George Washington's image in China and its impact on the 1911 Revolution

Abstract

The founding father and first president of the United States of America, George Washington was well known in late Qing China. Stories about his accomplishments and personal virtues were widely and continuously circulated. His name's Chinese transliteration became increasingly elegant and his legacy was subject to different spins, including his willingness to give up hereditary reign just like the Chinese ancient sage kings Yao and Shun, as well as his heroic role in leading a nationalist resistance to foreign rule and his moral courage in facing up to personal responsibility. The various Chinese manipulations of the George Washington story helped the Chinese to understand American history, changed their perceptions of foreigners, and contributed to the revolutionary mobilization against the Qing dynasty. In terms of democracy, the Chinese interpreted Washington's legacy from three angles: the nominal, the institutional, and the ideological. Although lacking a democratic tradition, the Chinese did nevertheless value public mindedness, as illustrated by the much admired legendary ancient sage ruler Yao who allegedly passed his reign to another capable leader Shun, instead of to Yao's own descendants. For this reason, the Chinese of the late Qing period could easily appreciate Washington's choice of a presidency over kingship, but they were ill equipped to fully understand the institutional ramifications and the ideological underpinning of Washington's decision. In short, what attracted the Chinese to the Washington story was the nominal implication for political reform in China, not the substance of genuine democracy. As a result of the popularization of the Washington story during late Qing times in China, the Chinese became much more apprehensive about monarchism than about authoritarianism. Hence, when Yuan Shikai exercised his dictatorship as president, few Chinese reacted strongly. But when Yuan made attempts to abandon the nominal constitutional democracy established in the Revolution's wake and to return to monarchy, the whole country opposed him, resulting in the total collapse of Yuan's imperial ambition. This turn of events had a great deal to do with the popularization of the Washington story in late Qing China.

Keywords:

• Washington
• democracy
• 1911 Revolution

Notes

¹Studies of Washington's impact in modern Chinese history are abundant. For some of the earlier publications on this subject, see Ai Zhouchang, “Huashengdun yu zhongguo” [Washington and China], Lishi jiaoxue wenti [Issues in Teaching History], no. 3 (1984), 13–17, and Yu Danchu, “Meiguo duli shi zai jindai zhongguo de jieshao yu yingxiang” [The Impact of American Independence on China], Shijie lishi [World History], no. 2 (1987), 60–81. For more recent publications, see Yang Yusheng, Zhongguo ren de meiguo guan – yi ge lishi de kaocha [The Chinese View of America: A Historical Survey] (Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 1996); Zou Zhenhuan, “‘Geming biaomu' yu wan Qing yingxiong puxi de chongjian – Huashengdun yu Napolun zhuanji wenxian de yikan jiqi yingxiang” [Revolutionary Ideology and the Reconstruction of Heroic Genealogy – The Impact of the Published Translations of Washington and Napoleon Biographies in Late Qing China], Lishi wenxian [Historical Sources], no. 9 (2005), 393–425; and Pan Guangzhe, Huashengdun zai zhongguo – zhizuo “guofu” [George Washington in China – The Manufacturing of “Founding Father”] (Taipei: San Min Book, 2006). Together, these publications offer systematic examinations of Washington's reception in modern China. Pan's work in particular is rich in primary sources and unique in approach. The current work is built on these earlier studies.

²“Liang Guang zongdu Jiang Youtian zoubao mei yapian chuan bei qiang xian liang yu shangxu bing xiao yu yanjin pian” [The Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Jiang Youtian Reports on the Robbery of American Opium Ship, Compensation Settlement and Reaffirmation of the Official Prohibition Rule], in Zhongguo diyi lishi dang'an guan [The First Historical Archives of China], ed., Yapian zhanzheng dang'an shiliao [Historical Sources Concerning the Opium War], vol. 1 (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 1987), 20.

³“Lun” [An essay], in Dongxiyang kao meiyue tongji zhuan [Eastern Western Monthly Magazine] (February 1838) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1997), 325.

