chinaintfree062606

Intellectual Freedom in China Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow : Intellectual Freedom in China Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Yue Li Florida State University June 2006


Presentation Outline : Presentation Outline Introduction: Intellectual Freedom Intellectual Freedom: Republic of China (1911-1949) Yuan Shikai, Warlord Era (1912-1915 ) Sun Yat-sen period (1912-1925) and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nanjing Gov. (1927-1949) Intellectual Freedom: People’s Republic of China (1949— Mao Zedong period (1949-1976) Deng Xiaoping period (1977-1997) Jiang Zeming (1989-2002) and Hu Jintao period (2003-) Intellectual Freedom in China: Outlook


Introduction: Intellectual Freedom : Introduction: Intellectual Freedom Intellectual freedom Freedom of the intellect Freedom of thought Freedom of the mind Intellectual freedom Laws, regulations, rules, or Practices, control of the information creation, acquisition, organization, and dissemination


Intellectual Freedom in China : Intellectual Freedom in China China has a history of 5,000 years Xia Dynasty (ca. 2000-1500 B.C) To Qing (A.D. 1644-1911) (The earliest record history ) (The last feudal dynasty) China had gone through Primitive slavery Feudalism The country ruled by emperors or kings =天子 =the Sons of God There was no concept of freedom, people shared no freedom, and nothing to say intellectual freedom


Intellectual Freedom in ChinaThe Concept of Intellectual Freedom in China : Intellectual Freedom in China The Concept of Intellectual Freedom in China Yen Fu (1853-1921) – a scholar, translator T. H. Huxley's Evolution , Ethics (1896), Wealth of Nations (1900), John Stuart Mill's On Liberty (1899), Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1900) Spencer's Study of Sociology (1903) Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws (1905) Liang Qichao (1873-1929) – scholar, politician Translated and Commented on the works Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Benthamany Western ideology of freedom and democracy introduced to China


Intellectual Freedom  Republic of China (1911-1949)  : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) Yuan Shikai, Warlord Era (1912-1915 ) Sun Yat-sen (1912 -- 1925) Chiang Kai-shek (1927-1949)


Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949)  : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) Democracy and freedom were reaching more and more people The Ministry of Education drafted ten articles to establish libraries and founded Capital Public Library in Beijing in 1913 In 1915, the Ministry stated provinces, counties, schools, colleges should establish libraries Local government, and individuals were encouraged to establish institutional, public, and private libraries There were 227 public libraries national wide


Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949) : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) Chiang Kai-shek (1927-1949) Three People’s Principles Nationalism, Democracy, People’s Livelihood Laws were made related to authorship, publications, news creation and dissemination More freedom to get information from: “Zheng fu gong bao”, newspapers, journals etc.


Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949) : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) Interior Department’s statistics in 1935 showed 81 foreign published newspapers and magazines North China Daily News The Shanghai Times Millard’s Review The Far Eastern Review The China Digest Finance and Commerce Nation-wide 1503 newspaper publishing houses 788 news agencies 1875 journals and magazines


Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949) : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) No real intellectual freedom because of Chiang’s dictatorship In 1915, the gov. published 35 rules and regulations regard to the newspaper, journals, and other media publications No. 9: Any publication subjected to the police depart.’s check No. 10: Any publication that is against the gov. and interfere society’s stability should be banned No. 22: Police could stop any publication’s issuing if the publication was against the gov.


Chinese Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949) : Chinese Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) More Rules All the news and report were under inspection before they were allowed to publish. 1939 to 1945 president Chiang Kai-shek personally delivered 9 decrees to the Propaganda Depart. and News Censorship Bureau to exercise more strict inspection to the newspaper “Xinhua Daily” the communist party’s newspaper


Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949) : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) Hundreds of titles were completely banned such as: “Collection of Mao Zedong’s Speeches” “Ten Yeas Chinese Communist Party” “China Unconquered” “Zhu De’s Biography” “Ten Yeas Chinese Communist Party Each year, a banned book list would be published Any bookstores, libraries, institutions or individuals were subject to serious punishment if they collected those banned books


Intellectual FreedomRepublic of China (1911-1949) : Intellectual Freedom Republic of China (1911-1949) Professors Wen Yiduo and Li Gongpu were assassinated because of their advocating intellectual freedom and and anti-gov’s suppression of democracy (1899-1946) (1902-1946)


Chinese Intellectual FreedomPeople’s Republic of China (1949-- ) : Chinese Intellectual Freedom People’s Republic of China (1949-- ) Mao Zedong (1949-1976) Deng Xiaoping (1977-1997) Jiang Zeming (1989-2002) and Hu Jintao(2003-)


Chinese Intellectual FreedomP.R. China –Mao’s Period (1949--1977)  : Chinese Intellectual Freedom P.R. China –Mao’s Period (1949--1977) Mao and his gov. at the beginning embraced democracy and intellectual freedom “Let a hundred flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought contend.” (1956-1957) People esp. intellectuals allowed, even encouraged to speak freely and to give out their thoughts and minds The intellectuals could raise their criticisms upon government and it’s policies


