Založba Univerze v Ljubljani / University of Ljubljana Press
Doi
Abstract
A vast and hyper-centralized Asian empire built on the premise of an alleged cultural homogeneity. A small, federalist Alpine state sustained by the ideal of coexistence of different languages and religions. The differences between China and Switzerland could not be wider, and it is therefore understandable that the Swiss confederacy has been fascinating Chinese intellectuals in both the modern and contemporary era. In the late Qing and early Republican period, Switzerland was mentioned by prominent figures like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, who praised its democracy, and in the 1920s the Swiss political system became a source of inspiration for “provincial patriots” in Hunan or for Chinese federalists such as Chen Jiongming. The present paper intends to survey these political encounters and perceptions, focusing on the transformation of the Swiss institutional model and historical experience into a “political concept”, and on the reasons for its final rejection as an unrealistic utopia unsuited for China.Ogromno in močno centralizirano azijsko cesarstvo je zgrajeno na predpostavki domnevne kulturne homogenosti, majhna, federalistična alpska država pa vztraja pri idealu sožitja različnih jezikov in religij. Razlike med Kitajsko in Švico ne bi mogle biti večje, zato je razumljivo, da je švicarska konfederacija kitajske intelektualce navduševala tako v modernem kot sodobnem času. V poznem obdobju dinastije Qing in zgodnjem republikanskem obdobju so Švico omenjale ugledne osebnosti, kot sta bila Kang Youwei in Liang Qichao, ki so hvalile njeno demokracijo, v dvajsetih letih pa je švicarski politični sistem postal vir navdiha za »provincialne domoljube« v Hunanu in kitajske federaliste, kot je Chen Jiongming. Pričujoči prispevek namerava raziskati ta politična soočanja in predstave s poudarkom na preoblikovanju tega švicarskega institucionalnega modela in zgodovinske izkušnje v »politični koncept« ter na razlogih za njegovo dokončno zavrnitev kot nerealistične utopije, neprimerne za Kitajsko
