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A provocative defense of a forgotten Chinese approach to identity
and difference Historically, the Western encounter with difference
has been catastrophic: the extermination and displacement of
aboriginal populations, the transatlantic slave trade, and
colonialism. China, however, took a different historical path. In
Chinese Cosmopolitanism, Shuchen Xiang argues that the Chinese
cultural tradition was, from its formative beginnings and
throughout its imperial history, a cosmopolitan melting pot that
synthesized the different cultures that came into its orbit. Unlike
the West, which cast its collisions with different cultures in
Manichean terms of the ontologically irreconcilable difference
between civilization and barbarism, China was a dynamic identity
created out of difference. The reasons for this, Xiang argues, are
philosophical: Chinese philosophy has the conceptual resources for
providing alternative ways to understand pluralism. Xiang explains
that “Chinese” identity is not what the West understands as a
racial identity; it is not a group of people related by common
descent or heredity but rather a hybrid of coalescing cultures. To
use the Western discourse of race to frame the Chinese view of
non-Chinese, she argues, is a category error. Xiang shows that
China was both internally cosmopolitan, embracing distinct peoples
into a common identity, and externally cosmopolitan, having
knowledge of faraway lands without an ideological need to subjugate
them. Contrasting the Chinese understanding of efficacy—described
as “harmony”—with the Western understanding of order, she
argues that the Chinese sought to gain influence over others by
having them spontaneously accept the virtue of one’s position.
These ideas from Chinese philosophy, she contends, offer a new way
to understand today’s multipolar world and can make a valuable
contribution to contemporary discussions in the critical philosophy
of race.
This book provides a conceptual overview of the evolution of
Chinese philosophy from its earliest beginnings to the end of the
imperial era, highlighting 38 of the most essential terms in the
Chinese philosophical tradition. Written by prominent contemporary
scholars from Mainland China, the respective chapters cover topics
ranging from cosmology, benti metaphysics, human nature,
self-cultivation, and methodology, to views on history and
politics. Each chapter addresses one of the constitutive terms of
the Chinese philosophical tradition and provides clear historical
information on how it was used and developed during the key periods
of Chinese philosophy.Highlighting both central concepts and
essential structures of Chinese philosophy, the book allows readers
to view the history of Chinese philosophy from the perspective of
the Chinese themselves. Offering content that is both academically
rigorous and accessible for a wider audience, this book is an
indispensable reference guide for all students of Chinese
philosophy.
This book provides a conceptual overview of the evolution of
Chinese philosophy from its earliest beginnings to the end of the
imperial era, highlighting 38 of the most essential terms in the
Chinese philosophical tradition. Written by prominent contemporary
scholars from Mainland China, the respective chapters cover topics
ranging from cosmology, benti metaphysics, human nature,
self-cultivation, and methodology, to views on history and
politics. Each chapter addresses one of the constitutive terms of
the Chinese philosophical tradition and provides clear historical
information on how it was used and developed during the key periods
of Chinese philosophy.Highlighting both central concepts and
essential structures of Chinese philosophy, the book allows readers
to view the history of Chinese philosophy from the perspective of
the Chinese themselves. Offering content that is both academically
rigorous and accessible for a wider audience, this book is an
indispensable reference guide for all students of Chinese
philosophy.
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