War in the making of modern China

Modern Asian Studies

Volumn 30, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 737-756

  Van De Ven, Hans J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 1642612603     PISSN: 0026749X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0026749x00016784     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. For a critical discussion of the contents of the term that places the new scholarship in the history of scholarship on war, see Peter Paret, 'The history of war and the new military history,' in Paret, Understanding War (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), pp. 209-26.
2. Stephen MacKinnon organized the first conference in Tempe, Arizona in 1992. Realizing that researchers in various places were beginning to undertake research on China's military history, he brought many of them together to discuss sources, approaches, and topics. Future workshops and seminars are planned to discuss the history of strategic thought, war and memory, the impact of war on the state-building, and battles in modern Chinese history.
3. C. von Clausewitz, On War, tr. Peter Paret (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976), Book I, eh. 1 and eh. 7; Peter Paret, 'Clausewitz: life and thought,' in Understanding War, pp. 107-17.
4. C. von Clausewitz, On War, tr. Peter Paret (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976), Book I, eh. 1 and eh. 7; Peter Paret, 'Clausewitz: life and thought,' in Understanding War, pp. 107-17.
5. This approach characterizes what is also a well-researched and nuanced study of the late Qing military, namely K. C. Liu, 'The military challenge' in John K. Fairbank and Kwang-ching Liu (eds), The Cambridge History of China, vol. 11, part II (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), pp. 203-73.
6. Daniel Headrick, Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981 ), pp. 43-50.
7. William McNeill, The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D.1000 (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1982), pp. 223-61. Headrick, Tools of Empire, pp. 43-76. Headrick notes the importance of prophylactic medicines such as quinine without which European soldiers invariably died in the tropics.
8. William McNeill, The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D.1000 (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1982), pp. 223-61. Headrick, Tools of Empire, pp. 43-76. Headrick notes the importance of prophylactic medicines such as quinine without which European soldiers invariably died in the tropics.
9. Liang Qichao, Xin min shuo (On the renewal of the people) in Yinbinshi congzhu (Collected writings from the Ice Drinker's Studio) (Shanghai, Commercial Press, no date), vol. 1, p. 8.
10. Douglas, Reynolds, China: 1898-1912: the Xinzheng Revolution and Japan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993) provides a comprehensive discussion of the policy changes. For the build-up of the army, see Stephen MacKinnon, Power and Politics in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shih-k'ai in Beijing and Tienjin, 1901-1908 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980), pp. 90-136; Edmund Fung, The Military Dimension of the Chinese Revolution (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980), pp. 12-86; Edward McCord, The Power of the Gun: The Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993), pp. 17-45; Ralph Powell, The Rise of Chinese Military Power (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1955).
11. Douglas, Reynolds, China: 1898-1912: the Xinzheng Revolution and Japan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993) provides a comprehensive discussion of the policy changes. For the build-up of the army, see Stephen MacKinnon, Power and Politics in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shih-k'ai in Beijing and Tienjin, 1901-1908 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980), pp. 90-136; Edmund Fung, The Military Dimension of the Chinese Revolution (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980), pp. 12-86; Edward McCord, The Power of the Gun: The Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993), pp. 17-45; Ralph Powell, The Rise of Chinese Military Power (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1955).
12. Douglas, Reynolds, China: 1898-1912: the Xinzheng Revolution and Japan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993) provides a comprehensive discussion of the policy changes. For the build-up of the army, see Stephen MacKinnon, Power and Politics in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shih-k'ai in Beijing and Tienjin, 1901-1908 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980), pp. 90-136; Edmund Fung, The Military Dimension of the Chinese Revolution (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980), pp. 12-86; Edward McCord, The Power of the Gun: The Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993), pp. 17-45; Ralph Powell, The Rise of Chinese Military Power (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1955).
13. Douglas, Reynolds, China: 1898-1912: the Xinzheng Revolution and Japan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993) provides a comprehensive discussion of the policy changes. For the build-up of the army, see Stephen MacKinnon, Power and Politics in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shih-k'ai in Beijing and Tienjin, 1901-1908 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980), pp. 90-136; Edmund Fung, The Military Dimension of the Chinese Revolution (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980), pp. 12-86; Edward McCord, The Power of the Gun: The Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993), pp. 17-45; Ralph Powell, The Rise of Chinese Military Power (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1955).
14. Douglas, Reynolds, China: 1898-1912: the Xinzheng Revolution and Japan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993) provides a comprehensive discussion of the policy changes. For the build-up of the army, see Stephen MacKinnon, Power and Politics in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shih-k'ai in Beijing and Tienjin, 1901-1908 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980), pp. 90-136; Edmund Fung, The Military Dimension of the Chinese Revolution (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1980), pp. 12-86; Edward McCord, The Power of the Gun: The Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993), pp. 17-45; Ralph Powell, The Rise of Chinese Military Power (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1955).
