Two Levels of"Republic":The Founding of the Republic in the History Textbooks of the Early Republic of China
In the early period of the Republic of China,history textbooks mainly focused on republican narratives when writing about the historical facts of the Revolution of 1911 and the establishment of the Republic of China.The textbooks provided a comprehensive analysis of the historical rationality of the tremendous transformation from monarchy to republicanism,including its causes,process,and outcomes.Using the keywords"Chinese nation"and"Republic of China"to summarize the history of the early Republic of China,they actually highlighted the two levels of"republic":ethnic integration and polity change,thus giving rise to a dual variation of nationalism and democracy.In this dual variation,the textbooks took democracy as the foundation,advocated"great nationalism",eliminated the negative impact of"little nationalism",and emphasized the historical commonality of monarchy and republicanism,rather than focusing on the Chinese historical characteristic with the republican path and ethnic issues intertwined.In the face of the complex historical upheaval of the downfall of the Qing dynasty and the rise of the Republic of China,such a writing strategy is undoubtedly wise.
History Textbooks of the Early Republic of ChinaRepublican NarrativesNationalismDemocracy