Week 3-Discussion

Why do you think that both Liang Qichao and He Zhen developed their politics in China while they were away from the country? Have you experienced something similar, where travel, or moving away shifted your self-identification? Why do you think their views on nationalism diverged, even though they were reading many of the same texts and thinking about similar questions about the modern world and China’s place in it?

• He Zhen’s and Lian Qichao’s politics in China abroad emphasizes two themes amongst many, “the people” and capitalism. He Zhen’s focus in terms of “the people” based on problems of livelihood and class integration which results in the enslavement and prostitution of essentially young girls, typically from the lower class. Women were essentially capitalized in pleasure and labor. Lian Qichao’s focus on “the people” is the abstract link between the global populations that cement “national” and “people” within the political realms, especially in China. In terms of capitalism, the example provided from the presence of the Chinese in Hawaii signifies the production effect in 19th-century capitalistic “restructuring and attendance” of “free” labor world markets.
• The development of their politics has to do with very themes and the complex and interconnected characteristics that play into the modern progression of East Asia-economically, politically, culturally, socially, and historically. As said before, the very theme “the people” largely contributes to the geopolitical landscape. Both He Zhen and Liang Qichao observe the line that devices the constitution of “the people” either as one unified collection of a national ethnicity or a subdivision of a group of people based on the geopolitical landscape.
• The nationalistic divide is based on the type of focus He Zhen and Liang Qichao. He Zhan focuses on the aspects of women and poverty in terms of “the people” which was originated from historical events and living conditions. Liang Qichao focuses more broadly and more akin to the modern progression of “the people”.
• On a personal level, the feelings of self-identification are definitely present when travel, especially to and from China to America. Here in America, I am closely attached and more in tune since it is home since birth, Granted, there are aspects of me that are accustomed to China as both my parents brought aspects of their homeland here, such as language, food, practices, and traditions. In China, I am less in tune due to the small language barrier that has been set. While my understanding and speaking of Chinese allow me to communicate a little bit with relatives, it is hard to fully do so since my knowledge of it is not up to par in comparison to that of my parents who were more fluent.