Modern China's Liberal Muse: The Late Ming

Author: Struve, Lynn

Source: Ming Studies, Volume 2011, Number 63, April 2011 , pp. 38-68(31)

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Abstract:

This paper illustrates how, since the turn of the Twentieth Century, the late Ming has often served as an encouraging and affirming antecedent for prominent Chinese scholars and public intellectuals who have wished to see indigenous potential for liberal modern development in China's not-too-distant past. Despite much ideological flux, hopes have persisted for a viably modern China that is more open, free, creative, progressive, pluralist, and served by institutions and energies based in individuals and grass-roots social groups. This essay posits that such hopes, in search of native historical referents, have accounted for the most significant and fruitful expansions to date in Chinese studies of the late Ming period.

Keywords: LATE MING; MODERN CHINA; LIBERAL THOUGHT; HISTORIOGRAPHY

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/175975911X13115903979638

Affiliations: Indiana University, Bloomington, USA

Publication date: 2011-04-01

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