⁴“Huashengdun yanxing zui lue” [Washington's Words and Deeds], in Eastern Western Monthly Magazine (January 1838), 320.

⁵“Huashengdun was an extremely learned person and wise in worldly affairs. Since the rebellion broke out, he led his soldiers in the war with the formidable British army for eight years and eventually won. After founding a great country he prioritized education and culture over military buildup. Subsequently, his country was well governed and respected by neighboring countries. He is also fondly remembered by later generations who regard him as an unprecedented great man,” in Okamoto Kansuke's Wanguo shiji [A History of the World], vol. 19 (Shanghai: Shenbao press, 1880), 16.

⁶This book has a new translation by Li Ruilin et al., published by Zhongguo fazhan chubanshe, 2004. The Chinese title of this book is Huashengdun quan zhuan [A Complete Biography of George Washington], but the translators' claim that “this book has never been translated in China” betrays their ignorance of the earlier translation which was published more than a hundred years ago.

⁷This article is also included in Diqiu yingxiong lun [Heroes around the Globe], vol. 3 (Shanghai: Xinmin shuju, 1904). The author of this book is unknown.

⁸ Diqiu yingxiong lun, vol. 3, 30.

⁹Ibid.

¹⁰“Wenhua bian du” [A Convenient Reader in Classical and Colloquial Chinese], in Bian meng congshu chu er ji [Series in Primary Education, vol. 2] (Suzhou: Kaizhi shushi, 1902), lesson 100.

¹¹“Lun” in Eastern Western Monthly Magazine (May 1837), 231.

¹²Yu Zhisen, Huashengdun pingzhuan [A Critical Biography of George Washington] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1990), 372.

¹³“Lun” in Eastern Western Monthly Magazine (May 1837), 231.

¹⁴“Huashengdun yanxing zui lue,” in Eastern Western Monthly Magazine (January 1838), 320.

¹⁵Elijah Coleman Bridgman, “Meilige he sheng guo zhilue” [An Introduction to the USA], Jindaishi ziliao [Modern Historical Materials], no. 92 (1997): 42.

¹⁶Liang Tingnan, “He sheng guo shuo” [About the United States of America], in Hai guo si shuo [Four Essays on Ocean Countries] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1993), 80.

¹⁷Xu Jiyu, Ying huan kaolue [A Short Account of the Oceans Around Us], vol. 2 (Taipei: Wenhai, 1966), 208–9. When the US was first founded, there were only 13 states. There were 16 states when Washington left office. The union continued to grow. By 1846 there were 26 states. Xu's count of 26 states reflects the number in the mid-nineteenth century, not when the country was first formed in 1776. When this book was officially published, Xu corrected the mistake. Also, in Washington's time, each state had held its own state constitutional convention to determine its own republican form of government. Xu exaggerated Washington's achievement in determining the form of government for the states.

¹⁸Ibid., 210. When the manuscript was published it retained this passage, but changed the purely phonic translation of Washington's name from “Wuxingteng” to the now much more elegant sounding “Huashengdun.”

¹⁹Xu Jiyu, “Beiyamolijia milijian hezhongguo” [The United States of North America], in A Short Account of the Oceans Around Us, vol. 9 (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian chubanshe, 2001), 291.

²⁰Ibid.

²¹Wei Yuan, Haiguo tuzhi [An Illustrated Geographies of the Ocean Countries], vol. 59 (Changsha: Yuelu shushe, 1998), 1611.

²²Jiang Dunfu, “Huashengdun zhuan” [A Biography of George Washington], in Xiao gu tang wenji [An Anthology of Writings by Jiang], vol. 5 (Shanghai, 1871), 6–7.

²³Huang Naishang, “Da meiguo shilue – Huang xu” [Introduction to A History of the United States of America], in Da meiguo shilue [A History of the United States of America], by M.C. Wilcox (Fuzhou: Meihua shuju, 1899).

