This article reviews the recent scholarship on citizenship in early twentieth-century China and presents a conceptual framework for analyzing citizenship, there and elsewhere, as a complex formation of ideas and practices. The essay asks why citizenship became so important in early twentieth-century China and why Euro-American scholars have been so attentive to it during the last two decades. It draws on the rich historical literature to characterize four distinct dimensions of citizenship in early twentieth-century China. In discussing national membership, political participation and civil rights, cultural citizenship, and social membership, the author reflects on possible vectors of comparison between Chinese and Euro-American approaches to citizenship. Finally, the essay argues that these four aspects can be synthesized and viewed as part of a complex whole that identified Chinese citizenship with active participation in concrete tasks to contribute to national welfare.

Special Issue on the EAP Tokyo Workshop