Sighting the Ottomans from the east: chinese intellectual transition from imperial to national imagination through the Ottomans at the turn of the twentieth century

Abstract

This thesis examines the Chinese perception of the Ottomans within the global context of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, in which novel ideas and discourses of nationalism were generated, and it aims at comprehending the intellectual transition from imperial to national imagination in China through the examination of these ideas and discourses. In other words, the Chinese perception of the Ottomans at the turn of the century is utilized to understand how Chinese national space was produced at discourse level by reference to the Ottomans. The aim of the thesis is realized through reading Chinese texts produced in the late nineteenth century to 1911. These texts include commentary works of Chinese intellectuals who tried to figure out the global world space and its relation to the national space. The common point in these articles is the utilization of the Ottoman case by Chinese intellectuals who had various ideological orientations as an example for their constitutionalist, revolutionary and nationalist causes. Through this examination, it was concluded that although the Ottoman case was utilized by Chinese intellectuals, it was not viewed in a consistent manner. From the perspective of Chinese intellectuals, the Ottomans from various social levels were isomorphic as they were victimized by the imperial West while the Ottoman Empire had imperial claims over both Chinese Muslims and the nations under its rule within the imperial competition of global politics. Hence, the vague perception of the Ottoman Empire and fragmented viewing of the Ottomans had a minor but noteworthy place in the production of Chinese nationalist discourses.