What And Why In China - Taschenbuch

WHAT AND WHY IN CHINA CONTENTS Whats the News from China 1 I. How the Revolution Started. 5 II. What Produced Chinas Nationalists 24 III. The Days of the War Lords. 41 IV. Sun Yat-sen 59 V. What Is the Nationalist Movement 79 VI. China and Foreign Nations... 99 VII. In a Nutshell 118 Together With a Geographical Postscript A Mind-Map of China 123 MAPS The Chinese Revolution of 1911 11 Why China Protested Against the Shantung Award 25 Foreign Concessions and Spheres in China 91 China at the Present Hour. .115 Whats the News from China The Authors FOREWORD My DEAE, said Mrs. Leander P. Jenkins, looking across the breakfast table at her husband, whats the news from China China came the response from be hind the outspread stretches of the morn ing newspaper. Why do you want to know about China Because, explained Mrs, Jenkins with that patience which she had learned to be the principal ingredient of a success ful marriage, because we had the most wonderful speaker at the club yesterday, and he told us that if we are to be citizens of the modern world we must keep in formed as to what is going on in China Something that sounded suspiciously like a snort came from behind the news paper. WHAT AND WHY IN CHINA But Mrs. Jenkins was not to be denied. With unconcealed reluctance her husband finally turned his attention from the cur rent murder trial and began to read that days dispatches from Shanghai. Here you are then, he said. Re ports reaching this city tonight indicate that General Chiang Kai-shek has gained a strategical advantage over General Chang Chung-Chang, whose army is de ployed somewhere in the vicinity of Changchow. Should General Chang Tso-lin fail to reinforce his ally within thenext twenty-four hours there is a strong likelihood that the entire territory be tween Hangchow and Chinkiang will be swept clear of the Shantung forces. 5 Say, what does all that mean Im sure I dont know, my dear, admitted Mrs. Jenkins. These Changs and Chengs and Shantungs all sound about alike to me. Oh dear, does it say anything there about Mabel Gordons wedding . . . 2 WHAT AND WHY IN CHINA That, it is to be feared, is a fairly rep resentative experience of Americans in trying to read the news from China. Instinctively we feel that this is news of major importance, but the manner of its presentation makes it almost unintel ligible to most of us. China has been identified in our minds with mystery ever since we first peered tremblingly through the steam-fogged windows at Tom Lee working within his laundry. And now, just when we should know China best, we find ourselves so confused by the daily dispatches that we are again almost ready to give up trying to make sense out of this enigma. There is no reason why any intelligent American should not have a clear idea of the controlling factors in the Chinese situation. The effect of confusion pro duced by the strange names that appear in the daily press is more apparent than real. While there are all sorts of details in the picture that the specialist in oriental 3 WHAT AND WHY nsr CHINA affairs sees, it is quite possible for the casual reader to discover the main ele ments in the composition, and so to see a picture that is both simple and true. The chapters that follow are an attempt to paint this simple picture. The details are left out. But the necessary lines, in both foreground and background, are here. It is my hope that, havingbeen given this picture, the reader can then fit in with understanding the details as they arrive each day in the daily press. A geographical postscript A Mind-Map of China begins on page 123. It is there for those who prefer to visualize the geo graphical China before they - fill in the historical picture. 4 HOW THE REVOLUTION STARTED THE Chinese Fourth of July is called, by them, the Double Ten festival. That is, they regard the tenth day of the tenth month as their day of independence...