15. Jane K. Leonard, Wei Yuan and China's Rediscovery of the Maritime World (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984), pp. 191-201.
16. On the Chinese navy, see Stanley Spector, Li Hung-chang and the Huai Army (Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1964), pp. 181-94.
17. Deng Maomao, Deng Xiaoping, My Father (New York: Basic Books, 1995), pp. 401-2. Verification by independent archival research is not now possible, but will need to take place before Deng Maomao's suggestion can be accepted as accurate. The manoeuvres of the Second Front Army, however, and especially the dash toward the Dabie Mountains suggest that the Chinese communists did see the situation as requiring audacious measures.
18. Stephen Levine, Anvil of Victory (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987), pp. 123-74.
19. On the political consequences for the Opium War, see James Polachek, The Inner Opium War (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992). On the consequences of the Allied Expedition, see my article in this issue. On the reform movement itself, see Reynolds, China: 1898-1912.
20. On the political consequences for the Opium War, see James Polachek, The Inner Opium War (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992). On the consequences of the Allied Expedition, see my article in this issue. On the reform movement itself, see Reynolds, China: 1898-1912.
21. Arthur Waldron, 'War and the rise of Chinese nationalism,' in Journal of Military History, vol. 57 (October 1993), pp. 87-104.
22. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
23. Hans van de Ven, From Friend to Comrade (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), pp. 147-98.
24. John Keegan, The Face of Battle (London: Pimlico, 1976) discusses strategy, tactics, and various experiences of three great battles in European history, namely Agincourt (1415), Waterloo (1815), and the Somme (1915). It is a splendid example of what battle history can be.
25. A sophisticated discussion of the modernization of warfare especially during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that provides a lucid synthesis with many fresh insights is McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 117-306. Valuable for its concise overviews of technological developments and the actual wars in Europe and the United States is Larry Addington, The Patterns of War since the Eighteenth Century (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994, 2nd edition). An old and still very useful classic, first published in 1920, is Hans Delbrück, The Dawn of Modern Warfare: History of the Art of War, vol. 4 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990).
26. A sophisticated discussion of the modernization of warfare especially during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that provides a lucid synthesis with many fresh insights is McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 117-306. Valuable for its concise overviews of technological developments and the actual wars in Europe and the United States is Larry Addington, The Patterns of War since the Eighteenth Century (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994, 2nd edition). An old and still very useful classic, first published in 1920, is Hans Delbrück, The Dawn of Modern Warfare: History of the Art of War, vol. 4 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990).
27. A sophisticated discussion of the modernization of warfare especially during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that provides a lucid synthesis with many fresh insights is McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 117-306. Valuable for its concise overviews of technological developments and the actual wars in Europe and the United States is Larry Addington, The Patterns of War since the Eighteenth Century (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994, 2nd edition). An old and still very useful classic, first published in 1920, is Hans Delbrück, The Dawn of Modern Warfare: History of the Art of War, vol. 4 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990).
28. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 161-6; Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 19-27.
29. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 161-6; Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 19-27.
30. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 185-206; Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 19-29.
31. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 185-206; Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 19-29.
32. McNeill, pp. 223-306; Addington, pp. 48-101.
33. Michael Howard, The Franco-Prussian War (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961). On the impact in Europe, see Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 102-5.
34. Michael Howard, The Franco-Prussian War (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961). On the impact in Europe, see Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 102-5.
35. See Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 102-5. For a discussion of how Russia approached the post-Franco-Prussian War situation, see William C. Fuller, Strategy and Power in Russia, 1600-1914 (New York: The Free Press, 1992), pp. 328-93.
36. See Addington, Patterns of War, pp. 102-5. For a discussion of how Russia approached the post-Franco-Prussian War situation, see William C. Fuller, Strategy and Power in Russia, 1600-1914 (New York: The Free Press, 1992), pp. 328-93.
37. See David Ralston, Importing the European Army: The Introduction of European Military Techniques and Institutions in the Extra-European World, 1600-1914 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), pp. 114-72 for a preliminary discussion of the impact of army modernization in China and Japan.
38. See for instance Xunlian caofa xiangxi tu shuo (Detailed and illustrated manual for military training and drill) in Shi Duqiao, et al. (eds), Zhongguo bingshu jicheng (Collection of Chinese military writings) (Peking, PLA Press, 1992), vol. 50. The manual was issued in 1899; Ziqiang jun xifa lei bian (Western methods of the Self-strengthening Army, arranged by topic) in ibid., vol. 49. First published in 1898. A new manual, the Xinding bubing caufa (New drill manual for the infantry) was translated from the Japanese and published in 1910. See Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa (Military history of China: vol. 4: tactics, Peking: PLA Press, 1988), p. 425.
