From a Civilized Empire to a Nation-State―Lecture Series: The Crossroads of Modernity Vol. 2

This work is the second volume in the Lecture Series: The Crossroads of Modernity, which overviews the transitional period to modernity from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, a period that shaped Korea, China, and Japan today. It examines China’s experience of modernity in terms of the formation of Han nationalism and the birth of a nation-state. The author presents the process through which Han nationalism emerged following China’s division by nationalism as a result of the internal contradictions of China aggravated by the opening of its ports and external shock. According to the author, it was a multiethnic and civilized empire united by the theory of Chinese civilization before its exposure to the modern civilization of the West and international order.