Just as the attributes of a nation may change radically over the course of modern history, so may the characteristics which the people of that nation associate with the term "modernity". To embrace the modern is to break with tradition, to innovate: the concept of modernity requires merely this desire for innovation, and implies nothing about the specific traits of a "modern" nation. In Chinese history, for example, one generation of statesmen may view socialism as modern, while the next favors capitalism; one generation may look to the West for inspiration while the next feels that it has overtaken and improved upon Western ideology, and that the West itself is now obsolete. The very features which distinguish modernity - innovation and departure from the strictures of the past - act to ensure that the ideals described as modernism are constantly changing.
      Texts by a selection of historic individuals serve to illustrate the wide variety of connotations which the term modernity has held for various people throughout recent Chinese history. The texts display a range of values and goals, all of which were portrayed as modernity by their proponents. The assembled writings serve to exemplify the dynamism of the concept of modernity.

      Qianlong was the reign name of Hongli, son of Qing emperor Yongzheng. He assumed the throne in 1736 to serve as the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty. During Qianlong's impressive reign of sixty-three years, the British dispatched their first diplomatic mission to China under Lord Macartney. Macartney petitioned the Qing emperor to allow Britain such concessions as a representative in Beijing, more ports of trade, reduced taxes and duties on imported goods, and the free movement of missionaries wishing to proselytize the Christian religion in China. In 1793, this interaction with Macartney caused Qianlong to draft two imperial edicts, which provided a response to and rejection of the demands Macartney had presented to the court. The edicts reveal that Qianlong's worldview is oriented towards maintenance of past traditions; the concept of modernity and the quest for change and development which it implies play no role in the Qing emperor's world.
      To Qianlong, the ideals of harmony and correct governance are vital. A ruler must maintain harmony between Heaven and the people, assuring that the state continues to function smoothly. Qianlong pronounces, "I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect governance and fulfill the duties of the state". (Two Edicts) Qianlong seeks guidance for his own reign by analogy. The government over which he presides is a hundred and fifty years old, his nation two thousand; over such great spans of time every human crisis seems to have been previously met and dealt with. Qianlong looks to the great Chinese empires of the past for reassurance, hope, and inspiration. He turns to the past in order to discern how to maintain harmony in the future.
      To Qianlong, following in the traditions of his forbears is a necessity. Change and development are undesireable, and potentially even dangerous. The emperor illustrates this when he asks rhetorically of England's George III via Macartney, "How can our dynasty alter its whole procedure and regulations, established for more than a century, in order to meet your individual views?" (Two Edicts) "Ever since the beginning of history," Qianlong says, "sage Emperors and wise rulers have bestowed on China a moral system and inculcated a code, which from time immemorial has been religiously observed... There has been no hankering after heterodox doctrines." (Two Edicts)

      The idea of modernity as an a potential societal attribute requires that the possibility of beneficial change be recognized. One who speaks of modernity believes that the present is or ought to be more capable and successful than the past, that the future can be an improvement over previous eras. Qianlong cannot conceive of this point of view, for his is a culture which looks to the past as ideal rather than the future. Qianlong identifies his nation as neither modern nor obsolete; the word "modernity" simply does not enter into his concept of China or of China's position in the world.

