EVENTS

Abstract

Chinese perceptions of Mahatma Gandhi changed over different periods of modern Chinese history. The first wave of interest about Gandhi came during the emergence of Gandhi as one of the most important leaders of the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. Interest in Gandhi began to dwindle since 1949, and finally disappeared altogether in the 1960s and 1970s. After 1980, however, research interest in Gandhism revived and more and more publications in the form of reintroduction, reconsideration and reinterpretation of Gandhi's life and work began to appear in China. From these writings we can see that the image of Gandhi changed according to the domestic as well as international political developments in and around China, especially the Sino-Indian relationship during the first 30 years of the PRC and in the reform period. In the last few decades, a steady increase of interests and a paradigmatic change in the perception of Gandhi is notable. Is this change of any great significance or is it just a point of reference in the historic circle? The answer depends on the nature of further political development in China as well as on the Chinese people’s efforts towards social and political transformation.

About the Speaker

Dr. Huang Yinghong is Assistant Professor at the School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, China. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Sun Yat-sen University. He was a visiting scholar at the Department of East Asian Studies, Delhi University in 2008 and 2011 respectively, and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of History, Sun Yat-sen University between 2010 and 2012. His research interests include political transformations in India and China, Gandhian Satyagraha, and Sino-Indian relationship from the perspective of nation building in the two countries. His recent publications include a book titled Politics of Converting Opponents: A Case Study on Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha Fasting (Chinese), “Socialism, Revolution, and Non-violence: A Comparison of Mahatma Gandhi and Sun Yat-sen’s Responses to Socialism and the Russian Revolution in 1917” (English), and several articles in Chinese.