The New Century and its Message
Thus the philosophy of Hsin Shih-chi was Anarchist Communism, with some special Chinese emphases. It can best be set forth in terms of "anti’s" and "pro’s. " The young Chinese Anarchists were anti-religion, anti-traditionalist. anti-family, anti-libertine, anti-elitist, anti-government, anti-militarist, and anti-nationalist. They were pro-science, pro-freedom, pro-humanist, pro-violence, pro-revolution, pro-communist, and pro-universalist. To understand the Anarchist position, these numerous themes must be fitted together. It is entirely proper to start with the negative. The Anarchists conceived their immediate task to be that of destruction. Only when the existing state and other artificialities restraining man had been destroyed, could human freedom flow. Indeed, destruction was the most conscious, planned act that the Anarchist could undertake, since freedom would come only in its aftermath, and come as a natural, inevitable consequence requiring no elitist guidance or tampering In their anti-religious position, the young Chinese Anarchists had some sustenance from their own cultural heritage of secularism. They could also look upon the European scene as detached observers, without deep personal involvement. Thus one seems to sense a somewhat less frenzied tone to the anti-religious articles than that characteristic of certain Western radicals. Their position, however, was clear and unequivocal. Wu Chih-hui remarked that the blind worship of religion had been one of the great historical problems of Europe, but he noted that a significant change was taking place. [1] The separation of church and state in France was cited as one indication of this change.
Perhaps the Hsin Shih-chi position on religion was best expressed by Wu in an exchange between him and a reader from Japan. [2] The reader (presumably a Chinese student) wrote that while pro-Socialist, he felt the attacks upon religion were too extreme, thereby alienating would-be supporters. Moreover, he queried, are not the moral standards of the Chinese quite deficient as their educational standards, and is there not a need for religious morality among them? Wu answered by posing the morality of Socialism against that of religion. He asserted that Socialist morality contained all of the basic ethical principles found in religion, without its accompanying superstitions.
It was not sufficient for Chinese Anarchists to attack religion. Confucianism also had to be assaulted. This assault took various forms In the very first issue of Hsin Shih-chi, it was suggested that Confucius lived in an age of barbarism, and that in such an age, it was not difficult for "crafty men" to make themselves into sages and be worshiped by simple folk. [3] The more basic attack upon Confucianism, however, was impersonal: that later generations had attempted to turn him into a saint and insisted that his every word be treated as law without regard to changing times and events. Thus the attack upon Confucianism was broadened to include a general criticism of traditionalism in all its forms. "The Chinese seem to be the greatest lovers of things ancient, " complained Chtu Min-i, "so much so that their minds have been wholly bound by traditional customs and thus they have become enslaved by the ancients." [4] Even in recent decades when it has finally been admitted that China must absorb Western learning, there is still the insistence that "the national character" be preserved. And in the following passage, the author put the anti-traditionalist argument forcefully and well:

"I say that the reason why China has not been able to progress with the world has been due to its emphasis upon things ancient and its treatment of modern things lightly. And the reason why the West had progressed is because of its opposite attitude... We Chinese also have a tendency to treat all Western things as things which China has long experienced or possessed. For example, we say that China long ago engaged in imperialism under the Mongols...; that China long ago realized nationalism under the Yellow Emperor...; that Lao Tzu was the founder of Anarchism; that Mo Tzu was the first advocate of universal love; and finally, that China long ago practiced communism under the name of the ’Well-Field System’. Alas! There is reason behind the birth of new knowledge. It comes at the appropriate time, when it has the potential of realization. One cannot take some saying from the ancients and state in effect that all was long ago foreseen, or that all things new must be fitted into existing ancient teachings... There are countless things which even modern man cannot foresee. Thus how much can one expect of the ancients?" [5]