39. See for instance Xunlian caofa xiangxi tu shuo (Detailed and illustrated manual for military training and drill) in Shi Duqiao, et al. (eds), Zhongguo bingshu jicheng (Collection of Chinese military writings) (Peking, PLA Press, 1992), vol. 50. The manual was issued in 1899; Ziqiang jun xifa lei bian (Western methods of the Self-strengthening Army, arranged by topic) in ibid., vol. 49. First published in 1898. A new manual, the Xinding bubing caufa (New drill manual for the infantry) was translated from the Japanese and published in 1910. See Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa (Military history of China: vol. 4: tactics, Peking: PLA Press, 1988), p. 425.
40. See for instance Xunlian caofa xiangxi tu shuo (Detailed and illustrated manual for military training and drill) in Shi Duqiao, et al. (eds), Zhongguo bingshu jicheng (Collection of Chinese military writings) (Peking, PLA Press, 1992), vol. 50. The manual was issued in 1899; Ziqiang jun xifa lei bian (Western methods of the Self-strengthening Army, arranged by topic) in ibid., vol. 49. First published in 1898. A new manual, the Xinding bubing caufa (New drill manual for the infantry) was translated from the Japanese and published in 1910. See Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa (Military history of China: vol. 4: tactics, Peking: PLA Press, 1988), p. 425.
41. See for instance Xunlian caofa xiangxi tu shuo (Detailed and illustrated manual for military training and drill) in Shi Duqiao, et al. (eds), Zhongguo bingshu jicheng (Collection of Chinese military writings) (Peking, PLA Press, 1992), vol. 50. The manual was issued in 1899; Ziqiang jun xifa lei bian (Western methods of the Self-strengthening Army, arranged by topic) in ibid., vol. 49. First published in 1898. A new manual, the Xinding bubing caufa (New drill manual for the infantry) was translated from the Japanese and published in 1910. See Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa (Military history of China: vol. 4: tactics, Peking: PLA Press, 1988), p. 425.
42. On German influence, see Udo Ratenhof, Die China Politik des Deutschen Reiches, 1871-1945 (Boppard am Rhein: Boldt, 1987); Qingdai dang'an ziliao congbian, vol. 10, pp. 221-90; Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa, vol. 4, pp. 412-25; William Kirby, Germany and Republican China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983) notes that Wang Tao wrote a book on the Franco-Prussian War that shocked the Self-Strengthening establishment and led to the use of German advisors both by Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong as well as the purchase of new equipment including from the Krupp factories.
43. On German influence, see Udo Ratenhof, Die China Politik des Deutschen Reiches, 1871-1945 (Boppard am Rhein: Boldt, 1987); Qingdai dang'an ziliao congbian, vol. 10, pp. 221-90; Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa, vol. 4, pp. 412-25; William Kirby, Germany and Republican China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983) notes that Wang Tao wrote a book on the Franco-Prussian War that shocked the Self-Strengthening establishment and led to the use of German advisors both by Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong as well as the purchase of new equipment including from the Krupp factories.
44. On German influence, see Udo Ratenhof, Die China Politik des Deutschen Reiches, 1871-1945 (Boppard am Rhein: Boldt, 1987); Qingdai dang'an ziliao congbian, vol. 10, pp. 221-90; Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa, vol. 4, pp. 412-25; William Kirby, Germany and Republican China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983) notes that Wang Tao wrote a book on the Franco-Prussian War that shocked the Self-Strengthening establishment and led to the use of German advisors both by Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong as well as the purchase of new equipment including from the Krupp factories.
45. On German influence, see Udo Ratenhof, Die China Politik des Deutschen Reiches, 1871-1945 (Boppard am Rhein: Boldt, 1987); Qingdai dang'an ziliao congbian, vol. 10, pp. 221-90; Guo Rugui et al. (eds), Zhongguo junshishi: Disi juan: bingfa, vol. 4, pp. 412-25; William Kirby, Germany and Republican China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983) notes that Wang Tao wrote a book on the Franco-Prussian War that shocked the Self-Strengthening establishment and led to the use of German advisors both by Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong as well as the purchase of new equipment including from the Krupp factories.
46. McCord, The Power of the Gun. See my article in this issue for an initial exploration of the fiscal background.
47. Tien Chen-ya, Chinese Military Theory (Stevenage, SPA Books, 1992), pp. 105-18.
48. Fung, Military Dimension, pp. 114-229.
49. Benjamin Schwartz, 'Themes in intellectual history: May Fourth and after,' in John K. Fairbank (ed.), The Cambridge History of China vol. 12, Part I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), pp. 408-18.
