American Studies in China

Author(s): Zhu Yongtao

Source: American Studies International , October 1987, Vol. 25, No. 2 (October 1987), pp.
3-19
Published by: Mid-America American Studies Association

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 American Studies in China
by Zhu Yongtao

States and its culture, has a long history in China. The emergence of
American American States and studies,
American Studies asStudies its culture,
a professional if as defined
discipline, however,a took
has professional
place in in a long a broad history discipline, sense in as China. the however, study The of emergence took the place united of in
the early 1960s as a response to the demands of the changing situation in domestic
and international affairs. Nevertheless, there was no interdisciplinary American
Studies program that could "combine the insights of the diverse disciplines
engaged in studying the United States, usually off in their separate corners of
the campus and the mind/'1 The program as such did not emerge until the early
1980s.

In fact, the term "American Studies" is still elusive. In 1985 a group of

American Studies scholars from the United States visited China and toured the

part of academe involved in the study of the United States. In their report on
the state of American Studies in China, they concluded that there was no true
program of this sort in China as they conceived of it at home in America. Their
report, which reflects an American perspective, has stimulated Chinese Ameri-
canists to ask and discuss these questions: What is American Studies? What does
it mean in the Chinese context? What is the proper way for people outside the
United States to understand the lives of men and women in American society,
their behavior, their institutions, their values, their past and present? What
progress have we made in the past in our efforts to promote this understanding?
Of late, the discussion has found its expression in several articles.2 This essay
intends to join the discussion by providing a concise overview and evaluation
of recent developments and scholarship in the study of the United States in China.

INITIAL STAGES IN THE 1960s

The initial stage of American Studies in this country began in the e

and ended in 1966 when the Cultural Revolution broke out. During t

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4

China and the United States were still locked in confrontation. Added to this cold
war atmosphere was the open conflict between the Soviet Union and China.
Moreover, domestic economic reconstruction was, after experiencing a difficult
time, beginning to recover. It was therefore in China's national interest to study
the United States. In answer to Chairman Mao Zedong's call for an expansion
of foreign studies, some research-oriented institutions and university-based
teaching-research centers were established in 1964 with emphasis on American
history, international relations, American economy, and American literature.
Among them were the American History Research Office in the Institute of World
History under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the American
Economic Research Office in the Institute of World Politics and Economy of the
CASS, the American History Research Centers in the Departments of History
at Nankai University and Wuhan University, the Research Group of Modern and
Contemporary British and American Foreign Relations at Nanjing University, and
the Institute of Modern American Literature at Shandong University. These
institutions helped to organize Chinese scholars into initial American Studies
programs.
Having had their own bases, Chinese Americanists plunged enthusiastically
into their task. After a few years' preparatory work, some scholarly papers began
to appear in Chinese periodicals, although book-length studies were not available.
In retrospect, the scholarship in this period was characterized by the following
points. First of all, it was marked by the climate of opinion of the time. Chinese
scholars, like people everywhere, lived and worked within specific political and
cultural environments. Their values and their perceptions of other cultures naturally
reflected the spirit of the cold war era. These intellectuals, as staunch patriots
who had lived through the late 1940s and the 1950s, felt a need and responsibili-
ty to instruct their countrymen along patriotic lines. Their writings about America
were therefore mainly critical.
In the field of American history, Chinese scholars, following the lead of the
historians in the 1950s, continued to reveal the imperialistic bases for American
hostility to China and other countries. These revelations found expression in Ding

Zhu Yongtao, deputy director of the American Studies Center

at Beijing Foreign Studies University, conducted research as
a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia from July 1984
to January 1986, during which time he earned an M. A. degree
in American history. He is the author of "American History
Taught to the Freshmen" ( Foreign Language Teaching and
Research , 1984) and "The Quantification in American Historical
Research" ( Trends in World History, 1984). He annotated a new
edition of Leo Huberman's 1960 We, the People (1981) and
translated the Story of the Chinese in America (1975) by Betty
Lee Sung (1984).

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 5

Zemin's "The Aggressive Policy of the U.S. Imperialism from 1899 to 1923" (1964),
Luo Rongqu's "The Origins and True Nature of the Monroe Doctrine- The
Development of Early American Expansionism" (1963) and Yang Shengmao's
" 'The New Frontier' Is the Product of American Imperialist Aggression" (1965).
Three essays concerning the United States appeared from 1964 to 1966 in the
periodical Economic Research: Su Shaozhi's "The U.S. Economy Is the Most Lop-
sidedly Militarized in the World" (1964), Guo Jinian's "On the Monetary War
between the U.S. and France" (1965), and Wang Youquan's "Keynes's Theory
Cannot Prevent the Decline of the Domination of the American Dollar" (1965).
The three titles speak for themselves.
Second, the study of the United States in this period was guided by a Marxist
perspective which could be clearly felt in every field. Sha Shijiong, in "On the
Bourgeois Nature of the American Constitution of 1787" (1964), applied the view-
points of class and class struggle to his analysis. He concluded that the Constitu-
tion was nothing but a victory of the bourgeois class against the laboring people.
Third, also prevalent in the scholarship of the 1960s, was a leftist dogmatism which
focused on anything negative in American culture and society. This was shown
in Gu Xueshun's "The Reactionary Nature of Roosevelt's New Deal" (1960) in
which he asserted that the New Deal had trampled on the democratic rights of
the American people. In literature only progressive writers such as Albert Maltz
and Michael Gold and realist authors such as Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser,
Jack London, and Ernest Hemingway were introduced to Chinese readers.
Finally, as research and teaching about the United States had been done
behind closed doors, and because China and the United States did not have nor-
mal relations and communications, the sources that Chinese scholars relied on
were either inadequate or outdated. This factor, together with the previous one,
limited progress in scholarship. However, this initial stage laid significant foun-
dations for the future development of American Studies in China, both institu-
tionally and professionally.

