"The Soul of China" by Amaury de Riencourt is a philosophical analysis of Chinese history from the second millennium BC to the present. Beginning with the Shang Dynasty which originated the first elements of Chinese higher culture, the author encompasses all successive epochs of China's evolution, resulting in the longest continuous civilisation in history. He draws comparison with other ancient and emerging cultures and civilisations and includes the violent Mongol invasion under Genghis and Kublai Khan. The fatal collision with the West contributed to the collapse of the old civilisation, the spread of the Marxist -Leninist ideology and the unification of China under Communism. De Riencourt then analyses the collapse of the Communist Party's structure and the reconstruction of China.
Author(s): Amaury de Riencourt
Edition: Revised
Publisher: Harper & Row
Year: 1965
Language: English
Commentary: scantailor made
Pages: 340
City: New York
Tags: soulofchina00deririch
The Soul of China
Contents
Introduction
THE CHINESE MYSTERY
CHINA AS A “TERMINATED” RATHER THAN “ARRESTED” ENTITY
TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY
CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
part one THE MAKING OF CHINA
1 “Medieval” China
SHANG: THE HEROIC AGE
THE IDEOGRAPHIC SCRIPT: PSYCHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
THE CHOU INVASIONS AND THE BIRTH OF FEUDALISM
THE I-CHING: ITS METAPHYSICS
FROM NATURE-RELIGION TO PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY
SHAPING OF THE CHINESE MIND: CAUSALITY AND SYNCHRONIZATION
RELIGION AND MAGIC
FROM PRIESTS TO SCHOLARS
2 The Spring and Autumn
CHINA’S “AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT”
CONFUCIUS AND THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF CULTURE
ANCESTOR WORSHIP AND HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
CHINESE MUSIC
CONFUCIUS AND THE SOCIAL MAN
LAO TZU AND THE UNSOCIAL INDIVIDUAL: MYSTIC AND ARTIST
CHINESE PAINTING: LANDSCAPE AND PORTRAIT
ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENING
3 The Twilight of Culture
FROM CULTURE TO CIVILIZATION
CHINA’S “POST-SOCRATIC” PHILOSOPHERS
CHINA'S “MODERN AGE”: THE BREAKDOWN OF FEUDALISM
RISE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS AND OF NATIONALISMS
INDEPENDENT STATES, DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS AND THE BALANCE OF POWER
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE LEGALISTS
LEAGUES OF NATIONS AND DISARMAMENT CONFERENCES
CHINA ENTERS THE WARRING STATES ERA (403 B.c.)
TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS, NATIONAL WARS AND CONSCRIPTION, SOCIAL REVOLUTIONS, COLLAPSE OF THE ARISTOCRACY
THE RISE OF CAESARISM
UNIFICATION OF THE CHINESE WORLD (221 2.3.)
4 The Universal Empire
THE ‘‘FIRST UNIVERSAL EMPEROR”
STANDARDIZATION AND THOUGHT-CONTROL: THE BURNING OF THE BOOKS
RISE OF THE HAN DYNASTY; FROM NATIONALISM TO UNIVERSALISM
CHINESE POLITICAL CONCEPTS
REBIRTH OF CONFUCIANISM AND THE NEW SOCIAL ORDER
THE MANDARIN SYSTEM; ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL ROOTS
SOCIALISM IN CHINA
5 The Chinese Mind
CONCRETE AND SYNTHETIC NATURE OF THE CHINESE MIND
THE STRUCTURE OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT
THOUGHT AND ACTION, SCIENCE AND “ETIQUETTE”
CHINESE CONCEPTION OF TIME AND SPACE
YIN AND YANG; CHINESE SYMBOLISM
THE TAO; DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHINESE AND THE INDIAN WORLD-OUTLOOKS
CHINESE MATHEMATICS; QUANTITY AND QUALITY; EMBLEMATIC NUMBERS
CHINESE SCIENCE AND MODERN PHYSICS
RATIONALISM AND HUMANISM
