Editing Democracy in China (section)

==Translation==
{{Essay-like|date=September 2024|section}}
The most common modern translation for the English words ''democracy'' and ''democratic'' in [[Sino-Xenic vocabulary|East Asian languages]] is {{zhi|c=民主|p=mínzhǔ|out=p}}.{{efn|{{langx|ja|{{ruby-ja|民主|みんしゅ}}|translit=minshu}}.<br>{{langx|ko|민주|translit=minju}}.<br>{{langx|vi|dân chủ}}.}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kleeman|first1=Julie|last2=Yu|first2=Harry|title=The Oxford Chinese Dictionary|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Kenkyusha's New English-Japanese Dictionary|date=22 March 2002|edition=6th|last=Takebayashi|first=Shigeru|publisher=Kenkyusha Co., Ltd.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Tuttle Pocket Korean Dictionary|last=Park|first=Kyubyong|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Tuttle Compact Vietnamese Dictionary|last=Phan|first=Văn Giường|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2017}}</ref> However, in [[classical Chinese]], the compound {{zhi|c=民主|p=mínzhǔ|out=p}} could be interpreted as either a [[Genitive construction|genitive]] [[noun phrase]] which would translate to "people's lord;" or a [[Subject–verb–object word order|subject–verb]] phrase which would translate to "the people govern." The genitive-noun-phrase interpretation was well known in China as a way to refer to the reigning [[Emperor of China|emperor]],<ref name=jinliu2008>{{cite journal|first1=Guantao|last1=Jin|last2=Liu|first2=Qingfeng|script-title=zh:七 從「共和」到「民主」 中國對西方現代政治觀念的選擇性吸收和重構|journal=History of Political Thought|title=From 'Republicanism' to 'Democracy': China's Selective Adoption and Reconstruction of Modern Western Political Concepts (1840-1924)|jstor=26221713|volume=26|issue=3|year=2005|pages=467–501 }}</ref> and was [[synonymous]] with another classical word, {{zhi|c=君主|p=jūnzhǔ|out=p}}.

The first use of ''mínzhǔ'' that deviated from the two above interpretions was found in [[William Alexander Parsons Martin]]'s seminal 1863 translated book, {{zhi|t=萬國公法|tr=''[[Elements of International Law]]''|p=Wànguó Gōngfǎ|out=p}}.<ref name=jinliu2008/><ref name=chen2011>{{cite journal|script-title=ja:「民主」と「共和」 ―近代日中概念の形成とその相互影響―|trans-title="Democracy" and "Republic" : The Emergence of Modern Concepts in Chinese and Japanese and their Interdependence|journal=Seijo University Economic Papers|date=November 2011|last=Chen|first=Liwei|language=ja|url=http://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/023605605/eng}}</ref> In order to translate the phrase "whether monarchical or republican," Martin made use of the contrast between {{zhi|c=君主|p=jūnzhǔ|out=p}} and {{zhi|c=民主|p=mínzhǔ|out=p}}. The genitive-noun-phrase interpretation would render such translation meaningless, therefore, it has been argued that the subject–verb interpretation was intended here.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Masini|first=Frederico|language=zh|isbn=9787543202481|script-title=zh:現代漢語詞匯的形成 : 十九世紀漢語外來詞研究|year=1997|trans-title=The formation of modern Chinese lexicon and its evolution toward a national language: the period from 1840 to 1898|journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics: Monograph Series}}</ref> Furthermore, Martin also translated "democratic republic" as {{zhi|t=民主之國|p=mínzhǔ zhī guó|out=p|l=country where the people govern}}, meaning ''mínzhǔ'' actually encapsulated both "republic(an)" and "democratic."<ref name=jinliu2008/> The word ''mínzhǔ'' went on to be a popular translation for ''republic'' in multiple bilingual dictionaries.<ref name=lee2013>{{cite journal|last=Lee|first=Junghwan|title=The History of Konghwa 共和 in Early Modern East Asia and Its Implications in the [Provisional] Constitution of the Republic of Korea.