A Passion for Facts: Social Surveys and the Construction of the Chinese NationState, 1900-1949 by Tong Lam (review)

The process of nation-building in China has attracted much attention in both China and abroad, as has the influence of scientism. But few have examined them in the ingenious and "factual" fashion that Lam has. Indeed, this book does not simply document the rise of modern social science in twentieth-century China; it analyzes the changing concepts and methodologies used by Chinese scholars to obtain a comprehensive knowledge about their country's past. In so doing, Lam transcends the received practice that often divided scholars in modern China according to their ideological persuasion, either as advocates of Western liberalism, committed Marxists, or Confucians. Instead, he discusses the changing landscape of social-science research across these ideological differences. In his own words, "Instead of focusing on the ideas and writings of major social scientists or the building of social science disciplines, this book analyzes how the 'fact' became the medium for discerning the truth about the human world, and how surveys were conceived, implemented, and received" (6). As a result, Hu Shi (1891-1962), the doyen of modern scientific research, and Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the Communist leader, appear frequently in the book.

The author's ingenuity is also evident in his examination of the emergence of the "social survey movement" as a global event, thereby linking nation-building in China with the rise of scientism in other regions and countries. Though essentially studying Chinese national history, the author demonstrates a genuine interest in global history. Scholars of China as well scholars outside that field will find much of interest in the book.

Notwithstanding the book's strengths, the author might have explored the Chinese roots of this "social survey movement" more thoroughly. Alhough surveys were not always conducted in the same fashion, or with the same accuracy, in imperial China as they are in the modern era, imperial authorities or private interests at times made serious efforts to take stock of the land and population. This tradition can be traced back to the Han period. But a more prominent example might be the compilations of the "Yellow Records" (census surveys) and "Fish Scale Records" (land surveys) by the decree of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Moreover, further discussion of the rise of "evidential scholarship" (kaozheng xue) during the Qing period (1644-1911), with which the author begins his book, would help to lessen the contrast between modern and traditional techniques for interpreting the development of modern China. Lam would certainly agree that no modernity is ever built without drawing on traditional resources.