- Email: [email protected]
The dentist who changed the course of Chinese history
Editorial The Dentist Who Changed the Course of Chinese History Dr. Maurice William of New York City was awarded the Order of the Jade. The citation is signed by Chiang Kai-xhck, Generalissimo of the Chinese Armies and brother-in-law of the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who was the George Washington of China and founder of the present Chinese Republic. According to an article by John Kirkpatrick,” Dr. William was born in Russia in 1882, and was brought to this country by his parents when he was 8 years old. The name William was bestowed upon the family by immigration officials, who were apt to suggest the anglicization of names in those days, the name having been Ellien in Russia. Maurice was brought up in a Leftist. atmosphere in Brooklyn. After graduating from high school, he worked his way through the New York College of Dentistry, from which he received his diploma in 190’7. While establishing himself in practice in Brooklyn, he attended Socialist meetings, but like others, was disappointed in the fart that, instead of holding together the world ovrr and watching capitalist society destroy itself, the Socialists entered the war and fought against each other. He blamed the Marxist doctrine for this, and after studyin g intensively all that he could find written about Marxism, he wrote a book which refuted the Marxian economic interpretation of history. The book is entitled The ~S’ocialInterpretation of History. This is a small volume of 428 pages. It was written primarily for the supporter of Marxism and contains the reasons why William was in disagreement with the Socialistjs. The book, however, did not cause any great excitement; the private edition, published in 1920, copies of which he sent to leading members of the Socialist Part,y, \vas ignored by them, and no publisher was willing to t,ake it. Finally, Dr. William had an edition of 2000 copies printed on his own account. A few college libraries bought copies, but, otherwise there was little interest shown in it. He persuaded some book stores to take a few copies on trial. It was not until 1923 that a change occurred. The American News Company, which sold books throughout the world, had an order from China for forty copies, and after this sale there gradually developed an interest in William’s publication. How the Chinese purchase came about was not investigated at the time, and could not be determined later because the records pertaining to the sale had been destroyed. Dr. William had sold another book to a man from China a year before; a Chinese student at the Union Theological Seminary, by the name of Timothy Y. Jen, ordered a copy to take home with him to China, stating that he believed the book set forth ‘
New
Yorker,
New
York,
Aug.
22, 1942. b-11
F. R.
Publishing
Companu.
p. 20.
Editorial
Cl,”
Though remaining obscure in this country, William’s Xocinl Interpretation History accomplished great things in China. A gr,eat many Chinese and American schola.rs have tcstificd that the book has greatly influenced the course of its history. Dr. Sun Yat-scn, who until the last two years of his life adhered closely to orthodox Marxism in his writings, changed his ideas after reading He referred to it and quoted from it at The Social Interpretation of History. length in his famous work, The Three Principles of the People. In addition, Mr. L. T. Chen, the editor of the English translation of Sun Yat-sen’s abovementioned lectures, has made the statement that “Dr. Sun kept Dr. William’s volume constantly with him, from the time he became acquainted with it.” The change brought about in Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s philosophy was a change from Marxist Socialism to the Right. With him changed two members of his own family, Mme. Chiang Kai-shek and Mme. H. H. Kung, and as a result, China’s government has been reshaped along the ideals followed by American democracy, and has rejected Communism. The following is Dr. William’s statement regarding the true laws as opposed to the Marxian laws of Social Evolution: “All past history is but a record of trials and experiences man has encountered in his efforts to make secure his earthly existence. The will to live is the universal economic problem. “Organized society came into existence as the result of experience that taught the lesson of mankind’s common problem and of the realization that its solution is more likely to be attained through the cooperation of all having a common aim. “All social advance has been registered not as the result of conflict of interest at the point of production, but in response to the common interests of the majority of social beings. Social evolution al-ways operates in response to this universal law. The end and aim of all social progress is the solution to the problem of existence. “The class struggle is an effect, not a cause. It is due to insecurity in the means of existence. It is to the interest of societ,y as a whole to eliminate the cause. ’ ’ According to the aforementioned article by Mr. Kirkpatrick, the fact that Dr. William’s book has changed the course of the history of China is attested to by several important scholars. Dr. James T. Shotwell, professor of history at Columbia University, proclaims that Dr. Sun’s reading of The Social Interpretation of History may turn out to have been one of the most important single incidents in the history of modern Asia, for the consequences were immediate and far-reaching, and have just begun to show their full extent in the orientation of China. The late Dr. Jeremiah Jenks, Research Professor of Government at New York University, in a lecture entitled “Why China Repudiated Bolshevism,” told the story of Dr. William’s honk and its effect on Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Dr. William has written a second book, Sun Yat-sen Versus Communism,* in which the author points out that Dr. Sun, in abandoning the Marxian theory of
*Williams
C Wilkins
Company,
Baltimore.