AFTER THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

During the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976, the wri
and teaching of American Studies were almost completely interrupted. This
tion did not change until the turn of 1978 when two crucial events occurre
was that the Chinese government adopted a completely new policy- openin
the outside world and flexible at home- which led to an historically great r
movement across the country. The second breakthrough came with the esta
ment of official diplomatic relations between China and the United States
January 1, 1979. Thus ended the long confrontation, which had done great
to both nations. Not only could the impact of these developments be felt in
aspect of Chinese life, it also profoundly affected the academic life and wor
Chinese Americanists.

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6

Reflexive Trends

The spirit of reform in American Studies since 1978 is reflected in two impor-
tant changes. The first significant new development in American Studies is the
reflexive movement in the field. The more democratic and relaxed political atmos-
phere at home and the closer and more frequent contact with the rest of the world
inspired Chinese scholars to reexamine their values, their conceptions of American
Studies, and their attitude toward their teaching and research. Chinese historians
served as the vanguard in this movement. In February 1979 Huang Shaoxiang,
a noted historian, wrote a pioneering essay "The Traditional Friendship between
the Chinese and American Peoples." The pendulum began to swing. Following
her paper was Wang Xu, who, in "On Some Issues in the Sino- American Rela-
tions" (1979), called for reinterpreting several issues such as the Open Door policy.
But, of course, the present reflexive trend does not mean the abandonment
of the Marxist approach; rather it seeks to improve the application of this guiding
principle by opening the field to the outside and repudiating the leftist tendency
in order to make foreign studies better serve the socialist reconstruction in the
country. Luo Rongqu addressed this reflexive trend directly in 1980. "For the
purpose of quickening our four modernizations," he wrote, "we must learn all
good things from foreign politics, economics, science and technology, literature
and arts

the past is certainly wrong. But it is equally

American."3

Organizational Changes

The second new development in American Studies since 1978 is mirrored in

an organizational change. The previously established institutions for the study
of the United States not only have acquired a new life, but also have taken the
lead in research, teaching, and publication. In 1981, the Institute of American
Studies of CASS was established to conduct integrated study of United States
politics, economy, foreign relations, society, and culture. This is the first and only
organization of its kind, and the founding of this institute is symptomatic of
American Studies 's coming of age as an academic discipline in this country. Other
institutes or centers have sprung up throughout the country. They include the
American History of Research Association of China, the Association of American
Literature Studies, the Institute of American Culture at Shandong University,
and American Studies Centers at Beijing University, Beijing Foreign Studies
University, Sichuan University, Fudan University, and Shanghai International
Studies University, respectively. According to a CASS survey, by 1983 there were
three nationwide institutes and more than seventy local institutions or centers.
One phenomenon in organizational change, which is unique in Chinese educa-

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 7

tion, is the evolution of foreign language studies institutes into foreign culture
studies universities. Beijing Foreign Studies University, where I teach, and
Shanghai International Studies University are two cases in point. This transition
is especially important, as American Studies programs and the teaching staffs
are particularly strong there. Moreover, it is in those universities where true
interdisciplinary American Studies programs have evolved. I shall return to this
point later.
One consequence of this organizational change is the increasing numbers of
Chinese Americanists, especially younger scholars. By the end of 1984 there were
more than five hundred professional Americanists working in the research-
oriented institutes. More than four hundred scholars were involved in teaching-
oriented institutions, mainly at universities. At that time, a large number of them
had been to, or still were in, the United States as academic visitors doing research,
or pursuing degree studies. Moreover, American Studies has drawn a growing
interest among college students. No study has been done to find out how many
students have been involved in the field, but in my university alone, in 1980 as
many as seventy-six students wrote B.A. thesis papers on American Studies. Since
1980 there have been more than 350 students who wrote qualified B.A. theses
concerning the United States. Added to this dimension is the coming of Fulbright
professors and other United States and Canadian scholars each year. In the past
six years more than forty Fulbright and other visiting professors have been in
our school teaching such courses as American history, sociology, and literature.
All these factors have contributed to producing the explosion in scholarship in
the study of the United States since 1978.