|journal=Acta Koreana|date=June 2013|volume=16|issue=1}}</ref> On the other hand, given that republicanism and democracy were completely foreign to the Chinese under monarchical [[Qing dynasty|Qing rule]], authors often employed the "people's lord" meaning (genitive-noun-phrase interpretation) analogously. 19th-century newspapers in China (especially those published by Westerners) often equated America's head of state, the President, to [[Emperor of China|China's head of state, the Emperor]]. An 1874 issue of the paper {{zhi|t=萬國公報|tr=International Bulletin|p=Wànguó Gōngbào|out=p}} used the phrases {{zhi|t=美國民主，曰伯理璽天德|p=Měiguó Mínzhǔ, yuē Bólíxǐtiāndé|l=America's People's Lord<nowiki>, known as "President"</nowiki>|out=p}}, {{zhi|t=美皇|p=Měihuáng|l=America's Emperor|out=p}} and {{zhi|t=美主|p=Méizhǔ|l=America's Lord|out=p}}. An 1896 issue of {{zhi|t=時務報|p=Shíwùbào|out=p|tr=Current-Affairs News}} even used the specific phrase {{zhi|t=選舉民主|p=xuánjǔ Mínzhǔ|l=elected People's Lord|out=p}} in reference to an American election. [[George Carter Stent]] reinforced this usage in the third edition of his dictionary ''Chinese and English Vocabulary in the Pekinese Dialect'', with {{zhi|t=民主|p=min<sup>2</sup>-chu<sup>3</sup>|out=p|l=people's lord}} translated as "President of a Republic," and {{zhi|t=民主國|p=min<sup>2</sup>-chu<sup>3</sup>-kuo<sup>2</sup>|out=p|l=people's lord's country}} as "a Republic."<ref>{{cite book|title=A Chinese and English Vocabulary in the Pekinese Dialect|year=1898|edition=3rd|page=414|publisher=American Presbyterian Mission Press|location=Shanghai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tglSbI_mnSoC|first=George Carter|last=Stent}}</ref> At this point during the late 19th century, four meanings of ''mínzhǔ'' coexisted: "people's lord" (an East Asian [[hereditary monarch]]), "the people govern" (a Western democratic republic), "the people govern" (Western non-monarchical government, namely democracy and/or republicanism) and "people's lord" (a Western democratically elected leader). There was no distinction between democracy (majority rule) and [[republicanism]] (government for the public good).<ref name=jinliu2008/>

Meanwhile, in Japan, the word {{nihongo||共和政治|kyōka seiji|{{lit|cooperative and harmonious administrative rule}}}}, modernized by [[w:ja:箕作省吾|Mitsukuri Shōgo]] in 1845 and reinforced by [[Fukuzawa Yukichi]] in 1866,{{efn|In {{nihongo||西洋事情|Seiyō Jijō|{{lit|Western Affairs}}}}, glossed with {{nihongo||レポブリック|repoburikku}}.}} became popular as a translation for ''republic''.<ref name=chen2011/><ref name=lee2013/> ''Kyōka'' (now ''kyōwa'') also came from classical Chinese, specifically from an account of the non-monarchical [[Gonghe Regency|Gònghé Regency]].{{efn|According to [[Hozumi Nobushige]] in {{nihongo||法窓夜話|[https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000301/files/1872_53638.html Hōsō Yawa]}}, Mitsukuri wanted to translate the Dutch word ''republiek'', and chose {{nihongo||共和|kyōka}} after hearing the account in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' from the Confucian scholar Ōtsuki Bankei (father of [[Ōtsuki Fumihiko]]). What he actually used that translation for was specifically for {{nihongo||共和政治州|Kyōka Seiji Shū}}, i.e. {{nihongo||フルヱーニフデスターテン|Furuyēnifude Sutāten|{{langx|nl|[[United States|Verenigde Staten]]}}}}.}} During the exchange of translated materials, including Martin's ''Wànguó Gōngfǎ'' and various translations of [[Rousseau]]'s ''[[The Social Contract|Du contrat social]]'', between Qing China and [[Meiji era|Meiji]] Japan, ''mínzhǔ'' and ''kyōka'' were often used interchangeably.<ref name=jinliu2008/><ref name=chen2011/><ref name=lee2013/> The neat distinction of today between these two words as respectively meaning "democracy" and "republic" happened gradually.

