Author(s)

XiangYu Chen

Affiliation(s)

College of Social Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, Guangdong, China.

Corresponding Author

XiangYu Chen

ABSTRACT

The National Defense Planning Commission brought together the earliest groups of technocrats in modern China, and this technocratic group played an important role in shaping the political landscape of modern China. This paper aims to examine how their technical expertise enabled them to gain political influence and authority, thereby exerting significant influence on key economic policies, infrastructure construction, and scientific and technological development through the commission. It found that these technocrats first gained social recognition and entered politics based on their professional knowledge, and then carried out industrial construction by introducing modern scientific management systems, finally, they used the trust of political leaders and administrative authority to facilitate their work. However, constrained by traditional political structures and power struggles, the political practices of technocrats have obvious limitations of their time. In the later period, technocrats began to band together and became accomplices of authoritarian rule, while taking advantage of the convenience of the construction process to accumulate political capital for themselves, which ultimately led to administrative inefficiency. This study provides a unique historical perspective for understanding the complex relationship between knowledge, power and governance.

KEYWORDS

Technocrats; Expert politics; Scientific management; Governance; Political practice; Technocracy; Modern China

CITE THIS PAPER

XiangYu Chen. Knowledge, power and governance: technocrats and their political practices in modern China—the National Defense Planning Commission (NDPC) as a case study (1932-1935). Journal of Political Science and International Relations Studies. 2024, 1(1): 9-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/jpsr3004.

REFERENCES

[1] Layton, Edwin T, Henry Elsner, Jr, The Technocrats, Prophets of Automation (Book Review). Technology and Culture, 1968, 9(2): 256.

[2] Wang Xihe. Technocracy and its Critics. Zai Sheng, 1993, 1(10): 1-10.

[3] Cheng Yufeng, Cheng Yuhuang ed. Historical archives of the National Resources Commission: Preliminary compilation (volume 1). Taipei: Guo Shi Guan, 1984, 1.

[4] William C, Kirby. Germany and the Republic of China. Nanjing: Jiangsu Renmin Chubanshe, 2006, 103.

[5] Benjamin A. Elman. A cultural history of modern science in China. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 2009, 212.

[6] Qu, Jason. Self-strengthening movement of late qing china: An intermediate reform doomed to failure. Asian Culture and History, 2016, 8(2): 148.

[7] Cheng Yufeng, Cheng Yuhuang ed. Historical archives of the National Resources Commission: Preliminary compilation (volume 1). Taipei: Guo Shi Guan, 1984, 16.

[8] These include reforming the financial system, developing the military industry, adjusting agricultural policy, developing transport and seeking international assistance.

[9] Cheng Yufeng, Cheng Yuhuang ed. Historical archives of the National Resources Commission: Preliminary compilation (volume 1). Taipei: Guo Shi Guan, 1984, 102-104.

[10] The Factory Law of the Republic of China, which came into force on August 1st, 1931, stipulates that: "This Law shall apply to any factory that employs more than 30 workers on a regular basis in factories that use steam, electricity and waterpower to start machines."

[11] According to the recollections of Qian Changzhao, Wu Zhaohong and others, the NDPC in fact had eight working groups, to which the Specialists Investigation Group was added in practice.

[12] Sullivan, Lawrence R,  Nancy Y. Liu-Sullivan. Historical dictionary of science and technology in modern China. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, xliv.

[13] Qian Changzhao. Memoirs of Qian Changzhao. Beijing: Dongfang Chubanshe, 2011, 36.

[14] There are three versions of the list of the first members of the NDPC: one is the list of 40 to 50 members recalled by Qian Changzhao; the other is the list of 36 to 48 members recorded in the archives of the National Resources Commission compiled by the National Museum of History of Taiwan; and the third is the list of 39 members transcribed by the economic historian Zheng Youkui (who served as the secretary of the Foreign Trade Office of the NRC) in the Second Historical Archives of Nanjing, which is a copy of the list.

