Book Reviews

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.