Cai Shaoqing (; 14 August 1933 – 30 November 2019) was a Chinese historian and professor at
Nanjing University
Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xianl ...
, considered a leading authority on the history of
Chinese secret societies. He pioneered the research of
Tiandihui
The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's a ...
and other secret societies using
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
archives and overturned the findings of earlier Republican-era scholars. He also studied the links between the
Warlord Era and banditry during the late
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
and early
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
. He received the
Frederic Milton Thrasher Award for his research on Chinese secret societies.
Biography
Cai was born on 14 August 1933 in Hexing Township,
Changshu
Changshu (; Suzhounese: /d͡ʐan¹³ ʐoʔ²³/) is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. It borders the prefecture-level city of Nantong to the northeast across the Yangt ...
(now part of
Zhangjiagang
Zhangjiagang (), formerly Shazhou County (), is a county-level city under the administration of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China and one of the many ports along the Yangtze river.
With 1,246,762 inhabitants as of the 2010 census, the city is now ...
) in
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
province of the Republic of China. After graduating from Danan High School of Changshu, be was hired by the school as a teacher. He entered the Department of History of
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
in 1956, and upon graduation in 1960, he became a teaching assistant to historian Shao Xunzheng () while continuing his graduate studies at Peking University.
In 1973, Cai was transferred to the Department of History of
Nanjing University
Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xianl ...
, where he taught until retirement in 2003. There he advised more than 80 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, as well as over 70 international scholars
including
Elizabeth J. Perry, who later dedicated her book ''Anyuan: Mining China's Revolutionary Tradition'' to Cai Shaoqing and
Yu Jianrong.
From 1980, Cai was invited to teach at over sixty universities and research institutes in more than ten countries. He was named an "Outstanding Graduate Student Advisor" by the government of Jiangsu province
and won the
Frederic Milton Thrasher Award for his research on Chinese secret societies.
Cai died on 30 November 2019 in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, aged 86.
Contributions
Cai is recognized as a leading authority on the history of
Chinese secret societies.
While still a young scholar, he published the article ''On the Origins of the Tiandihui'' () in 1964. Using his research on
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
archives housed in Beijing, a previously neglected source for the topic, Cai advanced a vastly different interpretation of the origins of the
Tiandihui
The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's a ...
(Heaven and Earth Society) and the importance of secret societies in Chinese history.
His work is considered to have opened a new chapter of scholarship in the field, but further research was hampered by the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
(1966–1976). After the end of the period, Cai and his former student Qin Baoqi emerged as leaders in the field in China.
The work by Cai, Qin and others overturned the findings of earlier Republican-era scholars. They concluded that the Tiandihui was founded in 1761 and not in the early Qing dynasty, and that the roots of the Tiandihui and other secret societies lay in mutual aid and not national politics as previously thought.
Together with Philip Billingsley, Cai pioneered research on the links between the
Warlord Era and banditry during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China. Rejecting the simplistic view that blamed the social disorder of the era on the moral bankruptcy of the warlords, they studied how population growth, government breakdown, military buildup and other factors contributed to banditry. Deserters from armies turned to banditry to make a living, and banditry in turn fuelled militarization as regional elites created militias to protect their localities.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cai, Shaoqing
1933 births
2019 deaths
Educators from Suzhou
Historians from Jiangsu
Historians of China
Nanjing University faculty
Peking University alumni
Peking University faculty
People from Zhangjiagang