| ID | 185983 |
| Title Proper | Racial modernity in Republican China, 1927-1937 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Foreman, Matthew Wong |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article locates the moment in Chinese history when ethnicity became a subject of scientific concern and an object of social engineering. Specifically, it examines how Han Chinese academicians during the Nanjing decade (1927–37) argued for the necessity of social engineering by appealing to race science. Focusing on a debate between the eugenicist Pan Guangdan and the anthropologist Wu Zelin, it argues that the Nanjing decade witnessed a key moment of ideological convergence in the physical and social sciences. Academicians concerned with national and racial salvation believed in awakening the Chinese population’s racial consciousness, which could only be achieved through rigorous social engineering. To justify the state’s homogenizing claims over ethnic minorities, they appealed to the doctrine of racial homogeneity, capitalized on the increasing cultural authority of scientific empiricism to recruit political allies to their cause, and endeavored to embed the ‘fact’ of ‘race’ from specialized disciplines to political institutions. |
| `In' analytical Note | Asian Ethinicity Vol. 23, No.2; Mar 2022: p.377-397 |
| Journal Source | Asian Ethinicity Vol: 23 No 2 |
| Key Words | Science ; Social Engineering ; Zhonghua Minzu ; Pan Guangdan ; Wu Zelin ; Chinese Race |