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Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalism in theFrench Archives

Marilyn A. Levine

To cite this article: Marilyn A. Levine (1997) Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalism in theFrench Archives, Republican China, 22:2, 93-102, DOI: 10.1179/repc.1997.22.2.93

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/repc.1997.22.2.93

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Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalismin the French Archives

by Marilyn A. Levine

From secret police reports to captured Chinese documents, the archivesin France hold many useful materials both in Paris and the provinces. One doesnot have to have a high level of French linguistic ability to conduct research inthe French archives, but one does have to have a willingness to pursue the sourcesin several locations, and reach into unsuspecting dossiers. This research notewill briefly discuss a few of the French archives, their range of sources and givesome examples of the materials to be found in these archives.

There are several reasons to explore French archives, and not only be-cause of the celebrity of many Chinese who went to Europe such as Zhou Enlai,Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De, Li Lisan, LiFuchun, Li Weihan, Xiao San,Xiang Jingyu, Cai Hesen, Nie Rongzhen, Liu Bojian,Zeng Qi, Li Huang, ChenQitian, WangSonglu, Zheng Yanfen, Rua Lin and many others. In addition tothe European Branches of the Chinese Communist Party (ECCO), there werealso four other Chinese political parties· on European soil founded in the early1920's: the European Branch of the Guomindang (EGMD); the Chinese YouthParty (Qingniandang, or QND), the Anarchist Party (Gongyushe or GYS), andthe Chinese Social Democratic Party (SDP). There were also other movementsand organizations on the radical right and left which are worth' exploring, suchas the Young Catholic groups and the Chinese Labor Battalions. The students atthe Sino-French Institute in Lyons have left almost 500 dossiers and some veryrare collections of publications from the 1920s and 1930s. One could conduct avery intensive survey of the intellectual, social and political impact of the Weston China from these several vantage points. 1

In this article I will discuss the Archives Nationales (Paris) ·and thecolonial section (Archives Nationales-Section d'Outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence)as examples of the richn-ess of this source. As a part of the work for a book inprogress, The Chinese Guomindang in Europe: A Sourcebook of Translations,--in collaboration with Chen San-ching (Academia Sinica), several archives inAsia and Europe were used.2

Introduction to the Archives Nationales(AN, Paris) - The ArchivesNationales are located on 11 rue des Quatres Fils-75003 Paris [Tel: 40-27-65-19 or 40-27-65-20]; These archives are administered by the Centre D'accueil et

REPUBLICAN CHINA, 22.2 (April 1997): 93-102

94 Republican China

de Recherche des Archives Nationales (C.A.R.A.N.), which is an office to theright when one enters the building. Although the reading room is open from 9:00a.m. until 6:00 p.m., one must order their documents by 4:00 p.m. If one doesnot finish with their documents they may be reserved for the following day. Onemay search and order documents by a computer in a room within the.readingroom, which is also staffed by a reference librarian who can aid the researcher.The documents are delivered to a main reference desk, and there are many tableswhere the researchers can find a spot to place their research materials. Most ofthe tables are equipped with electrical outlets for portable computers. The AN isclosed on all legal holiday.s, the 15th of July, and on Saturdays throughout Au-gust until the 15th of September. The staff of the AN are helpful, but not particu-larly focused on the area of China; however, there are numerous index and cata-logues. The AN is very convenient to conduct research as there are metro stopswithin close walking distance.

In terms of materials relevant to the researcher on modem China, thereis a 'special collection of documents on the Chinese worker-students that hadbeen stored in the Alliance Fran<;aise for decades, and finally donated to theERESS, Centre Chine, where they were organized and catalogued through thepainstaking efforts of Genevieve Barman and Nicole Dulioust. These documentsare catalogued with the regular archives in the AN Reading room, but one needswritten permission from the Director of the EHESS to gain access to them. Oncepermission is on file, the regular ordering fiche are used to ask for the specificcartons.3 There are literally hundreds of dossiers, including sources rangingfrom school catalogues to signed loan statements, factory and school name lists,and attempts at placement. But the seemingly benign can have great utility. Forexample, one can trace early addresses left on loan receipts or school and fac-tory listings, in box after box of materials. In addition, the Archives Nationalescontains other special collections, such as Affaires Politiques. To our knowl-edge, Nora Wang was the first to cite two particularly useful dossiers in this"F7" series.4 These documents contain some of the earliest surveillance of DengXiaoping, the police report on Wang Jingqi, confiscated letters, reports, Over-seas GMD election ballots, telegrams, newspaper articles on the Chinese radicalactivities, and Siirete reports.

