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This paper analyzes the changes of Chinese people’s perceptions of the world and themselves through Chinese imperialism discourses in the early 20th century. Imperialism is a theory related to the system that is formed between the central and peripheral states of the world and between them. Therefore, imperialism is the theory of international order. through the concept, Chinese imperialism have understood the nature of the world order and China’s position in the world, and sought a direction for China. Imperialism in China shows a great deal of difference before and after 1920. Before 1920, imperialism was closely related to Western civilization and modernism. Also, by recognizing imperialism as derived from nationalism, imperialism was not just a critical object for the Chinese pursuing nationalism. Imperialism was a cause of pain for China, but also a model to imitate. Since the 1920s, however, in accepting Lenin’s imperialism, imperialism was perceived as an object to be overthrown that prevents and suppresses the development of the people of a small and weak power, not the future model of them. Lenin’s imperialism, in particular, regarded nationalism as a fair and just right that separate from imperialism and resists imperialism as a critical object. In this view, the Chinese defined the treaties between China and the West since the Opium War as an unequal treaty, and criticized imperialism as the main way to oppress and rule weaker countries. The KMT and the Communist Party set nationalism against imperialism as an important ideology justifying China’s rule, and actively promoted ideological propaganda to gain support from the people and the masses. One of the main ways was to describe China’s modern history as a history of exploitation by Western imperialism. But China’s nationalism, which established unconditional self-justification, shows a tendency to pursue external expansion through national competition, as in the late 19th century. Absolute recognition of nationalism weakens the reflection on the problems that nationalism may have.
