Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T01:14:54.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fendou: A keyword of Chinese modernity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2020

MARCO FUMIAN Open the ORCID record for MARCO FUMIAN [Opens in a new window]
MARCO FUMIAN*
Affiliation:
University of Naples ‘L'Orientale’ Email: mfumian@unior.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article analyses the modern historical trajectory of the word fendou (奋斗, ‘struggle’), from its emergence in the early twentieth century to the present. Originally embedded in a Social Darwinist philosophy of struggle, fendou was later co-opted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As one of its key ideological shibboleths, it was typically used to mobilize the Chinese people to ‘struggle’ for the goals of the nation. However, as these goals varied significantly in the course of the history of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the actual meanings and uses of fendou evolved accordingly, following shifts in the ideological paradigms that characterized the different eras. By studying how this term was used as an ideological keyword over time, it is possible to observe the continuities and discontinuities in the visions of struggle, and the relevant ‘pedagogies of struggle’, promoted in different periods by the Chinese state. The article, in particular, analyses the use of fendou in both contemporary official discourse and popular culture, suggesting that in promoting the formation of a competitive subject in line with the aims of the ‘socialist market’, fendou still, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, expresses and disseminates a predominantly Social Darwinist world view.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , July 2021 , pp. 1268 - 1314
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bakken, Børge. 2000. The Exemplary Society: Human Improvement, Social Control, and the Dangers of Modernity in China. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beijing Ribao. 2008. ‘Rensheng jibian: huiwang “Pan Xiao taolun” (人生激辩: 回望‘潘晓讨论, A dispute over life: looking back at the “Pan Xiao debate”)’, 15 December: http://finance.ifeng.com/opinion/zjgc/20091224/1625653.shtml, [last accessed 10 July 2020).Google Scholar
Central Committee of the CCP and State Council. 1993. ‘Zhongguo jiaoyu gaige he fazhan gangyao (中国教育改革和发展纲要, Outline for educational reform and development)’, 13 February: http://cpc.people.com.cn/BIG5/64184/64186/66685/4494250.html, [last accessed 25 March 2020).Google Scholar
Chen, Duxiu. 1915a. ‘Call to Youth’, in China's Response to the West: A Documentary Survey, 1839–1923, (eds) Teng, Ssu-yu and Fairbank, John King. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979, pp. 240–246.Google Scholar
Chen, Duxiu. 1915b. ‘Jinri zhi jiaoyu fangzhen (今日之教育方针, The principles of today's education)’, in Chen Duxiu wenzhang xuanbian, shan g (陈独秀文章选编，上, Selected essays by Chen Duxiu). Beijing: Sanlian Shudian, 1984, Vol. 1, pp. 84–89.Google Scholar
Chen, Zhongjie 陈忠杰. 2011. Dang xianshi zhaojin mengxiang: chengshi ‘yizu’ de fendou zhexue (当现实照进梦想: 城市‘蚁族’的奋斗哲学, When reality lights up your dreams: the philosophy of struggle of the urban ‘ant tribes’). Tianjin: Tianjin Kexue Jishu Chubanshe.Google Scholar
China Labour Bulletin. 2007. ‘Reform of state-owned enterprises in China’, 19 December: https://clb.org.hk/en/content/reform-state-owned-enterprises-china#6b, [last accessed 10 July 2020].Google Scholar
Dardot, Pierre and Laval, Christian. 2013 [2009]. The New Way of the World: On Neoliberal Society. London and New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Deng, Xiaoping. 1979. ‘Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles’, in Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. 2: 1975–1982. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1995, pp. 168–191.Google Scholar
Du, Chao 杜超. 2006. ‘Qiujie daxuesheng jiuye nan: jingzhengli shi ying daoli (求解大学生就业难:竞争力是硬道理, Understanding the occupational difficulties of university students: competitiveness is the only hard reason)’. Zhongguo Qingnianbao, 17 July: http://theory.people.com.cn/GB/49157/49166/4599176.html, [last accessed 10 July 2020].Google Scholar
Fumian, Marco. 2016. ‘Chronicle of Du Lala's Promotion: Exemplary Literature, the Middle Class, and the Socialist Market’, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 28 (1), pp. 78–128.Google Scholar
