Modernity under the Alias 'Oriental Bismarck' of Li Hongzhang: The Lack of Cultural Subjectivity and the Reconstruction of Nationalism
Abstract
As a prominent politician of the late Qing dynasty, Li Hongzhang possessed numerous aliases, among which "Oriental Bismarck" holds a special significance. This appellation not only reflects the shift in the Chinese evaluation system of historical figures from traditional modes under the influence of Orientalism but also implies the consciousness and practice of nationalism in the modernization model of developing countries. Against the backdrop of the wave of colonialism and the statism vision of self-improvement, concepts like "Oriental-someone/something" in Chinese context embody a loss of cultural subjectivity of the traditional Chinese discourse power. Simultaneously, it reveals that, amidst the entanglement between the old China and the West, certain foreign elements and cultural symbols could be useful to construct the modernity and to affirm the uniqueness of China itself, by relying on nationalism. By analyzing the cultural significance and historical ruptures behind appellations like "Oriental Bismarck," this article adopts a postmodern historical perspective to criticize simplistic interpretations of modernization theory and explores how these appellations serve as important windows for studying the construction of history and modernity.
References
- W Said, E. (2016). Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient. India: Penguin Books Limited.
- Foucault, M. (2014). L'archéologie du savoir. Paris: Editions Gallimard.
- Iwata, M. (1964). Ōkubo Toshimichi: The Bismarck of Japan. Univ of California Press.
- Liang Qichao. (2016).Bibliography of Li Hongzhang. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
- Liang Siguang. (1951). The Treacherous History of Li Hongzhang. Beijing: Zhi Shi Shu Dian Press.
- Cao Haidong. (2019). A Textual Study on the Construction of Li Hongzhang's Image in High School History Textbooks. Northwestern Normal University.
- Zhao Shengwei. (2019). Western Mirror: Overseas Historical Materials on Li Hongzhang. Guangzhou: Guangdong People's Publishing House, 175-179.
- Authored by Lobbekt, Robert; translated by Zheng Shoukang. (2022). Letters from Lobbekt, Robert, Chief Instructor of the Jiangnan Army Land Academy, p. 91.
- Yanchevitski, D. (1983). The Eyewitness Account of the Eight-Nation Alliance. p. 369.
- John Otway Bland; translated by Xu Zhijing. (2012). Li Hongzhang Biography: Forty Years of Life in China by a British Journalist. Hefei: Anhui People's Publishing House.
- Yuan Shuyi. (1997). The Relationship between the Sun and Li Families in the Boxer Rebellion and the Chinese Political Situation. Hebei Academic Journal, 2, 91-98.
- Zhao Fanyu, Sun Liangzhu. (2011). The Complete Biography of Li Hongzhang. Wuhan: Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press.
- Sun Lie. (2011). The Thinking and Channels of Introducing Military Equipment during the Late Qing Dynasty in the Preparation of the Beiyang Fleet: Starting from a Signed Letter from Li Hongzhang to Krupp. Studies in Dialectics of Nature, 27(06), 93-97.
- Meissner, W. (2006). China's search for cultural and national identity from the nineteenth century to the present. China perspectives, 2006(68), 41-54.
- Gellner, E. (2008). Nations and nationalism. Cornell University Press.
- Anderson, B. (2002). Imagined Community: reflectios the Origin and Spread of Natonalism.