The first recorded example of the Chinese [[loanword]] {{nihongo||民主|minshu}} used to translate specifically the English word ''democracy'' was in an 1870 lecture by the philosopher [[Nishi Amane]], who used {{nihongo||民主の治|minshu no chi|{{lit|people-governing rule}}}}.<ref name=chen2011/><ref>{{cite web|title=民主|website=コトバンク|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB-640600|access-date=12 September 2024|archive-date=12 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912050213/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB-640600|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|As opposed to {{nihongo||君主の治|kunshu no chi|{{lit|monarch-governing rule}}}} used for ''monarchy''.}} In his 1877 translation of ''Du contrat social'' entitled {{nihongo||民約論|Min'yakuron}}, Hattori Toku ({{lang|ja|服部徳}}) used {{nihongo||民主政治|minshu seiji|{{lit|people-governing administrative rule}}}} for the French word ''démocratie''.<ref>{{cite book|date=December 1877|url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/783743/1/101|script-title=ja:民約論|language=ja|last=Rousseau|first=Jean-Jacques|trans-title=Du contrat social|translator-last=Hattori|translator-first=Toku|publisher={{lang|ja|有村壯一}}|access-date=12 September 2024|archive-date=12 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912162634/https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/783743/1/101|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|As opposed to {{nihongo||君主政治|kunshu seiji|{{lit|monarch-governing administrative rule}}}} for ''monarchie'' and {{nihongo||貴族政治|kizoku seiji|{{lit|noble-clan administrative rule}}}} for ''aristocratie''.}} ''Minshu'' came to be associated more with an ideology, institution or spirit (in such phrases as {{nihongo||民主主義|minshu shugi|{{lit|democratic principle}}}}, {{nihongo||民主制度|minshu seido|{{lit|democratic institution}}}}, and {{nihongo||民主精神|minshu seishin|{{lit|democratic spirit}}}}) rather than a specific form of government that had been linked to ''kyōka''. In a 1916 issue of the magazine ''[[Chūō Kōron]]'', the [[Taishō era|Taishō]] political scientist [[Sakuzō Yoshino]] distinguished the two senses of the English loanword {{nihongo||デモクラシー|demokurashī}}: he associated {{nihongo||民主主義|minshu shugi|{{lit|principle whereby the people govern}}}} with a legal form of government that did not (and still does not) exist in Japan, and his own coinage {{nihongo||民本主義|minpon shugi|{{lit|principle rooted in the people}}}} with a political ideology that could (and still can) be implemented as [[constitutional monarchy]] in Japan. In other words, some Taishō authors started to give ''minshu shugi'' the form-of-government meaning of ''kyōka'', while pushing for ''minpon shugi'' with the ideology meaning. However, ''minpon shugi'' did not quite catch on, and ''minshu shugi'' was used for both meanings of ''democracy'' by subsequent bilingual dictionaries.<ref name=chen2011/>

On the other hand, the Japanese loanword {{zhi|c=共和|p=gònghé|out=p}} saw a rise in popularity in 20th-century China.<ref name=chen2011/> The [[Russo-Japanese War|defeat]] of the Russian [[absolute monarchy]] by the Japanese constitutional monarchy contributed to its 1906 peak in published materials by Qing aristocrats. Usage of ''gònghé'' among these constitutional monarchists continued to trump that of ''mínzhǔ'' during the following years. Some aristocrats, priding themselves as more virtuous and qualified to govern, had already attempted to distinguish ''mínzhǔ'' as democratic government by the people, and ''gònghé'' as government by a select few wise men like the republics of old.<ref name=jinliu2008/> In this regard, ''gònghé'' was reinterpreted as "cooperative and harmonious" government between the monarch and his subjects, not true republicanism.