Whither China? Doubts about Constitutionalism in Late Qing Fiction

中國往何處去？晚清小說對立憲主義的疑問

10.6184/TKR.200812_39(1).0007

Yun-Zhong Shu

晚清小說 ； 立憲主義 ； 革命 ； 烏托邦想像 ； 民族性格 ； 道德教育 ； 譴責小說 ； 政治小說 ； late Qing fiction ； constitutionalism ； revolution ； utopian visions ； national character ； moral education ； exposé fiction ； political fiction

Tamkang Review

39卷1期（2008 / 12 / 01）

153 - 169

英文

立憲主義在晚清時代憧憬了中國民主強盛的未來，並因此吸引了許多傾向改革的小說家的注意。結果這一晚清時代的重要政治運動不僅在當時新興的政治小說中成爲一個重要論題，而且在晚清烏托邦想象中也佔據了突出的地位。然而，晚清烏托邦小說家同時也意識到其他的歷史可能性的存在，未來的不可預測性，以及對未來形成危害的中華民族的種種根深蒂固的缺陷，如道德水率的低下、以及普遍的惰性等等。因此，這些作家在對未來作出謹慎而缺乏信心的憧憬的同時，也表現了他們對立患主義可行性的懷疑，和對立患主義侷限性的清醒認識。由於他們在設想未來時無法擺脫這些懷疑，這些晚清烏托邦作家終於無法想像一個有實際意義的未來，也無法想像充滿缺陷的現在如何能夠過渡到一個美好的將來。

Constitutionalism, with its promise of a democratic, strong China, caught the attention of many late Qing writers who yearned to see China strengthen itself through reforms. As an important political movement at the time, it became one of the central topics in political fiction, a new literary genre promoted and practiced by reform-minded writers. It was also featured prominently in forward-looking utopian visions in late Qing fiction. However, keenly aware of the fundamental unpredictability of history, the existence of other historical possibilities for the future and, more importantly, the deep-rooted flaws in the national character of the Chinese, including the moral degeneracy and inertia of both the masses and the officialdom, these writers became haunted by doubts about the feasibility and limitations of constitutionalism in China as they tried to offer their utopian visions with caution and an awareness of their illusory nature. Unable to shake off their doubts and questions through different projections of the routes to the future, these utopian visionaries ended up failing to imagine a meaningful future or to build a bridge between the troubled present and a utopian future.

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