Table of Content

20 September 2022, Volume 42 Issue 5

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One Body and Many Faces: Reexamination of State-Society Relations in Imperial China

ZHOU Li-an

2022, 42(5):  1-36. 

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There are various theoretical characterizations of the state-society relationship of imperial China， such as “gentry autonomy”， “bureaucratic society”， “state-society cooperation”，“strong despotic power and weak infrastructural power”， and “centralized minimalism” and so on. This paper reexamines the key nature of state-society relations of imperial China from the viewpoint of the administrative subcontracting theory. Our analysis applies the key concept of “administrative outsourcing” that refers to the assignment of public affairs by the imperial state to social groups （e.g.， clans and guilds） or individuals （local gentry） outside the government system. In this administrative outsourcing process， the social groups or individuals certified as subcontractors enjoy certain privileges and honors， or even semi-public identities， but at the same time are subjected to government supervision and hierarchical control， which is different from market-based outsourcing. In contrast， internal administrative subcontracting involves the higher-level government assigning public affairs or other government targets to the lower-level government in a subcontracting way. This study focuses on the correspondence between the features of state governance in the domains such as resource extraction， regime stability maintenance， local public goods provision， and internal civil internal order （e.g.， clans and guilds）， and the specific modes of administrative outsourcing. By so doing， the underlying mechanism of state-society interactions in the Chinese imperial system is uncovered. We argue that the specific modes of administrative outsourcing are determined by tradeoffs between governance risks and administrative costs associated with specific governance domains as well as the fiscal constraints of the state. As a result of such tradeoffs， we have observed a spectrum of governance modes of administrative outsourcing varying in combinations of government control and civil autonomy across governance domains. For instance， in high governance risk domains such as resource extraction and social order maintenance （taxation and public security）， numerous local semi-public agents were designated as subcontractors under strong controls from the government. For the domain of local civil order with relatively low governance risk but potentially high administrative costs if the government would exercise direct controls， civic organizations such as clans， guilds， and merchant clubhouses were offered a high degree of autonomy over their internal affairs with only contingent interferences from the government. This paper suggests a new notion of “one body， many faces” to recapitulate the overall nature of the state-society relationship of imperial China， to offer a new analytical framework to reconcile diverse theoretical characterizations existing in literature， and to help understand the paradoxical combination of the unity of state power and the pluralism of state governance in the Chinese imperial system.

Chieftain System and Frontier Peace: A Study on Choni Traditional Political Organization and Its Transformation Mechanism

ZHANG Yahui

2022, 42(5):  37-61. 

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The descendants of Tibetan Tubo loyal family in the pre-Hong period had largely left dbus gtsang areas by the time of the post-Hong period. Their aristocratic status often became the Charisma basis of the frontier chieftain system. Based on Gu Bao’s study of the Choni chieftain system， this paper offers a systematic analysis of power transition of Choni chieftain and its sociological mechanism. Xie Di， the first chieftain of Choni， relied on the power of witchcraft to obtain his throne， and through sacrifices to the local Mountain-God a myae brag dkar， gained the right to control the tribal warrior group. Choni chieftain system in this period was typical of the New-Age group of kingship. During the Kangxi Period of the Qing Dynasty， with the powerful legislative process of the central government in the frontier， Choni chieftain experienced a series of political and religious reforms such as the publication of the Tripitaka， thus turning its system to a more rational and judicial form of Old-Age group. After that， the chieftain consisted of patrimonialism and military fiefdoms. The former refers to the relationship between the chieftain and the twelve Zhang’ga （affiliated groups living in the county seat of Choni）， whereas the latter was the forty-eight highly autonomous military-production organizations named Qi. These two parts were linked together by means of the Qi electoral system. By comparing with other forms of kingships， this paper argues that it is insufficient to understand the kingship system just from tribal leaders and chiefs. The essence of the kingship lies in the encompassing of social diversity. The priest-based hierarchy and the judicial-based peace are the key to kingship. During the frontier peace movement in the Kangxi Period， Choni chieftain established a relatively complete hierarchical system by publishing the Tripitaka and expanding the diocese of Chanding monastery. However， it still failed to curb the tendency of the subordinate members to secede， and the judicial rulings of the central government were the fundamental basis for Choni chieftain to maintain power and status. Neither witchcraft nor judicial kingship could exercise full control of the warriors as kingship only a partial part of the political system. Lastly， this paper points out that， for any society， there are both the tendency of social integration and the tendency of secession by identity groups. It is the tension between these two tendencies that provides crucial evidences for scholars to understand social structure and its dynamics.

