Chinese nationalism
In 1895, China suffered a crushing defeat at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War. This loss shattered the traditional imperial identity that had defined the Qing dynasty for centuries. The nation was forced to pay financial reparations and grant special privileges to foreign powers. Beijing itself was invaded and pillaged by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900. These events destroyed the nationwide image of China as a superior Celestial Empire located at the center of the universe.
Liang Qichao, a late Qing reformer who failed to reform the government in 1896, fled to Japan after being expelled from China. He began developing his ideas of Chinese nationalism while in exile. Disaffected intellectuals in the 1890s started to develop a new nationalist commitment to China as a nation-state. They sought to construct a strong state capable of standing in a hostile international arena rather than preserving a traditional order.
The May Fourth Movement erupted in 1919 following the Versailles Treaty. This treaty transferred German privileges in Shandong to Japan instead of returning them to China. Student protests against these terms triggered a surge of Chinese nationalism across the country. Large-scale military campaigns led by the Kuomintang later overpowered provincial warlords and reduced foreign privileges.
Sun Yat-sen founded the Revive China Society in 1894 as the first Chinese nationalist revolutionary society. Early revolutionaries like Zou Rong demanded an educational revolution for Han people suffering under Manchu rule. Zou argued that China should be a nation of orthodox Han Chinese with no alien race ruling over them. Wang Jingwei, a future leader of the Kuomintang, also believed Manchus were an inferior race.
After the 1911 Revolution established the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen changed his approach. The national flag contained five colors symbolizing major racial ethnicities: Han, Manchus, Mongols, Hui, and Tibetans. This marked a shift from radical racism toward political autonomy for all five races. Joseph Esherick notes this rhetorical move was based on practical concerns about imperial threats from Japan and Russia.
The fragile Republican regime decided to maintain Qing borders to keep territories intact. Pressured by domestic and international problems, anti-imperialist sentiments grew and spread throughout China during the 1910s. An ideal of a morally just universe made racism appear shameful and took over its dominant role in conceptualizing Chinese nationalism.
The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937 when the Communist Party began mobilizing Chinese peasants through mass propaganda of national salvation. Chalmers Johnson observed that early nationalism of the Kuomintang referred only to intellectuals searching for national identities. Their movements were not mass movements because peasants remained absent from participation.
During the war, the CCP shifted focus to discourse of national salvation while temporarily retreating from communist agenda on class struggle. The wartime alliance between Chinese peasantry and the CCP reinforced the desire to save and build a strong nation. Social mobilization became the primary tool for conceptualizing nationalism as it united people into a political community together.
This peasant nationalism emerged fully only during the Second Sino-Japanese War period spanning 1937 to 1945. The experience helped create an ideology based on the concept of the people as a political body in its own right rather than a feudal empire.
In 1909, the Law of Nationality of Great Qing defined Chinese identity with specific rules regarding birth and parentage. The law stated that anyone born in China whose father was Chinese qualified as Chinese. Those born after their father's death could also qualify if the father was Chinese at his death.
Hu Songshan, a Muslim Imam from Ningxia, preached Chinese nationalism and unity of all Chinese people against foreign imperialism. He ordered the Chinese flag to be saluted during prayer and instructed all Imams in Ningxia to preach Chinese nationalism. Hu even wrote prayers in Arabic and Chinese asking Allah to support the Kuomintang government and defeat Japan.
Ma Fuxiang, a Chinese Muslim general and Kuomintang member, preached unity among all Chinese people including Tibetans and Mongols. He proclaimed Mongolia and Tibet were part of the Republic of China not independent countries. Ma Fuxiang crushed Muslim rebels when ordered by the government while maintaining loyalty to the state.
Populist nationalism began taking recognizable shape after 1996 following evolving nationalist thinking of the early 1990s. This development resulted from ongoing debates on modernity, postmodernism, and postcolonialism engaging many Chinese intellectuals since 1995. State nationalism remained strongly advocated by incumbent political elites in both KMT and CCP regimes.
Frances Yaping Wang likened nationalism to a pet dragon under state control where authorities keep it alive and occasionally provoke it. When it oversteps bounds, the state reins it in to ensure flames do not harm them. Suisheng Zhao described the rise of state-led pragmatic nationalism in 1990s China as an instrumental response to Soviet Union dissolution.
A group of statist legal scholars influenced authoritarian policies valuing state authority. These scholars related to the Chinese government's reduction of autonomy over Hong Kong. Hanfu movement emerged in early 21st century seeking revival of traditional clothing among young people.
In 2005, twenty-two million Chinese netizens signed an internet petition opposing Japan's efforts to join the United Nations Security Council. Nationalist online forums including Strong China Forum and Iron Blood became popular spaces for expression of sentiment on the internet.
Chinese hackers claimed attacks on CNN website numerous times using DDoS methods. The Yasukuni Shrine website was hacked during late 2004 and again on the 24th of December 2008. Nationalists developed cross-platform expeditions through responses to perceptions of Taiwanese independence sentiment in 2015-2016.
During 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests, some nationalists responded by doxing protestors who exposed police officers. A game called Everyone Hit the Traitors allowed players to beat up protestors and their financial backers like Joshua Wong and Jimmy Lai. Online representations of Russian women across Chinese internet have been described as gendered nationalism or nationalistic sexism.
Xi Jinping first used the phrase Chinese Dream during a high-profile visit to the National Museum of China on the 29th of November 2012. He and his Standing Committee colleagues attended a national revival exhibition marking this moment. Since then the phrase has become signature political slogan of Xi era.
On the 1st of July 2021, Xi delivered a nationalistic speech at Tiananmen Square celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party. He stated that Chinese people would never allow foreign forces to bully, oppress, or enslave them. Whoever nurses delusions of doing that will crack heads and spill blood on Great Wall built from flesh and blood of 1.4 billion Chinese people.
In diplomacy, the Chinese dream links closely to Belt and Road Initiative. Peter Ferdinand argues it becomes a dream about future where China recovers its rightful place. Credit Suisse determined through 2018 survey that young consumers turn to local brands due to growing nationalism.
Common questions
When did the May Fourth Movement erupt and what caused it?
The May Fourth Movement erupted in 1919 following the Versailles Treaty. This treaty transferred German privileges in Shandong to Japan instead of returning them to China, triggering student protests that surged Chinese nationalism across the country.
Who founded the Revive China Society and when was it established?
Sun Yat-sen founded the Revive China Society in 1894 as the first Chinese nationalist revolutionary society. Early revolutionaries like Zou Rong demanded an educational revolution for Han people suffering under Manchu rule.
What defined Chinese identity according to the Law of Nationality of Great Qing in 1909?
The Law of Nationality of Great Qing defined Chinese identity with specific rules regarding birth and parentage stating that anyone born in China whose father was Chinese qualified as Chinese. Those born after their father's death could also qualify if the father was Chinese at his death.
How did Hu Songshan promote Chinese nationalism among Muslims in Ningxia?
Hu Songshan ordered the Chinese flag to be saluted during prayer and instructed all Imams in Ningxia to preach Chinese nationalism. He even wrote prayers in Arabic and Chinese asking Allah to support the Kuomintang government and defeat Japan.
When did Xi Jinping first use the phrase Chinese Dream and where did he say it?
Xi Jinping first used the phrase Chinese Dream during a high-profile visit to the National Museum of China on the 29th of November 2012. He and his Standing Committee colleagues attended a national revival exhibition marking this moment.