My Take | An ancient Chinese history lesson for today’s Hong Kong
- The early years of the historic Han dynasty might have practised the first ‘one country two systems’. The eventual demise of the political model may have much to teach us about the present
History is not necessarily a guide to the future, though it sometimes offers interesting parallels and stimulates thoughts about the present. The rise of the Han dynasty from the ashes of the Qin may offer some useful ideas about the fate of “one country, two systems” and the failure of reform in Hong Kong.
I came across this historical comparison recently while reading War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe, which was originally the PhD thesis of Hong Kong native and University of Notre Dame political scientist Victoria Hui Tin-bor. She has also been active in Hong Kong-American pro-democracy circles.
It’s an intriguing idea, perhaps even more relevant today than when her book was first published in 2005. “Liu Bang, the first rebel leader to capture the capital, stepped into Qin’s shoes and proclaimed the Han dynasty in 206BC,” she wrote.
“As Qin had established a set of unified bureaucratic and coercive apparatuses, Liu could attempt a wholesale takeover. However, he also had to placate the ambitions of allies and relatives who had helped him seize the empire and who commanded their own armies.
“The result was a ‘modified form of the multi-state system of the Warring States period,’ something akin to the ‘one country, two systems’ model today. While Han Gaozu [née Liu Bang] directly controlled the capital and surrounding area in the Guanzhong region, he grudgingly agreed to the establishment of feudatory principalities in the east.
“[These] principalities enjoyed independent political authority with large armed forces. The passes between the imperial regions and the eastern states were guarded, and ‘passports’ were required of all travellers.”