Now, well into the second decade of the 21st Century, China is both ever present in global affairs, central to the global economy, and yet not well understood by most people. Routinely, political rhetoric in the United States rails against China as that great enemy waiting to dominate this society, and at the same time when China's economy slows down or there is a fear China is falling into a recession, the response in the economies of Europe and the us is to create great uncertainty and anxiety. Does China pose a threat to all, or is there a promise of great mutual benefit as we strive to recognize our common interests and or better understand our fundamental differences? This volume is an attempt at such a resolution.
Author(s): Horst J. Helle
Series: Studies in critical social sciences
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 190
City: Leiden | Boston
China: Promise or Threat?: A Comparison of Cultures
Copyright
Contents
Foreword: A Fascination with China
Preface
Introduction: The Goal of This Book
1 Familism: A Threat to the Environment
The “Public Sphere:” Rights without Obligations
Two Types of Personal Association
Personalization of Law
2 Exchanges of Threats: The Opium Wars
International Relations: Britain
Russia, Japan, and Germany
The Chinese Experience: Threat and Disappointment
Why Did China Not Defend Herself?
3 China and the US: A Balance of Power?
Why Follow Thucydides?
Chinese Classics on Warfare
An Alternative to Thucydides: E.R. Service
Promises and Threats Based on Economic Interests
Real and Imagined Military Threats
4 Religions: Core Components of Cultures
The Task at Hand: What is a Religion?
Shared Origins of Contemporary Religions
Governmental Interference with Religious Affairs
5 Religious Vitality in Contemporary China
Types of Atheism in Party Politics
Ancestor Worship: The Religion of China
6 Max Weber’s View of Religion in China
7 Daoism: China’s Native Religion
The Fundamentals of Daoism
Nature and Life Everlasting in Daoism
Daoism as Seen by Confucians and Buddhists
8 Oracle-Bones: The Mandate of Heaven
How to Change – Forward or Backward?
The Splendid Age of the Oracle Bones
9 Confucius: Recapture the Lost Splendor
Heavenly Mandate and Objective Order
Finding Options for the Future
The Party or the Family as “Church” in China?
10 The West: Individualism at Its Limits
The Western Family as Fate and Tragedy
Evolution of Kinship in the West
11 China: The Kinship Society
Granet and the Analects: Cultural Evolution of Kinship in China
Fei Xiaotong: Field Work on Contemporary Family Life in China
Altruism and Selfishness: A Precarious Balance
12 China: A Threatening Promise to the West
Summaries of the Chapters
Concluding Queries about Threats and Promises
References
Index
