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.The banner of fascism was a useful way to proclaimthe supremacy of the state and so to criticize excessive individualism andfreedom.China s fascists agreed with their mortal enemies, the liberal andradical proponents of a New Culture movement: that the culture itselfhad become decadent.Only, in their analysis, the cultural problem was lessthe pernicious effects of tradition and more the decadence fostered byWestern liberalism.Men were dissipating their energies in brothels, whilewomen were tarnishing themselves with cosmetics. In the last severaldecades we have in vain become drunk with democracy and the advocacy offree thought. So spoke Chiang himself, and in 1933 he explained:The most important point of fascism is absolute trust in a sagely, ableleader.& Therefore the leader will naturally be a great person andpossess a revolutionary spirit, so that he serves as a model for all partymembers.Furthermore, each member must sacrifice everything, actingdirectly for the leader and the group, and indirectly for society, thenation, and the revolution.17In the ideal Blue Shirt society of the future, all children would belong to thenation, not to individual families or clans, and they would be schooled in groupism and trained in militarism.Vocational education would beemphasized to avoid the useless study of dead books. The more radicalor ultra-nationalist Blue Shirts favored complete nationalization of theeconomy, views which resonated broadly with Russia s Stalinism, Japan sagrarian fascism, and Germany s national socialism.In this view, the scat-tered farms of China s peasants and landlords would be turned into statecollectives.However, more moderate Blue Shirts simply supported the offi-cial line of modest reforms.One problem of the Lixingshe s secrecy is that itwas not clear whose voice, aside from Chiang s, was authoritative.AndChiang did not speak clearly on many issues.What fascism could not do was to override the inherent factionalism ofthe GMD or conclusively turn Chiang into a Führer figure.The Lixingsheand Blue Shirts were but one of three or four major factions.Chiang under-stood that his personal power depended on their continued struggle, for aslong as no one of them became all-powerful, he could preside over all ofthem.Another weakness of the fascist model in China was Chiang s skepti-cism toward mass mobilization of any kind.The Blue Shirts were neverallowed to organize a popular following like the state-controlled mass move-ments of Italy and Germany.Membership remained largely limited tomilitary officers and Party officials.Finally, the anti-traditional aspect of theBlue Shirt ideology was contrary to Chiang s own instincts.For all of Chiang s faith that military discipline provided a model for society,he also believed that traditional values could play a major role in creatingsuch a society.The New Life Movement was inaugurated in September 1934 The Nanjing decade, 1928 37 257as a kind of ideological reconstruction of the body politic as enforced bylegal measures.18 In many respects it was compatible with the ideals of theBlue Shirts, especially in terms of the enemy: Chinese decadence and commu-nism.The overall goal, too, was to produce a thoroughly disciplined society.But the New Life Movement was not, in the final analysis, compatible withfascism.It brought Confucianism and even Christianity back into Chinesepolitical life.It was also a means to compensate for weaknesses of thegovernment rather than to extend its powers.If the people were truly disci-plined, then they would spontaneously serve society and sacrifice for thenation, without a strong state necessarily driving them.The starting point of the Three People s Principles, Chiang declared, wasgong, and the moving spirit of the National Revolution cheng.19 Gong signi-fied public, public-spiritedness, sharing: that which was not private and selfish;cheng signified sincerity, deep commitment, and obedience.These were ancientvirtues that had been given prominence in the Neo-Confucian revival of theSong dynasty.They illustrate Chiang s belief in self-discipline as the basis of arational state.Chiang s New Life Confucianism was an attack on selfishness both large and small.It emphasized the Neo-Confucian virtues of propriety,duty, honesty, and sense of shame.Chiang wanted to improve the customs ofthe Chinese people.He urged frugality and hard work: the old-time religion.Social improvement would flow naturally from this.Chiang explained what he meant with the example of the beggar, the manwho consumed without producing.If he could be morally improved, if hehad a better grasp of the four key virtues, he would go out and get a job.Ultimately, social order which Chiang premised on hierarchical relations would be restored.But, as Li Dazhao had argued to Hu Shi nearly fifteenyears earlier, didn t providing jobs for the beggars and robbers who filledChina require a functioning economic system first? Chiang was sure thatvirtue came first.He explicitly argued that virtue had to be demanded evenof the hungry; otherwise, if they became rich, they would remain unvirtuous.As Chiang s critics pointed out, even Confucius had held it unreasonable toexpect virtue from people whose basic economic needs were unmet
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