RITES AND MUSIC
6 The Winter of Civilization
LAW IN CHINA
CRYSTALLIZATION OF CHINESE CULTURE
THE COMING OF BUDDHISM; ITS METAMORPHOSIS IN CHINA
THE T'ANGS AND THE SUNGS
NEO-CONFUCIANISM: THE FINAL SYNTHESIS
CHINESE CIVILIZATION PETRIFIES
part two CHINA AND ASIA
7 The Moonlight Civilizations
RISE OF THE MOONLIGHT CIVILIZATIONS
SOUTH CHINA AND SOUTH INDIA AS MOONLIGHT CIVILIZATIONS
THE BIRTH OF JAPAN
THE JAPANESE CHARACTER; SHINTO
ZEN BUDDHISM
CHINESE INFLUENCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
THE MONGOLIAN HURRICANE: GHENGIS KHAN AND KUBILAI
GEOPOLITICAL TRANSFORMATION OF ASIA: DECLINE OF THE MONGOLS AND THE RISE OF RUSSIAN SIBERIA
part three CHINA AND EUROPE
8 The Spiritual Impact of the West
EUROPE’S GOTHIC AGE: THE BIRTH OF A NEW CULTURE
MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
THE JESUITS IN CHINA
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN MODERN TIMES
THE T’AI PING REBELLION
THE FAILURE OF CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA
9 The Intellectual Impact of the West
IMPACT OF WESTERN TECHNOLOGICAL POWER
THE IMPACT OF SCIENTIFIC HISTORIOGRAPHY ON CHINA
INTELLECTUAL EVOLUTION OF THE WEST
HEGEL
HEGEL AND ASIAN THOUGHT
FEUERBACH AND MARX
MARXISM AND LENINISM
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND ASIA
part four CHINA AND THE WORLD
10 The Collapse of Chinese Civilization
JAPAN: METAMORPHOSIS OF A MOONLIGHT CIVILIZATION
JAPANESE PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT IN THE MEIJI ERA
CHINA: THE COLLAPSE OF AN OLD CIVILIZATION
SUN YAT-SEN AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1911
THE FLOUNDERING REPUBLIC
THE LITERARY REVOLUTION: CULTURAL DISINTEGRATION
THE GREAT SOCIAL PROBLEM: THE RURAL MASSES
11 In Search of a New Philosophy
PEASANTS AND SCHOLARS
BREAKDOWN OF CONFUCIAN ORTHODOXY AND THE SEARCH FOR A NEW ONE
INTELLECTUAL CONSERVATIVES, MODERNISTS AND MARXISTS
INTELLECTUAL FAILURE OF THE WEST: RUSSELL AND DEWEY
THE INTELLECTUAL IMPACT OF MARXISM-LENINISM
BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY AND RISE OF THE KUOMINTANG
UNIVERSALISM VERSUS NATIONALISM
INTELLECTUALS AND THE PROLETARIAT
12 Rise and Fall of the Kuomintang
COMMUNIST-KUOMINTANG ALLIANCE; THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION
BREAKUP OF THE COMMUNIST-KUOMINTANG ALLIANCE
CHIANG KAI-SHEK’S CHINA
COLLAPSE OF PROLETARIAN COMMUNISM IN URBAN AREAS
RISE OF THE AGRARIAN MARXISTS: THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MAO TSE-TUNG
THE JAPANESE INVASION
DETERIORATION OF THE KUOMINTANG’S LEADERSHIP
13 Red China
THE BASIC PREDETERMINATION OF EVENTS IN THE FAR EAST)
WESTERN POLICY IN THE FAR EAST
SOVIET RUSSIA AND CHINESE COMMUNISM
CHINESE COMMUNIST POLICY AFTER THE WAR
THE COMMUNIST VICTORY
MARXISM AND CHINA’S TRADITIONAL CULTURE
THOUGHT CONTROL, PAST AND PRESENT
FIRST YEARS OF THE COMMUNIST REGIME
THE NEW DEMOCRACY AND THE END OF THE GENTRY
TRANSITION TO SOCIALISM: THE FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN, NATIONALIZATION OF PRIVATE INDUSTRY, AND COLLECTIVIZATION OF AGRICULTURE
THE HUNDRED FLOWERS. AFTERMATH
SUPPRESSION OF THE NATIONAL MINORITIES
THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD. THE COMMUNES
RED CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY
PEKING AGAINST MOSCOW: THE FUNDAMENTAL SCHISM
RED CHINA AND THE UNDERDEVELOPED WORLD
14 Today and Tomorrow
RED CHINA AND THE FUTURE OF THE FAR EAST
ANTI-WESTERN FEELINGS IN CHINA
CHINESE MARXISM AND MAGIC
RED CHINA AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Notes and References
Bibliography
Index