The Archives Nationales-Section d'Outre-Mer (A OM, Aix-en-Provence)5 The AOM are located at 29 Chemin du Moulin Detesta, 13090, Aix-en-Provence, France; [tel: 42-26-43-21]. The archives itself is called, CentreArchives D'Outre-Mer Des Archives Nationales [C.A.O.M.]. They are openduring the week, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The

Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalism 95

archives are closed for two weeks around the 14th of July and during regularnational holidays. Between 11:30 and 1:30 one may not order documents. Thearchives consist of several index/catalogue rooms, a main reading room, and areference desk where one can give one's requests for documents or ask for aid.The librarians at the AOM are helpful and because of the nature of the archivesare knowledgeable about Asia and Africa, although they are a bit surprisedwhen you mention your focus is China. There are not many- hotels near· thearchives, which are across the street from the University of Aix-en-Provence,but it is very pleasant to stay in the city itself, which is about a 20 minute walkfrom the archives through a lovely park.

Though it may appear astonishing, perhaps the highest quantity andutility of documents pertinent to Chinese political activities are to be found inthese colonial archives. There are useful collections such as Affaires Politiquesor Indochine that are relevant, for example, to late nineteenth-century commer-cial studies, the 1911 Revolution, and overseas Chinese.6 For the study of Chi-nesepolitics the collection,Seroice de Liaison avec des Originaires des Territoiresde la France Outre-Mer· (SLOTFOM) includes material ranging from cartonafter carton of handwritten notes by secret agents to captured documents in theoriginal Chinese. This collection is literally a treasure-trove of information.SLOTFOM has been used by scholars of Vietnam, particularly in the works ofWilliam Duiker, David Marr, Huynh Kim Khanh, and Hue-Tam Ho Tai.? TheSLOTFOM collection includes reports on all overseas political activity that mayhave affected French colonial possessions, and one finds the world literally cov-ered by monthly reports on revolutionary propaganda and activity abroad. Inaddition to other assessments and collected materials, one can gain a very broadview of events. For example, in the year 1927 one finds information on therespective visits to China by Jacques Doriot (PCF) and Albert Thomas (SFIO),analyses of the political situation in China, French translations of the documentscaptured in the Soviet Embassy during the raid in Beijing, tracking of the North-ern Expedition, with photostats of Jiang Jieshi's letters to Vietnamese comradesand photos of the Huangpu cadets, and so forth.

It is not difficult to get access to a reader's card for the AN or the AOM.The Archives Nationales has an application center, as mentioned above, and onepays a fee ranging from 50 to 100 francs for a reader's card (Carte de lecture).There is no fee for the AOM reader card. Researchers should be prepared withsome proof of affiliation (From the scholar's own institution, or from the AHA,which will always provide an introduction letter), a curriculum vitae, several

96 Republican China

small photographs, and a short summary of the project. You may be asked whythat collection is important to your work. The staff will introduce you to theappropriate indexes or catalogues (the SLOTFOM index is behind the desk, forexample), and they will answer your questions quite cordially. Remember totake note of time limits to order materials, times to photocopy materials, andlimitations on numbers of cartons/dossiers per day. Long-term photocopying isavailable for large amounts of needed material. Another procedure to discover isto save for the following day a carton on whose materials you want to take notes.Notebook computers are allowed, but you must check your personal effects in alocker (AOM) or at a check-in room (AN).