The director and two deputy directors of the American Studies Center at Beijing
Foreign Studies University discuss the future development of the American Stud-
ies program at the school with American and Canadian professors teaching there.

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8

AMERICAN STUDIES SCHOLARSHIP

Historical Studies

The flourishing of scholarship in American historical studies is characterized

by a wide range of subject matter, pluralistic interpretations, and a healthier and
more democratic atmosphere for exchanging views. The first pioneering work
was A Concise History of the United States (1979), written by Huang Shaoxiang,
who based this book on her earlier work A Short History of the U.S. (1953). This
first book-length treatment of American history since the Cultural Revolution
attempts to interpret American historical development with a Marxist perspec-
tive, and its publication has exerted a great influence on general Chinese readers
as well as historians. However, this work has its limitations; it focuses too much
on economic developments. Up till now there has been no standard American
history textbook in Chinese written from a Chinese perspective. To meet this need,
five major universities- Nankai University, Wuhan University, Beijing Univer-
sity, Jilin Normal University, and Sichuan University- have undertaken an ambi-
tious project, compiling a six-volume A General History of the U.S. Yang Sheng-
mao and Liu Xuyi, two leading historians in the country, are the chief editors.
Each volume is accompanied with a book of readings in translation by American
historians as a balance to Chinese perspectives. This scholarly work, which is
expected to be published in 1988 or 1989, will certainly enrich American Studies
in China.

The first and only academic work to date by a Chinese scholar on the Civil
War is Liu Zuochang's The American Civil War (1978). Following the traditional
Marxist interpretation of the origins of the Civil War, Liu Zuochang argues that
the root cause was the slave system in the South. Black Studies is flourishing
in China. The pioneering work on black history is Yang Shengmao's A Concise
History of American Black Emancipation Movement (1982). Another representative
work is Tan Taohua's Negro Slavery in American History (1980), which focuses on
the crimes of slave trade and slaveowners and the glorious tradition of the slaves'
struggle against oppression. John Brown is admired as a great anti-slavery hero
in Yang Liwen's John Broum: A Biography (1986). Liu Xuyi, a noted contemporary
American history scholar, has contributed a series of monographs concerning the
post-World War II black movement: "The Development of the Theory of Violent
Struggle of Black Americans in Recent Years" (1979), "From Legal Struggle to
Nonviolent Mass Direct Action: American Black Movement from the late 1940s
to the Early 1960s" (1980), and "From Montgomery to Birmingham" (1980).
Recently, the United States political system has become a favorite subject.
A significant work is Cao Shaolian's History of the American Political System (1982),
a result of more than twenty years' work. It covers the background and birth of
the Constitution and the origins and historical development of the two-party
system. It answers such questions as why the two parties have existed for such

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 9

a long time in the United States. Chen Qiren's Analysis of the American Two-Party
System (1984) supports Cao's interpretations. Huang Keke argues in his "The
Origin and Characteristics of the Two-Party System in the U.S." (1987) that the
shaping of this system was the product of the struggle against authoritarianism
by early political leaders. In culture studies there is an innovative book, The United
States , Its History and Civilization (1987) by Luo Rongqu, which is stimulating
because the subject is treated from an interdisciplinary standpoint.
In response to the reform movement in this country, Chinese historians have
been trying to draw some lessons, both positive and negative, from American
historical development. George Washington is especially appreciated for his
republican principles. In "Washington and the American Constitution" (1983),
Yu Zhisen argues that Washington was an active sponsor of the Constitution,
a successful chairperson of the convention, a staunch defender of the republican
principles shown in the Constitution, and the first faithful practitioner of the Con-
stitution. Another representative essay is Ai Qin's "Studies of Washington's
Second Presidential Term Resignation" (1982), in which the writer believes that
Washington's voluntary retirement from office was of great historical significance.
Thomas Jefferson is another favorite American founding father among Chinese
scholars as well as among the Chinese people. The best monograph about Jeffer-
son is Liu Zuochang's "A Discussion on Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Ideas"
(1980), in which this scholar expresses his appreciation for this great American
statesman "who has laid the foundation for the American democratic tradition
and whose democratic ideas have always inspired the American people to strive
for political democracy and social progress."
Another topic is the rapid economic development in United States history,
especially in the late nineteenth century. Zhang Youlun wrote The Industrial Revolu-
tion in the U.S. (1981) and The American Agricultural Revolution (1983). The former book,
focuses mainly on the reasons for the rapid progress in industrialization in the
late nineteenth century while the latter concentrates on what is called "the
American road of agricultural development." Another well-known historian,
Huang Annian, takes as his main focus the relations between the growth of
American economy and political, social and historical conditions. His interpreta-
tions are expressed in three essays: "Historical Conditions of American Economic
Growth" (1980), "Development of American Economy and the Elimination of
Feudal Influences" (1981), and "American Economic Growth and Wars in
History" (1982).
One of the remarkable achievements in the recent American historical research
is demonstrated by fruitful discussion of some controversial issues in American
history. One issue that has been heatedly debated is whether or not Lincoln was
an abolitionist. In the past, most Chinese historians maintained that Lincoln was
opposed to slavery but was not an abolitionist. This school is represented by Huang
Shaoxiang and Liu Zuochang in their previously cited works. A new school,
represented by Huo Guanghan and Guo Minqiu in their essay "On the Evalua-

