ABSTRACT

In the 1930s two political movements emerged in China: the Blue Shirts (Lanyishe) and the New Life Movement (Xinshenghuo yundong). The Blue Shirts Movement imitated the Fascist youth movement in Italy and Germany. The New Life Movement attempted ‘social regeneration of China’ through the revival of the ancient moral principles of Confucianism. However, it was not a simple neo-Confucian revival. It was a Fascist movement with a Chinese character. These two movements were integrated and interrelated. This study traces the origins of both movements, examines how Fascist ideology with its emphasis on total control, military power and male supremacy was implemented in China, and how the Nationalists used militarized physical exercise to promote male bodies as political metaphors symbolizing and ensuring a strong state.