Editorial

As this issue was going to press, news spread of the death of Christina Gilmartin, a long-time member of our Editorial Board. Best known for her pathbreaking book, Engendering the Chinese Revolution (1995), Chris was among the first to make gender an important category of analysis in the study of Chinese history. Twentieth-Century China mourns her passing, and celebrates her many achievements.

One of the central issues confronting China in the twentieth century has been the status of Taiwan. Befitting a journal with our title, then, we begin this issue with two essays that consider Taiwan and its relations with the mainland, both in the crucial decades following the end of World War II.

Wen-shuo Liao begins with a consideration of the Taiwan provincial exposition, held in 1948. "'Exhibiting Chineseness: The Taiwan Provincial Exposition of 1948," provides rare insight into a liminal moment, when Taiwan was being consolidated into the Chinese polity after decades of Japanese occupation, before, within a few years, the island would again be isolated from events on the mainland by the outcome of the Civil War. Liao demonstrates clearly how the exposition was carefully managed to highlight the island's distinctive identity—introducing Taiwan to mainlanders who had probably never visited—while carefully integrating it into Chinese historical experience. The article suggests comparisons between the ways in which Taiwan partakes of, yet differs from, the experience of mainland China, an issue that still confronts policy makers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait today as they ponder the issue of reunification.

Reunification of a different sort—or rather, avoiding this reunification—is the focus of Jennifer Liu's article, "Anticipating Invasion: Military Training in Taiwan's High Schools, 1953–1960." How does a state respond when, from its inception, invasion from a much larger adversary appears imminent? Liu presents one aspect of this response, detailing how the Taiwanese authorities implemented paramilitary training in Taiwan's high schools starting in 1953. Liu demonstrates that the militarization of Taiwanese high schools—both boys' and girls' schools—contributed to two different aspects of the Nationalist regime's survival. Not only did the training provide a military force in the event of invasion, but the strict regimentation also helped the state prevent and defuse student protests, contributing to the stability of the regime and facilitating its hold on power.

Chihyun Chang's article, "The Making of New Chinese Bureaucrats: The Customs College and the Chinese Customs Staff, 1908–1949," examines the question of Chineseness from a different perspective, looking at the creation of a Chinese professional bureaucracy in (primarily) the Republican era. Some of the issues are similar to those addressed in Wen-shuo Liao's article: whereas the 1948 exposition sought to reintegrate Taiwan into the Chinese polity after the Japanese occupation, the Chinese Customs College endeavored to reclaim China's foreign service bureaucracy from foreigners, primarily Britons, who had run and directed it since the mid-nineteenth century. Chang's article provides detailed analysis of the workings of this school and analyzes its role as first the Qing and then the Nationalist regime attempted to remake China into a modern nation-state.

Finally for this issue, Chieko Nakajima continues exploring the themes of modernity and nationalism in her article, "'Healthful Goods': Health, Hygiene, and Commercial Culture in Early Twentieth-Century Shanghai." The author contributes to the robust literature on concepts of hygiene and nationalism, adding elements of business and local history as well. A strength of this article is the way it focuses on the notions of nationalism, modernity, and public health at the individual level, enabling us to move away from abstract ideology and toward specific examples.

Taken as a whole, these four articles contribute to our understanding of nationalism, modernity, and Chinese identity: topics that, to be sure, have been addressed in the literature, but in these fresh examples we see new angles and new analyses of how they manifested in specific cases.

Looking ahead, our next issue is intended to be a special themed issue focusing on the May Fourth Movement. Bringing together scholars from Europe, Asia, and North America, Twentieth-Century China is excited...