Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-rkxrd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T16:55:02.617Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From public interest to public obligation: compulsory land expropriation for capital reconstruction in Nationalist China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2020

Carmen C.M. Tsui Open the ORCID record for Carmen C.M. Tsui [Opens in a new window]
Carmen C.M. Tsui*
Affiliation:
B6322, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
*
*Corresponding author. Email: carmencmtsui@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1927, the Nationalist government launched an ambitious project to transform Nanjing into a modern capital. During this reconstruction process, private lands were seized in the name of public interest for the construction of public works. In the face of opposition from affected landowners, Nationalist leaders shifted the emphasis from ‘public interest’ (gonggong liyi) to ‘public obligation’ (shimin zeren), stressing the duty of urban residents to support capital reconstruction and stigmatizing opponents as anti-development. This article examines compulsory land expropriation in Nationalist China and shows how the government turned discourses of public interest and public obligation into modern land laws.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , May 2022 , pp. 383 - 400
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 M.H. He, ‘Shoudu shizheng zhoukan chuban xuanyan’ [Publication manifesto for the Capital Municipal Administration Weekly], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 1 Jan. 1928.

2 See Guodu Sheji Jishu Juanyuan Banshichu, Shoudu Jihua [Capital Plan] (Nanjing, 1929).

3 For instance, Lawrence Vale analyses the design of a number of national capitals to determine the relations between capital construction and national identity. He focuses mainly on the role that architecture and planning play in the forceful assertion of state power, rather than the process by which these national capitals were actually built. David Gordon's edited volume contains 15 case-studies that explore the typology and administrative history of capital cities that were constructed during the twentieth century. However, the spatial restructuring process in each capital city is not discussed. See Vale, L.J., Architecture, Power, and National Identity (London, 2008)Google Scholar; and Gordon, D.L.A. (ed.), Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities (London, 2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 See Luo, L., Jindai Nanjing Chengshi Jianshe Yanjiu [Study of the Construction of the Modern City of Nanjing] (Nanjing, 1999)Google Scholar; Kirby, W.C., ‘Engineering China: birth of the developmental state, 1928–1937’, in Yeh, W.-H. (ed.), Becoming Chinese: Passages to Modernity and Beyond (Berkeley, 2000), 137–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Harrison, H., The Making of the Republican Citizen: Political Ceremonies and Symbols in China, 1911–1929 (Oxford, 2000)Google Scholar; Cody, J.W., Building in China: Henry K. Murphy's ‘Adaptive Architecture’, 1914–1935 (Seattle, 2001)Google Scholar; Lai, D.L., ‘Searching for a modern Chinese monument: the design of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing’, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 64 (2005), 22–55Google Scholar; Musgrove, C.D., China's Contested Capital: Architecture, Ritual, and Response in Nanjing (Honolulu, 2013)Google Scholar.

5 See C.-H. Wang, ‘Guomin zhengfu shiqi Nanjing shoudou jihua zhi yanjiu’ [On the Capital Plan of Nanking in the Nationalist era of China, 1928–1937], National Cheng Kung University Ph.D. thesis, 2002; Tsui, C.C.M., ‘State capacity in city planning: the reconstruction of Nanjing, 1927–1937’, Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review, 1 (2012), 12–46Google Scholar.

6 See Yang, M.M.C., Socio Economic Results of Land Reform in Taiwan (Honolulu, 1970)Google Scholar; Koo, A.Y.C., The Role of Land Reform in Economic Development: A Case Study of Taiwan (New York, 1968)Google Scholar; Gallin, B., ‘Land reform in Taiwan: its effect on rural social organization and leadership’, Human Organization, 22 (1963), 109–12Google Scholar; Apthorpe, R., ‘The burden of land reform in Taiwan: an Asian model land reform re-analysed’, World Development, 7 (1979), 519–30Google Scholar.

7 To train professionals for the country's land reform, the Nationalist government established the Research Programme of Land Economics (Dizheng yanjiuban) in 1932 under the Central School of Governance (Zhongyang zhengzhi xuexiao). Shortly afterwards, the research programme expanded into the College of Land Economics (Dizheng xueyuan). During the Sino-Japanese War, the College of Land Economics was temporarily closed in 1940, and its name was changed to the Special Programme of Land Economics (Dizheng zhuanxiuban). In 1943, the special programme was renamed the Department of Land Economics (Dizheng xuexi). Unfortunately, the department ceased operations in 1947 due to the civil war in China. After moving to Taiwan, the department resumed operation in 1963 as part of the National Chengchi University. See https://landeconomics.nccu.edu.tw/PageDoc/Detail?fid=4473&id=1700, accessed 5 Aug. 2020.