²⁴Pan, Huashengdun zai zhongguo, 2.

²⁵Fu Yunlong wrote: “When he was a child, George Washington was far superior to his peers in both courage and maturity. His father loved trees and planted many around his house. George tried his ax by felling one of them. When confronted by his father about this, he did not lie or pretend that he did not know who did it. Instead, he admitted his wrong doing. His father was pleased by his honesty which was rather typical of George.” See his Shi xue wen dao [A Guide to True Scholarship], vol. 2, 1895, 43.

²⁶Washington was born in 1732. The author was wrong here.

²⁷“Huashengdun xiaozhuan” [A Short Biography of George Washington], Huatu xinbao [The Chinese Illustrated News], no. 4 (1881): 152.

²⁸Fukuyama Yoshiharu, A Biography of George Washington, trans. Tang Jicang (Shanghai: Kaiming shudian, 1903), 3.

²⁹Fukuyama, A Biography of George Washington, trans. Ding Jin, (Shanghai: Wenming shuju, 1903), preface.

³⁰Yu, Huashengdun pingzhuan, 376.

³¹Ibid., 342.

³²Ibid., 375.

³³Hu Zhusheng, ed., Song Shu ji [A Collection of Writings by Song Shu], vol. 1 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1993), 75. Song was a great admirer of George Washington. When he taught in Shanghai in 1896, he had students write an essay on Washington. See Hu Zhusheng, ed., Song Shu ji, vol. 2 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1993), 689.

³⁴“Wangguo pian” [An Essay on National Crisis], National Daily, no. 4. See also Zhang Nan and Wang Renzhi, eds., Xinhai geming qian shinian jian shilun xuanji [A Collection of Commentaries Published in the Decade Leading up to the 1911 Revolution] (Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 1960), 92.

³⁵Zuoxinshe yishuju, ed., Wanguo lishi [World History] (Shanghai: Zuoxin she, 1902), 169–70. This book was designated by the Qing government as one of the school textbooks and reprinted numerous times.

³⁶Shangwu yinshuguan bianyisuo, Meiguo duli zhan shi [A History of the American Independence War] (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1911), 3.

³⁷Huang Xing, “Zhi Yuan Shikai shu” [A Letter to Yuan Shikai], in Huang Xing ji [A Collection of Huang Xing's Writings], ed. Hu'nan sheng shehui kexueyuan (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), 82.

³⁸Zhang Jian, “Ni hui Cheng Dequan zhu Yang Tingdong jin shui Yuan Shikai” [A Proposal to Join Cheng Dequan in Persuading Yuan Shikai], in Zhang Jian quanji [A Complete Work by Zhang Jian], ed. Zhang Jian yanjiu zhongxin [Zhang Jian Research Center] and Nantong Library, vol. 1 (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1994), 180.

³⁹Sun Yao, ed., Zhonghua minguo shiliao [Primary Sources on Republican History] (Shanghai: Wenming shuju, 1929), 53.

⁴⁰“Linshi gongbao” [Temporary Bulletin News], February 21, 1912, vol. 1, no. 1 (repr., Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1982), 35.

⁴¹Zhang Jian, “Zhi Yuan Shikai dian” [A Telegram to Yuan Shikai], in Zhang Jian quanji, vol. 1, 215.

⁴²“Sanshui Liang Yansun xiansheng nianpu” [A Biographical Chronology of Mr Liang Yansun's Life], in Beiyang junfa [The Northern Warlords], ed. Lai Xinxia, vol. 2 (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 1993), 752.

⁴³“Li jian lingdudu deng yuandian” [Telegraphs From Li and others], in Zhengfu gongbao [Official News Bulletin], December 19, 1913, vol. 21 (repr., Nanjing: Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'anguan, 1988), 67.

⁴⁴Bai Jiao, Yuan Shikai yu zhonghua minguo [Yuan Shikai and Republican China] (Shanghai: Renwen yuekan she, 1936; Taipei: Wenhai, 1966), 65.