This anti-traditional position was important. It symbolized the commitment to modernity, progress, and new ideas that embodied the essence of twentieth century radicalism in the Far East The anti-traditional, anti-Confucian themes enunciated in Hsin Shih-chi and a few other Chinese radical journals of this period were later carried forward by Ch’en Tu-hsiu and many other "progressive" intellectuals. After 1915, as is well known, the Hsin Ch’ing-nien (The New Youth), edited by Ch’en, served as the avant garde journal for the Chinese intellectuals. Its searching criticisms of contemporary Chinese society provided a powerful stimulus to the political events that followed. But many of these criticisms had first been advanced a decade earlier by the Chinese overseas students, particularly by the Paris and Tokyo Anarchist groups. There was a natural connection between the anti-Confucian, anti-traditional themes and that of anti-family. In one of its first issues, Hsin Shih-chi called for an "ancestor revolution" [6] The veneration of ancestors was denounced as a breach of reason, a denial of science. To qualify as a member of the Chinese Revolutionary Party, one’s position on this issue had to be clear, it was asserted. Moreover, in the broader sense, social revolution had to begin with the family, because the family was the primary institution of subjugation and inequality. Thus was one of the earliest attacks launched on the Chinese familial institution, an attack that has finally reached a climax in the events since 1949. [7]
It is equally important, however, to note the strong anti-libertine position which the young Anarchists took. Like most "true believers," the Chinese Anarchists had a fairly rigorous ethical code. Theirs was a call to hard work and hard study, the protection of one’s body, and in general, a Spartan life. The Anarchists were vigorously opposed to visiting prostitutes, smoking, drinking, and gambling, and as we have noted, these activities were prohibited in Anarchist-run establishments. Some Anarchists like Li Shihtseng also espoused vegetarianism. Physical exercise was greatly encouraged. The contrast between these rules of personal conduct and those of the orthodox Chinese scholar-gentry class was striking. And in this sense, conversion to Anarchism was similar to religious conversion involving the attempt to follow a whole new way of life. Nor is a strong parallelism with the later Communist movement lacking. But it must be emphasized that for the Anarchist, "conversion" was an intensely personal act. Moreover, the very fact that the Anarchist ethical code, if strictly followed, separated one from the mores of one’s class and society in this period, enhanced the individualism which at root the Anarchists cherished. In these senses, there is a substantial difference from the heavy compulsory element in Chinese Communist morality, from the conscious attempt to create an uniform "moral man" in the Communist mold. The capstone of anarchism is anti-authority. Elitism of all types and in all forms is denounced. It is thus not surprising to find Hsin Shih-chi condemning those revolutions conducted by the few as dangerous. [8] If the majority of the people did not appreciate the need for revolution and did not support it, its progress would be slow. Only when a revolution had the support of the great majority or the whole of the people could it be considered a true social revolution. [9] In a later issue, Hsin Shih-chi carried a speech of Liu Shih-p’ei made in Tokyo. [10] Liu described the anti-Manchu movement as being supported chiefly by students and secret society members. Hence, its success would be the success of the few, whereas the revolution being proposed by the Anarchists for China would be the product of the many, the struggle of the nation’s peasants and workers, and ultimately, the whole of mankind.
The Anarchists were wanting massive peasant-worker support, and it was the Anarchist Movement that first introduced this concept in its modern form into the stream of Chinese political thought. The early Chinese Anarchists paved the way for all subsequent travelers who chose to worship at the feet of the Proletariat. But the Leninist concept of elitism, of vanguardism, was totally foreign to Anarchist theory. The Anarchists wanted no oligarchy, no inner circle of powerful men to guide the ignorant masses. They believed that any elite would confine and corrupt freedom. The masses must be brought along with the revolution, must be caused to understand and appreciate it, so that in its aftermath, they would be prepared immediately to be free men.
The Anarchist position culminated in a frontal attack upon the state. "All governments are the enemies of freedom and equality" wrote one Hsin Shih-chi editor. [11] And in a later issue, the Anarchist case was set forth more fully:

"The individual is the basic unit in society. Together with others, he forms a village, and with other villages, a country is formed. Society in turn is formed through the process of bringing all countries together. The proper society is that which permits free exchange between and among individuals, mutual aid, the common happiness and enjoyment of all, and the freedom from control by the force of a few. This is what Anarchism seeks to realize. The governments of today, however, are organized by the few, who in turn pass laws which are of benefit to the few. Thus the state is the destroyer of the proper society. In sum, what we seek is the destruction of the destroyer of proper society." [12]

