Skip to Main Content

Protest with Chinese Characteristics: Demonstrations, Riots, and Petitions in the Mid-Qing Dynasty

Online ISBN:
9780231525459
Print ISBN:
9780231152037
Publisher:
Columbia University Press
Book

Protest with Chinese Characteristics: Demonstrations, Riots, and Petitions in the Mid-Qing Dynasty

Ho-fung Hung
Ho-fung Hung
The Johns Hopkins University
Find on
Published online:
19 November 2015
Published in print:
16 April 2013
Online ISBN:
9780231525459
Print ISBN:
9780231152037
Publisher:
Columbia University Press

Abstract

The origin of political modernity has long been tied to the Western history of protest and revolution, the currents of which many believe sparked popular dissent worldwide. Reviewing nearly one thousand instances of protest in China from the eighteenth to the early nineteenth centuries, the book charts an evolution of Chinese dissent that stands apart from Western trends. The author samples from mid-Qing petitions and humble plaints to the emperor, revisiting rallies, riots, market strikes, and other forms of contention rarely considered in previous studies. Drawing on new world history, which accommodates parallels and divergences between political-economic and cultural developments East and West, the author shows how the centralization of political power and an expanding market, coupled with a persistent Confucianist orthodoxy, shaped protesters' strategies and appeals in Qing China. This unique form of mid-Qing protest combined a quest for justice and autonomy with a filial-loyal respect for the imperial center, and the author's research ties this distinct characteristic to popular protest in China today. The book makes clear, the nature of these protests prove late imperial China was anything but a stagnant and tranquil empire before the West cracked it open. In fact, the origins of modern popular politics in China predate the 1911 Revolution. The book establishes a framework that others can use to compare popular protest among different cultural fabrics, and fundamentally recasts the evolution of such acts worldwide.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close