The materials that can be found in these collections truly show us manyfacets of Eastern and Western mentalities. One is able to see the reality of imple-menting colonialism, what colonialism does to perception of self and others, andthe effect and behavior on those who are radicalized. Original documents invarious languages (for many Asian and African, and also some American na-tionals), even restaurant menus can be found in these collections. There are alsoextensive photograph and map collections, which are systematically catalogued.The following tables from the two collections: SLOTFOM andlndochine in theAOM will express something of the depth and variety of these collections (seeTables 1 and 2).

TABLE 1. Archives Nationales - Section d'Outre-Mer:SLOTFOM Collection Database Keywords.8

Car- Dos- Affiliation Keyword Activity Keyword Keyword / Commentton sierV 48 EGMD Propaganda Zheng Yanfen/Zhongshan

journalIV Religious Religious Activity Pastor Picket, 7th Day

Organization AdventistIV Religious General Father Lebbe, Lazariste

Organization OrganizationIII 141 United Front French Political Jiang Jieshi .(1927) captured

Analysis documentsIII 141 United Front Translations Zhang ZuolinIII 141 Indochinese French Police Le Duc Thuyet

ActionIII 141 ECCO French Hamburg

SurveillanceIII 141 ECCO French Marseilles

Surveillance

Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalism 97

TABLE 1. (Cont.d):Car- Dos- Affilration Keyword Activity Keyword Keyword / Commentton sierII 6 EGMD French Leon (agent notes)

SurveillanceIII 10 Huangpu Mil. Acad. Anti-colonialism Jiang Jieshi (Photos/letters)V 48 ECCO Translations Chiguang (1930)III 10 CCP French Li Lisan (1929-31) , maps

SurveillanceV 43 QND Propaganda Xiansheng (1930)V 43 EGMD Propaganda Sanmin (1929)V 43 EGMD Propaganda Guomin (1927+)III 4 Indochinese French Desire (agent notes)

SurveillanceIII 12 Indochinese French Challaye

SurveillanceIII 12 Anti"Japanese group Demonstration Sino-Japanese WarIII 29 French Organization Propaganda Barres, JouvenelIII 29 Indochinese French Colonial Commission

SurveillanceIII 21 Revol utionary Feminist Guangdong

Organization Organizing

V 48 GMD Translations TahitiIII 84 Revolutionary Propaganda Bolshevism

Organization

III 84 Revol utionary Propaganda Colonial Section,Organization L'Humanite

III 84 Revolutionary Propaganda Guangdong (1922-23)Organization

III 69 Revol utionary French Surete ReportsOrganization Surveillance

III 69 Revolutionary Chinese situation Yunnan (1924-28)Organization

III 69 GMD French Political Wang Jingwei (1927)Analysis

III 69 United Front French Political Ideology (1925-27)Analysis

III 47 ECCO Labor Organizing Sailors, HamburgIII 47 CCP General Political M.N. Roy (letters, 1923)

Analysis

98 Republican China

TABLE 1. (Coot.d):Car- Dos- Affiliation Keyword Activity Keyword Keyword / Commentton sier

III . 92 European Organization Propaganda Chinese Information Bureau(London)

VIII 6 EGMD Propaganda Marseilles (1932)III 92 European Anti -colonialism Sheng Cheng (1927)

OrganizationIII 115 Huangpu Mil. Acad. Chinese situation Sino- Vietnamese (1930)III 116 Indochinese Anti-Japanese Cochinchina (1937)

ActivityIII 67 EGMD General Political Yi Guangyi

OrganizingIII 67 European Political Meeting Sheng Cheng

OrganizastionVIII 10 Revolutionary French Communist International

Organization Surveillance (1928-30)V 38 French Organization Propaganda ShanghaiV 40 Indochinese Propaganda Lao Dong (1928-30)VIII 6 EGMD Anti-Japanese Marseilles (1932)

ActivityV 38 French Organization Propaganda CGT, R. LouzanVIII 4 Revolutionary French Politi cal Yunnan (1929-30)

Organization . AnalysisVIII 3 Revolutionary French Germany, Bauer (1929)

Organization SurveillanceVIII 3 CCP French Japan (1930)

SurveillanceVIII 9 Military Organization Red Base Area Mao ZedongVIII 4 Youth Organization French Political Sino-French Educational

Analysis Assoc.VIII 4 Indochinese French ~uhen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi

Surveillance In )VIII 4 EGMD Political Meeting Xia Ting, Radical, (1927)VIII 6 EGMD Uprising 1933 AppealVIII 4 Sino-French Institute French Political Le~ine, Sino-French Inst.