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10

tion of Lincoln" (1981), has challenged the traditional stance by arguing that
Lincoln was a thorough-going abolitionist. They insist that Lincoln's gradualist
attitude toward slavery was only a tactic and what Lincoln actually did contributed
to the end of slavery. Another continuing debate concerns Franklin Roosevelt's
New Deal. Some historians, such as Huang Shaoxiang, have argued that the New
Deal, which served only the monopoly class, ended in complete failure just like
all the reform movements in American history.4 In "On the Role of FDR's New
Deal" (1983) and "Several Issues on FDR's New Deal- Discussion with Professor
Huang Shaoxiang" (1985), Liu Xuyi holds a different view, arguing that the New
Deal was basically progressive and played a positive role in America's subsequent
development. A third school, represented by Li Cunxun, believes that the New
Deal went a long way toward protecting the people's democratic rights and social
welfare. He further argues in "The Fair Deal Was the Extension of the New Deal"
(1986) that the Fair Deal was the continuation of the New Deal and it legalized
some of the measures sponsored by FDR.

Literary Studies

In the field of American literature, China has also experienced a flowering

of scholarship in the last ten years or so. However, the scholarship in American
literature has its own characteristics. As Chinese readers must read the original
literary works in order to understand American culture, it is not surprising that
much of the energy of Chinese scholars in the field has been devoted to transla-
tion. In 1982 alone, 194 American novels, plays, or collections of poetry were
translated and published, but only sixty-nine monographs were written. Moreover,
American literature as an independent discipline is a comparatively young branch
of literature. It previously was included in European- American literature with
emphasis on Europe. Nonetheless, the scholarship in American literary criticism
is still very impressive.
The first work that caused a stir in China since the Cultural Revolution was
a Chinese translation of an American novel, The Winds of War by Herman Wouk,
published in late 1978. Within a short period of time as many as several hundred
thousand copies were sold. The fact that this novel was so popular was not unex-
pected, as Chinese readers had been eager to learn about the United States since
Nixon's visit to China. But what is more significant is the debate that ensued,
which focused on how to correctly evaluate contemporary literary works of other
countries which were totally different from our own in literary tradition, artistic
style, and social background. The discussion later extended to other topics such
as modernism and post-modernism. This healthy exchange of views has helped
Chinese scholars move further away from leftist dogmatism and has given a greater
impetus to the study and introduction of American literature.
The subsequent thriving scholarship is demonstrated in two pioneering

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 11

scholarly works. One was the American literature section in the two-volume book
Foreign Literature as part of Great Chinese Encyclopedia (1982). This book was edited
by four distinguished Chinese scholars of foreign literature: Bian Zhilin, Yang
Zhouhan, Li Funin and Wang Zuoliang. An overview of American literature is
given by Li Wenjun and Dong Hengxun. According to these two scholars,
American historical development has determiiipd the character of American
literature in the reflection of the spirit of American democracy, liberty, in-
dividualism, and optimism; in the diversity and complexity of style; in richness
and vividness of content; and in constant change of approach. The overview begins
with American Indian cultures, which have been a great inspiration to American
writers. It covers thirty different schools of writings in different periods, up to
and including the critics of the present time.
The second significant work is A Concise American Literary History (two volumes,
1986) collectively written by Dong Hengxun, Zhu Hong, Shi Xianrong, Li Wen-
jun and Zhen Tusheng, five well-known scholars from the Institute of American
Literature under CASS. This is the only book-length treatment at the moment
of American literary history. Volume One came out in 1978 when China was just
beginning to open her doors, and therefore it is more traditional in approach.
In handling individual writers, realist novelists and romanticists are not treated
with the right balance. Under the heading of late-period romanticism are grouped
seven important writers, such as Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow, Hawthorne,
and Melville, while Jack London alone enjoys a separate section. In spite of this,
it serves as an excellent reference book. A new textbook in American literature

for Chinese universities, Highlights of American literature, which has been com-
missioned by the Chinese Education Commission, is being prepared by a group
of professors headed by Qian Qing at Beijing Foreign Studies University and will
be published in 1990. Other similar textbooks are also in progress.
The expansion of the scholarship in American literature in China is also shown
in the shift of attention in the study of American writers. Mark Twain, Ernest
Hemingway, Theodore Dreiser, and Jack London continue to be popular in China.
All the major novels and most of the short stories by these writers have been
translated into Chinese. However, the focus is now turning to those American
writers who have been neglected in the past. Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Edgar
Allan Poe's Short Stories, and Thoreau's Walden have all been published in the
last few years. Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass has a new Chinese version. The
introduction of these writers is supported by a series of essays, including Xiong
Yupeng's "On The Scarlet Letter" (1980), Shi Shuhua's "On the Character, Sym-
bolism and Theme in The Scarlet Letter" (1984), and Wu Chuanri's "On Leaves
of Grass" (1983).
Most indicative of the great change in the field of American literature is the
comprehensive study of contemporary American writers. Representative work
in this area has been done by Shi Xianrong in three successive essays titled "Con-
temporary American Writers" (1983). According to Shi, World War II was a turn-