Intellectual FreedomP.R. China Mao’s Period (1949--1976)  : Intellectual Freedom P.R. China Mao’s Period (1949--1976) Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957 The critics and intellectuals Censored, screened, sent to the remote farms, persecuted, or imprisoned or even tortured to death Any books or materials against the gov. and the party Strictly censored, banned, or destroyed By the end of 1957, more than 550,000 people Writers, scholars, artists labeled as rightists


Intellectual FreedomP.R. China: Mao’s Period (1949---)  : Intellectual Freedom P.R. China: Mao’s Period (1949---) Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) Strong nationalism Idolatry to Mao Zedong Rebellion against traditional culture and the western philosophy Extreme policies to control and destroy information Prosecution of high-ranking leaders and intellectuals The only freedom was reading Mao’s works The gov. excised the extreme policies to control information and destroy information Resulted in a decade of information desert, a political, cultural, and economic havoc


Chinese Intellectual FreedomP.R. China Deng’s Period (1977-1997)  : Chinese Intellectual Freedom P.R. China Deng’s Period (1977-1997) Death of Mao and the arrest of “the Gang of Four” ended the Culture Revolution Deng Xiaoping came to power (1977-1997) The Eleventh Party Congress (1977) A new era for China Policy: “Seeking truth from facts" and “Reform and opening to the outside world”


Intellectual FreedomP.R. China Deng’s Period (1977-1997)  : Intellectual Freedom P.R. China Deng’s Period (1977-1997) More access to foreign and classical works and other information Beijing Spring (1977 –1978): people had unusual freedom to criticize the government Chinese history embraced 1980s as the Spring of Intellectual Freedom & Spring of Sci. and Tech.


Intellectual FreedomP.R. China Deng’s Period (1977-1997)  : Intellectual Freedom P.R. China Deng’s Period (1977-1997) Tiananmen Square Incident in 1989 Protest against the lack of Intellectual freedom China needed further political systems reform The gov. used army froces to suppress the demonstration in Tiananmen. Some people were killed and many more were arrested “Anti-Western-Liberalism Movement” The intellectual freedom enjoyed in 1980s suffered a huge set-back


Chinese Intellectual FreedomPR China Jiang (1989-2002) Hu’s Period (2003--)  : Chinese Intellectual Freedom PR China Jiang (1989-2002) Hu’s Period (2003--) More open, more moderate President Jiang : “Each one of the four modernization depends on the modernization of information.” Amendment to the Constitution adopted : "the State respects and safeguards human rights" Legal systems set up, laws made to protect human rights


Chinese Intellectual FreedomPR China Jiang and Hu’s Period (1989--)  : Chinese Intellectual Freedom PR China Jiang and Hu’s Period (1989--) Foreign experts on intellectual freedom were invited to visit China Foreign information agencies like Yahoo and Google are allowed to open business in China People have more assess to information


Intellectual FreedomP.R . China Jiang and Hu’s Period (1989--)  : Intellectual Freedom P.R . China Jiang and Hu’s Period (1989--) Some political dissidents were released Chinese people are enjoying more rights than they had ever before Complete intellectual freedom at home, workshop, institution and even limited public places Shares many Western economic values but few Western political and intellectual freedom values


Intellectual FreedomP.R. China Jiang and Hu’s Period (1989--)  : Intellectual Freedom P.R. China Jiang and Hu’s Period (1989--) Censorship policies “Legal actions” to ban the “illegal publications” Shut down or eradicate whatever they dislike No voices heard from dissidents “Intranet” in Hong Kong -- The major gov. censorship tool Permits 111 million Chinese Internet users to have unlimited access to each other but filter all information from outside world Screened links to the outside world Foreign companies required to censor Chinese Internet users and many magazines


Intellectual Freedom in China: Outlook : Intellectual Freedom in China: Outlook Intellectual Freedom: Where China stands? Free Partial Free Not Free Intellectual Freedom in China: long way to go but Promising People’s thoughts, minds are changing Media agencies’ leadership changes Media commercialization and privatization New infor. Tech.—Infor. creation and dissemination Influence from Hongkong, Macau, Tiawan, and outside world


Intellectual Freedom in China: Outlook : Intellectual Freedom in China: Outlook  Intellectual Freedom in China in summary Much progress achieved Lot of problems exist More fights needed 前途是光明的, 道路是曲折的. The future is bright but the road is tortuous.


Intellectual Freedom in China Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow(A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words ) : Intellectual Freedom in China Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words )


Intellectual Freedom in China Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow : Intellectual Freedom in China Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Thank You ! Yue Li Florida State University June 2006 (yli3@mailer.fsu.edu)