The Problem of "Civil Society" in Late Imperial China

Autocratic Rule and Social Capital: Evidence from Imperial China

“…But for a long time, new social groups were able to form and innovation and new ideas were tolerated. Despite the restrictions that individuals faced, China did develop a nascent civil society characterized by intellectual participation in society during the late Ming (Rowe, 1993). However, the status of civil society organizations was always fragile (Simon, 2013, p. xxvii).…”

“…A literary inquisition case would have sent out a clear signal about the autocratic nature of the regime, and the absolute and arbitrary power possessed by the emperor. Tabellini, 2012), by the Qing period these voluntary associations had expanded to provide relief to those outside of the clan; they were seen to represent a contribution to the community (Rowe, 2009).…”

The Origins of the Public Sphere and Civil Society: Private Academies and Petitions in Korea, 1506-1800

“…The local elites there began to finance such social welfare machinery as famine relief and engaged in philanthropic activities and the management of urban public affairs (Rowe 1984(Rowe , 1989. In her work on elite activism, Rankin (1986) also focuses on the increasing public management by local elites of philanthropic activities and local installations and contrasts this with official administration and with private activities.…”

“…Apart from such world events, the terms public sphere and civil society began to gain popularity after Jürgen Habermas introduced the idea of the eighteenth-century European public sphere (Habermas et al 1974;Habermas 1989Habermas [1962). Inspired by Habermas's discussion, a number of historians and social scientists of European and non-European societies have exerted serious effort to assess Habermas's key ideas (Rankin 1986;Landes 1988;Freitag 1989;Rowe 1990;Chartier 1991;Goodman 1992;Jones 1996;Forment 2003;Ikegami 2005).…”

“You Don’t Wear a Fur in Summer”: Kang Youwei’s Impartial Words on Republicanism (1917) and the Fate of Chinese Democracy

“…In this article, I have generally translated gong as 'public', although it must be noted that in late Imperial China it was also used to define the sphere of action of the local gentry rather than of the Imperial State, therefore appearing more similar to a Western concept of "civic space". On this, see Rankin 1993and Rowe 1993. 20 Kane 1990 "You Don't Wear a Fur in Summer" kingdoms, empires and nations have constantly tended towards an ever wider unification -and anticipating the next steps of human evolution up to the attainment of its final stage.…”