<ref name=chen2011/> Opposing the constitutional monarchists were the revolutionaries, who aimed to abolish the monarchy altogether. Chief among these actual republicans was [[Sun Yat-sen]], who thought it was the people who were qualified to govern, and who went on to develop the [[Three Principles of the People]]. In this regard, ''gònghé'' was a stand-in for ''mínzhǔ'' as democratic government by the people. Although the victorious [[Xinhai Revolution]] and the founding of the {{zhi|t=中華民國|p=Zhōnghuá Mínguó|l=Middle ''[[Huaxia|Huá]]'' People's Country|tr=[[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]|out=tr}}{{efn|Sun Yat-sen and his colleagues explicitly chose {{zhi|t=民國|p=mínguó|l=people's country|out=p}} over the Japanese loanword {{zhi|t=共和國|p=gònghéguó|out=p}} to emphasize his [[direct democracy]] aspirations.}} seemed to show promise at first, [[Yuan Shikai]]'s attempt to restore constitutional monarchy and the subsequent turmoil proved that it was the duplicity of the constitutional monarchists that helped realize the revolutionaries' ''gònghé'' aspirations (democratic republicanism), which turned out to be merely nominal and illusory. The failure and eventual downfall of the Republic resulted in the later negative connotation of ''gònghé'' and the revival of ''mínzhǔ''.<ref name=jinliu2008/>

Among the 19th-century translations of ''democracy'' in China, {{zhi|c=民政|p=mínzhèng|out=p}} was frequently found.<ref name=lee2013/> This word traditionally meant "popular/civil administration," or administration ''dealing with'' people. Contemporary foreign [[lexicographers]] intended it to mean "people's administration," or administration ''by'' the people, instead. During the 20th century, while also regaining its traditional meaning of "civil administration",{{efn|Today, there is the {{zhi|tr=[[Ministry of Civil Affairs]]|c=民政部|out=tr|p=Mínzhèngbù}}.}} ''mínzhèng'' started to lose ground to ''mínzhǔ'', likely because the Chinese were increasingly aware of "democracy" as a  something fundamentally opposite to traditional Chinese government. Constitutional monarchists, such as [[Kang Youwei]] and [[Liang Qichao]], viewed ''mínzhǔ'' as dangerous, prone to chaos, and may result in the tyranny of a [[Political strongman|strongman]] "people's lord." They even used [[Loaded language|loaded phrases]] like {{zhi|c=民主專制|p=mínzhǔ zhuānzhì|tr=democratic autocracy|out=p}} and {{zhi|c=專制民主|p=zhuānzhì mínzhǔ|tr=autocratic democracy|out=p}}. Despite that, the fall of the Republic of China helped reinvigorate ''mínzhǔ'' during the [[New Culture Movement]], whose members were disaffected by the failed implementation of ''gònghé''. For example, CCP co-founder [[Chen Duxiu]] criticized constitutional monarchists for nominally claiming to support ''gònghé'', yet worshipping antiquated Confucian ideas that are inextricably tied to monarchy and thus antithetical to ''gònghé''. ''Mínzhǔ'' then signified a rejection of the failed ''gònghé'' model, a rejection of monarchical Confucian thinking, and an embrace of actual democracy and other Western thoughts. Occasional transcriptions like {{zhi|t=德謨克拉西|p=démókèlāxī|out=p}} and {{zhi|t=德謨格拉時|p=démógélāshí|out=p}} were also used to distinguish from ''mínzhǔ'' as a form of government.<ref name=chen2011/> Of the new concepts under the umbrella of ''mínzhǔ'', the [[Marxist-Leninist]] idea of [[proletarian dictatorship]], represented by such terms as {{zhi|t=無產階級民主|tr=democracy of the proletariat|out=p|p=wúchǎn jiējí mínzhǔ}}, {{zhi|t=民主的狄克推多|tr=democratic dictator|out=p|p=mínzhǔ de díkètuīduō}} and {{zhi|t=德謨克拉西專政|tr=dictatorship of democracy|out=p|p=démókèlāxī zhuānzhèng}}, became the foundational thought of the CCP.<ref name=jinliu2008/> In his 1918 speech entitled {{zhi|t=庶民的勝利|out=p|p=Shùmín de Shènglì|l=Victory of the Common People}}, CCP founder [[Li Dazhao]] used the phrase {{zhi|t=民主主義|p=mínzhǔ zhǔyì|out=p|l=democratic principle}} previously popularized by the Japanese near the end of the 19th century.<ref name=chen2011/> In terms of meaning and connotation, this new idea of democratic dictatorship (dictatorship of an entire underclass of people) among [[communists]] was intended to be different from the idea of democratic autocracy (dictatorship of one [[populist]] leader) warned of by earlier constitutional monarchists, as well as from imperial autocracy (dictatorship of one hereditary monarch); yet, the brutal reality of the [[Cultural Revolution]] proved they were not so different after all.<ref name=jinliu2008/>