8 Xiao Zheng is often translated as Hsiao Tseng. The investigative reports are collected in Xiao, Z. (ed.), Minguo Ershi Niandai Zhongguo Dalu Tudi Wenti Ziliao [Materials on the Land Problem of 1920s China] (Taipei, 1977)Google Scholar.

9 Meyerson, M. and Banfield, E.C., Politics, Planning, and the Public Interest: The Case of Public Housing in Chicago (Glencoe, IL, 1955), 322Google Scholar.

10 Held, V., The Public Interest and Individual Interests (New York, 1970), 4Google Scholar.

11 Sandercock, L., Towards Cosmopolis: Planning for Multicultural Cities (Chichester, 1998), 197Google Scholar; Campbell, H. and Marshall, R., ‘Utilitarianism's bad breath? A re-evaluation of the public interest justification for planning’, Planning Theory, 1 (2002), 164CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Bentham, J., A Fragment on Government: And an Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, ed. Harrison, W. (Oxford, 1948), 126Google Scholar.

13 Rawls, J., A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, MA, 1971), 22–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 R.E. Flathman, The Public Interest: An Essay concerning the Normative Discourse of Politics (New York, 1966), 4–8.

15 The emergence of the idea of public-mindedness in early modern China is discussed in J.A. Fogel and P.G. Zarrow (eds.), Imagining the People: Chinese Intellectuals and the Concept of Citizenship, 1890–1920 (Armonk, NY, 1997); M. Goldman and E.J. Perry (eds.), Changing Meanings of Citizenship in Modern China (Cambridge, MA, 2002); P. Harris, ‘The origins of modern citizenship in China’, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 43 (2002), 181–203; D. Howland, Personal Liberty and Public Good: The Introduction of John Stuart Mill to Japan and China (Toronto, 2005); R.J. Culp, Articulating Citizenship: Civic Education and Student Politics in Southeastern China, 1912–1940 (Cambridge, MA, 2007).

16 H.Y. Wu, ‘Zhongguo jindai “gongyi” de guannian shengcheng: gainian puxi yu jiegou guocheng’ [The formation of ‘gong-yi’ in modern China: a philological perspective], Chinese Journal of Sociology, 38 (2018), 180–215.

17 R.S. Chen, Gonggong Yishi Yu Zhongguo Wenhua [Public Awareness and Chinese Culture] (Beijing, 2005), 112.

18 S.S. Liu, ‘Jindai Zhongguo gongyi de laiyuan, gainian ji qihua yu gongneng fenxi’ [An analysis of the origin, concept, and discursive function of ‘gong-yi’ in modern China], Journal of Huaibei Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 36 (2015), 10.

19 See Q.C. Liang, Xinmin Shuo [Discourse on the New Citizen] (Shanghai, 1936).

20 P. Zarrow, ‘Introduction: citizenship in China and the west’, in Fogel and Zarrow (eds.), Imagining the People: Chinese Intellectuals and the Concept of Citizenship, 1890–1920, 18.

21 M. Goldman and E.J. Perry, ‘Introduction’, in Goldman and Perry (eds.), Changing Meanings of Citizenship in Modern China, 5.

22 See Y.-S. Sun, The International Development of China (London, 1929).

23 M. Tsin, ‘Canton remapped’, in J. Esherick (ed.), Remaking the Chinese City: Modernity and National Identity, 1900–1950 (Honolulu, 1999), 19–29.

24 Cody, Building in China, 180–2.

25 See Nanjing Municipal Archives, file 1001-3-119, ‘Jiang Jieshi yuchi zhengdun shirong gexiang’ [Instructions from Chiang Kai-Shek on the rectification of the city's appearance], 1937. See also ‘Chaiqian lupang penghu’ [Demolish the road-side slums], Shoudu Shizheng Gongbao [Administration Report of the Capital], 80 (1931), 1.

26 Nanjing Tebieshi Zhengfu Mishuchu, Yinian Lai Zhi Shoudu Shizheng [Capital Administration in the Last Year] (Nanjing, 1928), 60.

