Some Corner of a Chinese Field

The politics of remembering foreign veterans of the Taiping civil war

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3623232
AutoresJohn Chappell (0000-0001-6946-8662, London School of Economics and Political Science, autor de correspondencia), Jonathan Chappell
Año2018
Volumen52
Número4
Páginas1134-1171
Fecha de publicación2018-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x16000986
OpenAlexW2795515125
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas51

The memory of the foreign involvement in the Taiping war lasted long after the fall of the Taiping capital at Nanjing in 1864. The events were commemorated by various actors, Chinese and foreign, from the end of the war until the end of the treaty-port century in 1943 when the right to extraterritoriality was abrogated. This article explores the commemorations of the foreign role through three media: the issuing of medals to foreign fighters, the building of memorials to the foreign dead, and the writing of histories of the events. Across these media, different interest groups used the foreign interventions as a proxy for continuing debates about the role of foreigners in China and about China's place in the world. More broadly, the commemorations of the role of foreign fighters in the Taiping war is a case study in the transnational politics of memory. The memories of the war were contested or commemorated not just by states, but also by individuals and groups whose views often diverged from those of their government. By tracing how memories of the war were remembered and forgotten, we can trace the insecurities of different interest groups over time and their perceived power relative to each other

China · Great power · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Treaty · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies