A Review Of Reginald Fleming Johnston’s Chinese Studies

Reginald Fleming Johnston(1874-1938)was a Scottish traveler,colonial official and Chinese scholar.Johnston’s courtesy name "Zhi Dao",its courtesy name from the Analects of Confucius: "Scholars are devoted to the way".In 1898,Johnston went to China as a trainee in the Colonial Office and served in the British Hong Kong Government and the British Concession of Weihaiwei as Assistant to the Auxiliary Secretary,Secretary to the Governor,and Secretary to the General Chinese Affairs Department.In 1918,he was recommended by Li Jingmai to be Puyi’s English teacher.After Puyi’s expulsion from the palace,Johnston served briefly as secretary to the SinoBritish Gung Ho Committee and in 1927 he became the Administrator of Weihaiwei until its return to China.Having been in China for over thirty years and having been associated with the country for half his life,Johnston witnessed and even experienced first-hand the turbulent history of the late Qing Dynasty.In terms of his political role,Johnston underwent a transformation from an’external observer’ to an ’internal participant’,and this change has shaped Johnston’s unique observations and perspectives on Chinese politics.As a ’colonial official’,Johnston observed the situation in Shandong from the perspective of British interests,acutely capturing the ’game’ between China and Germany in Shandong and developing a viewpoint that was still strongly colonial.As an ’imperial teacher’,Johnston gradually found a sense of ’belonging’ and identity.The mixture of family and career difficulties,his modern British education,his work experience in Hong Kong and Weihaiwei,and his status as an "imperial teacher" gave him a different way of thinking about and commenting on Chinese political figures and events,and he formed a view of Chinese politics that "advocated constitutional monarchy and opposed violent revolution".He developed a political view of China that "advocated constitutional monarchy and opposed violent revolution".In the area of Confucianism,Zhuang discovered the important role of Confucianism in Chinese society through his careful observation of the Weihaiwei countryside,"the most primitive state of life in northern China",and his study of various Confucian classics: he believed that Confucianism was the foundation of Chinese society and the link between tradition and modernity,and strongly refuted Christianity’s He also strongly refuted the Christian denial of Confucianism and the vilification of Confucius,and opposed the wholesale rejection of Confucianism by violent revolution.Johnston respected traditional Chinese folklore,which,in his view,was ’harmless’ and formed the basis of traditional Chinese society,but he also expected the Chinese people to be educated and to turn away from superstition.In Buddhism,his scepticism and disillusionment with the Christian life led Johnston to seek a new spiritual home,and his love of the Chinese landscape led him to take a keen interest in Buddhism in China,where he began to explore the ’sacred mountains’ and study the scriptures.In Johnston’s view,Buddhism built the spiritual world of the Chinese people and was integrated into the Chinese philosophical system,as well as being one of the ideological sources of Chinese art and culture.As for Christianity,his unfortunate family life caused Johnston to lose faith in Christianity,and at the same time he recognised its ’hypocritical’ nature,so that he was able to break away from the theological view of Christianity and analyse its dogmas objectively with his extensive knowledge of philosophy and history.As a scholar who was deeply involved in Chinese culture,he was even able to speak as a Chinese person and attack the many flaws of Christian missionary activity in China.Johnston’s views,which seemed very different in the West and even in China at the time,are now easy to see in retrospect for their many virtues and,of course,their many flaws.His folklore observations of the Weihaiwei countryside and the ethnic minorities of the southwest have left us with valuable material.His efforts to protect traditional thought and culture and the cultural independence of his people,and to oppose cultural aggression and stigmatisation,are worthy of praise and reference.At the same time,it is worth reflecting on the colonial mindset,the extreme political conservatism and even the ignorant "loyalty to the king" that he retained.