China and Darwinian Evolution

Darryl E. Brock, a Ph.D. candidate in history at Fordham University, has advanced degrees in biology (M.S., University of South Florida) and history (M.A., Claremont Graduate University), and is an agrochemical government affairs expert, technical writer, and freelance writer. He previously contributed to Cubans in the Confederacy (2002).

China's rise as a powerful global power coincides with reassessment of Charles Darwin's legacy of evolutionary transformative thought on science and society. The reception of Darwinism is well characterized in the West, but how did China respond to this revolutionary lens for assessing humankind's place in the universe? This work traces the introduction of Darwinist thought into late nineteenth century China, assessing its influence on intellectual, social and revolutionary development through the end of the Chinese Republic era. Darwinian scientific and social thought infused a nation in turmoil. The corrupt, fading Manchu Dynasty engendered a crisis of national confidence with its humiliating loss during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. Social Darwinism took root against that backdrop, helping to catalyze revolution, establish the 1911 Republic, and even justify the Peoples Republic of China. This stimulating synthesis of Social Darwinism's clash with Confucian thought will appeal to Sinologists and science historians, as well as thoughtful political, economic and science observers who wish to understand the origins of modern China and the international reception of Darwin.