CHINESE NATIONALISM 10

Running Head: CHINESE NATIONALISM 1

CHINESE NATIONALISM

Topic: To Rethink Chinese Nationalism: China Must Have It

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Intro:

Nationalism is a concept that revolves around the opinion that an individual or a group of people have the interests of their nation. However, many times this ideology is associated with a negative mindset due to the historical events such as dictatorship and civil wars that were driven by movements said to promote nationalism. In the present times, nationalism has yielded some desirable outcomes such as promotion of equality among the different ethnic groups in a state and encouragement of liberty especially in the Middle East. It has encouraged nations to improve their growth and is reflected in the modern global community. Nationalism helps in promotion of national pride and a sense of identity. These aspects are very crucial in enabling nations to remain united and to work towards developing a more cohesive community. It is clear that as much as nationalisms has a negative side, its positive attributes are many and could be useful in the today’s world (Babones, 2019). For this reason, China requires its nationalism to allow the people in the country to be more driven towards growing the nation and ensuring that the country can be able to have a better competitive advantage in the global society. In this paper, we will analyze the reasons that make nationalism in China essential by focusing on the country’s history, the culture of the people and the cultural attacks which are occurring in the present days.

Historical Impact

In this section, we will analyze the origination of Chinese nationalism. It expounds on the past occurrences that made the Chinese people to adopt nationalism and retain the concept until the modern times. A comparison between the Qing Dynasty and the period of anti-Japanese War will be carried out here.

1a.Qing Dynasty

The period of Qing dynasty was one of the most prosperous period both economically and socially. It was a time where the diversity and complexity of the Chinese society which is linked to the numerous ethnic groups, social classes and political actors. Having a strong established government that included an emperor and his well-established political structure ensured that the vast Chinese nationals were able to work towards growing their economy. The ruling structure allowed the inclusion of various ethnic groups which helped unite the multi-ethnic groups and ensure that individuals felt connected to the administration. The Qing was able to maintain the political system involving Ming-era by embracing small changes over time to ensure that he Chinese communities did not feel the turbulence that results from making quick changes (Bhattacharya, 2019). Making slow changes ensured the system of administration was able to maintain the unity of the Chinese. However, continued reformation in ruling of the Chinese as well as pressure from the western nations contributed in the fall of the Qing dynasty. Corruption within the government greatly affected the stability of the administrative authority. After many years of prosperity and economic growth, the Chinese population has increased greatly leading to more demand for food items. However the government continued to raise the prices of products which were reflected in high prices of rice. Eventually, many people would starve since they could not afford these products. Nepotism and corruption brought division among the people and eventually resulted in people having no enthusiasm to support the efforts of the administration. The weakness of the people was reflected in the weak administration. At that time many Chinese felt embarrassed to be associated with this government. They began to feel that they should follow the practices of the westerners as a way of finding a sense of identity.

The strength of a national government is dependent on the strength of its people. Having a strong system is useful in making sure that the authority of a government is respected and followed. In efforts of offering their support, unity between various people in a country is born. It is therefore crucial to ensure that all people regardless of their external differences are able to feel a strong connection with the government through establishment of policies that equalize them and make them feel appreciated for who they are. Political moves such as influencing the culture of other ethnic groups can be harmful to national unity. It is crucial to ensure that the differences of people are celebrated and embraced instead of trying to eliminate them (Giannakos, 2019). The Qing dynasty would have continued its rule but the need to prioritize certain ethnic group and failure to embrace equality influenced the strong support they were offered by all the people they ruled over. The invasion of other countries in the ruling business of China was enabled by conduction of immoral activities such as corruption within the government. It allowed others to intervene and prompted some Chinese to rebel against the government.

1b.The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (The Second Sino-Japanese War)

China experience a huge turbulence in its governance due to the political struggle between the nationalists and the communist. There was a separation between the Chinese people due to the difference in association of the existing political parties. There were those who felt more closely associated with the concept of nationalisms and there were others who were fighting to get their communistic ideas passed (Li, 2019). Therefore, the national strength which is formed by national unity was at its weakest as the resistance of China against Japan invasion began. China had fought other wars with western powers and failed to win. But in the case of this second resistance to japan invasion, China won and was able to protect its nation from being invaded by other nations. Among the factors that allowed the country to win was the unity of its people. In 1937, the nationalists in China had agreed with the idea of communist that the Japan invasion was not appropriate. The opportunity allowed the two groups to be united and as a result improve their national strength which was required for the nation to move in one direction. Being able in a position where all the Chinese nationals supported one agenda allowed the ruling authority to have the needed support in its operations of stopping the Japanese from invading China.

Moreover, China had the support of United States which implied that they were able to access the best western weapons. These weapons were necessary for allowing the Chinese military to win the war and have the best strategies of fighting the Japanese military. It is also crucial to understand that the United States did not supply weapons to Japan. Therefore, Japan had a disadvantage of less fire power unlike China. It was easier for the Chinese military to destroy the Japanese bunkers with the heavy fire power (Liu & Zhou, 2019). It would have been difficult for China to win this far without western weapons because Japan had established very strong strategies of fighting. Also, the United States helped China to bomb Japan; this occurrence greatly affected Japan’s capability to continue persisting in operations of invading China.

