TITLE:
A Research on Chang Chien’s Thought on Local Self-Government
AUTHORS:
Sun Shun-Chih
KEYWORDS:
Constitutional Monarchy, Local Self-Government, Education, Industry
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.3,
March
10,
2015
ABSTRACT:
Chang Chien (1853-1926) was a native of Nant’ung, Kiangsu. In spite of
the various works on Chang Chien, which testify to the significance of his role
in modern China, Chang Chien’s thought on local self-government is still not
well-researched. The purposes of this paper are firstly, to analyze Chang Chien’s
thought on local self-government systematically and clearly in the hope that it
may become a useful reference for researchers on modern China, and secondly, to
stimulate scholars for further research. This paper depends more on basic
source materials rather than second-hand data. Among various source materials, Chang Chien’s Diary, The Nine Records of Chang Chien and The Complete Work of Chang Chien are
the most important. Chang Chien’s thought on local self-government may be
summarized as follows: 1) Local self-government under gentry in promoting
industry, education and other local affairs as a means of saving China; 2) Local
government as basis of the constitutional monarchy; 3) Local self-government as
basis of the republic. The paper has also discussed the background to Chang
Chien’s thought on local self-government, the factors which shaped it, how it
developed, and its long-term impact.