Analysis (1 22)VIII 4 Worker Organization Sino-French Li Shizeng

RelationsVIII 4 Worker Organization Labor Organizing Assoc. des Travailleurs

ChinoisVIII 4 United Front Political Meeting Xia Ting (1927)

Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalism 99

TABLE 1. (Cont.d):Car- Dos- Affiliation Keyword Activity Keyword Keyword / Commentton sier

I 9 Indochinese French Vincent (agent notes)Surveillance

II 14 Revolutionary French Nguyen Ai QuocOrganization Surveillance

III 86 CCP Propaganda Liu Yen Chin, CommunistInternational (1923)

III 86 CCP French Political SunYatsen (1923), Hu ShiAnalysis

VIII 6 EGMD Anti-J apanese 81 rue Monge, left factionActivity (1931)

III 14 Revolutionary French Note sur la propagandeOrganization Surveillance

III 144 EGMD Demonstration Wang Jingwei (1929)III 144 EGMD Political Meeting Ninth Congress, DoriotIII 144 ECCO Demonstration Ren Zhuoxuan (1925)III 145 ECCO French Police Xia Ting,expulsion (1927)

ActionIII 144 EGMD Political Meeting Fou Ta Tsai (1926)III 144 EGMD French Overseas Bureau

SurveillanceIII 144 ECCO Political Meeting Marty (1925)III 144 ECCO Political Meeting Deng Xiaoping (1926)III 145 French Organization Political Meeting Challaye

III 145 EGMD Political Meeting Valliant-Couturier (1928)III 63 EGMD Political Meeting Valliant-Couturier (1925)VIII 6 GMD French Indochina (1933), EGMD

Surveillance left

TABLE 2. Archives Nationales - Section d'Outre-Mer:Indochine Collection. Database Keywords

Carton20075224702244422448

Keyword/CommentSun Yatsen , 1900-13Immigration1905-0fficial VisitArrest of a Chinese

100

TABLE 2. (Cont'd.):Carton2245422459224822248020465203332034120072200912009420095

20076200732007120068562973864220122201245600024958201192300256314040620516201322013250950182772033324703

2395622452

Republican China

Keyword/CommentBoxer Rebellion-Political Reports (1899-1900)Triad Society (1903)Gutrey, issue of renumeration (1900)1908 - ExpulsionsSun Yatsen (1912)1908-Surveillance notes1908-AssassinationLi Zhuofeng-Supporter of Sun YatsenLi King Hi, Vice-Roy of Yunnan (1909-11)Marquis of Zeng (1909)Hsia Hsien Fou- Yunnan Foreign Afffairs(1910-11)Liang Saoxian-RevolutionaryWang Wenzhen-1911 expulsionsTang Mou Han (Deng Muhan) (1913)ArrestsGaston WangWang Pei Lin1910-Chinese Revolution1910-Chinese RevolutionSun Yatsen (1900)Sun Yatsen (1906)Sun Yatsen (1910)1897-Girard suicide1898-76 Chinese arrestedSun Yatsen (1923)opium & arms tradeSino-French relationsEspionage (1927)Indochina and ChineseHu Hanmin (1912-13)Phan Thiet-Chinese Railroad workersIndochina-eercles Chinois (registeredguilds, 1880s and 1890s)1909-Chinese reformers1908-Weapons

