The anti-Japanese rage that glues Chinese together
Zhou Xun says anti-Japanese sentiments have been a running theme in contemporary Chinese history and, each time they surface, they have had the effect of uniting the people
China has been keeping the world's media busy. Early last month, president-in-waiting Xi Jinping suddenly disappeared from the scene. Where was he? Was he sick? Had he had a traffic accident? There was even a rumour suggesting he had been assassinated. In a one-party authoritarian state like China, where there is no transparency and public debate or protest is not permitted, rumours circulate all the time; they form an integral part of popular and political culture. While they are not to be trusted, they do provide some useful insights into Chinese society.
Xi's disappearance and the subsequent rumours may be read as a signal of tension over the Communist Party's leadership transition, due to take place next month. For anyone familiar with Chinese historical romances, assassination is a theme linked to dynastic change. Although imperial rule ended more than 100 years ago, such historical romances continue to capture the popular imagination. One example is the popular 1999 film The Emperor and The Assassin by Chen Kaige.
Instead of suppressing popular rumours, as it did in the 1960s, the Communist Party responded by using different tactics: on September 19, a healthy- looking Xi appeared in front of the world and attacked Japan for "undermining Chinese sovereignty". This happened days after dozens of anti-Japanese demonstrations erupted in China over Japanese control of islands in the East China Sea known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Senkakus in Japan. Suddenly, the focus shifted from Xi's disappearance to the Sino-Japanese dispute.
Yet the story missing from the media headlines is that Sino-Japanese disputes are nothing new. In fact, they have been an integral part of nationalistic discourse among the Chinese elite since the end of the 19th century. They have also served as a useful tool for China's leaders to rally domestic support in the 20th century. One must not forget it was China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-5 that helped to glue the Chinese people - or to use Sun Yat-sen's phrase "China's scattered sands" - together.
Having long been regarded as culturally inferior, Japan's victory shocked many Chinese social groups, from the traditional to the modernising elites. Kang Youwei, the leader of the 1898 Hundred Days' Reform pondered the survival of China and the Chinese race. He and his followers, such as Liang Qichao, found inspiration in the Meiji Restoration which had begun in Japan three decades earlier. Kang urged Chinese students "to learn the Japanese way of governing the country" so China "can become stronger than Japan".
In 1896, the first 13 Chinese students were sent to study in Japan. The number increased over the years and, by 1906, the total reached an estimated 20,000. It was regarded as the biggest overseas study programme in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. Among these Chinese students in Japan, numerous societies were organised, propagating nationalistic and revolutionary ideas. In 1905, some societies merged to create the Tong Meng Hui, or the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, a forerunner of the Kuomintang.