In such fashion did the Anarchists proclaim their major objectives the elimination of the State and an uncompromising anti-militarism. All governments, of whatever type, were declared the enemies of freedom and equality, coercive devices that protected the few and produced misery for the masses. And it was militarism that served as the brute force to uphold the state, the means whereby the oppressor class retained its supremacy. [13]
Unrelenting Anarchist opposition to the State and to organized power in any form produced sharp conflict with the nationalists. An interesting and significant polemic battle between young Anarchists and nationalists was carried out in the pages of Hsin Shih-chi. The journal published numerous letters from nationalist readers, with the rebuttal arguments of the editors inserted at intervals into the original text. Simultaneously, it will be recalled, the nationalists were struggling with the K’ang-Liang forces who supported constitutional monarchism. In this era, Chinese nationalism had to do battle on two fronts, and by viewing both fronts, one can glimpse the total Chinese reform-revolution spectrum. The nationalist arguments against Anarchism were many, but two were pushed with special vigor. The nationalists posed their "realistic" view of world politics against anarchist utopianism. As an ideal, Anarchism was excellent, but in the world of reality, it would represent an unchallenged victory for imperialism and despotism. For China to abandon government and her quest for strength would lead to her total conquest by various predatory powers. "If you people know only how to cry emptily that ’We want no government, no soldiers, no national boundaries, and no state’ and that you are for universal harmony, justice, freedom and equality, I fear that those who know only brute force and not justice will gather their armies to divide up our land and control our people." [14] China must become strong, argued the nationalists, so that none will dare assault it. Indeed, they asserted, without a military force or an organization, one could not even challenge the Manchu tyranny effectively, not to mention the Western imperialists.
Before examining the Anarchist answer, let us advance the second nationalist argument. It might be called the two-stage revolutionary theory in its earliest form. In one letter especially, this theory was spelled out in a most interesting manner. Ordinary societies could be depicted thus:

"Only through the use of nationalism could the Chinese people overcome forces "a" and "b, " and only then would they be able to stand as equals with the world, working for world harmony. The first task was the nationalist revolution, and only after this had been achieved, could a society advance to internationalism." [15]

The Hsin Shih-chi answer to this argument carries with it a remembrance of things future. The editor asserted that since the rich and official classes of China do not seek justice, the common people could not unite with them to overthrow the Manchu. The Anarchists were clearly anti-popular front, long before the first Chinese Communists struggled with the Bolsheviks over this problem. Nor could the Chinese common people jump over barrier "y, " and break the shackles of "a" and "b. " The only answer was total, complete, and simultaneous mass revolution. The Anarchists drew their own diagram:

"The inner circle was labeled "the people of the world, " the outer circle was called "all authority, " with the caption. "Unite with the people of the world to burst open authority." [16]