Conducting Research on Chinese Radicalism 101

The above are just two representative databases on materials of interestto Chinese radicalism. Alth0ugh the British archives are more organized in theirindexing system, one often finds materials have been cut to save room in thestorage areas. On the other hand, although the French may not have a systematiclisting of everything in all the dossiers, everything has been preserved for suc-cessivegenerations (often in quadruplicate). One of the difficulties is that theChinese transliterations are often difficult to interpret, although there are timeswhen they are accompanied by characters. But this is more than compensatedfor by the fact that sometimes Chinese materials, letters, newspapers and hand-bills, are seemingly stuck in the file for posterity without understanding theirsignificance, and at other times they are translated word for word into French. Inany case, persistent researchers will not be disappointed in their search for trea-sure. Although I have not had the opportunity to go through all the archives inFrance, 1suspect the Marseilles area would also hold revealing materials, as.would other European countries. For example, Hamburg and Rotterdam wereimportant loci of radicalization for Chinese sailors. Finally, another advantageof research in foreign archives is that as the scholarly community becomes moreunified through shared databases and internet communication,. scholars have anincreasing opportunity to expand their understanding of international scholarlytrends as well as to push the boundaries of Chinese scholarship to a new level oflinkage and scope.

Marilyn A. Levine teaches Asian history at Lewis-Clark State College,Lewiston, Idaho.

Notes

1For ahistory of the Chinese in France during the 1920s see,Marilyn A. Levine,The Found Generation: Chinese Communists in Europe During the Twenties (Se-attle: University of Washington Press, 1993).

2 Other archives and collections utilized for the seventy-two documents in thisproject were from.the Qinghua CCP archives (Beijing), the Shanghai GMD archivesat Yangmingshan (Taibei, Taiwan), Public Record Office, (London), Archives duMinistere·des Affaires Etrangeres (AAE, Paris), Ecoles des Hautes Etudes. en Sci-ences Sociales, Centre de Recherches et de Documentation sur la ChineContemporaine (EHESS, "Centre Chine," Paris), Archives de l' Association

102 Republican China

Universitaire Franco-Chinoise (AAUFC, Lyons), and the Bibliotheque Municipalede Lyons (Lyons). All the collections are discussed in our book's "General Introduc-tion." For a general introduction to this area see: Marilyn A. Levine and Chen San-ching, "Communist-Leftist Control of the European Branch of the Guomindang,1923-1927" Modern China 22:1 (January, 1996): 62-92.

30ne needs written permission from the EHESS Director explicitly stating thatthe researcher not only has access to this collection, but that he or she may photo-copy and photograph the documents. The EHESS is located at the following address:Centre de Recherches et de Documentation sur la Chine Contemporaine, 54 blvd.Raspail, 75270 Paris CEDEX 06 France.

4Nora Wang, "Da Chen Lu! Le Mouvement du 30 mai 1925 a Paris,"Approches-Asie 7 (1983): 1-33. These two dossiers are numbered, F712900 andF713438.

5 Admission to these archives is not difficult and there are useful catalogue roomsand several indexes. In the AN ordering is done by computer, but in the AOM onefills out a card for each ordered carton. Photocopying is controlled and has pagina-tion number restrictions. Unless marked by some chronological restriction, accessto all materials is easy and available the same day. Even restricted materials are opento a written appeal to the proper authorities.

6 The Indochine collection, in particular, has been utilized for Chinese research,see J. Kim Munholland, "The French Connection that Failed: France and Sun Yatsen,1900-1908," Journal of Asian Studies (November 1972): 77-95; and Jeffrey G.Barlow, Sun Yat-sen and the French, 1900-1908. There are other valuable collec-tions, such as a whole classification of documents devoted to the Vichy correspon-dence with Hanoi [Affaires Politiques]. It seems highly probable that this wouldinclude information on Wang Jingwei and his collaboration with the Japanese.

7 William J. Duiker, The Rise of Nationalism in Vietnam, 1900-1941 (Ithaca:Cornell University Press, 1976); David Marr, Vietnamese Anticolonialism (Berke-ley: University of California Press, 1971); Huynh Kim Khanh, Vietnamese Com-munism, 1925-1945 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982); and Hue-Tam Ho Tai,Radicalism and the Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution (Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard University Press, 1992).

8 This is taken from my original database entries, which did not include accentmarks on the French words or Vietnamese transliterations of the French words.