Twentieth-Century China as an Object of Thought: Global and Local Historical Reflections

Abstract

This article engages in a dialogue with some of the issues and themes discussed in both parts of Wang Hui’s article “Twentieth Century China as an Object of Thought: An Introduction.” It starts by offering a combination of global and local historical reflections of the movement of concepts during the early stages of China’s short twentieth century. Taking a similar combination of perspectives, it subsequently elaborates on aspects of the spatial and temporal revolutions occurring during this era. It then discusses the relationship between Chinese nationhood and the revolution, particularly during the short twentieth century. It seeks to relate the experience of the short twentieth century to developments within other historical realms and to global transformations at large.