The China NonProfit Review Vol.13 No.1&2_CNPR article 1

The Analysis of Chinese Philanthropic Culture Patterns and the Response to Historical Transformation: A Review of Chinese Philanthropy: History and Culture*

Yang Fanshu**

Abstract: Chinese Philanthropy: History and Culture, as the first textbook to introduce Chinese philanthropy in China, extracts six basic patterns from the phenomenon of Chinese philanthropy. They are: clan philanthropy, religious philanthropy, local philanthropy, national philanthropy, overseas Chinese philanthropy, and civic philanthropy. This paper reviews the previous historical studies on Chinese philanthropy, and tries to outline the trajectory of the evolution of early modern Chinese philanthropy by integrating the specific time and practice of philanthropic patterns discussed in the book. Since the end of Ming Dynasty, the subjects of "almsdeed" in local society have become increasingly diversified. Besides local scholars, businessmen，and the clan power behind them, some other communities such as merchants, comprador, and overseas Chinese also joined. With the expansion of this subject, the forms of the philanthropic practice also changed. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the accumulation of ideas and practices since the end of the Ming Dynasty was reinterpreted and interpreted, thus becoming part of the ideological resources of "citizens' public welfare". Meanwhile, various mechanisms of clan charity gradually expanded clan boundaries, increasingly embedded with local affairs and even the "public welfare" related to national interests. They are integrated into the initial exploration and active practice of modern national transformation, and respond to the issues of historical "transformation" of Chinese philanthropic history.

Keywords: Chinese philanthropy  Culture Patterns  Historical transformation

* This article is an outcome of the “Research on Chinese Modern Notions of Philanthropy” (20YJC840031), a 2020 project of the Youth Fund for Studies of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Ministry of Education, and of the 2019 Young Teacher Training Project (19wkpy81) under Basic Scientific Research Funding of Sun Yat-sen University.

** Yang Fanshu is a doctoral student at the Sun Yat-sen University Department of History, whose research is focused on historical anthropology.

Please click the link to see the full article.C001-EN.pdf