27 P.S. Buck, ‘The new road’, in The First Wife and Other Stories (New York, 1933), 257–76.

28 He, ‘Shoudu shizheng zhoukan chuban xuanyan’ [Publication manifesto for the Capital Municipal Administration Weekly].

29 ‘Jing zhongshanlu zhi gongcheng chengbei zhuhu xiang zhongyang qingyuan’ [Petition to the central government regarding the construction of Zhongshan Avenue in the capital from residents of the northern part of the city], Shen Bao, 20 Aug. 1928.

30 ‘Nanjingshi shangzhanghui wei chaiwu shi cheng shizhengfu wen’ [Petition from the Nanjing Merchants’ Association to the municipal government against the demolition of houses], Shi Bao [The Eastern Times], 30 Aug. 1928.

31 ‘Shifu xuanchuanzhou chufa qingxing’ [Municipal government propaganda week commencement scene], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 13 Mar. 1928.

32 Y.J. Chen, ‘Jianshe shoudu shizheng zhi wojian’ [My opinion regarding the reconstruction of the capital's administration], Nanjing Tebieshi Shizheng Gongbao [Administration Report of the Nanjing Special Municipal City], 12 (1928), 6–10.

33 M.H. He, ‘Women sangeyue de gongzuo jihua’ [Our working plan for these three months], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 10 Apr. 1928.

34 ‘Nanjing teibieshi shizhengfu wei fangkuan jianzhu yirenxiang wumalu yidai malu gonggao quanshi minzhong’ [Public announcement from the Nanjing special municipal government to all people in the city regarding the construction and widening of roads in the area of Yiren Lane and Wuma Road], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 24 Apr. 1928.

35 ‘Nanjing tebieshi shizhenfu zai gao yirenxiang wumajie ganlu de minzhongmen’ [Nanjing Special Municipal City notice residents of Yiren Lane and Wuma Street again], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 15 May 1928.

36 C.C. Ye, ‘Shimin de zeren’ [Obligations of urban residents], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 8 May 1928.

37 J.W. Liu, ‘Liu shizhang zai benfu dishierci jinianzhou zhi baogao’ [Report from Mayor Liu at the 12th commemoration week], Nanjing Tebieshi Shizheng Gongbao [Administration Report of the Nanjing Special Municipal City], 1928.

38 ‘Jing shimin zhizhai Liu Jiwen’ [Citizens of the capital criticize Liu Jiwen], Jianyue Zhoukan [Review Weekly], 1928, 37.

39 J.W. Liu, Liu Shizhang Shizheng Baogao Jiyao [Excerpts of Mayor Liu's Administration Report], ed. Nanjing Tebieshi Zhengfu Mishuchu (Nanjing, 1930).

40 J.W. Liu, ‘Wei xingzhu zhongshan dadao gao shoudu minzhong’ [Announcement to city masses regarding the construction of Zhongshan Avenue], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 3 Sep. 1928.

41 J.W. Liu, ‘Liu shizhang zai benfu dishici zongli jinianzhou zhi baogao’ [Report from Mayor Liu at the 10th commemoration week], Shoudu Shizheng Zhoukan [Capital Administration Weekly], 1 Oct. 1928.

42 Y.-S. Sun, San Min Chu I [The Three Principles of the People], trans. F.W. Price and L.-T. Chen (Taipei, 1953), 173–6.

43 See P.M.A. Linebarger, The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen: An Exposition of the San Min Chu I (Baltimore, 1937); Schiffrin, H.Z., ‘Sun Yat-sen's early land policy: the origin and meaning of “equalization of land rights”’, Journal of Asian Studies, 16 (1957), 549–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lin, S., ‘Sun Yat-sen and Henry George: the essential role of land policy in their doctrines’, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 33 (1974), 201–20Google Scholar.

44 George, H., Progress and Poverty (London, 1913), 201Google Scholar.

45 Ibid., 287–8.

46 Y.-S. Sun, ‘Fundamentals of national reconstruction for the national government of China’, in Fundamentals of National Reconstruction (Taipei, 1953), 11–12.

47 Sun, Y.-S., ‘The three people's principles and the future of the Chinese people’, in Wei, J.L., Myers, R.H. and Gillin, D.G. (eds.), Prescriptions for Saving China: Selected Writings of Sun Yat-sen, trans. Wei, J.L., Zen, E.-S. and Chao, L. (Stanford, 1994), 47Google Scholar.

