Abstract

The period spanning late Qing dynasty and early Republican era was a time of profound transformations that saw unprecedented changes to both “society” and “state”， and new ways in which the two interacted with each other. These developments had far-reaching consequences for China’s transition toward modernity. In this book the author tries to understand both these developments and their social and historical ramifications by looking closely at the role of trade associations， an emergent type of social organization during this transitional period. While China’s earliest trade associations， which first appeared in late Qing， retained some of the features of traditional trade groups， they were also clearly distinct from these insofar as they were committed to self-governance based on contractarian principles， to modern democratic principles， and engaged in activities in areas such as economics， the “judiciary”， politics， public relations and communications. These organizations provided a window on how civil society evolved and grew in modern China. Both the establishment of trade associations at this time and the considerable measure of autonomous self-rule they were allowed to enjoy owed a great deal to reform policies that had been designed to support non-governmental organizations. These policies help illustrate the important changes the “state” was undergoing at this time and their effects. Against the backdrop of deepening existential and other crises China was then facing， such mutually-beneficial relationship between the “state” and “society” made possible the burgeoning of fledgling capitalism， put progressive political reform on the agenda， brought about-this is especially notable-something of a “Golden Age” in the development of the nongovernmental sphere to which the earliest civil society organizations can arguably traced. Unfortunately， those positive developments were shortlived. A functionally mature civil society never came to be due to a host of adverse social conditions. And the combination of a powerful state and a relatively anemic society kept the country off the development path toward independence and prosperity.