Zhang Junmai (1887-1969), known as Carsun Chang, was an important intellectual and politician in twentieth century China who presented multiple "faces": He was an unswerving constitutionalist, the "founding father" of the Constitution of the Republic of China; He was a major theoretician of Chinese democratic socialism, the president of the National Socialist Party (and its successor, the Democratic Socialist Party) and the principal founder-member of the League of Chinese Democratic Political Groups, which was the dominant part of the "third force" between GMD and CCP; He was the starter of and a leading figure in the famous "debate over Science and Philosophy" in 1923, and was widely held as a major representative of "twentieth-century Neo-Confucianism" in China. This thesis interpret...[ Read more ]

Zhang Junmai (1887-1969), known as Carsun Chang, was an important intellectual and politician in twentieth century China who presented multiple "faces": He was an unswerving constitutionalist, the "founding father" of the Constitution of the Republic of China; He was a major theoretician of Chinese democratic socialism, the president of the National Socialist Party (and its successor, the Democratic Socialist Party) and the principal founder-member of the League of Chinese Democratic Political Groups, which was the dominant part of the "third force" between GMD and CCP; He was the starter of and a leading figure in the famous "debate over Science and Philosophy" in 1923, and was widely held as a major representative of "twentieth-century Neo-Confucianism" in China. This thesis interprets Zhang's complex thoughts integrally through the perspective of "nationalism" (to be more specific, "nation-building"). It can also be viewed as an intellectual biography of Zhang.

The first Chapter begins with a brief summary of the past research on Zhang and then scrutinizes the theoretical perspective of the thesis-nationalism and nation-building, in the context of the history of western political thought and the contemporary political theories. Subsequently, the chapter narrates the introduction (from the west) and development of nationalism in Modern China, which sets the intellectual background of Zhang's thoughts. Another keystone of the first Chapter is the analyses of the basic framework and the interrelationship of the main elements of Zhang's thoughts on nation-building. A brief biography of Zhang, the theoretical concern of the thesis and the research methods conducted are also presented.

Chapters 2-4 respectively study the three basic elements of Zhang's thoughts on nation-building---Constitutional Democracy, Democratic Socialism and Cultural Nationalism. Taking the methods of "comparative intellectual history" and "thick description of the text," the chapters give different explanations, of the development and meaning of these three basic elements in Zhang's thoughts, from past research.

Chapter 5 probes the philosophical backgrounds and intellectual particularities of Zhang's thoughts. Under the illumination of contemporary political philosophy, Chapter 6 first analyzes the character of Zhang's nation-building thoughts and concludes that they are essentially very similar to those of "Liberal Nationalism," yet in a distinct Chinese, or Confucian, style. The Chapter then compares Zhang's thoughts with other major intellectual trends in the Republican China---namely, GMD's Sanman zhuyi, CCP's Xin minzhu zhuyi, and Hushi's Liberalism and transparently sets Zhang's thoughts in the ideological spectrum of Modern China. Lastly, in response to the theoretical concern presented in the first chapter and revealed from the case study of Zhang, some reflections on the classical research theses of Chinese Nationalism are suggested in this concluding chapter.