New Perspectives on the History of Nationalist China

Abstract

WHEN I STARTED PREPARING THESE REMARKS, I began by writing that the era of Nationalist rule was one of the last remaining unexplored frontiers of modern Chinese history. This is a cliche that those of us working in the field have often uttered, largely, I fear, out of egotistical and self-congratulatory motives. As my writing progressed, however, I realized that the cliche was inaccurate. Actually, we are the heirs of a rich legacy of studies produced by our predecessors, who belonged to two generations. The first generation consisted of those writing from 1927 to 1949 for whom Nationalist China was a current event-those who wrote about it as journalists, travelers, foreign-service officers, and academic political analysts. Some of the names of those belonging to this generation that spring prominently to mind are George Sokolsky, Theodore White, John Service, Paul Linebarger, Lawrence Rosinger, and Graham Peck. (The appended bibliography provides references to works of authors mentioned in this article.) The second generation, publishing during the period from 1949 to about 1965, were those who did historical research and wrote academic treatises on the period of Nationalist rule but whose interest and expertise in the period stemmed largely from their personal and professional involvement. Representatives of this generation are Chang Kia-ngau, who had been a prominent banker and government official; Arthur Young, who had long been a financial adviser to the National Government; and F. F. Liu, who had been a Nationalist