The Anarchists advanced other arguments against their nationalist opponents. They asserted that the maintenance of states and armies did not prevent others from attacking. It was only when concern went beyond one’s own race or nation, when one opposed all enemies of the moral laws of mankind that self-preservation could be attained. [17] Rather than merely opposing the Manchu Court, was it not better to oppose monarchy, Manchu or Han? [18] Did not those who advocate another state to replace the present one merely postpone the final revolution, and were they not in the same class as the constitutional monarchists? [19] If the Han had a right to challenge Manchu control of China, did not the earlier Miao have a right to challenge the Han? [20] Was nationalism more than "revengism, " an appeal to irrational hatred and love? [21] How long have the Chinese known the meaning of the term "nation, " and does the working class care? [22] With such queries did the Anarchists taunt and challenge their rivals.
Sometimes, they too made use of a concept of stages or evolution, but not in the sense of a necessary sequence; rather, in terms of an unfolding of man’s grasp of higher truth and moral law. One writer explained it this way: first came individualism, self-interest; then racial revolution and nationalism, the interest of one’s people; finally, social revolution and universalism, the concern for all mankind. [23]Another wrote that man’s evolution was from absolutism to Anarchism. [24] There was little doubt that the Anarchists felt that the age of nationalism was going out of fashion, and could be by-passed in China.
This point may serve as a transition to the Anarchist positive beliefs, and here, one can start with that of science. The strength of anarchist faith in science can be indicated by the remark of Li Shih-tseng: "There is nothing in European civilization that does not have its origin in science." [25] To the Anarchists, science was truth, knowledge, and progress. It was the only legitimate cornerstone of education, the only proper basis of values. [26] It separated the barbarian from the civilized man. [27]
When the Hsin Shih-chi writings are carefully perused, however, it is clear that the young Chinese Anarchists had also acquired a deep conviction in Western humanism, a conviction that did not stem from their reverence for science despite attempts to unite the two. The opening words of Hsin Shih-chi proclaimed that the journal would have as its starting point, a sense of kung-li, "common rights," and liang-hsin, "conscience." [28] In subsequent issues, many articles were sprinkled with words like "justice, " "fairness, " "equality, " and "human rights." To the Anarchists, the first and last commandment of natural law was that man be free, and that he substitute mutual aid (in Kropotkin’s terms) for ruthless competition and sordid materialism.
The Anarchist attack upon constitutional government flowed partly down this channel. The Anarchists charged that if monarchy was a victory for absolutism, modern democracy was a victory for money and the wealthy class. Both were unnatural and unnecessary forms of coercion, violations of human freedom. Once again, selected aspects of Chinese traditionalism could blend easily with the Western secular humanism to which these young radicals paid tribute. The Anarchists made much of ta-t’ung chu-i, "universalism, " but this was surely not a novel term to those trained in the classics, nor were many other terms commonplace in Anarchist literature. This matter must not be oversimplified, however. A term or an idea may be the same in isolated form, but it must be viewed in context if its total meaning and implications are to be understood. In this sense, when the anarchist movement was viewed in its total Western context, it did demand intellectual changes of revolutionary proportions from its Chinese disciples, however much the classics might help in providing some familiar way signs.
Anarchism was based upon a combination of science and humanism. It was an heroic attempt to spell out a theory of progress that would signal man’s ultimate triumph over all external coercion and his own internal weaknesses. Naturally, the Anarchists glorified revolution. They argued that the entire movement of mankind from barbarism to civilization was due to revolution. [29] They proclaimed the twentieth century as a century of world revolution, from which ultimately no nation would escape. [30] And they believed in the use of violence to effect revolution. When accused by nationalist rivals of being inconsistent in advocating anti-militarism on the one hand, but sanctioning violent revolution on the other, the Anarchists refused to admit any contradiction.

"Militarism is that by which the strong sacrifice the lives and money of others in order to preserve their own power and that of the state. Thus it is unfair and should be eliminated. Revolutionary assassination, on the other hand, is the sacrifice of the individual to eliminate the enemy of humanity, thereby extending the common rights of the world. These two, militarism and revolutionary assassination, are as different as two things can be." [31]

The Anarchists believed that the pistol and the bomb were important means of advancing common rights. One author criticized the young Chinese students in Japan who were committing suicide in protest against Chinese government policies:

"If you fellows really see in death the answer to things, why do you not follow in the footsteps of the Russian Terrorist Party by killing one or two thieves of mankind as the price of death. Whether one plunges into the sea or is decapitated (as an assassin), both are the same death. But they are different in their impact. Whereas one has no impact and the person merely dies as a courageous man, the other has a great impact, especially upon the Chinese official class. For the fear of death is one of the special characteristics of Chinese officials. In sum, in this twentieth century, if there is the possibility of eliminating even one thief of mankind and thereby decreasing a portion of dictatorial power, then the year of the great Chinese revolution will be one day closer. . . " [32]

