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The T'i—Yung Dichotomy and the Search for Talent in Late-Ch'ing China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Luke S. K. Kwong
Luke S. K. Kwong
Affiliation:
University of Lethbridge
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Extract

It is a commonplace in modern Chinese history that the twin-concept of t'i–yung espoused a doctrine of cultural conservatism in late-Ch'ing China. Briefly, the dichotomy is seen as a call to preserve the ‘substance’ (t'i) of the Chinese cultural tradition by adopting the ‘function’ (yung) of Western technology, or simply, to strengthen Confucian China by implementing Western-inspired reforms; hence, the famous slogan, ‘Chinese learning for fundamental principles and Western learning for practical application’ (Chung-hsueh wei-t'i Hsi-hsueh weiyung). Both the slogan and the position it reflects have long come under criticism. An early, influential critic was Yen Fu, the well-known interpreter of Social Darwinism in late-Ch'ing China. In 1902, in a published open letter to the editor of Wai-chiao pao (Foreign affairs magazine), Yen expanded on an earlier view of a contemporary schlar, Ch'iu T'ing-liang, that the notion of t'i-yung, when properly applied, refers to the two complementary aspects of a single entity and not to attributes from two different juxtaposed objects. To drive home his point, Yen cites an analogy. An ox as t'i has its yung, which is to carry heavy loads, whereas a horse as t'i has its yung, which is to go long distances. Now the attempt to combine a t'i with an extraneous yung is like ascribing a horse's function to an ox's body, or vice versa, and the result could only be a bizarre mismatch, an affront to nature's purposes.

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Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , May 1993 , pp. 253 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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References

This paper was first presented at the Canadian Asian Studies Association Conference, Victoria, B.C., Canada, 29–31 May 1990. I wish to thank the University of Lethbridge for a travel grant to enable me to attend the Conference, Professor Jack Gerson for commenting on an earlier draft of this paper, and Professors Paul Cohen, Albert Feuerwerker, Jack Gerson and Ron Keith for their support and encouragement through the years.

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85 Ibid., p. 39.

86 Ibid., p. 36.

87 Ibid. The culprits responsible for dangerous ideas such as this included T'an Ssu-t'ung and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, who later became involved, in varying degrees, in the Hundred Days Reform in 1898. See Kwong, , Mosaic, pp. 117–18.Google Scholar In this context, Ayers seems to have misconstrued the influence of Chang Chih-tung's Ch'üan-hsueh p'ien on the ‘younger generation of reformers’ (Ayers, , Chang Chi-tung and Educational Reform, p. 139).Google Scholar

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92 Ibid.

93 Ibid., pp. 93–100.

94 Ibid., pp. 61–76.

95 Ibid., p. 44.

96 Ibid., p. 96. Chang did not therefore use here the exact wording of the famous slogan, ‘Chinese learning for fundamental principles and Western learning for practical application.’ However, he did use it in a contemporary memorial regarding his plan to restructure the two academies, Liang-Hu shu-yuan and Ching-hsin shu-yuan, into modern-style schools. Chih-tung, Chang, Chang Wen-hsiang kung, KH24/inter.3/15, 47:22b.Google Scholar The expression, ‘Chung-kuo,’ in this source is clearly a misprint and should read instead ‘Chung-hsueh.’ This may amend the view that Chang never used the slogan in his writings at all (Ayers, , p. 151 n. 56).Google Scholar

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98 Ibid., p. 173.

99 See ‘Hsu’ (Preface), Ibid., p. 7.

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