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12

ing point in American literature. Since then American writers have turned their
attention from the world of society to that of individual life, and individual
psychology in particular. Ralph Ellison, Alex Haley, John Wideman, Ishmael Reed
and their writings about blacks especially interest Chinese scholars and the general
public. Until recently Southern literature had been totally unknown to Chinese
readers. Even Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner had been ignored. Today
Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury has been published in Chinese and Light in
August and Absalom , Absalom are being translated. A systematic study of Faulkner
has been edited by Li Wenjun in A Collection of Faulkner Studies (1980). The in-
fluence of Faulkner on Southern literature is discussed by Li Yuwei in "Faulkner
and American Southern Literature" (1982). American Jewish literature,
represented by Isaac B. Singer and Saul Bellow, has also caught the attention
of Chinese scholars.

Post-modernism and modernism are still controversial in China. The periodical

Foreign Literary Studies (from 1980 to 1981) carried five groups of controversial
papers debating what should be the correct attitude toward modernism and post-
modernism. Dong Dingshan made a general assessment in "The American Novel
Since the 1960s- Post-modernism and Other Trends" (1983). Qian Qing specifical-
ly discussed black humor in "The Experimental Novel since the 1960s in the U.S."
(1986).
American short stories are particularly appreciated by Chinese readers. Wang
Zuoliang commented in his introduction to Selected American Short Stories (1980)
that from the nineteenth century to the present, there have been three countries
in the world that are best known for excellent short stories: France, Russia, and
the United States, with the last one the most dynamic. The attraction of American
short stories starts with Washington Irving' s "Rip Van Winkle." Also familiar
to Chinese readers are Mark Twain's humor in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County," William Faulkner's exploration of human courage in "The
Bear," John Cheever's sense of disillusion, and Joyce Carol Oates's women, among
others. It is through these short stories that the Chinese people once again vivid-
ly feel the soul of the American nation.
The comparative study of Sino-American literature is thriving, something rarely
seen in other subjects of American Studies in this country. In 1983 a Sino-American
comparative literature conference was held in Beijing, at which several signifi-
cant papers were read. The most representative scholarly work in Sino-American
comparative literature is Zhou Jueliang's "The River, The Garden, The Sea- A
Comparative Study of Hongloumeng, Huckleberry Finn , and Moby Dick."
Hongloumeng, known as A Dream of Red Mansions , is the most famous Chinese
classical novel. Written by Cao Xueqin in the mid-eighteenth century, it follows
the rise and fall of a feudal aristocratic family. On the surface, it would be hardly
imaginable to see any comparative base in these world classics, yet Zhou Jueliang
is able to find some common structural points. The Grand View Garden in
Hongloumeng , the Mississippi in Huckleberry Finn , and the ocean in Moby Dick-

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 13

three settings in which the stories are developed- constitute a common base for
a comparative study of characterization of habitation. Yet the main common func-
tion of the three novels, according to Professor Zhou, is that they all provide a
closed world as opposed to the open world outside, and it is the presence of this
closed world that makes the main action in each book probable. In conclusion,
Zhou Juiliang suggests that "through the inductive study of more books of diverse
background, it would not be impossible to discover more common structural prin-
ciples and even to establish eventually some kind of a general poetics of practical
value."5

Economics

In the social sciences, scholarship on the American economy has developed

rapidly as a field since 1978. Representative book-length works are Chu Baoyi's
Contemporary American Economy (1981), with an emphasis on monopoly economy;
Pan Laixing's The Management of Science and Technology in America (1982); Yi
Zhongling's The Evolution of the Management of American Business (1979); and He
Min's The Management of American Business (1979). These books have one thing
in common: they all objectively describe the evolution of the United States
economic organizations and management in running business or promoting
science and technology. The majority of monographs on American economy con-
centrate on the post-World War II economy. Such monographs can be divided
into five topic areas. The first is the study of monopoly economy. The current
discussion on the subject is centered on three questions: What is state monopoly
capitalism? What are some of the basic forms of state monopoly capitalism and
the relations among these forms? To what degree has state monopoly capitalism
developed in the United States? The fruit of the discussion is contained in A Col-
lection of Essays on American State Monopoly Capitalism and Economic Crises (1984),
published by the Commercial Press.
Second, one of the favorite topics of Chinese economic scholars seems to be
the economic crises that have occurred since World War II. The discussion is
centered on the lengths of time between the cycles of post-war economic crises.
Han Shilong, who represented a group of scholars, argues in "On the Shorten-
ing Lengths of the U.S. Economic Crises" (1981) that the economic crises in the
United States have become more frequent since World War II and the lengths
between the crises have been shortened. But Yao Tinggang disagrees with Han
Shilong in "On the Cycles of the Post-WW II Economic Crises in the U.S." (1981).
He maintains an opposite point of view. Both schools use the term "intermediate
economic crisis" which was created by Friedrich Engels when he analyzed English
economic crises a hundred years ago. Liu Songrao, representing a third school,
argues in "Modern Capitalist Economy and the Intermediate Crisis" (1981) that
since the term was applied to England a hundred years ago and historical condi-