      Sun Yatsen is honored as the figurehead of the Chinese Republican revolution. He received an education in Western medicine in Hong Kong, and studied Western political and social theory while abroad. Sun was a determined anti-Manchu activist, and his Zhonghua Tongmeng hui (Chinese Alliance Association) was instrumental in the 1911 overthrow of the Qing dynasty. In 1893 Sun composed a letter to Li Hongzhang, a Qing official and influential proponent of the Self Strengthening movement. The letter proposed certain reforms which Sun deemed potentially beneficial to the state, and detailed many of Sun's ideas concerning modernization.
      The ideas communicated to Li Hongzhang by Sun Yatsen concerning China's role in the world differ radically from those of the Qing emperor Qianlong. For example, note the differences in terminology between Qianlong and Sun Yatsen. In his Reform Proposal, Sun Yatsen states that he wishes the nation "to become wealthy, strong, and well governed." In contrast, Qianlong seeks to "maintain a perfect governance" (Two Edicts). In this instance, the seemingly trivial linguistic difference between maintain and become embodies a radical difference in outlook. Qianlong's government adheres to the traditions of the past; according to his worldview it is therefore well governed, and he does not need to wish that it might become so. For Qianlong, success is the preservation of the traditional way of life and the society which supported his ancestors: his government is, in his eyes, successful. Sun Yatsen, on the other hand, would not speak of maintaining perfect governance because he observes many faults in China's system, and does not believe that perfect governance is currently in effect. Sun hopes for dramatic change to benefit his nation; he believes that the future could be far more capable and successful than the past. Sun Yatsen's viewpoint abandons the past as ideal and instead identifies the future as promising. This shift of emphasis allows development of the theme of modernity as a national goal. Qianlong cannot comprehend the goal of modernity, the desire to become something new and progressive, for his culture and his place in society idealize the past. The concept of modernity as an ideal worthy of strife and the potential of revolution to achieve that ideal grow out of Sun Yatsen's vision, and have no place in Qianlong's world.
      In his letter to Li Hongzhang, Sun identifies the nations of Western Europe as modern. He seeks to understand how the West qualifies as modern, and the ways in which it achieved that modernity. Sun comes to the conclusion that, although technological capability is one facet of development, it is not the most important criteria. The modernity of the European nations lies not merely in the technological prowess which they can muster. Rather, it is inherent in the fact that they are continually striving to advance and to utilize their resources more fully. In Western nations, human resources are encouraged to develop to their greatest potential, just as land, mineral, and capital resources are. "...The real reason for Europe's wealth and power", claims Sun, "lies less in the superiority of its military might than in the fact that in Europe every man can fully develop his talent..." (Reform Proposal) Sun emphasizes that technology, while the most readily observed facet of modernization, is not the most fundamental. "The full development of personal talent...[is] the most basic if our government is to become wealthy, strong, and well governed. For our nation to ignore ...[this] while concerning itself exclusively with ships and guns is to seek the insignificant at the expense of the basic..." (Reform Proposal) Sun is convinced that China must muster her human resources before seeking to advance technologically towards modernization.

      Mao Zedong was an early member of the Chinese Communist Party who rose to leadership during the 1930s. From the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949 until his death in 1976, he was the most influential political theorist of Communist China. As paramount political leader his ideas profoundly affected China's concept of modernity.
      The two essays titled Our Great Victory in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea and U.S Imperialism is a Paper Tiger were written by Mao in 1953 and 1956. The People's Republic had been founded less than a decade previously, and the issue of modernization was of primary importance within newly unified China. From within the context of the Korean war, where the poorly-armed People's Liberation Army faced technologically elite U.S. troops, emerged the question of whether mechanization or ideology played a more essential part in the modernization process.
      In the essays, Mao views political mobilization and the development of human resources as vital to modernization. He argues that popular support has provided China's main advantage against imperialism during the Korean war. Says Mao, "So long as we mobilize the masses and rely on the people, we know how to cope with the enemy". (Our Great Victory) Mao believes that China has entered into the ranks of modern nations through its success in the mobilization of its people. The People's Army has proven its power: the Japanese and the Guomindang have been driven out of mainland China, and further U.S. imperialism in North Korea has been thwarted. In fact, according to Mao's criteria of political mobilization, China is far more modern than the United States. The U.S. "is very weak politically because it is divorced from the masses of the people... It has no popular support, its policies are disliked by the people, because it oppresses and exploits them." (U.S. Imperialism) Although the U.S. possesses technological superiority, it has failed to release the revolutionary fervour and thus the true potential of its people. Such estrangement from the desires and concerns of the masses is to Mao the attribute of an obsolete and backward nation.
      Despite its political backwardness, the United States is inarguably a technologically developed nation. China, in contrast, has not yet achieved industrialization, which Mao concedes to be an important goal. "At present," he says, "the emphasis...should be on the construction of heavy industry." (Our Great Victory) However, Mao views the attainment of industry and technology as of secondary importance to the goals of ideological mobilization and the winning of popular support. Mao develops ideas which originated sixty years earlier with Sun Yatsen when he claims that, although technological capability is one facet of modernity, it is not the most important criteria. Even without mature industries, China has halted the progression of imperialism across Korea. All the technological prowess of the United States military has been unable to defeat a Chinese army inspired by socialist ideology. Mao states proudly that, "Reliance on the people...enables us to defeat a better-equipped enemy with our inferior equipment."

      Sun Yatsen advised in 1893 that the most profound facet of European modernity lay, not in European nations' technological and industrial success, but rather in the fact that they welcomed development and sought to utilize resources more fully. Sun felt that human resources in particular were encouraged to realize their greatest potential in the West. He said " For our nation to ignore [human resources] while concerning itself exclusively with ships and guns is to seek the insignificant at the expense of the basic...." In Our Great Victory and U.S. Imperialism is a Paper Tiger, Mao agrees wholeheartedly with Sun's prioritization of human resources over technology. Sun views the capitalist Western nations as modern while Mao sees them as backwards; Sun regrets China's lack of respect for human potential while Mao views the mass mobilization of China's population with pride. However, despite their differing perspectives, Sun and Mao agree that human potential is a nation's most fundamental resource and that developing such potential is key to modernization.