613
Editorial
through the influence of William’s book, made China sympathetic to American democracy, and that in turn the United States should be the friend of China. The dental profession should congratulate itself on having in its midst a truly great economic philosopher, a man who has made an important contribution to the lasting political, economic, and social benefit of a very old and a very young nation, China and the United States of America.
K. H. T.
New
Yorker,
New
York,
Aug.
22, 1942. b-11
F. R.
Publishing
Companu.
p. 20.
Editorial
Cl,”
Though remaining obscure in this country, William’s Xocinl Interpretation History accomplished great things in China. A gr,eat many Chinese and American schola.rs have tcstificd that the book has greatly influenced the course of its history. Dr. Sun Yat-scn, who until the last two years of his life adhered closely to orthodox Marxism in his writings, changed his ideas after reading He referred to it and quoted from it at The Social Interpretation of History. length in his famous work, The Three Principles of the People. In addition, Mr. L. T. Chen, the editor of the English translation of Sun Yat-sen’s abovementioned lectures, has made the statement that “Dr. Sun kept Dr. William’s volume constantly with him, from the time he became acquainted with it.” The change brought about in Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s philosophy was a change from Marxist Socialism to the Right. With him changed two members of his own family, Mme. Chiang Kai-shek and Mme. H. H. Kung, and as a result, China’s government has been reshaped along the ideals followed by American democracy, and has rejected Communism. The following is Dr. William’s statement regarding the true laws as opposed to the Marxian laws of Social Evolution: “All past history is but a record of trials and experiences man has encountered in his efforts to make secure his earthly existence. The will to live is the universal economic problem. “Organized society came into existence as the result of experience that taught the lesson of mankind’s common problem and of the realization that its solution is more likely to be attained through the cooperation of all having a common aim. “All social advance has been registered not as the result of conflict of interest at the point of production, but in response to the common interests of the majority of social beings. Social evolution al-ways operates in response to this universal law. The end and aim of all social progress is the solution to the problem of existence. “The class struggle is an effect, not a cause. It is due to insecurity in the means of existence. It is to the interest of societ,y as a whole to eliminate the cause. ’ ’ According to the aforementioned article by Mr. Kirkpatrick, the fact that Dr. William’s book has changed the course of the history of China is attested to by several important scholars. Dr. James T. Shotwell, professor of history at Columbia University, proclaims that Dr. Sun’s reading of The Social Interpretation of History may turn out to have been one of the most important single incidents in the history of modern Asia, for the consequences were immediate and far-reaching, and have just begun to show their full extent in the orientation of China. The late Dr. Jeremiah Jenks, Research Professor of Government at New York University, in a lecture entitled “Why China Repudiated Bolshevism,” told the story of Dr. William’s honk and its effect on Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Dr. William has written a second book, Sun Yat-sen Versus Communism,* in which the author points out that Dr. Sun, in abandoning the Marxian theory of
*Williams
C Wilkins
Company,
Baltimore.
613
Editorial
through the influence of William’s book, made China sympathetic to American democracy, and that in turn the United States should be the friend of China. The dental profession should congratulate itself on having in its midst a truly great economic philosopher, a man who has made an important contribution to the lasting political, economic, and social benefit of a very old and a very young nation, China and the United States of America.
K. H. T.