A Study On Robert A.Scalapino Views Of China

Robert A.Scalapino is a leader in American Chinese academic circles after the second World War.Together with John King Fairbank and Arthur Doak Barnett,he is known as the three "Chinese Tong" of the United States after the war.It has played a great role in the relaxation and establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.Studying Scalapino's view of China is,on the one hand,useful for us to understand the changes he personally looks at about China,and on the other,to help us understand the state of Chinese society in the eyes of American scholars by analyzing his research.The thesis is mianly divided into four chapters.The first chapter briefly introduces Scalapino's life and his academic turn from European studies to East Asian studies,especially Chinese studies.The second chapter discusses Scalapino's analysis of three important problems in the process of modernization in China,including the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in the middle of the 19 th century,the rebuttal of the Kangliang Reform School and the Sun Zhongshan Revolutionary School in the late 19 th century and the early 20 th century.And the anarchist trend of thought in the first half of the 20 th century.The third chapter examines Scalapino's understanding of China in Mao Zedong era,including three aspects: the investigation of China's domestic economic and political situation,the new reflection on Sino-US relations,and the analysis of Cross-Strait relations.The fourth chapter discusses Scalapino's understanding of China in the Deng Xiaoping era and later era,including three aspects: the understanding of China's economic and political development since the reform and The Opening-up,and the analysis of the relationship between the Cross-Strait.And his views on the relationship between China and the great powers.Generally speaking,by studying China for half a century,Scalapino had to face the differences in national interests,cultural traditions and way of thinking between China and the United States,but he made his efforts to understand and look at the Chinese people with respect from the perspective of seeking common ground while reserving differences,to study China in a pragmatic manner.On the issue of China,toconsider China from the perspective of development,to evaluate Sino-US relations with cautious optimism when.It is Scalapino's macro,historical and practical research on China that in some sense exerted influence on the American views toward China and the making of U.S.foreign policy towards China.However,at the same time,as one of the important consultants of the United States Government,Scalapino's research was mainly based on the national interests of the United States and was affected by the mainstream values of the United States.Thus,we should look at Scalapino's research and opinion on China in a prudent and Dialectical way.