Reviews for The Role of Japan in Liang Qichao's Introduction of Modern Western Civilization to China

The average rating for The Role of Japan in Liang Qichao's Introduction of Modern Western Civilization to China based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-01-20 00:00:00 Kirk Smith When people say pirate, they mean a European man in loose clothing, an eye patch, a parrot on the shoulder with a flintlock pistol in his hand. This is because of two works, Defoe’s history of piracy, published 1724 right after the golden age of Atlantic piracy and Robert louis Stevenson’s 1883 treasure island. Pirates have never left the popular imagination in the west and even in a science fiction this comic version of a pirate comes back again and again. ( ) It is no wonder then that for most Westerners the idea of chinese pirates is often a surprising; even more so when they discover Chinese pirates have been active for over 250 years as compared to barely a 100 for European pirates. That the Chinese have pirate legends such as Cai Qian, who had ambitions of a maritime empire in the south china sea or the Zheng clan whose influence reached up to 5 banner fleets and Tens of thousands of pirates. Robert Antony gives the reader a lot more then a focus on these notorious figures however, his is a history from the bottom up, a broad analysis of the maritime society of south China’s provinces Guandong, Fujan, Guangxi and the islands of Taiwan and Hainan that brought forth and sustained piracy. Unlike all other provinces of China that are generally speaking turned inwards, Southern China had quite a different outlook, due to geographic, ethnic, climate, ecological factors, the Chinese communities in these regions had to look to the sea not just for prosperity and wealth, but transportation and basic needs. The soil could not sustain it’s burgeoning populations as early as the 16th century and thus the sea and commerce had to provide for its people via fishing, shellfood farming, salt industry, food imports, trade and piracy. As they saying apparently went, for every ten people 7 depended on the sea for their livelihood. It is precisely about those 7 that this book devotes its attention. This is not merely a book about pirates but the social group that they belonged too, the shuishangren or water people, the men and also the women who made up the sailors, petty merchants, fishers, cooks, pawnbrokers, forced laborers, prostitutes, craftsmen and vagrants that were mistrusted by the Confucian gentry of Qing China. Despised for their lack of connection to the land, their disregard for social norms on proper female behavior and (homo)sexuality, their pragmatic willingness to take matters into their own hands and survivor mentality that put them at odds with the state officials. As Antony writes, this was a means of finding one’s place in this world, about a group on the fringes that made their own rules and norms that had to deal with increasing inequality and perpetual hardship. However, these pirates, are not as has often been claimed of the European pirates, Hobshawnian social bandits with ideological motives. These people were pirate with a pragmatic rather then an idealistic “choice” For a lot it was a part time gig and for mostly younger people, it was not a life pursuit for most. Likewise how the captains careers ended was often pragmatic, accepting offers of status and amnesty in exchange for serving the state, why die if that is an option? Even if quite a few pirates of all ranks were beheaded by the state as a warning. Yet for many “choice” was not always as clear cut. I wrote “Choice” because quite a few were reluctant pirates or captive forced labor who kept the versatile Junks afloat. That is a thing I truly appreciated about Antony’s approach, he does not glorify or condemn, these were harsh times for a lot of people on the margins of society. This was a society where the sate often used brutal punishment both collective and individual to enforce rule which in turn set the example for any, like pirate bands, who likewise had to maintain influence and hegemony over parts of that same society to sustain themselves. Fear, violence, sexual assault, torture, beatings, starvation, storms and sickness all formed part of their world that they had to endure which in turn made the lure of prostitution, alcohol, drugs, gambling, fighting and piracy understandable. Never is this ever more clear as in the role of women in this life. Yes a lot of women served as forced labor or suffered at the hands of their piratical captors but others saw opportunity. The pirate fleet did not look down upon women with sword and weapon in hand or to take command from one. Zheng yi Sao, the widow of Zheng yi and commander of the red banner fleet, was able to maintain control and even expand after her partners death, likewise Cia Qian’s wife commanded ships of her own, autonomous of her husband. This freedom was mired with harshness, but so was the lives of the so called respectable women on land yet without the benefits their seaborne counterparts had. A similar story was told of homosexuality, found disgraceful by the gentry but completely acceptable among the maritime society, to an extent that one could wonder if this freedom attract some men to join pirates willingly. If it is not clear by now, I thoroughly appreciate the book. But I do have some remarks. First off in the beginning he promises a comparison with western pirates but this is very brief, only a few paragraphs in the conclusion which I believe were not necessary. Secondly the book builds up, to the question of these pirates fit in the mold of the social bandit as used by Hobshawn and the answer is no, these were individuals from a partially ostracized group in society who to some extent wanted to improve their personal lives or had to deal with the circumstances. That is interesting but this could and should have been elaborate. Thirdly cannibalism. Cannibalism is presented to us in two forms; first as survival tactic during the most harshest of famines in the 17 to 19th century and as a ritualized form of violence perpetuated by pirates. Compared to all other aspects of this subsociety, this part felt less well supported by source material. I can understand on one level why we would have a lot less testimony on this then anything other but it does make you wonder to what extent this was used by pirates as a threat and tool of terror rather then something they would regularly do, similar examples come from over the world. Likewise, accusing people of cannibalism as mean to demonize them, has been a staple for centuries world wide. Therefore I feel that he too easily and readily accepts cannibalism as something approaching normality for these people. Fourthly, I would have loved a bit more detail on the earlier waves of piracy that unlike the later waves where the lower class water people were in charge, had merchants lead the reigns. This due to the Ming and Quing for a period of time preferring to abolish and outlaw commerce and shipping thus forcing pragmatic merchants to be smugglers/pirates to survive. Those merchants did depend as much on the waterpeople’s culture as the later waves did, the big difference was that later on the merchants sided with the state as they had become the target. Traders commerce fueling the inequality that depended on a proletariat of the sea and coast who in turn took back when opportunity arose. It is an interesting evolution that could perhaps be elaborated a bit more. In conclusion this is a great book for anyone interested in Chinese history or those focused on the history and social dynamics of crime. Can wholeheartedly recommend.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-02-21 00:00:00 David Brown This book is a solid academic work. It covers all social aspects of the sea world in Southern China in the Ming and Qing dynasties. I'd imagine it's a good textbook or research reference. It isn't, however, a leisure weekend reading. The content is interesting, but presented in a flat and monotonic way. While occasionally there are episodes about famous pirate groups (such as Zheng Bao 張保), most of book is academic analysis.