to Confucianism or what may be viewed as orthodox values in Chinese culture. In their two essays, which were written to open the forum, both editors
share an enthusiasm for China's cultural tradition (or traditional culture), and

their unreserved praise is ultimately expressed in the first person. They state: "one

thing is clear. We [including Chinese on Taiwan? or sinologists?] are still trying;

we cannot help it. . . . And it is in diis continual trying that is our final hope" (emphasis in the original). And also: "This book is one most recent chronicle and

tribute to that historical nobility that is Confucian China." But do the editors
speak for the other contributors as well? The others do not seem to be involved in

quite the same way, but are rather immersed in their own projects, and their thoughts are formulated for the most part in far less personal terms. The' reader
will certainly wish to see more than expressions of cultural glorification, and for-

tunately will be rewarded by the rich details woven into the text as an whole. This conference did succeed in bringing together twenty-five scholars from
no fewer than seven academic disciplines from the same number of countries, and

tiiat in itself guarantees a broad spectrum of views. The resulting collection of papers displays the fruits of many years of scholarly effort, as well as the continuing

work in progress and the new directions that are evolving out of old concerns. All of this makes for a menu with an appetizing array of items from which to choose.
Hsiung Ping-chen Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica

Hsiung Ping-chen is a research fellow interested in studies ofsocial and intellectual

history oflate imperial China.