Government and Politics in Kuomintang China, 1927–1937 by Hung-Mao Tien (review)

REVIEWS 441 probably exemplifiedWittfogel's celebrated 'Orientaldespotism' muchbetterthan did China(whereirrigationcontrolwasmuchmoredecentralized thanin Angkor). And hewonderedif oneoftherealsecrets of Southeast Asianhistorydid notliein the strangerelationships whichexistedbetweensuchdespotic inlandpolitiesand the verydifferent,andmuchmorecosmopolitan, coastal tradingstates whichwerealso suchapronounced featureof pre-colonial Southeast Asia. In brief, Bendaaskedquestions thathadrarely,if ever,beenaskedbefore- no matterhowobvious theymayseem now- andexercised, almost single-handedly, a tremendous modernizing influence uponthehistorical scholarship of theregion. ALEXANDER WOODSIDE HarvardUniversity Government andPolitics inKuomintang China,•927-• 937. I-ItS•4G-MAO Tiv.•4. Stanford, StanfordUniversity Press, •97•. PP.xiv,•6, maps. $8.95. Professor Tien hasattempted topresent asystematic description andappraisal ofthe personnel, structures, andfinancing of centralandprovincial politicalandgovernmentalorgans for Chinainthedecade•927-37. Hisdataareassembled fromawide range of sources, a substantial amountfrom monographs in Chineseand from available Chinese statistical compilations. Despite this,ashereadilyconcedes, many gaps remaintobefilled. Hisprincipal achievements &re hisdelineation anddefinition oftheparties, factions ,and competinginterestsin the Nationalistparty (Kuomintangor IC•T),the governments, and the militaryelements.He is lesssuccessful in unravellingthe centraland provincialrevenueand disbursements systems and policies and their inter-relationshipand in presentinga convincinganalysisof the socio-economic composition of the•lites. By far the mostinterestingand provocative aspects of the studyrelateto the controversial issues of thesuccesses andfailuresof constructing an acceptable and efficient central governmentfor China. Conceivedas a transitional,politicallyoriented 'one-party state,' theeffortendedinavirtualone-manmilitarydictatorship in 'Kuomintang China.' The term itself reflectsthe ambiguityof Generalissimo ChiangKai-shek's position and,incidentally, of Professor Tien'sendless dilemmas. The Nationalistgovernmentnever achievedany real politicalcontrolanywhere. Chiangpossessed absolute controlinbuttwocoastal provinces andeffectivemilitary controlonlywherethosemilitaryforces underhispersonal command wereableto penetrate. Andthispenetration wasonlyeffectedwithinthecontextof Bandit(read Communist) suppression campaigns. Professor Tiendoes notresolve hisdilemmas; hesimply postpones most ofthem. Hepresents aclear picture ofChina still suffering thelegacy ofdecades ofdisorder anddisunity, of interminable foreigninterference, of massive deficiencies in resources (bothfinancialandof trainedandexperienced manpower).He is,courageously , reluctant tofindascapegoat, though heispositively critical ofthemotivations andpriorities ofChiang andhishardcore ofv,x•T leaders. 442 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW As suggested, the studydealsinconclusively with severalaspects of government andpolitics. Manyquestions remainunanswered. Yet,bysharplyfocussing onthe minutiae oftheinternalstructures, controls, andprogrammes atthevarious levels, the complexities of theproblems andtheobstacles become strikinglyapparent.Oneis forcedto realizethatthereissomething incongruous (andprobably sterile)in the renewed debates between the defenders and detractors of the I•MT/National government/Chiang syndromes. One decadeaffordedlittle more than the opportunityfor athinthreadof lighttopenetrate thechasm of almost utterdarkness into which 'China' had fallen. Finally,it maybenoted,thestudy, exceptfor some minorerrors,achieves ahigh technical standard. Curiously, aspecial photo-offset glossary, withChinese characters fortransliterated names, lists provincial governors only.Whythiswas notexpanded to includeall prominentfiguresin thei•T/National government structure andto identifynumerousphrases in thetextandthetidesof Chinesesource materialsisa mystery.This would seemindispensable for the names,at least.Many persons adoptedtheir owntransliteratedformsfor their names,whichbearno resemblance tothe(Wade-Giles) system used byProfessor Tien.WithouttheChinese characters, theremaybeconfusion in identity. The studyiswellworthreading,notonlyforitsinformationandperspectives, but also foritsinsights intothestruggles ofanationalist tofunction asascholarly political historian. JACKj. GERSON University ofToronto CANADA Viking America: The Norse Crossings andtheir Legacy. JAMES ROBERT ENTERLEIN. Garden City,N¾, Doubleday, •97•. Pp.xx, • •7, maps, illus.$6.95. Arctic Fever: The Search .for the Northwest Passage.I•Ot•C,WIL•SON. Toronto/ Vancouver, Clarke,Irwin, •97•. PP.x, •54,map,illus.$6.5o. That Northmenmadetheir wayto present-day northeastern Canadacenturies befbreColumbas crossed theAtlantichaslongbeenknown.Indeed,it isquestionablewhether theknowledge ofthisachievement completely disappeared inEurope. Scholars fbroveracentury have devoted much attention toinvestigating evidences of thisremarkable activity - thesagas, theartifacts, anddocuments of theGreenland colony, thestructural ruinsandotherobjects ofundoubted Norse provenance tbund at severalplaces alongtheeasternseaboard of America.RobertEnterleinisnot a linguist, archaeologist, orcartographer, buthehasassiduously studied thefindings of suchspecialists (witness his extensive bibliography) from whichhe haspropounded hisveryambitious thesis ofVikingAmerica. Accepting thefindings ofetymological studies thatrenderthe'vinland' ofthesagas as'pastureland'rather than 'wineland,'he concludes that the main sitesof Norse colonization should besought onBaffinIslandandHudsonStraitratherthanalong the Atlantic coast.Then, on the basisof the cairn-like structures scatteredaround the ...