Were Chinese Liberals Liberal? Reflections on the Understanding of Liberalism in Modern China

Bibliographic Data

ID2855073
AuthorsEdmund S K Fung (University of Western Sydney, Penrith South DC, Australia, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume81
Issue4
Pages557-576
Publication date2008-12-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePacific Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-851X • E-ISSN: 1715-3379
PublisherPacific Affairs (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5509/2008814557
OpenAlexW2032098419
LanguageEN
Citations received7

Chinese scholarship over the past ten years or so, it is often thought that the intellectuals of modern China misunderstood liberalism, and even distorted it, because they failed to recognize classical liberalism, especially the link between liberalism and a free market economy. Consequently, great harm was done to the cause of liberalism in the precommunist period. This is a neo-liberal view that raises the question: Were Chinese liberals liberal? To answer, it is necessary first to examine the factors that contributed to their understanding of liberalism and their specific concerns. If we find that they were not liberal enough in terms of classical liberalism, does it mean that they should be referred to by some other term

China · Liberalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Law · Philosophy

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