Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

10. (Grand)Father of the Nation? Collective Memory of Sun Yat-sen in Contemporary China

221 10 (GRAND)FATHER OF THE NATION? COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF SUN YAT-SEN IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA Ceren Ergenc Introduction Reform฀and฀opening฀up฀in฀1978฀was฀a฀starting฀point฀for฀China฀to฀change฀ its฀economic฀and฀social฀system฀gradually.฀This฀gradual฀change฀brought฀about฀ certain฀political฀changes฀as฀well.฀When฀Deng฀Xiaoping฀initiated฀the฀reforms฀ that฀transformed฀economic฀and฀social฀structure฀of฀China,฀he฀refrained฀from฀ identifying฀the฀ideological฀orientation฀of฀the฀process.฀However,฀it฀soon฀ turned฀out฀that฀it฀actually฀mattered฀“if฀the฀cat฀was฀black฀or฀white”฀because฀ the฀structural฀changes฀that฀the฀country฀going฀through฀was฀changing฀the฀ identity฀of฀its฀people฀as฀well.฀The฀transformation฀that฀the฀state฀and฀society฀ were฀going฀through฀required฀identifying฀the฀sources฀of฀this฀new฀identity,฀ and฀both฀the฀ruling฀elite฀and฀the฀community฀influentials฀in฀the฀society฀got฀ engaged฀in฀an฀ongoing฀search฀for฀different฀symbols฀that฀would฀legitimize฀the฀ new฀order.฀Ideologies฀such฀as฀liberal฀Westernism,฀schools฀of฀thought฀such฀as฀ Confucianism,฀historical฀periods฀such฀as฀Ming฀dynasty฀or฀Republican฀era฀are฀ among฀the฀many฀to฀serve฀as฀a฀source฀for฀the฀collective฀identity฀of฀Chinese฀ state฀and฀people฀in฀the฀making. 10฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀221 8/24/11฀฀฀3:00:03฀PM 222 Ceren Ergenc These฀changes฀in฀the฀state฀structure฀and฀society฀required฀a฀re-evaluation฀ of฀values฀to฀associate฀with.฀While฀some฀of฀these฀values฀were฀new฀to฀China,฀ either฀imported฀as฀a฀policy฀or฀as฀an฀inevitable฀result฀of฀increasing฀interaction฀ with฀the฀outside฀world,฀some฀other฀sources฀of฀legitimacy฀for฀the฀new฀regime฀ were฀to฀be฀found฀in฀its฀own฀past.฀Selective฀remembering฀and฀interpretation฀of฀ history฀becomes฀not฀history฀as฀documented฀but฀collective฀memory฀as฀a฀source฀ of฀contemporary฀values฀and฀identifications.฀When฀old฀ideals฀are฀abandoned,฀ collective฀memory฀provides฀values฀people฀can฀identify฀with.฀Selectivity฀of฀ what฀to฀remember฀helps฀justification฀of฀the฀new฀orders฀and฀mindsets.฀ There฀are฀two฀simultaneous฀challenges฀that฀the฀new฀government฀face:฀ (1)฀how฀to฀legitimately฀incorporate฀the฀“continuities฀and฀discontinuities”฀ (Aguliar฀2002)฀of฀Mao฀era฀in฀their฀new฀identity;฀(2)฀how฀to฀fill฀the฀vacuum฀ that฀the฀absence฀of฀the฀image฀of฀Mao฀Zedong฀in฀the฀collective฀consciousness.฀ While฀Mao’s฀place฀in฀the฀new฀order฀is฀more฀or฀less฀“engineered”฀by฀the฀new฀ decision-making฀elite,฀there฀is฀a฀marketplace฀of฀historical฀figures฀and฀ideas฀for฀ alternatives฀to฀a฀national฀leader.฀Moreover,฀making฀of฀this฀collective฀memory฀ is฀no฀longer฀monolithic.฀Along฀with฀the฀governing฀elite,฀the฀intellectual฀ elite,฀community฀influentials฀and฀even฀local฀communities฀intentionally฀or฀ unintentionally฀participate฀in฀construction฀of฀a฀new฀collective฀memory฀of฀ reform฀China.฀ Sun฀Yat-sen฀is฀one฀of฀the฀historical฀figures฀that฀come฀to฀mind฀in฀search฀ for฀a฀past฀national฀leader฀to฀collectively฀identify฀with.฀Whether฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀ will฀replace฀Mao฀Zedong฀as฀a฀national฀symbol฀capable฀of฀unifying฀state฀ and฀society฀in฀reform฀China฀is฀a฀too฀complicated฀question฀to฀lend฀itself฀to฀ dichotomic฀answers.฀There฀is฀the฀complex฀interaction฀of฀different฀factors฀that฀ brings฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀back฀as฀a฀source฀of฀legitimacy.฀Therefore,฀understanding฀ the฀interaction฀of฀these฀factors฀with฀one฀another฀and฀with฀the฀broader฀trends฀ in฀Chinese฀society฀would฀help฀us฀understand฀the฀reasons฀why฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀ might฀or฀might฀not฀appear฀as฀a฀strong฀historical฀image฀in฀reform฀China.฀ There฀ are฀ different฀ factors฀ in฀ contemporary฀ China฀ that฀ supports฀ the฀memory฀of฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀as฀a฀nation-wide฀historical฀figure฀and฀these฀ factors฀will฀be฀examined฀in฀the฀following฀section.฀However,฀this฀chapter฀ argues฀that฀what฀determines฀prospects฀of฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀memory฀is฀not฀the฀ incentives฀behind฀such฀a฀social฀construction฀but฀the฀agents฀and฀means฀ of฀this฀construction.฀That฀is,฀national฀memories฀at฀times฀are฀constructed฀ and฀imposed฀in฀a฀top-down฀fashion฀by฀the฀central฀government฀agencies฀ or฀officials฀at฀any฀level฀but฀they฀must฀be฀positively฀received฀and฀accepted฀ by฀the฀society฀as฀a฀whole฀or฀parts฀of฀it.฀Alternatively,฀vernacular฀or฀local฀ memories฀challenge฀or฀modify฀the฀more฀visible฀top-down฀versions.฀The฀result฀ 10฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀222 8/24/11฀฀฀3:00:03฀PM Collective Memory of Sun Yat-sen in Contemporary China 223 is฀almost฀always฀an฀amalgamation฀of฀the฀official฀and฀bottom-up฀memory฀ constructions.฀In฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀case,฀his฀memory฀image฀is฀not฀fully฀accepted฀ by฀Chinese฀society,฀not฀because฀of฀the฀negative฀input฀by฀some฀non-officials...