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14

tions have changed, it is no longer appropriate to employ this concept in analyz-

ing the modern United States capitalist economy. The third area, which draws
the attention of a large number of economic scholars, is the study of the economic
theories and policies of the recent administrations in the United States. Ge Qi's
"The Keynes's Theory and Carter's Economic Policy" (1979) and Li Changjiu's
"On Reagan's Second American Revolution" (1985) are just two examples.
Fourth, great emphasis is placed on the study of new changes, trends, and
future development in the United States economy. In "Adjustments of U.S. Indus-
trial Structure in the 1980s" (1985), Gong Huifeng describes two trends in the
United States economy. One is a transition in the United States national economy
from material production to non-material production, and the other is that the
focus in manufacturing will be transfered to high technology industry. Huang
Su suggests in "Changes and Trends of American Industrial Structure in the Post-
war Period" (1986) that "softnomics" is the major trend. He Daolong and He
Chenjin write in "The Internationalized Tendency of Reaganomics" (1986) that
Reaganomics has influenced the economic policies of other Western countries,
developing countries, and even East European states. The fifth area is the study
of specific subjects such as the role of the government in the development of
science and technology, policies related to agriculture, the role of big corpora-
tions, and the position of the United States economy in the world.

Additional Disciplines

Sociology and psychology, which were the worst affected during the Cultural
Revolution, have not developed as fast as other disciplines in the social sciences.
However, Anthology of American Sociology , a textbook edited by Frank Deng, is
to be published in 1988. Popular culture studies has not become a university
discipline yet, although there have been some independent studies carried on
in various non-academic periodicals.

TEACHING ABOUT THE UNITED STATES

Until recently, teaching about the United States at most universit

followed a traditional subject-oriented pattern, but interdisciplinary
Studies programs have been evolving in foreign studies universit
Foreign Studies University (BFSU) has taken the lead in this respect.
where an American Studies Center has been set up to coordinate teac
research, the program was started in 1980 with the help of the first group
Fulbright professors. Today this university has developed a full-fledg
and is the only one in the country that offers an M. A. in American S
focus is on American culture studies from historical, sociological, an

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 15

perspectives. A wide range of course offerings for undergraduate students in-

clude American Society and Culture, American History, Diplomatic History,
Literature, Post-war America, Intellectual History, American Technology and
Society, and the U.S. and the World.
Each year more than half of the 120 to 150 senior students from the English
Department (for studies of English-speaking countries) choose topics pertaining
to the United States for their B. A. theses. The postgraduate courses, which began
in 1982, include advanced studies of American history, social movements, political
and social institutions, social theories, literary criticism, and specific area studies
such as women's studies and ethnic studies. The following sampling of M.A.
thesis topics best illustrates this point: "Generalization versus Specialization- A
comparative study of Chinese and American undergraduate curriculum planning
since World War II"; "A Psycho-historical Study of the Youth and Youth
Movements of the 1960s in the U.S."; "A Successor Movement to the
Counterculture- A sociological study of religious cults"; "Two Generations of
Leftists"; "Mark Twain in China"; "The Causes of American Attitudes Toward
Early Chinese Immigrants"; and "Women in Joyce Carol Oates' Novels."
In teaching about the United States, the American Studies Center at BFSU
is privileged to have two hundred titles of the books in the field from the United
States Embassy in Beijing. From our library resources, the following works are
found especially helpful: for the introduction to American Studies, American
Studies- Topics and Sources (1976) edited by Robert Walker, Henry Nash Smith's
Virgin Land (1970), and Leo Marx's The Machine in the Garden (196 7); for American
history, Henry Steele Commager and Samuel Eliot Morison's The Growth of the
American Republic (1969) which has been published in Chinese, Richard Current's
American History- A Survey (1961), Richard Hofstadter's American Political Tradi-
tion (1974), and Carl Degler's Out of Our Past (1970); for sociology, Ian Robert-
son's Sociology (1981) and Social Problems (1980) and Donald Light, Jr. and Suzanne
Keller's Sociology (1984); for literature, Anthology of American Literature (1980) edited
by George McMichael, The Norton Anthology of American Literature (1980) edited
by Ronald Gottesman and others, and Harvard Guide to Contemporary American
Writing (1979) edited by Daniel Hoffman.

