Abstract:

“China’s self-developed knowledge system” means that “China” functions as an analytical concept, forming a rich discourse across dimensions such as the consciousness structure of “the past, the present, the Chinese and the Western”, institutional concepts, methodological refinement, and theorization. To what extent the “China” discourse of political scientists in Republican China demonstrates the analytical capacity of the concept of “China” constitutes an important aspect of evaluating the knowledge content of political science in Republican China. Qian Duansheng made significant contributions in four research areas: the party-state, government and politics, administrative efficiency, and state political institutions. He possessed a clear consciousness structure of “the past, the present, the Chinese and the Western”, and pioneered two institutional concepts: the party-state and the political system combining a strong state with respect for civil rights. However, constrained by the limitations of national practical experience and the development of foreign theories, his research still exhibited certain shortcomings in conceptualization and theorization. It failed to fully transform “China” into an analytical concept, which affected the theoretical depth and professional rigor of his scholarship.

Key words: Qian Duansheng, “China” discourse, institutional concepts, self-developed knowledge, history of Chinese political science