The Zeng Guofan Family and Local Politics:On the Internal Tension and Collaboration of the Dual-Track System
This paper explores the internal tension and collaboration of the dual-track system in the case of the Zeng family in Xiangxiang,arguing that the basic feature of double track politics is two separate upper and lower tracks rather than two layers of a single track,and that the separation and linkage of the political system(zhengtong)and the ethical system(daotong)are much more fundamental than others as the theoretical foundation for the formation of the dual-track politics.The various tensions within the dual-track system were thoroughly manifested in the Zeng Guofan family's involvement in local affairs in Xiangxiang.Zeng wanted to separate the double tracks,and expected his family to follow the ethical system in local affairs but his family did not share his view.Zeng Guohuang(his brother)had actively expanded his family's wealth and power,disregarding Zeng Guofan's repeated pleads not to be in collusion with the local officials'private interests,and practically laying down a base for the linkage between the political and ethical systems.It was due to the ideas and actions of Zeng brothers that important events such as Zeng Linshu's(Zeng's father)involvement in helping collecting tax and his call on an upright official Zhu Shiqiao's stay could have occurred.Thus,with Zhu's dedication to serve people,a gentry and a government official had formed the kind of corporation that transcended the separation of the political and the ethic systems.In the structure of dual-track politics,theory and practice,national and local,private and public interest,are in tension with each other.The relationship between the state and the gentry in different times manifested differently in this tension structure.What Fei Xiaotong called the occlusion of politics in the Republic of China seemed to refer to a blockage of the passage between the top and the bottom,but the root of it in fact was the total loss of two sides separation of the dual-track and its internal tension.In this sense,Fei Xiaotong's discussion of the politics of the Republic of China is an important contribution to the continuity of the spirit of the"dual-track".
Zeng Guofanthe dual-track systemthe political system and the ethical systemself-governanceFei Xiaotong
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