OBJECTIVES AND FUTURE PLANS

American Studies in China has been expanding enormously, and the pro-
gram is built mainly on a broad base of American culture studies, even at newly
emerging interdisciplinary studies universities. In the Chinese context, American
Studies means the integrated or separate study of the United States through its
history, literature, society, politics, economy, and other disciplines. The defini-
tion is closely related with the objectives. Chinese Americanists believe that the
study of the United States must achieve two basic goals: to promote mutual under-

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16

standing between the Chinese and American people and to make it serve the
four modernizations in socialist China. Therefore, the legitimacy of the discipline
does not worry Chinese Americanists. What they are concerned with is the con-
struction of a program in a Chinese style that suits the needs of China. Each
institution's American Studies program is an eclectic discipline based on its own
human and library resources. These general considerations will determine future
development.
American Studies in China is expected to expand along the following lines.
First, while separate disciplinary studies continue to be the main emphasis in the
field, interdisciplinary studies- with theories borrowed from the social sciences-
will be strengthened and become increasingly popular, especially among younger
scholars. Second, a national network, serving as a clearinghouse, will be
established sometime in the near future. The first issue of American Studies , pub-
lished by the Institute of American Studies of CASS, appeared in March 1987.
Several national American Studies conferences or workshops have been or will
be held. Communications between local American Studies centers have been
strengthened in the past year. These activities indicate that Chinese Americanists
will soon come together to join their efforts for promoting further development
in the study of the United States. Thus the future of American Studies in China
is, indeed, bright.

NOTES

1. John G. Blair, "What's American about America? A Structuralist Approach" in

Salzman, ed., Prospects , vol 5 (New York: B. Franklin and Company, Inc., 1980),
2. Yu Tian, "A Brief Review of American Studies," Journal of American Studies , no. 2 (1
p. 81-82; Mei Renyi, "A Report on the Convention of the ASA at San Diego in 19
Foreign Language Teaching and Research , no. 1 (1986), p. 74-75. Both authors touched br
on American Studies in China. Zi Zhongyun, in "American Studies in China" in Ame
Studies (no. 1, 1987: 7-20), discusses the century-old study of the United States an
new developments since 1979.
3. Luo Rongqu, "Issues in Studies of Sino- American Relations and American Hist
History Research , no. 3 (1980), p. 22.
4. Huang Shaoxiang, A Concise History of the United States. (Beijing: People's Publi
House, 1979), p. 562 and p. 587.
5. Zhou Juoliang, "The River, The Garden, The Sea- A comparative study of Honqloumeng,
Huckleberry Finn, and Moby Dick," Research on Foreign Literary Theory, no. 4 (1983), p. 8.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

All the titles and journals listed here are English translations of works published in

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 17

HISTORICAL STUDIES

AHRAC. A Collection of Theses on American History , 1981-1983. Beijing: Sanlian Publish

1983.

Ai, Qin. " George Washington." History Research 1 (1982): 55-59.

East China Normal University 1 (1982): 40-44.

Cao, Shaolian. History of American Political System
House, 1982, 1984.
Chen, Qiren. Analysis of the American Two-Party System. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1984.
Ding, Zemin. "The Aggressive Policy of the U.S. Imperialism from 1899 to 1923." Jilin Normal
University Journal 4 (1964): 52-71.
Gu, Xueshun. "The Reactionary Nature of Roosevelt's New Deal." History Teaching 6 (1960):
35-39.

Huang, Annian. "American Economic Growth and Wars in History." Lanzhou University
Journal 3 (1982): 14-19.

Beijing Normal College Journal 1 (1981): 38-49.

American History Essays. Beijing: AHRAC, 1980.

Huang, Keke. "The Origin and Characteristics of th
History 1 (1987): 72-81.
Huang, Shaoxiang. A Concise History of the United S
1979.

1 (1979): 20-25.
Huang, Shaoxiang and Bi Zhongjie. "Some Points on the
the Evaluation of Historical Figures in American History in
1 (1982): 144-153.
Huo, Guanghan and Guo Minqiu. "On the Evaluation of Li
46-52.

Li, Cunxun. "Truman's Fair Deal Was the Continuation and Expansion of the New Deal."
World History 12 (1986): 32-39.
Liu, Xuyi. "Thirty-Five Years American History Research in China." World History 10 (1984):
18-19.

Movement from the late 1940s to the early 1960s," in

Sanlian Publishing House, 1980.

to early 1960s." ibid.

Shaoxiang." World History 1 (1985): 45-52.

Liu, Zuochang. History of the American Civil War

American History Essays. AHRAC, Beijing: Peop

Luo, Rongqu. "Issues in Studies of Sino- American Re
Research 3 (1980): 1-23.

Early American Expansionism." History Research

1987.

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18

Sha, Shijiong. "On the Bourgeois Nature of the American Constitution of 1787." Gansu
Normal University Journal 4 (1964): 76-97.
Tang, Taohua. The Negro Slavery in American History. Shanghai: People's Publishing House,
1980.

Wang, Xi. "On Some Issues in the Sino-American Relations." World History 4 (1979): 12-19.
Yang, Liwen. John Brown: A Biography. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1986.
Yang, Shengmao. " 'The New Frontier' Is the Product of U.S. Imperialist Aggression and
Expansion." Nankai University Journal 1 (1965): 42-63.

