Reasons for the Failure of Liberalism in Modern China

On the Reasons for the Failure of Liberalism in Modern China

Liberalism is the most representative social trend of thought in modern China. It did not originate in China, but in the West. It can be traced back to ancient Greece, and then freely extended to the political life of the city-state and became a principle. Liberalism is the product of modern society after the bourgeoisie stepped onto the historical stage. The basic connotation of liberalism is: 1. Political liberalism, opposing absolutism, fighting for individual political rights and fighting for constitutionalism. 2. Economic liberalism, the cornerstone of which is private property, market economy and reducing state intervention and control over the economy. 3. Social liberalism, paying attention to social justice and the basic survival rights of the weak. 4. Philosophical liberalism, which emphasizes the value and rights of individuals and adheres to the view that individuals are supreme.

1840 the outbreak of the opium war forced China to open its doors. While foreign powers invaded and oppressed China, their science, technology, ideology and culture also entered China. Liberalism has also entered China. Liberalism first entered China at the beginning of19th century, and it didn't have much influence at that time. Liberalism really began to spread widely in China from the end of 19, mainly introduced by Yan Fu and Liang Qichao. Yan Fu introduced western liberalism systematically for the first time, and thought that the main difference between China traditional culture and western modern culture lies in the concept and understanding of freedom. We can regard Yan Fu and Liang Qichao as pioneers of liberalism, but they are not real liberals. Because at that time, liberalism was only an expedient measure to save the nation from extinction, not the ultimate value pursuit.

The real "liberals" in modern China appeared during the May 4th Movement, with Zhang, Hu Shi as the main representatives, which was the climax of modern liberalism in China. The development of liberalism in modern China had a certain influence on China's politics, economy, society and ideology and culture at that time, and accelerated the modernization process of China. However, liberalism did not become the final choice of modern China and ended in failure. There are many reasons.

First of all, China's traditional autocratic monarchy thought hindered the development of liberalism.

Political liberalism opposes government autocracy and holds that the state should fully respect individual rights and freedoms, provide political protection for citizens' legitimate free activities, and citizens should participate in political activities such as elections and legislation on an equal footing. However, when liberalism was introduced into China, China at that time could not meet the political needs of liberalism. Under the influence of China's long-term autocratic monarchy, the ruling class of the country represents the interests of a few aristocratic classes, and ordinary people have no rights and freedoms. As far as autocracy and rule by man are concerned, China's political and cultural traditions are deeply rooted. Coupled with the long-term autocratic monarchy and the influence of traditional education, the consciousness of saints, sages and honest officials has taken root in people's hearts, which shows that people are full of servility and do not know how to defend their rights, freedoms and dignity, so liberalism is difficult to be recognized among the general public, so failure is inevitable. Therefore, China at that time could not provide the necessary political environment for the development of liberalism, whether at the national level or at the individual and social levels.

Second, modern China lacked the class foundation for the development of liberalism.

Modern China was a big feudal agricultural country, with a natural economy as the mainstay and a small proportion of national capitalist economy, so the bourgeoisie was weak. The special national conditions of a big agricultural country determine that the vast majority of people in China are peasant proletariat, and the middle class is very weak. The special national conditions of a big agricultural country determine that the vast majority of people in China are peasant proletariat, and the middle class is very weak. In the twenty or thirty years after the Revolution of 1911, the social strata in China gradually divided and the civil society initially developed, but it did not fully form a middle class that liberalism could rely on. In addition, the liberals in modern China were mainly a few urban intellectuals. Although they launched the liberal movement and provided great public opinion power for liberalism, they could not decide the success or failure of the liberal movement. The lack of power at the social level doomed liberalism to be a rootless grass lacking class dependence, which also became a major obstacle to the development of liberalism in modern China.

Third, modern China neglected economic liberalism.

The basic connotation of liberalism includes political freedom, economic freedom, socialist freedom and philosophical freedom, and economic freedom is the core value of liberalism. But economic liberalism has been neglected in China. In modern China, economic liberalism has never achieved a position commensurate with its importance. Liberals usually remain silent on economic issues, or they often talk about anti-economic liberalism such as "equal wealth", "plan" and "the third way". Modern intellectuals all showed the separation and rejection of free economy, while China's liberalism mainly occurred in the political and cultural fields. Although talking about economic liberalism is not completely absent in the development of liberalism in modern China, the thought of economic liberalism is only a trickle in the history of thought. Under the upsurge of saving the country in modern China, liberalism was regarded as a tool to save the country, while economic liberalism, as its core value, was overshadowed, and its development in modern China gradually shrank.

Fourth, the shortcomings of modern liberalism itself.

According to Mr. Yin, China liberals are "congenital deficiency and acquired disorder". Congenital deficiency has two meanings. On the one hand, liberalism did not come from China, which also led to the lack of its own theoretical construction, failed to form a complete and rigorous theoretical system, and failed to provide theoretical guidance for the development of liberalism in China. On the other hand, the liberalism introduced into China is the fusion of various ideas, which makes Chinese and Western liberalism very different. This feature also determines that liberalism may be misunderstood and discriminated against in the context of China. At the same time, the liberals in modern China did not recognize China, nor did they have a set of theories based on China's reality. It is precisely because of the imperfection of this theoretical construction that the liberalism in modern China has a shallow foundation and insufficient internal force, and the theory is often unconvincing, just like duckweed in the water, teetering.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) conclusion

Although for various reasons, liberalism was given a cold shoulder in China in the 20th century. However, the failure of liberalism in China in the first half of the 20th century does not mean that the direction it chose is ultimately meaningless. We should still cherish this ideological heritage with sympathetic understanding.