Chinese Civilization in the Age of Globalization

Chinäs extraordinary development in the post-Mao era has been, in some fundamental ways, reshaping China and how China relates to the rest of the world. Given its sheer size and its distinctive civilization, Chinäs rise or revival may well be an epoch-making factor or arguably the most significant event in the ongoing process of globalization. This book is an attempt to decipher the distinctiveness of Chinese civilization as well as the unique way by which Chinese civilization reinvents itself and the possible implications of Chinäs renaissance for the world. It starts with an introduction of how contemporary China is perceived from a Western or Western-centric point of view, and why China must be understood in its own terms or in the context of Chinese civilization. It proceeds with a redefinition of civilization by explaining how civilization varies over time and in space as well as how civilization varies in consequence of modernity. And then it will focus on Chinese civilization per se by explaining how the continuous existence of Chinese civilization is related to the unity of the Chinese state as well as how Chinese civilization changes in its continuity.