Zhao,
Suisheng. Nation-State by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism. Stanford, California: Stanford University
Press, 2004. xii + 355 pp. ISBN
0-8047-5001-7.
This
book provides a comprehensive account for the development of Chinese
nationalism throughout modern Chinese history (from the late nineteenth century
to the beginning of the twenty-first century). In this work, Zhao takes a primarily
historical approach to the study of Chinese nationalism as a multi-faceted and
multi-layered phenomenon. This book is composed of seven chapters, covering
topics from the historical context for understanding Chinese nationalism to the
different forms of Chinese nationalism, and from a case study of the patriotic
education campaign of the 1990s to the foreign policy ramifications of Chinese nationalism.
Zhao
seeks to present his readers with a comprehensive picture of Chinese nationalism
as well as the studies on this topic. The great amount of information provided
and the way this information is presented constitute both the major strength
and weakness of the work. On the one hand, the book is extremely informative. In
terms of content, Zhao not only provides historical context for understanding
the origins and rise of Chinese nationalism, but also illustrates the characteristics
of various forms of Chinese nationalism, including Chinese liberal nationalism,
state nationalism, and ethnic nationalism. In terms of theoretical paradigms of
nationalism, Zhao employs “primordialism with a careful measure of
instrumentalism” (7). On the other hand, to accommodate all of this information
into a 300-page book, the author does not have enough space to delve into each
subtopic in depth, and thus, this text lacks a strong focus. Moreover, as Zhao tends
to present the arguments of different sides in the theoretical debates on the
issues of Chinese nationalism, the analysis in this book does not provide
support for any coherent theory, and Zhao’s own position on certain
controversial issues in the study of Chinese nationalism, such as its origins,
content and ramifications, is unclear (12).
Another
gap in this study is that no systematic quantitative fieldwork has been carried
out to specifically examine contemporary Chinese nationalist views. Zhao’s book
is largely based on extensive reading of primary sources and scholarly
literature, and derives its ideas and arguments mainly from descriptive content
analysis of these sources. However, no convincing quantitative evidence on Chinese
public opinion in regard to Chinese nationalism is provided. For example, in
Zhao’s chapter on the patriotic education campaign in China of the 1990s,
although the author does an excellent job in analyzing the content of the instrumentalist
campaign, his evaluation of the effects of the patriotic campaign is supported
only by several examples that are representative to a limited extent (238),
based on which a comprehensive understanding of Chinese public opinion toward
nationalism during the campaign cannot be accurately determined.
There
is no doubt that Zhao’s work is a historically comprehensive essential reading
for all students of Chinese nationalism. Nevertheless, it does not contribute
much to the theoretical debates on this topic. Ideally, it ought
to be further completed and strengthened by possible quantitative evidence.
Gries, Peter
Hays. China’s New Nationalism: Pride, Politics, and Diplomacy. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California:
University of California Press, 2004.
215 pp. ISBN 0-520-24482-6.
This
book is an in-depth case study on what Peter Gries defines as the “fourth
generation” of Chinese nationalists, who “seek to make sense of their
experiences in the ‘Liberal 80s,’ ” and the rise of Chinese mass nationalism in
the events of China’s confrontations with external powers, particularly the
United States and Japan, in the 1990s and early 2000s (4).
In
order to avoid the controversies in the academic definition of nationalism and
national identity, Gries resorts to social psychology theory, making this book
a very innovative study of contemporary Chinese nationalism. It is insightful and
inspiring for both western and Chinese readers because Gries provides a refreshing
analysis of the perceptions and misperceptions of people from China and from
other countries toward each other from a psychological perspective, “relying on
a deep immersion in the historical and cultural context of Chinese politics
today” (9). In particular, Gries emphasizes the concept of “face” in Chinese
culture and its role in Chinese nationalism (21). According to the author, in
Chinese culture, the “face game” is “a battle over the zero-sum resource of
social status”, and is thus “fundamentally political” and closely related to
Chinese national pride and foreign policy (26).
Another
valuable contribution of this book is that Gries challenges the conventional
western view that Chinese nationalism is a state-centric construction based on
top-down Party propaganda. Instead, he argues that nationalist politics in
China today should be seen as an interaction between the Chinese people and the
China Communist Party (121). In support of his argument, he used the Diaoyu
Islands protests in 1996 and the Belgrade bombing protests in 1999, as examples
of bottom-up nationalist movements in China that involve “both Chinese people
and their passion” (Gries, 19, 121, 133).
However,
as a possible weakness, this book’s heavy reliance on social psychology might
have resulted in an overestimation of the psychological explanations for the
rise of Chinese nationalism while overlooking other independent variables. For
example, Gries sees the psychological void of the “fourth generation” of
Chinese nationalists and the historical grievances between China and other
states as the main explanatory factors in the rise of Chinese nationalism in
the 1990s and 2000s. But, in the absence of a systematic quantitative study, he
presents no control over other variables affecting people’s attitude toward
Chinese nationalism and national identity, such as education, sources of
information, and occupation, and thus cannot account for the exact role and
position of psychological factors, in relation to other factors, in the process
of the formation of Chinese national identity.
This
book is an important reading for those who are interested in understanding the
recent rise of Chinese nationalism within the cultural and historical contexts
in China from a psychological perspective. Particularly, this work contributes
to more comprehensive interpretations of Sino-US and Sino-Japanese relations.
