This research has analyzed the topic of “conservatism” (baoshou zhuyi) in early 1990s China from a twofold perspective. Firstly, in the tradition of conceptual history (Begriffsgeschichte), the... Show moreThis research has analyzed the topic of “conservatism” (baoshou zhuyi) in early 1990s China from a twofold perspective. Firstly, in the tradition of conceptual history (Begriffsgeschichte), the concrete use of the concept of “conservatism” in Chinese intellectual discourse has been studied in relation to the “counterconcept” of “radicalism” (jijin zhuyi). This approach has enabled the study of a variety of references to “conservatism,” such as the “neo-conservatism” of Xiao Gongqin and the “princelings,” the 1992 debate on the nature of modern Chinese history that was triggered by the overseas Chinese historian Yü Ying-shih, the New Confucianism of Chen Lai, and Zheng Min’s criticism of the Literary Revolution. On a second level, it has been investigated whether these criticisms of “radicalism” were expressions of a conservative “style of thought” that went beyond the critique of historical events such as the May Fourth Movement, the Cultural Revolution, or the quest for science and democracy of the 1980s. Show less