The appeal of assassination to Chinese radicals as a revolutionary technique was due in major part to the problems involved in organizing any effective mass movement in contemporary China, and the difficulties of peaceful change. Assassination was an immediately practical individual action. Other methods seemed utopian, or at best, long range. Still, as we have noted, the Anarchists insisted that a truly successful revolution had to have the support of a majority of the people. To obtain this, they urged a campaign of both propaganda and action at the mass level. This campaign should be directed toward three objects: government, capitalists, and society. With respect to government, opposition should be concentrated upon militarism, laws, and taxation. Capitalists should be combated by an attack upon the concept of private property. In society at large, religion and the family institution should be exposed. At the action level, assassination should be used against government, strikes against capitalists, and love toward society. [33] In another source, La Révolution, probably written by Li Shih-tseng and Ch’u Min-i, five means of effectuating revolution were listed: books and speeches "so as to move people"; meetings and gatherings "whereby the people’s power may be brought together"; public resistance in the form of refusal to pay taxes; opposition to conscription, and strikes; assassination; and mass uprisings. [34]
It is interesting to note one article which urged that the existing Chinese secret societies be converted into vehicles for revolution by the Anarchists. [35] It argued that these societies already had a mass base, and had succeeded in implanting an anti-Manchu revolutionary spirit among large numbers of common people. To be sure, the secret societies remained traditionalist and culture-bound, therefore, they did not contribute much to modern China. However, the new revolutionary methods of Western radicalism such as the general strike and anti-militarism might be implanted within the structure of the secret society. If revolution were to succeed in China unions would have to be established, but rather than building anew, why not change the character of the secret societies? Why not cause hundreds and thousands of revolutionary comrades to join these societies, and carry with them the principles of Anarchist-Communism? Then the simple aim of overthrowing the Manchu could be broadened to include the ideas of social revolution and free federation. [36]
In the article just cited, the general strike was recognized as a major technique of Western radicalism and a Chinese labor union movement was encouraged. The Paris Anarchist group were emerging at the very time when European Syndicalism was making strides forward, and the general strike was being lauded as the foremost revolutionary method. But considering these facts, the emphasis upon unionism and the strike as a political weapon was rather scanty in the Chinese Anarchist writings. [37] The reason was obvious: these factors could not be very meaningful in China under current circumstances. Even the most ardent Anarchist found it difficult to envisage a rapidly growing Chinese labor movement, one that could successfully employ the tactic of the general strike. Revolution via assassination, or via the peasant-worker mass uprising seemed a more promising immediate technique.
The Anarchists were careful to distinguish several types of revolution. They admitted that all revolutions would require some bloodshed, but they argued that actually modern revolutions would be less bloody than those of the past, since resistance to revolution was gradually declining. [38] It was important, however, not to be satisfied with a partial or incomplete revolution. Most Anarchists sought to make a basic distinction between "political" and "social" revolution. The former was a limited revolution, one to overthrow the Manchu, but without sufficiently broad socio-economic objectives or mass support. The only complete revolution was a social revolution, one based upon popular support and participation, the principles of political freedom, equality, and a sharing of the wealth. A social revolution had to be underwritten by the practice of Anarchist Communism. [39]
Hsin-Shih-chi contained a number of articles that attempted to define and defend Anarchism or Anarchist Communism. A lengthy [40] essay, "On Anarchism, " ran through many issues of the journal. In this, the authors asserted that Anarchism essentially meant "no authority. " Governments used the military to underwrite authority, and hence the Anarchist was opposed to militarism, advocating humanitarianism in its place. Secondly, Anarchism was a theory that no limits should be placed upon man, whereas government limited man by laws and other forms of coercion. Above all, the anarchist respected freedom. In addition, the Anarchist believed in a classless, equal society. He believed in the common sharing of property, being opposed both to Capitalism and to State Socialism, another form of concentrated political and economic power. Nationalization of industry would only strengthen government and the governing class. The answer lay in the equalization of wealth through communal ownership and communal control, with power centered upon the primary, natural group. Groups, whether in economic or political terms, could be associated with each other through the system of free federation. [41]
Precisely when the term "communism" was introduced into Chinese language and thought, we cannot say. It seems likely, however that it occurred during this period, and in connection with the discussions of Anarchist Communism. [42] In the Hsin Shih-chi issue of November 7, 1908, we find an article by Ch’u Min-i criticizing an earlier article which had been published in the Shanghai Shih-pao, a progressive newspaper founded in 1904 by T’i Ch’u-ch’ing, returned student from Japan. That article had been entitled "Why China Cannot Now Promote Communism (Kung-ch’an chu-i) ." [43] Ch’u in his answer, insisted that all Anarchists were communists, whereas this was not necessarily true of Socialists [The Chinese word for communism "Gong-Chan" literally translates as "Common-Production."]. There were many false Socialist parties which sought to substitute the power of government (via state socialism) for the power of capitalists. Only communism which ignored the wealth of the nation and its military might, concentrating instead upon the well-being of each individual in the world, could provide justice and achieve universal harmony.
The Shih-pao article had equated communism with the ancient Well-Field System, but had asserted that despite the attempt to effectuate communism from time to time throughout Chinese history, it could never be more than empty talk because it ignored reality. At points, this article had used the term, "chn-ch’an, " "equalization of property" for communism, in place of "kung-ch’an " In his reply, Ch’u consistently used the latter term. He denied any relationship between the Well-Field System and modern communism. He insisted, moreover, that one must distinguish between various forms of state collectivism, such as the nationalization of property, and true communism. The latter was based upon common property, with the controls being vested in the small, operative, natural group. Groups were united only in free federation, and there were no coercive instruments of control.
Ch’u admitted that the gap between rich and poor in China had not reached the extremes characteristic of the West. If that fate were to be averted, however, communism would have to be practiced. And in communism, there was only one basic law: "from each according to his ability; to each according to his needs." No other rules were necessary, and hence there was no need for higher government or a state. When the Shih-pao brought social evolutionism into play, Ch’u also had an answer. The Shih-pao author had asserted that the world progressed through competition, and thus the struggle between rich and poor, between ruler and people, constituted a part of the inevitable historical process. Responded Ch’u:

