Popular narratives versus Chinese history: Implications for understanding an emergent China
| Date | 01 December 2014 |
| Author | Ja Ian Chong |
| DOI | 10.1177/1354066113503480 |
| Published date | 01 December 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
European Journal of
International Relations
2014, Vol. 20(4) 939 –964
© The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/1354066113503480
ejt.sagepub.com
E
JR
I
Popular narratives versus
Chinese history: Implications
for understanding an
emergent China
Ja Ian Chong
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Abstract
Closely associated with China’s growing prominence in international politics are
discussions about how to understand Chinese history, and how such perspectives inform
the way a stronger China may relate to the rest of the world. This article examines two
narratives as cases, and considers how they fit against more careful historical scholarship.
The first is the nationalist narrative dealing with Qing and Republican history, and the
second is the narrative on the Chinese world order. Analyses of Chinese nationalism
tend to see a more powerful China as being more assertive internationally, based in
part on a belief in the need to address and overcome past wrongs. Studies of historical
regional systems in Asia point to the role that a peaceful ‘Confucian’ ethos played in
sustaining a stable Chinese-led order, and highlight the promise it holds for checking
regional and international tensions. The two perspectives create an obvious tension
when trying to understand China’s rise, which can suggest that using historical viewpoints
to understand contemporary developments may be doomed to incoherence. This
article argues that difficulties in applying knowledge of the past to analyses of China’s
role in contemporary world politics indicate a relative inattentiveness to Chinese and
Asian history. It illustrates how the nature of China’s rise may be more contingent on
the external environment that it faces than popular received wisdom may indicate.
The article suggests that a more extensive engagement with historical research and
historiography can augment and enrich attempts to appreciate the context surrounding
China’s rise.
Keywords
Epistemology, historical sociology, international order, nationalism, security, transition
Corresponding author:
Ja Ian Chong, National University of Singapore, 11 Arts Link, AS1, #04-30, Singapore, 117570, Singapore.
Email: chong.jaian@gmail.com
503480EJT20410.1177/1354066113503480European Journal of International RelationsChong
2013
Article
940 European Journal of International Relations 20(4)
Introduction
China’s growing global prominence — what historian Wang Gungwu (2004) terms its
‘fourth rise’ — is encouraging greater interest in its past. Observers indicate that his-
tory can provide insights into current and future developments in China (Carlson,
2012; Hui, 2008; Johnston, 2012; Wang, 2011: 1–33). However, history is rarely
clear-cut. Accounts of an event often provide competing and contradictory views, like
the unfolding of multiple perspectives in the Kurosawa classic, Rashomon. This
reflects the different ways individuals, communities and organizations understand a
phenomenon. Making sense of these perspectives requires wading through differing
accounts, varying sources and multiple types of evidence — often before attempts to
theorize and quantify.
A closer examination of historical claims highlights key contingencies affecting
China’s role in world politics. More detailed consideration of different historical narra-
tives surrounding nationalism highlights ongoing tensions in how China currently relates
to its external environment. This approach builds on and applies insights developed by
Lawson (2012), Lustick (1996), O’Brien (2006) and Schroeder (1994) to current conver-
sations about applying Chinese history to the study of world politics. This can pave the
way for a more precise framing of questions and explanations surrounding phenomena
pertaining to China’s external relations. Unpacking different facets of past developments
provides a means to understand the varying degrees to which path dependencies inform
contemporary Chinese politics.
Conversations about how to make sense of Chinese history often include two sets of
observations. Studies considering historical regional systems identify a China-centred
order that shaped what we know as Asia today (Kang, 2005a; Paltiel, 2010; Qin, 2010;
Yan, 2011; Zhang, 2009). These include a shared ‘Confucian’ ethos across East Asia that
values Chinese leadership as legitimate and stability-enhancing. Proponents argue that
these beliefs continue to inform regional politics. Analyses privileging Chinese national-
ism frequently highlight dissatisfaction in China towards the experience of foreign pres-
sure from the mid-19th century. These suggest a deep-seated desire within China to resist
external affronts (real or perceived), rectify previous wrongs and restore pre-eminence
(Gries, 2005: 43–53; Nathan and Ross, 1997: 19–34). Such a dynamic implies a potential
for forceful assertions of interest that can put China at odds with other actors. Given
these strains in historically informed outlooks, can understandings of the past provide
coherent insights for China’s contemporary international relations?
Fine-tuning the popular historical narratives that scholars and others use to under-
stand China’s current external relations is especially useful. Nationalist sentiments are
prone to division, manipulation, even suppression — much like other ideologies. Popular
recollections about historical patterns of interaction between China and its neighbours
are subject to reinterpretation and selective remembering, intentional or otherwise.
China’s capacity for playing a stable, leading international role may depend on how its
government is able to articulate nationalist and order-shaping aspirations. These condi-
tions suggest that appreciating the effects of nationalism and historical external interac-
tions on China’s external interactions requires more attention to how these dynamics fit
their contemporaneous contexts.
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