50. Paul Fussell, War and Modern Memory (London: Oxford University Press, 1975), p. 315.
51. Ibid., pp. 315-20.
52. Some examples of the new genre are Ran Huaidan and Zhu Haiyan, Beifang you zhanhuo (The smoke of war in the north) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Guo Qingping and Xu Yuanshang, Baituan Dazhan (The hundred regiments offensive) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Dikang et al., Disi yezhanjun nanzheng jishi (The southern campaign of the Fourth Field Army) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Yubin and Wang Suhong, Dashi zhongyuan (Battles on the central plains) (Peking: PLA Press 1993).
53. Some examples of the new genre are Ran Huaidan and Zhu Haiyan, Beifang you zhanhuo (The smoke of war in the north) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Guo Qingping and Xu Yuanshang, Baituan Dazhan (The hundred regiments offensive) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Dikang et al., Disi yezhanjun nanzheng jishi (The southern campaign of the Fourth Field Army) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Yubin and Wang Suhong, Dashi zhongyuan (Battles on the central plains) (Peking: PLA Press 1993).
54. Some examples of the new genre are Ran Huaidan and Zhu Haiyan, Beifang you zhanhuo (The smoke of war in the north) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Guo Qingping and Xu Yuanshang, Baituan Dazhan (The hundred regiments offensive) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Dikang et al., Disi yezhanjun nanzheng jishi (The southern campaign of the Fourth Field Army) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Yubin and Wang Suhong, Dashi zhongyuan (Battles on the central plains) (Peking: PLA Press 1993).
55. Some examples of the new genre are Ran Huaidan and Zhu Haiyan, Beifang you zhanhuo (The smoke of war in the north) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Guo Qingping and Xu Yuanshang, Baituan Dazhan (The hundred regiments offensive) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Dikang et al., Disi yezhanjun nanzheng jishi (The southern campaign of the Fourth Field Army) (Peking: PLA Press, 1993); Wang Yubin and Wang Suhong, Dashi zhongyuan (Battles on the central plains) (Peking: PLA Press 1993).
56. Wang Weili, 'Kang-Ri zhanzheng zhong de Guo-Gong guanxi vu Zhongguo zhengzhi qiantu' (The relationship between the CCP and the KMT during the Period of the Anti-Japanese war and subsequent Chinese politics). Third international symposium on the history of Republican China, Nanjing, December 1994.
57. See the articles by Peter Perdue and Joanna Waley-Cohen in this issue.
58. Beatrice Bartlett, Monarchs and Ministers: the Grand Council in mid-Ch'ing China, 1723-1820 (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1991), p. 266.
59. See Madeleine Zelin, The Magistrate's Tael (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), pp. 246ff. on attempts at reforms of the land registration system in eighteenth-century China.
60. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 98-9. See also Frederic Wakeman, J., The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 75-82, 168-70. The Ming was able at first to exploit European artillery technology to create defences that the Manchus were not able to breach. But the capture of artillery troops and experts by the Qing and their own acquisition and manufacture of European cannon changed the balance of forces decisively. The Qing also depended on their great cavalry speed. See also Wei Zhenfu et al., Zhongguo junshishi: diyijuan: Bingqi (Military history of China: vol. 1: weapons) (Peking: PLA Press, 1983), pp. 129-35.
61. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 98-9. See also Frederic Wakeman, J., The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 75-82, 168-70. The Ming was able at first to exploit European artillery technology to create defences that the Manchus were not able to breach. But the capture of artillery troops and experts by the Qing and their own acquisition and manufacture of European cannon changed the balance of forces decisively. The Qing also depended on their great cavalry speed. See also Wei Zhenfu et al., Zhongguo junshishi: diyijuan: Bingqi (Military history of China: vol. 1: weapons) (Peking: PLA Press, 1983), pp. 129-35.
62. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 98-9. See also Frederic Wakeman, J., The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 75-82, 168-70. The Ming was able at first to exploit European artillery technology to create defences that the Manchus were not able to breach. But the capture of artillery troops and experts by the Qing and their own acquisition and manufacture of European cannon changed the balance of forces decisively. The Qing also depended on their great cavalry speed. See also Wei Zhenfu et al., Zhongguo junshishi: diyijuan: Bingqi (Military history of China: vol. 1: weapons) (Peking: PLA Press, 1983), pp. 129-35.
63. McNeill, Pursuit of Power, pp. 95-8.
64. Ibid., pp. 98-9. For the technological, industrial, and managerial developments that were basic to the rise of the Muscovite empire, see Fuller, Strategy and Power in Russia, 1600-1914, pp. 23-5, 56-84.
65. Ibid., pp. 98-9. For the technological, industrial, and managerial developments that were basic to the rise of the Muscovite empire, see Fuller, Strategy and Power in Russia, 1600-1914, pp. 23-5, 56-84.
66. Paret, 'The new military history,' in Understanding War, p. 222.
67. Fairbank, 'Introduction,' in Frank Kierman and John Fairbank (eds), Chinese Ways in Warfare (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974), p. 1.