Unfulfilled Dreams: China’s “Liberal” Communist Party Intellectuals’ Struggle for Democracy from the 1930s to the 2000s

Amid the Sino-Japanese and civil wars in the 1930s and 1940s, motivated by a fervent desire to ‘save the nation”, many patriotic young intellectuals joined the Chinese Communist Party.

Attracted by its promises of freedom, democracy and equality, these underground members braved arrest, torture and prison under the Nationalist government to fight for a communist utopia. After 1949, following an initial period of euphoria, they found themselves painfully struggling between their twin goals of democracy and revolution under the Mao regime. Towards the end of their lives, a group of them remained committed to their ideals and openly called for democratic reforms, becoming known as the “democrats within the party.”

This seminar explores the intellectual journey of these party intellectuals, who struggled in a dynamic tension throughout their lives between their longing for democracy and their devotion to the Communist revolution, liberal and Marxist-Leninist values, and between humanity and class-conscious party spirit.

Having interviewed them and examined their writings and memoirs, Dr Verna Yu attempts to decipher what attracted these young intellectuals to the Communist revolution in the pre-1949 era, what contributed towards their unquestioning faith in the party in the Mao era and what triggered their intellectual “awakening” in the post-Mao era. The examination of their mental conflicts and thought transformation, dissent and collaboration in the party has contributed towards our understanding of 20th century Chinese intellectuals and Chinese contemporary history.

About the speaker

Dr Verna Yu is Departmental Lecturer in Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford and Research Associate of the China Institute at SOAS, University of London. She has a PhD degree in history from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her doctoral research was focused on the intellectual history of contemporary China, and in particular, how young Chinese intellectuals were attracted to the idea of a Communist Utopia in the 1930s and 1940s and their pursuit of a democratic China from the pre-1949 era to the post-Mao era.

Before she turned to academia, she was an award-winning journalist covering China and Hong Kong for over two decades. Her works have been primarily published in The Guardian and the South China Morning Post. Her China coverage has been recognised through 10 prestigious press awards, including Human Rights Press Awards and Society of Publishers in Asia Editorial Awards (SOPA) awards.

Chair: Professor Steve Tsang (Director, SOAS China Institute)

Registration

This event is open to the public and free to attend, however registration is required. 

Please note that this seminar is taking place on campus and will not be recorded or live-streamed.

Organiser

• SOAS China Institute

Contact

• Email: sci@soas.ac.uk