This title was first published in 2000: In the 1930s, an elitist group around Chiang Kaishek looked to fascism as a "quick" solution to the modernization of China. This study favours the view that Chiang Kaishek was confident in his goal to modernize China through an essentially Western method (fascism) and to use it as an instrument, while moulding it into a Confucianist philosophy. His ideas were given shape by the Blueshirts - in effect an elitist organization within the Guomindang government structure. This organization practised the ancient Chinese theory of "knowledge and action" in order to inspire the Chinese people.