The second war against Japan was an opportunity for the Chinese people to find their national spirit again and to be able to embrace their identity with the country they belong to. Unity and nationalism aspects were major attributed in the wining of war against Japan. The people found themselves unified against a common enemy and their political differences were put aside as they sought to win their country back. The war would have occurred only in the specific locations that the Japanese had invaded, but the National spirit allowed the Chinese people to make it a state war. The government officials collectively allowed the military resources to be provided and used in the whole nation to protect all people in China. The war led to the birth of patriotism-centered national spirit where many Chinese people felt obligated to not only have their nations’ interest at heart but to be fully present in support the country operations.

The resistance of China against Japan can be said to be a nationwide war. The patriotic citizens of China did not just sit and wait for the allocated military troops to fight this battle. Chinese took this way personally and they did not just offer indirect support. Many people went directly to the battle fields to fight for their country. One factor that makes us understand their involvement are the numbers of casualties. According to the reports, about four million people were in the Chinese military which was sent to fight with the Japanese. However, the overall death toll was fourteen million deaths of Chinese people. It therefore shows that the Chinese individuals of different ages, social class and ethnicity took part in fighting to defeat the invaders. It should be noted that some of the minority groups who did not necessarily identify with the republic of china’s government such as Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan also took part in this war. The whole of china land was united because they all have the best interest of their country. Regardless of the ideologies and opinions that cause disagreements, the Chinese people have a single sense of identity; China Nation. The period of war is a perfect example of nationalism being utilized in a positive manner. It is useful in protecting the continuity of existence of people in a given state and can be useful in building unity among citizens regardless of their differences.

1c.Conclusion of first historical aspect

These two eras depict the importance of having nationalism. In both instances we find that invasion in China was made possible through the divisions of its people. Lack of proper and strong national governance offered invaders opportunity to disrupt the national operations. However, we can see that in both cases national strength is projected from the strength of the people in the country. Nationalism offered positive outcomes in fighting for the greater good of China. The will of people is connected with their national identity and national pride. Fairness in governance is useful in helping to build national pride which allows a nation to have strong support from its people (Helleiner & Wang, 2019). The concept of Chinese nationalism as shown in these two eras allowed to rebuild national pride and encouraged people to be united. It is crucial to determine that these aspects of unity and cohesion help in improving the national strength. Therefore, a nation can be in a position to avoid scenarios of being invaded by intruders and helps promote the unity among its citizens.

2. Cultural Aspect

As one of the most populous nation in the whole world and having a very large land area, china has had a huge cultural influence internationally. In the past years, Chinese culture has undergone rapid and intense transformation due to its adaptation in the modern world. The modern Chinese people have been very open and receptive in embracing the change that is happening around them. Even though, they are able to follow the cultural practices they have allowed modern transformations to be incorporated in their traditions. We can find many Chinese people enjoying freedoms such as travelling, educating children overseas and learning other cultures. However, the Chinese culture is useful in regulating the international exposure that can erode the moral values of people. Modern Chinese culture is embedded with its traditions and combined with some of the recent activities leading to modernization.  Despite the changes, the country maintains the crucial beliefs of what it means to be a Chinese. Due to the development and change of the Chinese culture, the mindset of the modern Chinese people has combinations of traditional origins and modern aspirations. The modern Chinese culture is beginning to be defined by its recent evolutions in culture and economy, preservations as well as innovations. The culture of Chinese people allows them to have a sense of identity. Just like nationalism, Chinese culture helps the people of China to be able to identify themselves with unique attributes which are portrayed by this culture (Chen. Et al, 2019). They are unified by a common language. The culture allows the concept of nationalism to be practiced strongly as the Chinese people seek to maintain their uniqueness and embrace the things that make them different.

Great unity is a vision involving a utopia world where all people can be able to live peacefully with each other. It connects with the modern life of Chinese people in that it encourages global interactions through travelling. It ensures the Chinese can unite with other people from various parts of the world and ensures peaceful interactions. Great unity contributes to development of stronger united ties between citizens which is similar to what nationalism does. These two concepts relate in their capability to ensure the Chinese society has cohesion and allows all members to have a strong sense of belonging.

In today’s world, china requires nationalism in ensuring that its country is protected from the pressures of western nations which have had their cultures invade the Chinese culture. In as much as Chinese people want to embrace modernization, it is important to ensure that we are proud of our nationality and we are able to identify with the Chinese society. The world today is able to embrace the differences of various communities. It is about time we embrace our culture since it does not affect our capability to function in the world rather it adds more value to who we are as a nation. Nationalism will help reduce the effects that invasive cultures have on the China Nation. It will encourage more preservation of the Chinese culture thereby ensuring that the erosion of this culture is restricted.

References

Babones, S. (2019). The Birth of Chinese Nationalism.

Bhattacharya, A. (2019). Chinese nationalism under Xi Jinping revisited. India Quarterly, 75(2), 245-252.

Chen, Z., Su, C. C., & Chen, A. (2019). Top-down or bottom-up? A network agenda-setting study of Chinese nationalism on social media. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 63(3), 512-533.

Giannakos, S. (2019). Chinese nationalism: Myths, reality, and security implications. Nationalities Papers, 47(1), 149-161.

Helleiner, E., & Wang, H. (2019). The richness of financial nationalism: the case of China. Pacific Affairs, 92(2), 211-234.

Li, H. (2019). Understanding Chinese nationalism: A historical perspective. In From Cyber-Nationalism to Fandom Nationalism (pp. 13-31). Routledge.

Liu, Y., & Zhou, S. (2019). Evolving Chinese nationalism: Using the 2015 Military Parade as a case. East Asia, 36(3), 255-270.

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