The Chinese Path to Modernisation

Abstract

In this paper, I will examine the notion of “alternative modernity” that was prominent during Republican China. In the first section, I will discuss “the debate on science and the philosophy of life” (1923) and the debate over total westernisation (1935), highlighting the two main areas of contention between the May Fourth intellectuals and their critics: scientism and populism. In the second section, I will compare the writings of four thinkers: Liang Shuming (1893-1988), Wu Mei (1894-1978), Liu Yizheng (1880-1956), and Chen Yinke (1890-1969), focusing on how they used “culture” ( wenhua ) and “morality” ( daode ) to chart a Chinese path to modernisation. In the third section, I will discuss the reasons for a lack of support for alternative modernity in Republican China.