      Wei Jingsheng was a worker and former PLA member who was vocal in the Democracy Wall movement of 1978-1979. His writings on party corruption and the Fifth Modernization were critical of the government and led to his arrest and trial. In 1979 he was sentenced to fifteen years hard labor; in 1995 he was sentenced to to a further fourteen year term for continued political activity. In 1997 he was released and emigrated to the United States. The piece entitled The Fifth Modernization: Democracy was posted in Beijing in 1978, and speaks of Wei's desire for change in Chinese society and his frustration with an irresponsive government.
      In The Fifth Modernization, Wei Jingsheng, like Sun Yatsen and Mao Zedong before him, insists upon the need for developing human potential. Wei echoes the claim that the nuturing of human talent is the most fundamental step within the process of national development. He states, "If we want to modernize our economy, sciences, military, and other areas, then we must first modernize our people and our society." (The Fifth Modernization) However, unlike Mao, Wei does not feel that socialist China has succeeded in this goal. "Socialism guarantees... the right of every citizen to receive an education, to make full use of his abilities... Yet we can observe none of these things in our daily lives..." (The Fifth Modernization).
      Wei equates the nuturing of human talent essential to modernization with democracy. He states, "When democracy defeats dictatorship, it always brings with it the most favorable conditions for accelerating social development... The success of any struggle by the people for happiness, peace, and prosperity is contingent upon the quest for democracy." Wei defines democracy as a system of government "when the people, acting on their own will, have the right to choose representatives to manage affairs on the people's behalf in accordance with the will and interests of the people." (The Fifth Modernization) He feels that not only is democracy necessary to modernization, it is also the goal of modernization: "Democracy, freedom, and happiness are our sole objectives for carrying out modernization..." (The Fifth Modernization) The socialist China of which Mao wrote so proudly in 1953 is not in Wei's eyes a modern nation, because the people of China do not have the democratic right to elect their own leaders. Wei instead follows the lead of Sun Yatsen in turning to the West for examples of modernity. "The citizens of Europe and the United States enjoy precisely this kind of democracy...", he claims.

      The selection of primary texts by Qianlong, Sun Yatsen, Mao Zedong, and Wei Jingsheng illustrates the wide variety of connotations which modernity has held for various individuals throughout the modern period in China's history. The pieces span a timeline of almost two hundred years, 1793 to 1979, and were authored by people whose status in life varied from that of emperor to Beijing worker and ex-soldier. They display a range of values and goals for China's future.
      In 1793 the emperor Qianlong expressed no intuitive concept of modernization. The idea of modernization implies that past be considered deficient in some way and that desires for the future be contingent upon change. Qianlong was of a culture which looked to the past as ideal rather than the future; he therefore applied neither the concept of modernity nor that of archaism to his nation. His goal was simply to continue the social traditions which served his ancestors. In contrast to Qianlong, Sun Yatsen one hundred years later hoped for dramatic change in China. Sun saw promise in a future radically different from his nation's past. This shift of emphasis from past as ideal to future as dynamic signified emergence of the theme of modernity.
      Sun Yatsen was convinced that China must muster her human resources before seeking to advance technologically towards modernization. Mao Zedong too viewed political mobilization and the development of human resources as vital to modernization. In Mao's eyes, China had by 1953 achieved status as a modern nation through her success in the mobilization of her people.
      Like Sun and Mao, Wei Jingsheng insisted upon the need for developing human potential. Wei supported the view that the nuturing of human talent is the most fundamental step within the process of modernization. Wei, however, did not feel that the socialist China of 1979 had succeeded in this goal. Wei equated the fostering of human talent with democracy, and argued that not only is democracy necessary to modernization, it is also the goal of modernization. The socialist China of which Mao wrote so proudly was not in Wei's eyes a modern nation, because the people of China did not yet enjoy the democratic right of electing their own leaders.
      Sun Yatsen, Mao Zedong, and Wei Jingsheng each posessed an idealistic vision which they termed modernity. The traits which each ascribed to modernity differed as widely as did the eras and social climes in which the individuals themselves lived. This wide range of values illustrates the dynamism of the term "modernity", demonstrating that modernity implies a desire for innovation and change, not just in nations, but also in terminology and ideology.

Bibliography:

Primary source texts:
Rejection of Macartney's Demands: Two Edicts, Emperor Qianlong
Reform Proposal to Li Hongzhang, Sun Yatsen
On Revolution, Zou Rong
Our Great Victory in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea and Our Future Tasks, Mao Zedong
U.S. Imperialism is a Paper Tiger, Mao Zedong
The Fifth Modernization: Democracy, Wei Jingsheng

Reference:
The Search for Modern China, Johnathan D. Spence, 1999,
W.W.Norton and Company