Chinese Renaissance Day

[Updated on 13 oct 2009]

Congratulations for celebrating the true spirit of Double-tenth at the Memorial to Dr. Sun Yet-sen. I remember visiting Dr Sun Yat-Sen and President Chiang Kai-Shek's memorials as a teenager. They both paid homage to the most tumultous era of Chinese history, but I do feel that Dr Sun's was way more authentic, truthful, less propagandistic but also (being older) more dated and shabby.

Seizing upon our recent discussions on important aniversaries in Chinese history.

I certainly hope for the day when the whole China can celebrate the Chinese revolution (with a small "r" and "Chinese" rather than "China") a non-political celebration of Chinese progress as a nation*, a people** and and a civilization***: one born of intense love for the country, idealism, modernisation and rejunevation - but also immense sacrifice, suffering, disappointment and injustice.

One should, in fact date the Chinese revolution at least from Emperor Guang Xu's 100-day Reforms in 1898. Or even before to the many modernisation-reform movements began on commercial, education, industry and military affairs for many decades before that often from sponteneous progressive personal initiatives. The 1911 revolution itself followed many repeated but unsuccessful attempts to establish the Republic. The new political order did not survive but the revolution continued from a hundred blooms: some patriotic, some democratic, some nationalistic, some regionalistic, some militaristic but mostly opportunitistic, autocratic, egoistic and kleptocratic.

Also, one should remember that the Chinese revolution is not one taking place solely within China. Especially in the earlier days, the Chinese overseas diaspora was a bastion of progressive politics and activism. They offered funding, freedom for political and intellectual debate and safe haven for intellectuals and officials under persecution.

In China, there were countless false starts and failed attempts at a national government in the years that followed, including many led by Dr. Sun himself who died a frustrated and disapppointed man.

Dr Sun died but the Chinese revolution continued. The KMT inheriting Dr. Sun's moral prestige but more importantly established a relatively-more-capable military force gradually consolidated a national government with power over China. Although even as it unified China it created new fractures; even as China came together it was undermined in other ways; it came to embody the best but also the worst about Chinese. But through it all, the national yearning for progress and unity grew.

Through the 8 years Anti-Japanese war, the Chinese revolution rode on patriotism and nationalism as a strong unifying force. But the upheaval also catalysed the CCP victory over KMT in the mainland in 1949. As for "New China": why 1949? Why not 1959 when Tibet was taken into the fold? Or perhaps it is still an unfinished business with Taiwan..hence there is not a complete "New China" yet?

[Digressing a bit: why was the Anti-Japanese War counted from 7-7-1937? Should we in fact count from 18-9-1931 in Manchuria? or to 1919 over Japanese moves Shantung and Manchuria? or 1895 from the Sino-Japanese War which led to losing Korea and Taiwan?].

Under my definition, the Chinese revolution in fact continued - and often tragically - after 1949. There were important progress to celebrate under CCP, cheifly with the 1978/79 opening up and reform policy - because it was a leapforward in Chinese economic progress. More problematic but no less significant perhaps were the land reforms in the early years of the PRC which was a revolution on China's age old feudal class system. On hindsight, the democratisation movement in Taiwan in the 1980s-90s and continuing today deserves credit and historical adulation. After all, it was a historic leap forward in Chinese political rights. The return of Hong Kong and Macau in 1997/1999 are also important chapters to close a 150 years old chapter that began with the Opium Wars.

It has taken more than a century for the Chinese revolution to mature - from the constant need for violent rapture from its reactionary forces - into a national consensus for social and economic progress and modernisation. That is a good thing. The real capstone would be progress towards rule of law, civil and political rights and democracy in the mainland. I hope that to result from a benigned and enlightened evolution and not a revolution.

Here is what I believe. It is the mission for every Chinese to live up to the best ideals of Chinese revolution and through our actions redeem the sacrifice of the millions of often young people whose misfortune was merely to be caught up in history.

To recognize and celebrate the Chinese journey of national and cultural renaissance? To me, there one best date: May-Fourth. Day of Chinese Renaissance.

* nation = an abstract sense of belonging which can comprise of more than one state or political entity;

** people = a collective national identification regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion;

*** civilization = an identification with Chinese historical, linguistic and cultural heritage.