Philip A. Kuhn (Chinese name: simplified Chinese: 孔飞力, 孔复礼; traditional Chinese: 孔飛力, 孔復禮; born September 9, 1933) was an American academic, sinologist and the Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Emeritus, at Harvard University.
Modern political system is generally thought to be brought to China by westerners. However the author tapped into writings of Chinese intellects in late Qing to explore the ‘Chinese root’ of subsequent modernisation efforts by the Republic and the People’s Republic. Although the account was unconvincing in terms of establishing a Chinese origins of modern Chinese state, it did however illustrate attempts of literati, who prioritised national interests, on addressing problems of their era and how did these proposals reconcile with western political ideas.
One surprising thing about the book is it shed lights on the plight of literati under the framework of civil service examination. The author mentioned there were a lot of literati who failed to secure a job in government. Huge amount of intellects, who share same culture status with officials but possess a much inferior position in power gradient. It is foreseeable that unemployment and social instability will be the consequences between this huge mismatch between vacancies offered by government and the competition. Would be interesting to read a book that probe deeper into this issue!
Philip Kuhn short essay on Chinese government is a excellent short read. He is a Qing expert and he begins with the problems of the late Qianlong period on onwards to the example of Wei Yuan in the 19th century.
He has a detailed discussion of the elite of the Qing period, the literati as well as the relationship to the clerks.
An essential work for any reader seriously interested in Chinese history or politics. Radically original and utterly brilliant. Will be reading much more Kuhn in the future!
Totally love Kuhn analysis of Chinese governmentality--with an incisive view on the key constitutional issues of big China from late Qing till Mao's era.