Interest and Formation of Meaning in Action: A Reflection on John Dewey’s Educational Thoughts in the Light of Reflective Pragmatism

WANG Liping, ZHAO Qichen

2022, 42(5):  62-94. 

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John Dewey was the pioneer of the American progressive education movement， and his educational ideas shaped the direction and course of education in the United States in the twentieth century. His vigorous educational experiments at the University of Chicago coincided with Max Weber’s famous American trip in 1904. This paper aims to explain the core of Dewey’s educational theory—the concept of interest. Dewey’s view of interest took shape at the beginning of the prestigious Laboratory School he founded and it became a repeatedly visited major theme in his later years. The concept is the key to understand Dewey’s thought about the relationship between the individual， society, culture and civilization. Dewey’s view of interest includes three levels: the distinction between interest and pleasure， the relationship between interest and will in individual actions， and how interest unfolds in children’s daily tasks. Articulating these aspects helps us understand Dewey’s centrality to the progressive movement and pragmatist tradition. Dewey’s thought leads to a novel interpretation of “progress” in modern society， in which Dewey’s archetype-actor whose ultimate interest is to create the meaning of action rather than to preserve a given cultural value. This paper also places Dewey in the light of the critical observation of pragmatism by some prominent continental European social thinkers.

Ethical Life without Virtue: Hegel on the Ideal of Modern Society

CHEN Tao

2022, 42(5):  95-123. 

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Hegel’s concept of “Sittlichkeit” can help us to clarify the ideal of modern society and the challenge it poses to traditional ethical practices. By comparing it with the ancient concept of “” （ethos）， we are able to see the dynamics and ideas of modern society. In Aristotle, “” constitutes a way of life that is constructed by means of customs， laws， and polity to shape human desires and appetites. Laws， institutions and customs are never self-sufficient and complete for the ethical space between natural virtues and intellectual virtues. They are fundamentally depended on human virtues. In contrast， in Hegel’s “Sittlichkeit”， modern ethical life is able to incorporate our various desires into system as “activities” by means of complete and rational laws and institutions. In principle， modern men do not need to be highly virtuous to pacify and transform their desires and win the recognition of others and freedom. By simply obeying laws and institutions， this could be achieved. However， while modern society can offer us economic， social and political independence and freedom， it cannot provide us with a place to live that is a truly comparable to a home. What we need to think is that whether we have other possibilities besides the rationalization and perfection of laws and institutions. For us， a nation with a strong ethical tradition， the future still depends on whether we can find and revive those ethical traits from our own tradition to steer rationalised laws and institutions to create a communal life worthy of desire.

Wealth，Domination， and the State：Adam Smith on the Abolition of Slavery and the Foundations of Modern Liberty

ZHU Huahui

2022, 42(5):  124-151. 

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This article deals with Smith’s historical account of slavery. Although much scholarly attention has been paid in recent years to Smith’s judgement on the salutary effects of commerce on liberty and civilization, it has failed to address Smith’s account of the prevalence of social dependence in human societies， including the commercial society，while underestimating the intransigence of slavery and the contingent nature of modern European liberty. In Smith’s view，commerce could advance individual liberty and equality through the “descent of fortune”. By mitigating wealth gap and the monopoly of the means of subsistence， commerce could create important opportunities for the improvement of the living conditions of the lower ranks. Nevertheless， for Smith， social oppression has always been rooted in the human desire to dominate since the birth of government and has further evolved with the balance of property and power. By reconstructing Smith’s analysis of slavery， this paper shows that Smith believed that commerce alone could not achieve the universal revolution of violent passions in human nature and liberty could only be achieved by changing the distribution of wealth and political power. In ancient politics，commerce reinforced pre-existing slaveholding economy and social domination. However， in the fragmented political landscape of feudal Europe，commerce and luxury unintentionally contributed to the bankruptcy of feudal lords， which in turn led to the collapse of feudalism， the birth of absolutism and the abolition of slavery in a few regions. Equally important， however， is the fact that the vast rich feudal estates in other parts of Europe eased the financial crisis of the landowners， where commerce was unable to shake the balance of wealth and power， but instead reinforced social oppression once again. For Smith， only by delving into the role of commercial society in the change of political authority and observing the historical influence of commerce on the distribution of political power can we fully understand the prospect of the rule of law， justice， and freedom.

Wrestling with Demons：Fin de Siècle in Ibsen’s Plays

FU Chunhui

2022, 42(5):  152-180. 

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This paper places Ibsen in the Nordic-Germanic thought tradition，and argues that “individuality” is the key to understand this tradition and Ibsen’s plays. European society at the end of the 19th century was far from being a world of “demon free”，instead，it even had irrational and anti-enlightenment overtones. Ibsen’s plays and Kierkegaard’s philosophical thoughts were intertextually related. They both opposed the established church，and believed that the prerequisite for religious faith in the strict sense is individuality. Brand was tantamount to a death sentence to all serious religions. Meanwhile，in Nietzsche’s view，Europe had entered “the era of the mob” and “individual” was in danger. In this context，many characters created by Ibsen had the characteristics of “Fin de siècle”，where decadence，boredom and nihility had become a common social state of mind. Freud had a profound insight into the dangers contained in this mentality. He believed that behind the collective psychology was the individual psychology at work，and the expansion of individuality would bring very serious social problems. For Freud，individuality tended to be restless，often turning into the most materialistic hedonism，but more often expressed in denial and destruction，even in violence and devastation. In Ibsen’s view，such social ills were not something that could solved by political means. What Ibsen’s plays present us is the paradox of “individuality” itself.

Dialect Distance and Peer Effect of Crime among Urban Migrants：An Empirical Analysis Based on Guangzhou， Shenzhen， and Dongguan

ZHANG Ping, XU Zhewei

2022, 42(5):  181-206. 

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In the process of rapid urbanization， the unprecedented population movement brings about regional cultural collision, driving economic growth while profoundly affecting social harmony. Based on the public data of the China Judgments Online, the Dictionary of Chinese Dialects， and the 2017 China Migrants Dynamics Survey， this paper takes Guangzhou， Shenzhen， and Dongguan， three cities with a net inflow of over 10 million people， as examples for empirical analysis. By choosing dialect distance as a proxy variable of cultural differences， we investigate how it affects the hometown gang criminal behavior of the urban migrant population. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between dialect distance and hometown gang crime among the migrant population. For each additional unit of dialect distance， the likelihood of migrants choosing hometown fellows as accomplices in crime increases by 8.3%. Mechanism analysis shows that the peer effect formed by dialect distance is a main factor for the increase of gang crime among migrants. Under the same conditions， the greater the migration distance， the greater the cultural gap between the migrants and the local population. Specific to social networks， it is reflected that migrants tend to trust members of the hometown group rather than the locals， which leads relatively closed clusters of community， enforcing the peer effect and increasing the possibility of participating in gang crimes. From the perspective of dialect distance， this study quantifies the impact of cultural conflicts on the harmony and stability of urban society in the process of urbanization， enriches the theoretical exploration of culture influences on migrant crime and its governance， and has certain implications for promoting a new type of people-oriented urbanization.

Intergenerational Network and Academic Achievement：A Dual Perspective of Network Context and Individual Initiative

LI Liming, ZHANG Qian

2022, 42(5):  207-240. 

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Given the cultural background and education system in China，we ask the question of how intergenerational networks affect children’s academic achievement. This topic involves a dual analysis and investigation of the macro and micro effects of intergenerational networks. In this study，an analytical framework is constructed through the dual perspectives of individual initiative and network context，and a multi-layer linear model is applied to explore the interpretation approach and mechanism of individual initiative and network context. We further explore the conditional effects of individual initiative variables based on network context，and then reveal the intrinsic correlation between the two explanatory paths. Using the China Educational Panel Survey （CEPS） data for the 2014-2015 school year，this study obtained the following findings：First，unlike the related findings abroad，this study finds that the intergenerational network macro and micro effects both exist in the Chinese context. Parental knowledge of other parents and network situational characteristics can both improve children’s academic achievement. This finding is closely related to China's Confucian cultural values and test-based education system. Second，as macro intergenerational network resources increase，the returns to academic achievement from individual initiative effects gradually increase. The factors that affect the enhancement of network resources are mainly derived from network norms and relational class status，while network density does not moderate the individual initiative effect. Third，the indirect mechanism of macro and micro intergenerational networks was further examined. To a certain extent，macro-micro intergenerational networks influence children’s academic output by affecting family and peer social capital，academic attitudes and behaviors. The above conclusions have important theoretical significance in advancing further research on the macro-and micro-effects and mechanism of intergenerational networks in the Chinese context，and the internal connections between macro- and micro-levels. At the same time，it also provides some theoretical support and empirical evidence for a series of policies over the construction of parent group networks.