Articles

The cultivation of Communist cadres during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression

Daoxuan HUANG

ABSTRACT：During the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made great progress in its cultivation of cadres. The favorable environment of the National United Front made it possible for the CCP to successfully train a large number of cadres with intellectual backgrounds while continuously using and promoting those who came from worker or peasant backgrounds. By so doing, the CCP raised the quality of its cadres. The CCP’s cultivation of its cadres during the War of Resistance was a systematic undertaking, with interrelated and mutually reinforcing components of education, training, examination, criticism, and self-criticism. Based on cadre self-consciousness and training, a regularized yet not rigid process of cadre cultivation was established. During the same period, the CCP also launched a rectification campaign (Zhengfeng yundong) to further unify and transform the Party. This important movement also left a deep mark on the cultivation of Communist cadres.

KEYWORDS: The Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Chinese Communist cadres, intellectuals, ’38 cadres, rectification movement, criticism and self-criticism

The “local/outsider problem” among Chinese communist party cadres during the early period of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression: a case study focusing on the Taihang Base Area

Nuo ZHAO

ABSTRACT：During the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Taihang Base Area was one of the most important bases established by the Chinese Communist Party behind the enemy lines in northern China. During the early period of the war, the base areas were impacted by both the outside character of the Party organization and the larger United Front environment. Many cadres in the Taihang Base Area came from other locations. In Shanxi Province, the existence of the Sacrifice League and the unusual configuration of the United Front produced scattered but widespread “local/outsider” contradictions within the cadre ranks. In response to this, local Party organizations promoted political integration through a variety of means and gradually brought these contradictions under control. However, because of the aggressive efforts of the Central Shanxi Special Committee to integrate the Sacrifice League into the Party, a severe conflict emerged between the Central Shanxi Special Committee, which represented outside forces, and the Sacrifice League, which represented local forces. Through the intervention of the Eighth Route Army and the Northern Bureau, the Chinese Communist Party Hebei–Henan–Shanxi Provincial Committee resolved the problem through high-profile criticism and low-profile measures, thus promoting progress toward integration.

KEYWORDS: War of Resistance, Taihang Base Area, cadres, local/outsider problem, United Front

State and cult in six hundred years of irrigation activities in an arid area of China: a case study of the Dragon King Temples in the Hexi Corridor

Jingping ZHANG & Zhongjing WANG

ABSTRACT：The Hexi Corridor is an important region of irrigated agriculture in an arid area of China. Prior to 1949, a large number of Dragon King Temples played a key role in irrigation activities in the Hexi Corridor. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, these temples have undergone a three-stage process of evolution. They gradually evolved from sites of sacrifice and prayers for rain to become the sole embodiment of the regional hydraulic order. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the symbolic role of the Dragon King Temples declined, and they degenerated into crucial spaces for violent contests over control of water resources in times of hydraulic crises. Finally, Dragon King Temples faded from the sociopolitical scene after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The unique natural environment of the Hexi Corridor reduced local people’s awe of the Dragon King, yet the social environment compelled them to identify with the state. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the state maintained its presence in local irrigation activities by introducing and promoting the cult of the Dragon King and the building of temples, which were revered as symbols of state power. With the decline of the state in modern times, local society’s worship of the Dragon King also dwindled. After the Communist regime began to exert all-around control of irrigation, Dragon King Temples were quickly replaced by the government at the grassroots level, and the cult finally disappeared as modern state power expanded.

KEYWORDS: Hexi Corridor, Dragon King Temple, state, cult, irrigation

Interview

Understanding Chinese history in the context of world history: an interview with Luo Zhitian, June 4, 2016

Zhitian LUO & Yanjie ZHAO

Commentary

In search of frameworks for productive comparison of cities in world history

Kristin STAPLETON

ABSTRACT：n 2013, The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History, edited by Peter Clark, was published. Its 44 chapters (a total of 882 pages) aim to develop a framework for understanding urban history comparatively and over long spans of time. The authors of the four chronological chapters on Chinese cities attempt to achieve the following goals: to examine the diversity of Chinese cities over time, to analyze the characteristics of Chinese urban development in general, and to illuminate how changing Chinese cities and urban networks reflect and influence world trends. This essay discusses how the Oxford Handbook can serve as a guide and resource for meaningful urban comparisons and also highlights some of its limitations. It compares the Oxford Handbook to a similar volume, The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South, published in 2014. The essay encourages scholars of Chinese cities to consider widening the scope of their comparisons and contribute to scholarship on the development of urban systems worldwide.

KEYWORDS: Comparative urban history, Chinese cities, world history, Global South, Oxford Handbook

Special Collection

One thousand years of historical relics: the Huizhou Documents

Li BIAN

ABSTRACT：The Huizhou Documents are a precious repository of historical memory and they have gradually been collected since 1946. This archive dates from the Southern Song period to 1949, and its content is distinguished by its continuity, specificity, accuracy, and representative nature, all of which make these documents extremely enlightening for scholars. Systematically collecting, organizing, categorizing, and utilizing these documents has not only given birth to a new field, Huizhou Studies, but has also provided valuable material in support of research on politics, the economy, law, education, and the civil examination system in late imperial China.

KEYWORDS: Huizhou Documents, origins, types, content, organization, utilization

Book Reviews

“Great encounters” and “evenly matched competition”: a study of the trade and cultural exchanges between China and the West during the Ming and Qing dynasties, by SHEN Dingping, Beijing, Commercial Press, 2015, 721 pp., ISBN 978-7-100-11324-3

Xiaolong LI (李晓龙)

A history of elections in modern Hunan, 1908–1948, by YE Lijun and LIU Dengke, Changsha, Hunan People’s Publishing House, 2015, 414 pp., ISBN 978-7-5438-9980-3

Hairong ZHANG (张海荣)

Modern history viewed from a local perspective: thoughts and life of the gentry and commoners in prefectures and counties, edited by LUO Zhitian, XU Xiuli and LI Deying, Beijing, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2015, 465 pp., ISBN 978-7-5097-7759-6

Xiaoxia PAN (潘晓霞)

Examining archives and understanding history: political affairs and family interests in the Republic of China, by ZHENG Huixin, Beijing, Zhonghua Book Company, 2014, 538 pp., ISBN 978-7-101-10429-5

Xiaoxia PAN (潘晓霞)

The construction of modernity in China and reflection on it: the decay of “celestial empire” idea and the establishment of sovereignty idea in the late Qing dynasty, by QU Congwen, Beijing, China Social Sciences Press, 2015, 219 pp., ISBN 978-7-5161-5560-8

Jian YAN (闫健)

The continuation of Confucianism and the transformation of culture: Zhang Zhidong’s literati circle in modern academic history, by LU Yin, Beijing, Peking University Press, 2015, 402 pp., ISBN 978-7-301-24150-9

Yidan YUAN (袁一丹)

Figures and historical events in the late Qing, by MA Zhongwen, Beijing, Beijing Normal University Press, 2015, 365 pp., ISBN 978-7-303-18047-9

Hairong ZHANG (张海荣)

Chiang Kai-shek’s everyday life, edited by LUO Min, Beijing, Social Sciences Academic Press, 2015, 316 pp., ISBN 9787509746592

Zhiyu LI (李志毓)

Miscellaneous

Editorial Board