Fung, Edmund S. K. 2010. The Intellectual Foundations of Chinese Modernity: Cultural and Political Thought in the Republican Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonseth, Morgane. 2018. ‘Better Woman, Better Life: the “Workplace Novel” in Contemporary China’, PhD thesis, University of Geneva.Google Scholar
He, Long 何龙. 2011. Rensheng yao ganyu fendou (人生要敢于奋斗, Life needs the courage to struggle). Beijing: Xin Shijie Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Hendriks, Eric C. 2016. ‘China's Self-Help Industry: American(ized) Life Advice in China’, in Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in China, (ed.) Keane, Michael. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 311–327.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Lisa M. 2010. Patriotic Professionalism in Urban China: Fostering Talent. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Hu, Jintao 胡锦涛. 2012. ‘Jianding bu yi zou Zhongguo tese shehuizhuyi wenhua fazhan daolu: nuli jianshe shehuizhuyi wenhua qiang guo (坚定不移走中国特色社会主义文化发展道路：努力建设社会主义文化强国, Unswervingly take the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics: strive to build a socialist cultural great power)’. Qiushi, 1 January: http://www.aisixiang.com/data/48763.html, [last accessed 8 September 2020].Google Scholar
Inkeles, Alex. 1966. The Modernization of Man. Cambridge, MA: Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Jacka, Tamara. 2009. ‘Cultivating Citizens: Suzhi (Quality) Discourse in the PRC’. Positions 17 (3), pp. 523–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kong, Shuyu. 2004. Consuming Literature: Best Sellers and the Commercialization of Literary Production in Contemporary China. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Li, Dazhao 李大钊. 1916. ‘Chenzhong zhi shiming: Qingchun zhonghua zhi chuangzao (晨钟之使命：青春中华之创造, The mission of The Morning Bell: the creation of a new China)’, in Li Dazhao wenji (李大钊文集, Collected works of Li Dazhao). Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 1984, pp. 177–182.Google Scholar
Li, Ke 李可. 2007. Du Lala shengzhi ji (杜拉拉升职记, Chronicle of Du Lala's promotion). Xian: Shanxi Shifan Daxue.Google Scholar
Li, Zehou 李泽厚. 1987. ‘Qingnian Mao Zedong (青年毛泽东, Young Mao Zedong)’. Hebei Daxue Xuebao 1, pp. 1–12.Google Scholar
Liang, Liwen 梁理文. 2003. ‘Biange shidai de shehui wenhua xin jingguan: “chenggongxue xianxiang” jiexi (变革时代的社会文化新景观: “成功学现象”解析, The new socio-cultural landscape in a period of change: an analysis of the “chenggongxue phenomenon”)’. Dangdai Qingnian Yanjiu 3, pp. 5–9.Google Scholar
Liu, Jing Bing Bing 六井冰冰. 2011. Li Bingbing fendou ji (厉冰冰奋斗记, Chronicle of Li Bingbing's struggle). Beijing: Zhongguo Huaqiao Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Liu, Shaoqi. 1984. ‘How to be a Good Communist’ [1939], in Selected Works of Liu Shaoqi. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, Vol. 1, pp. 107–168.Google Scholar
Luo, Jian 罗健. 2013. Mei you tiansheng de haoming, zhi you yaojin ya de fendou (没有天生的好命，只有咬紧牙的奋斗, No one is born with a good life, the only way is to struggle with clenched teeth). Beijing: Huaxia Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Mao, Zedong. 1957a. ‘Talk at a Meeting with Chinese Students and Trainees in Moscow’, in English Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Mao, Zedong. 1957b. ‘On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People’, in Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1977, Vol. 5, pp. 384–421.Google Scholar
National People's Congress. 1996. ‘Zhonghua Renmin Gonghehuo guomin jingji he shehui fazhan “jiu wu” jihua he 2010 nian yuanjin mubiao gangyao (中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展 “九五” 计划和2010年远景目标纲要, Outline of the Ninth Five-Year Plan and the 2010 long-term goal for the economic and social development of the People's Republic of China)’, 17 March: http://www.npc.gov.cn/wxzl/gongbao/2001-01/02/content_5003506.htm, [last accessed 10 July 2020].Google Scholar
Pan, Xiao 潘晓. 1980. ‘Rensheng de lu a, zenme yue zou yue zhai? (人生的路啊，怎么越走越窄?, Why is the path of life getting narrower and narrower?)’. Zhongguo Qingnian 5, pp. 3–5.Google Scholar
Pusey, James R. 1998. Lu Xun and Evolution. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Qian, Jianguo 钱建国 and Chaoyang, Song 宋朝阳. 2005. ‘Daxuesheng jiuye nan de chengyin ji duice (大学生就业难的成因及对策, The causes of university students’ occupational difficulties and the measures to tackle them)’. Zhongguo Qingnian Bao, 9 October: http://theory.people.com.cn/GB/49154/49156/3750092.html, [last accessed 10 July 2020).Google Scholar
