Modernity,Nationalism,and Colonialism: A Historical Study of the Canton Zoological Park during the Republican Era

Abstract

Officially opened to the public in 1932, the Canton Zoological Park represents an important endeavor of pursuing modernity by Chinese urban planners and administrators to emulate Western practices in urban development and governance. However, owing to the lack of global geopolitical advantages, insufficient and unsustainable financial support, and provincialistic factionalism within Guangdong Province, the collection and exhibition of animals in the park have long yielded only modest results. To compare the development of zoos in China and the West, this study aims to analyze the political, economic, and cultural attributes of the Canton Zoological Park on the basis of extensive archival research. This paper further seeks to explain the complicated but interdependent relationship between these attributes and the global colonial system, as well as the local nationalism that emerged with inherent and subsequent vulnerabilities.