"Progress did not necessarily depend upon competition and competition did not always mean progress. Mutual aid was also a route to progress - with justice."

The political theory of the Paris group can perhaps best be summarized by referring to a chart published in the July 27, 1907 issue of Hsin Shih-chi. It was entitled "A Comparison of the Three Principles of Nationalism, Democracy, and Socialism." [44] The salient characteristics of nationalism were its anti-Manchu and anti-foreign (Western) qualities. In a limited sense, it was anti-authority: it opposed the transgression of any foreign race upon the Han people, and sought to eliminate the insults to them. It was thus drawn to support militarism as a method of opposing external dangers and strengthening China.
Democracy was characterized by being anti-monarchy and anti-nobility. It too was anti-authority in a limited sense: it opposed the power and coercion of one person (the monarch) or a small group (the officials), and sought to end oppression upon the people. But democracy also supported tsu-kuo chu-i, "fatherlandism. " Together, nationalism and democracy sought the well-being of one country or one race. At best, this was a decided minority of world’s people. Hence, in the final analysis, these two movements were dominated by selfishness or self-advantage.
Socialism, on the other hand, was dedicated to opposing all things that were against reason. Thus it was anti-authority without reservation. It was against all political systems. It sought to eliminate injury of whatever type to human freedom and to realize certain universal moral laws. It opposed international as well as national power politics, favoring an end to warfare and the realization of universal harmony. It was for the elimination of evil ways—such as the superstitions of religion (so as to eliminate falseness and realize truth); the obligations of the family (so as to eliminate family bonds and realize love among mankind); and the customs of social intercourse (so as to eliminate falseness and realize practicality). It strongly supported equality in all forms: equality in the economic system (so as to eliminate divisions between rich and poor, and realize common property); equality in moral and political rules (so as to eliminate classes and special privilege). Thus socialism has as its ultimate characteristic universal harmony based upon justice and selfless love of mankind. [45] In this fashion, did the Chinese Anarchist seek to distinguish themselves from their rivals and set forth their case .