[15] The NDPC is located at No. 2 Sanyuan Lane in Nanjing, and during the period of its secret office, it was known to the public as the NDPC by the name No. 2 Sanyuan Lane. There was another "Sanyuan Lane Cabinet" in history: during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, when the government needed to be reformed, three statesmen, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, and Xu Jie, assisted the government, and together they held the positions of chief cabinet minister and assistant at the same time, and together they had a significant influence in politics. These three men used to live in the vicinity of Sanyuan Lane in the city of Beijing, so the cabinet during this period is often called the Sanyuan Lane Cabinet.

[16] Jiang Tingfu. Memoirs of Jiang Tingfu. Changsha: Yuelu Shu She, 2003, 140.

[17] William C. Kirby. Germany and the Republic of China. Nanjing: Jiangsu Renmin Chubanshe, 2006, 103.

[18] Wu Daquan. Control economic issues. Guofang Luntan 1, 1933, 9: 3.

[19] Hu Shi. Biography of Ding Wenjiang. Haikou: Hainan Chubanshe, 1993, 147.

[20] Cheng Linsun. The origins of the planned economy in China and the National Resources Commission. Er Shi Yi Shi Ji, 2004, 4(82): 90.

[21] William C, Kirby, et al. ed. State and Economy in Republican China: A Handbook for Scholars. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000, 63.

[22] Zheng Huixin. Research on wartime control of the economy and trade by the National Government. Shanghai: Shanghai Shehui Kexueyuan Chubanshe, 2009, 21.

[23] Richard G. Olson. Scientism and Technocracy in the Twentieth Century: The Legacy of Scientific Management. Maryland: Lexington books, 2016, 79.

[24] Morgan, Stephen L. Transfer of Taylorist ideas to China, 1910‐1930s. Journal of Management History, 2006, 12(4): 408.

[25] Weng Wenhao, Qian Changzhao. Notice to the presiding officer of the subsidiary organs of the Commission. Ziyuan Weiyuanhui Yuekan, 1939, 1(1): 2.

[26] Wu Fuyuan. Personnel management system of the National Resources Commission. Recalling the Kuomintang Government's National Resources Commission. Beijing: Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, 1988, 197-208.

[27] Weng Wenhao. Construction and planning. Duli Pinglun,1932, 5: 12.

[28] Cheng Yufeng, Cheng Yuhuang ed. Historical archives of the National Resources Commission: Preliminary compilation (volume 1). Taipei: Guo Shi Guan, 1984, 19.

[29] Taylor, Peter J. Technocratic optimism, HT Odum, and the partial transformation of ecological metaphor after World War II. Journal of the History of Biology, 1988, 213.

[30] The term "expert" in the context of expert politics includes, in a broad sense, all experts in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities who possess professional knowledge. In a narrower sense, it mainly refers to natural science experts, such as scientists and engineers. The group of experts in the NDPC is mainly composed of experts in the natural sciences, but there are also a few scholars in the humanities, such as Jiang Tingfu and Hu Shi.

[31] Liu Yongmou. The logic of technocracy. Zhongguo Renmin Daxue Xuebao, 2016, 6: 118.

[32] Fu Mengzhen. The capital of the upper classes must be eradicated. Guan Cha, 1947, 2(1): 6.

[33] William C. Kirby, et al. ed. State and Economy in Republican China: A Handbook for Scholars. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000, 98.

[34] Robert Wade. Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990, 34.

[35] In 1947, the total number of NRC employees and workers peaked at 256,473.

[36] William C. Kirby. “Technocratic Organization and Technological Development in China, 1928-1953.” In Science and Technology in Post-Mao China. Technology in post-Mao China, edited by Denis Fred Simon, et al., 23-43. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989, 23-43.

[37] Weng Wenhao. The task of engineers. Duli Pinglun, 1933, 82: 7.

[38] Ding Wenjiang. Democracy and dictatorship. Duli Pinglun, 1934, 133: 6.

[39] Ma Yinchu. The issue of Sino-foreign joint ventures in the form of foreign investment. Yinhang Zhoubao, 1935, 19(11): 4-12.

[40] Weng Wenhao. Construction and planning. Duli Pinglun, 1932, 5: 12.

[41] Weng Wenhao & Qian Changzhao. Notice to the presiding officer of the subsidiary organs of the Commission. Ziyuan Weiyuanhui Yuekan, 1939, 1(1): 2-3.