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This paper examines research methods used during the formation of the science of oriental history in Japan (Toyoshigaku). Shiratori Kurakichi and Tachibana Shiraki represented the two main schools in Japan’s Toyoshigaku before World War II. We define these two schools as the “documents” school and the “field work” school. Japanese academic scholars, represented by Shiratori Kurakichi, began to inquire into the histories and cultures of Korea, Manchuria, and China during the period of Japanese expansion in Asia. On the other hand, Tachibana Shiraki, a journalist, came to China to observe social behavior under changing political circumstances and to study Asian history. Although they had different methodologies, views on Oriental society, and academic networks, both men paid attention to Japan’s current situation and likely future. Moreover, they both had a relationship with the Research Bureau of the South Manchurian Railway Company. The publications of this Research Bureau, founded to assist Japanese aggression and colonial management, can be regarded as the basic sources of Japanese research into Asia prior to 1945.
When the Qing court moved to support constitutionalism after 1905, both ordinary officials and high officials were extremely enthusiastic. In general, they saw in constitutionalism a real transformation of the Chinese polity: a rationalization of rulership, a new disciplinary order, and a source of national unity and strength. Many officials, though not all, spoke of locating sovereignty in the emperor. This created an appearance of continuity (the imperial order), but actually radically severed the monarchy from its old cosmological moorings. The official project was to “nationalize” and “citizenize” the masses. Officials also tended to be optimistic about the basic fitness of the people, once properly educated, to be qualified citizens. They seemed confident that education would not only turn the people into diligent, loyal, and patriotic citizens understanding both their rights and their duties, but also give them protection from the “heresies” of the revolutionaries. Surveillance and discipline on the one hand, and education and patriotism on the other, were intimately related. Still, the utopianism and idealism that surrounded officials’ rhetoric on constitutionalism marked a great break from the past. We see some insistence on preserving imperial power. But there was a stronger notion of the emperor as just one function of the constitution. At a kind of utopian extreme, some officials thought that a constitution would fully unify the people and their rulers. At the very least, improved access to public opinion would allow rulers to make better decisions. Historians have emphasized the conservatism of the Qing court. This was not wrong, but it ignored that by the early 1900s a sense of the state as the shared property of all Chinese had become widespread. We need to remember that, even for practical officials, the turn of the century was a utopian moment. Indeed, at least to a degree, revolutionaries, constitutionalists, local elites — and even officials — shared a kind of mystical sense of the “one body” of the modern nation-state.
Greyhound racing is a sport closely related to betting. The racing of greyhounds in pursuit of a mechanical hare first appeared in the United States in 1922 and was soon embraced by Britain in 1926. Two years later, thanks to the management and investment of British expatriates, it came into vogue in Shanghai, a Chinese metropolis with large clusters of foreigners.
While greyhound racing became a great attraction, the track betting drew severe criticism from local Chinese organizations. They claimed dog racing encouraged gambling and was an incentive to crime, and thus insisted the International Settlement authorities stop it. The Settlement, controlled by British who were influenced by the fact that greyhound racing could be traced back to the sport of coursing and the hunting culture in old Britain, was reluctant to cooperate, and thus was sparked a seesaw battle between the Chinese and the British for the next three years.
By analyzing the rich discourse on greyhound racing from 1928 to 1931, this paper argues that this case reveals much about the formation of modern Shanghai in material, political and intellectual aspects. On the other hand, it also reveals how the Chinese Municipality and the Settlement authorities utilized this dog-racing discourse to justify their existence – they shared the view that “we have to rule better than the others” in making their respective policies.