48 Y.-S. Sun, ‘Kuomintang's political program of 1924’, in Fundamentals of National Reconstruction, 60.

49 Y.-S. Sun, ‘Pingjun diquan zhi juti shuoming’ [Concrete measures to equalize land rights], in Zongli Quanshu [The Complete Collection of Sun Yat-sen], vol. II (Taipei, 1951), 137–9.

50 Second Historical Archives of China, file 393:0:1109, ‘Guodu sheji jishu zhuanyuan banshichu gonghan’ [Official letter from the Office of Technical Experts for Capital Design], 1929–47. See also Second Historical Archives of China, file 002:1:1236, ‘Nanjingshi wei gaishan shirong ji jianzhu jiguan deng zhengshou tudi’ [Nanjing municipality seized land to improve the city's appearance and to construct state buildings], 1928–35.

51 The committee composed of the mayor of Nanjing (who served as the chair of the committee), the director of the Financial Bureau, the director of the Land Bureau, a Peasants’ Association representative and a Merchants’ Association representative. See X.Q. Liu, ‘Nanjingshi tudi zhengshou zhi yanju’ [Study on the land requisition of Nanjing], Minguo Ershi Niandai Zhongguo Dalu Tudi Wenti Ziliao [Materials on the Land Problem of 1920s China], vol. XCIV (Taipei, 1977), 49661.

52 Ibid., 49634–5.

53 Ibid., 469649–50.

54 ‘Xinjiekou guangchang banli zhengdi zhi jingguo qingxing’ [Handling the process of the land expropriation for Xinjiekou Square], Shoudu Shizheng Gongbao [Administration Report of the Capital], 71 (1930), 8–10.

55 Liu, Liu Shizhang Shizheng Baogao Jiyao [Excerpts of Mayor Liu's Administration Report], 58–63.

56 ‘Jingwulu zhengdi jiufen’ [Conflict during the expropriation of Jingwu Road], Shen Bao, 23 Apr. 1935.

57 ‘Dr. Sun Yat-sen’, The North China Herald, 16 Mar. 1929.

58 X.X. Kong, ‘Shoudu kaipi malu yingjiu yanlu liangpang fenbie shengfei an’ [Imposing cost apportionment levy on the properties along the new roads in the capital], in Shoudu Jianshe Weiyuanhui (ed.), Shoudu Jianshe Weiyuanhui Diyici Quanti Dahui Tekan [Special Publication of the First Assembly of the National Capital Reconstruction Commission] (Nanjing, 1930), 91.

59 Nanjing Municipal Archives, file 1001-10-19, ‘Jiangkanglu xiduan tanfei’ [Cost sharing of the western section of Jiankang Road], n.d.

60 Nanjing Municipal Archives, file 1001-10-7, ‘Hanzhonglu, dongpailou, dixiang, jiankanglu tanfei’ [Cost sharing for Hanzhong Road, Dongpailou, Di Lane, Jiankang Road], 1937.

61 Nanjing Municipal Archives, file 1001-10-3, ‘Xinjiekou ji tangfangqiaolu tanfei huiyi jilu’ [Meeting minutes for the cost sharing of Xinjiekou and Tangfangqiao Road], n.d.

62 ‘Jingshi zhulu tanfei wenti’ [Questions regarding the road construction cost apportionment], Daolu Yuekan [The Good Roads Monthly], 35 (1931), 7–9.

63 ‘Fu geshi shouyong tudi zhangcheng zhaiyao leibie biao’ [Table showing the land expropriation policy in various cities], Shizheng Yuekan [City Administration Monthly], 1 (1927), 16–17; ‘Hangzhoushi kaipi huo gaikuan jiedao zhengfei zanhang zhangcheng’ [Temporary regulation for the road construction and widening levy in Hangzhou], Shizheng Yuekan [City Administration Monthly], 1 (1927), 17–18.

64 Nanjing Municipal Archives, file 1001-10-1, ‘Xiuzheng chengshi gailiangqu tebie zhengfei tongze, benshi zhulu tanfei zanhang guize, ji weiyuanhui zuzhi guize caoan’ [Revised city improved area special levy regulation, temporary regulation on the apportionment of road construction costs and draft committee organization rules], 1937.