Wu Zhihui Zhang Jingjiang Li Shizeng Xin Shijie Society Leaders

''Xin Shiji'' (, , – later ''Nouveau Siècle''), translated to English as both New Century and New Era, was a periodical published by the " Paris Group", a movement of radical Chinese intellectuals who subscribed to the ideology of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. Unlike the contemporary " Tokyo Group", who focused more on indigenous

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n traditions, the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based revolutionaries instead favoured more Western thought – such as

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

and

anarcho-communist Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and ser ...

tactics, the study of the constructed language

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

, and the works of thinkers like

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

and

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

. This was mirrored in the content of ''Xin Shiji'', which began publication in June 1907. Founders and prominent contributors included

Zhang Renjie Zhang Renjie (; 19 September 1877 − 3 September 1950), born Zhang Jingjiang, was a political figure and financial entrepreneur in the Republic of China. He studied and worked in France in the early 1900s, where he became an early Chinese anarchi ...

Li Shizeng Li Shizeng ( zh, t=李石曾, w=Li3 Shih2-tseng1, p=Lǐ Shízēng; 29 May 1881 – 30 September 1973), born Li Yuying, was an educator, promoter of anarchist doctrines, political activist, and member of the Chinese Nationalist Party in early R ...

Chu Minyi Chu Minyi; (; Hepburn: ''Cho Mingi''; 1884 – August 23, 1946) was a leading figure in the Chinese republican movement and early Nationalist government, later noted for his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the collaborationist Wang J ...

, and

Wu Zhihui Wu Jingheng (), commonly known by his courtesy name Wu Zhihui (Woo Chih-hui, ; 1865–1953), also known as Wu Shi-Fee, was a Chinese linguist and philosopher who was the chairman of the 1912–13 Commission on the Unification of Pronunciatio ...

. It would last for three years, until May 1910, through 121 issues, until it eventually disbanded due to funding issues. It was subtitled in French with inspiration from the fellow anarchist newspaper with which it shared a building, '' Les Temps Nouveaux'' published by

Jean Grave Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in French anarchism and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodicals, ...

. Articles featured included "On women's revenge" by He Zhen and "Revolution in the three constant relationship", both of them

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

tracts which rejected key tenets of

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

. Beyond publishing articles, the newspaper serialized long Chinese translations of texts by authors such as Bakunin, Kropotkin,

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

, and

Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist, theorist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expel ...

See also

References

Further reading