House, 1982.
Yang, Shengmao and Ling Jingfen, eds. A Collection of Theses
Tianiin: People's Publishing House, 1984.
Yu, Zhisen. "Washington and the American Constitution." World History 5 (1983): 23-31.
Zhang, Youlun. The Agricultural Revolution in the U.S. Tianjin: People's Publishing House,
1984.

LITERARY STUDIES

Dong, Dingshan. "The American Novel since the 1960s- Post-modernism and other
Book Digest 10 (1983): 124-128.
Dong, Hengxun; Zhu, Hong; Shi, Xianrong; Li, Wenjun; and Zhen, Tusheng. A C
American Literary History. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1986.
Li, Wenjun, ed. A Collection of Faulkner Studies. Beijing: CASS Publishing House
Li, Wenjun and Dong, Hengxun. "An Overview of American Literature." In Foreign Lite
(two vols.), edited by Bian Zhilin, Yang Zhouhan, Li Funin, and Wang Zuolian
689-694. Beijing: Chinese Encyclopedia Publishing House, 1982.
Li, Yuwei. "Faulkner and American Southern Literature," Literature Newspaper 3 (
1982).
Qian, Qing. "The Experimental Novel since the 1960s in the U.S." Contemporary Foreign
Literature 3 (1986): 168-176.
Shi, Xianrong. "American Literature in China." Journal of Translation 12 (1983): 13-17.

148-159; 1 (1983): 150-160; 2 (1983): 153-160.

Shi, Shuhua: "On the Character, Symbolism and Theme
Ninbo Normal College 1 (1984): 45-50.
Wang, Zuoliang, ed. Selected American Short Stories (two
1980.
Wu, Chuanri. "On Leaves of Grass." Journal of Guangxi
Wu, Fuheng. "Characteristics of American Literature and O
Literature 2 (1984): 2-7.
Xiong, Yupeng. On The Scarlet Letter. Foreign Literat
Zhou, Jueliang. "The River, The Garden, The Sea- A com
Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick." Research on Foreign

ECONOMICS STUDIES

Chu, Baoyi, ed. Contemporary American Economy. Beijing: Chinese Finance an

Press, 1981.

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Commercial Press, ed. A Collection of Essays on American State Monopoly Capitalism and Economic
Crisis (CP Collection). Beijing: Commercial Press, 1984.
Commercial Press, ed. A selected Papers from the Symposium on U.S. Economy (CP Selected Papers).
Beijing: Commercial Press, 1981.
Ge, Qi. "The Keynes's Theory and Carter's Economic Policy." In CP Selected Papers, pp.
147-155.

Gong, Huifeng. "Adjustments of U.S. Industrial Structure in the 1980s." World Economy
12 (1985): 15-20.
Han, Shilong. "On the Shortening Lengths of U.S. Economic Crises," In CP Selected Papers,
pp. 3-13.
He, Daolong and He Chenjing. "The Internationalized Tendency of Reaganomics." Jour-
nal of American Studies 2 (1986): 1-7.
He, Min, ed. The Management of American Business. Beijing: Sanlian Publishing House, 1979.
Huang, Su. "Changes and Trends of American Industrial Structure in the Post-War Period."
World Economy 6 (1986): 75-79.
Li, Changjiu. "On Reagan's Second American Revolution." World Economy 4 (1985): 10-15.
Liu, Songrao. "Modern Capitalist Economy and the Intermediate Crisis." In CP Selected
Papers, pp. 43-49.
Pan, Laixing. The Management of Science and Technology in America. Beijing: Chinese Academic
Press, 1982.
Su, Shaozhi. "The U.S. Economy is the Most Lopsidedly Militarized in the World." Economic
Research 8 (1964): 1-19.
Wang, Youquan. "Keynes's Theory Cannot Prevent the Decline of the Domination of the
American Dollar." Economic Research 5 (1965): 9-19.
Yao, Tinggang. "On the Cycles of the Post- WW II Economic Crisis in the U.S." In CP Selected
Papers, pp. 23-32.
Yi, Zhongling, ed. The Evolution of the Management of American Business. Taiyuan: People's
Publishing House, 1979.

AMERICAN BOOKS STUDIED IN CHINA

Commager, Henry Steele and Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Growth of the Ameri
New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Current, Richard. American History- A Survey. New York: Knopf, 1961.
Degler, Carl. Out of Our Past. New York: Harper and Row, 1970.
Gottesman, Ronald and others, eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literatur
Norton, 1980.
Hoffman, Daniel, ed. Harvard Guide to Contemporary American Writing. Cam
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979.
Hofstadter, Richard. American Political Tradition. New York: Random Hous
Light, Jr., Donald and Keller, Suzanne. Sociology. New York: Knopf, 1984.
Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden. New York: Oxford University Press,
McMichael, George, ed. Anthology of American Literature. New York: Macmill
Robertson, Ian. Social Problems. New York: Random House, 1980.

Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American W

Harvard University Press, 1970.
Walker, Robert H., ed. American Studies- Topi
Press, 1976.

American Studies International, Octo

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