Quan guo gaodeng xuexiao xuesheng xinxi zixun yu jiuye zhidao zhongxin (全国高等学校学生信息咨询与就业指导中心, China Higher Education Student Information and Career Centre). 2013. Daxuesheng zhiye fazhan yu jiuye zhidao (大学生职业发展与就业指导, Career development and occupational guidance for university students). Beijing: Gaodeng Jiaoyu Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Qing, Yan 青妍. 2010. Lin Duoduo fendouji (林朵朵奋斗记, The professional struggle of Lin Duoduo). Beijing: Shishi Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Rimke, Heidi Marie. 2000. ‘Governing Citizens through Self-Help Literature’. Cultural Studies 14 (1), pp. 61–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schram, R. Stuart. 1984. ‘“Economics in Command?” Ideology and Policy since the Third Plenum, 1978–84’. The China Quarterly 99 (September), pp. 417–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, Benjamin. 1964. In Search of Wealth and Power: Yen Fu and the West. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Shi, Kang 石康. 2007. Fendou 奋斗 (Lotta). Shenyang: Wanjuan Chuban Gongsi.Google Scholar
Sorace, Christian, Franceschini, Ivan and Loubere, Nicholas (eds). 2019. Afterlives of Chinese Communism: Political Concepts from Mao to Xi. Canberra: ANU Press.Google Scholar
Sun, Hongying 孙红英 (ed.). 2009. Daxuesheng sixiang daode xiuyang (大学生思想道德修养, Ideological-moral cultivation for university students). Lanzhou: Gansu Renmin Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Sun, Liping 孙立平. 1985. ‘Shehui xiandaihua yu ren de xiandaihua (社会现代化与人的现代化, The modernization of society and the modernization of man)’. Qingnian Yanjiu 4, pp. 15–19.Google Scholar
Sun, Yat-sen 孙中山. 1924. ‘Sanminzhuyi, minquan zhuyi di yi jiang (三民主义，民权主义第一讲, The three principles of the people, first talk on the powers of the people)’: https://blog.boxun.com/hero/201008/mzgmd/33_1.shtml, [last accessed 10 July 2020).Google Scholar
Wang, Ban. 2011. Words and their Stories. Essays on the Language of the Chinese Revolution. Leiden and Boston: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Congcong 王聪聪. 2010. ‘Fuzhi chenggong? 81.3% de ren du guo chenggongxue (复制成功？ 81.3％的人读过成功学, Reproducing success? 81.3% of the people read chenggongxue)’. Zhongguo Qingnian bao, 20 July: http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2010-07/20/content_3333326.htm, [last accessed 20 July 2020).Google Scholar
Wei, Wei 魏巍. 1954. ‘Xingfu de hua wei yongshi er kai (幸福的花为勇士而开, The flowers of happiness blossom for the brave)’. Zhongguo Qingnian 23, pp. 1–6.Google Scholar
Woronov, T. E. 2004. ‘In the Eye of the Chicken: Hierarchy and Marginality among Beijing's Migrant Schoolchildren’. Ethnography 5, pp. 289–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xi, Jinping 习近平. 2013. ‘Zai tong ge jie youxiu qingnian daibiao zuotan shi de jianghua (在同各界优秀青年代表座谈时的讲话, Speech at the Forum with the representatives of the excellent students from all walks all life)’. Xinhua, 4 May: http://www.xinhuanet.com/2013-05/04/c_115639203.htm, [last accessed 20 July 2020].Google Scholar
Xi, Jinping 习近平. 2017. ‘Guojia zhuxi Xi Jinping fabiao 2018 nian xinnian heci (国家主席习近平发表二〇一八年新年贺词, President of state Xi Jinping's 2018 New Year's Greetings)’. Xinhua, 31 December: http://www.xinhuanet.com/2017-12/31/c_1122192418.htm, [last accessed 20 July 2020].Google Scholar
Xia, Weidong 夏伟东. 1989. ‘Lun geren fendou (论个人奋斗, On personal struggle)’. Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu 1, pp. 34–39.Google Scholar
Xu, Jilin 许纪霖. 2010. ‘Xiandaixing de qilu: Qingmo minchu de shehui da'erwenzhuyi sichao (现代性的歧路: 清末民初的社会达尔文主义思潮, A divergent road to modernity: The thought of Social Darwinism in the late Qing and early Republican period)’. Shixue Yuekan 2, pp. 48–61.Google Scholar
Xu, Jilin 许纪霖. 2014. Zhongguo, heyi wenming (中国，何以文明, China, how to move towards civilization). Beijing: Zhongxin chubanshe.Google Scholar
Xu, Li 徐励. 2012. Shijie ruci canku, fendou yao xuan jiaodu (世界如此残酷，奋斗要选角度, The world is cruel, struggle needs an angle). Beijing: Zhongguo Youyi Chuban Gongsi.Google Scholar
Zhonggong Shanxisheng Changwei Dangxiao Xuebao (Monthly Journal of the School Party of the CCP Standing Committee, Shanxi Province). 1980. ‘“Geren fendou” “chengming chengjia” dui ma? (“个人奋斗” “成名成家” 对吗?, Are “individual struggle” and “achieve personal fame and career” right?)’, pp, 208–211.Google Scholar
Zhou, Birong. 2010. ‘Qiantan “chenggongxue” yu “sixiang daode xiuyang” jiaoxue de jiehe 浅谈“成功学”与“思想道德修养”教学的结合 (A discussion about how to combine a chengongxue and a “ideological-moral cultivation” pedagogy)’. Jiaoyu yu Zhiye 8 (23), pp. 138–140.Google Scholar
Žižek, Slavoj (ed.). 1994. Mapping Ideology. London and New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Žižek, Slavoj (ed.). 2008 [1989]. The Sublime Object of Ideology. London and New York: Verso.Google Scholar