World History and National Identity in China: The Twentieth Century By Xin Fan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. xiii + 251 pp. £75.00 (cloth)

Abstract

Korea fail? (Perhaps the concept of sovereignty was only tangential.) And what of pan-Asianism in the larger discourse of sovereignty? At times, Carrai seems to accept that modern international law is amoral, or at least less moral than premodern cosmologies, but this is a position that needs better grounding. This work, erudite though it is, also suffers from some odd declarations. For example, “the emperor was in charge of both Heavenly and earthly affairs” (36). It is basically misleading to consider Kang Youwei a Darwinist (99). “The idea of self-determination drove the 1919 Paris Peace Conference after the First World War” (112). “Over the past thirty years, sovereignty, the principle of noninterference, and relations between state and individual have gradually transformed to favor individuals and their rights” (183)—maybe so, but I wonder. The title of Zhang Zhidong’s treatise should be translated as Exhortation to Learning (82). Some of the romanization is inaccurate; particularly annoying are repeated references to the “Sino-Meji War” for the First Sino-Japanese (Meiji) War, and it is unfortunate that Cambridge University Press did not use a better qualified copy-editor. Notwithstanding the quibbles above, this book should be read by historians, political scientists, and diplomats alike. Looking back over China’s century of pursuing national sovereignty, Carrai rightly warns us not to try to match Chinese concepts exactly onto Western ones and that indeed imperial conceptions remain relevant.