Chinese writer Yan Lianke once sighed in the burst that our country is new, but at the same time, it is very old; it is West, but it is essentially Asia.It is changing with this world, and has obtained an unrealistic reality, an impossible possibility.In short, it has an invisible, invisible rules and system (meaning).
Undoubtedly, the rise of China today is one of the world's most significant development.This reshapes the world we live in.Whether it is economy, technology, or increasingly powerful projection on the geopolitical stage, everything in China is unprecedentedly changing global balance.
If we are witnessing a major turning point, how can we make panoramic attention from a historical perspective?Many scholars who have studied Chinese politics or economy tend to be an official perspective, that is, the rise of China is a matter of 40 years, and began in 1978 Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up policy.But historians should understand that for this rise, China has experienced a long time.
If China ’s prosperity and self -confidence are defined in the 21st century to some extent, it is also based on the historical experience and heritage of it behind it, based on its ability to overcome adversity.
Therefore, it is necessary to re -think about China's modern history.That is, combining the past, a more accurate understanding of the current dynamics.Several problems are urgent and important: What are the specific ways of experimenting and pursuing by China?What are the problems facing modern China compared with the past?Which historical processes and events have affected the origin and transformation of China's political and economic system today?In short, how will the historical perspective judge the choice faced when China goes to the future?
One of the basic points of answering the above questions is that we have to go back far to understand China's modernization history?In China's long history, there are actually many ideas and decisions related to modernity.We can find the starting point in a period of time (about the middle of the 17th to the 18th century).During this period, it was not only the late Empire, which was declining by traditional China, but also a modern pioneer of future development.It started from the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644. With the development of many core systems, the development of the empire reached its peak.During this period, the basic system of society and culture already existed or built, and shaped China's historical trajectory and political choices in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Therefore, the modern China that we refer to should be purely out of time. It refers to the time span of nearly three centuries, which runs through all mature considerations on Chinese society, economy, culture, and political development.It refers to a new system of social construction, including a new system built on a foreign blueprint to carry out resource mobilization, political interests and economic planning mobilization of specific local systems.
We should not assume in advance that there is only a universal or Western model in the world to define modernity.This will cause the modernization process outside Europe and the United States, and will miss many versions and variants of modernity.We should see that the Chinese are constantly seeking the alternatives and variants of Western modernity to fight against the concept of modernity and modernization of Western centralism.
Although the foundation established by modernity is to transform modern things, in fact, the coexistence of traditional, modern, local and foreign countries is part of modern life.Therefore, modernity does not mean that it must be separated from the past.In many ways, traditional Chinese social organizations not only continue to be effective in politics and economy, but also play an important role in the development process.Therefore, modernity should be relative in time and place.Specifically combined to China, modernity should refer to the goals of various participants in China. This goal is to make the country rich and strong.The most important thing is that the proposition of China's modernization is expressed by the Chinese itself and clearly, which drives it to rebuild a powerful and rich advanced country.
Therefore, when we look at China's rise, we should focus on China's own experience and views.The factors that are always talked about (such as the importance of cultural traditions, the power of ideology, and the struggle between the old and new emperors) should not be repeated, but should understand the modern China from the customs of China itself.This can not only conduct extensive and coherent explorations of modern Chinese history, but also has the advantages of cultural and politically maintained neutrality.Because it does not apply external standards, it tends to open up Chinese history itself, make it its own persistent comparison, and predict the possibility trajectory of future development.
The custom system refers to the rules of writing or unwritten in social sciences, and it is a social law established by human society to achieve cooperation.It trusts group members based on sharing rules, common expectations and values, so as to achieve good cooperation.The custom of a country or region has a profound impact on political decision -making, social, cultural and economic activities.It is hidden in the model of social memory and cognitive models. Its intangible infrastructure will span generations, determining social preferences and choices.Because it is internalized by individual members in the world view or belief, when society is facing new situations or challenges, the existing custom elements determine the possibility of response measures, and provide the default for decision -making under the new situation.model.
Based on this, when studying the process of modernization in China, we should surpass ideological disputes and focus on integrating different historical areas to find a wider institutional structure and formation process, so as to explain why some of China's situations will develop, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed, and a certain certain situation is developed.Some areas are relatively insufficient.It should not be limited to the rulers, ideology and cultural customs, but also involve the breadth of society, economy, law, and justice.
One of its characteristics is to review the incidents on the rise of modern China in the order of time, and explain how one development has led to another development in the development of more than three centuries.This will provide a reasonable and balanced theoretical narrative for China's ambitious modernization plan, such as how the governments, economy, sovereignty, border, natural resource management, and how the history of ideological history affect today.
In this process, we should first abandon the prejudice against the government: In Chinese history, although the government is a formal key role and basic interest units, it is by no means the only role of Chinese society to formulate customs systems.Instead, it should be regarded as one of many agents.In modern Chinese history, warlords, rebels, conquerors, clan, guilds and local associations have also established or changed the custom system.We have to admit that various related political roles and their impact on Chinese history.
Another point is the emergence and development of a key economic system, which involves how to think about the relationship between the government and the economy in the modern Chinese history.Assume that the ruler and representatives are trying to maximize income under some constraints (such as transaction costs, opportunist behavior of national agents, dependence on local elites and key personnel, etc.)The authority of the authorities is to raise funds for the political system and its functions, so they tend to achieve their goals through the designated design of high -income property rights.In this model, although the economic system has strongly affected economic achievements, they themselves are determined by the distribution of social resources by the government system and governance system.
Another issue involves national sovereignty and territorial security system.China is often forced to respond to sovereignty and territorial threats. In fact, looking at its history, about half of the time has been under foreign rule.As a result, an effective protection border and territorial security have appeared.At the same time, a series of amazing cross -border interactions also enables customs, systems and culture to share.This has enabled China to connect with the outside world through its neighboring countries, and the density and frequency of this connection also raises the question of how to manage the world.
Therefore, the history of national sovereignty and border security not only emphasizes the potential threat or return of border leapfrogs to the government, but also emphasizes the necessity of maintaining the customs system in the central and peripherals and cross -border transactions, and aims to manage relevant territorial organizations.This provides persistent and multi -position clues for examining the Chinese frontier issue.
In Chinese history, natural and environmental conditions are often ignored in shaping human activity conditions, so we should also emphasize the role of the custom system in regulating natural resources.Although Fernnan middot; clothFernand Braudel calls humans as climate prisoners, but recently, when scholars focus on the impact of human beings on the earth, China has become a typical example.Because it has a long history of natural disasters, it has caused losses and damage, but it has also forced the society to create tools for preventing disasters and cope with crisis.
Until the 20th century, China still reshaped the natural tradition of natural purposes for thousands of years, but this led to the growing cost investment and double efforts to ensure the acquisition of basic resources such as air, soil, and water.
Finally, any history of customs should pay attention to the importance of the history of thought, that is, the meaning of the prevalence of ideas, ideas, and symbols in society.For social participants, everything that makes sense and constitutes a reasonable choice depends on their understanding and explanation of social reality, and this understanding and interpretation are filtered through symbolic systems.Therefore, for the analysis of customs systems, the cultural landscape of symbols is equally important as social and economic structure.Therefore, when examining the relationship between China and the world, we should focus on this society and try to explore how the group itself understands society, politics and global environment.
In short, we should refer to the evolution and development of the custom system to examine China's modernity to explain the choices made by Chinese society in the past and the choices facing today.This will reveal how Chinese society uses historical symbols and institutional resources to achieve a series of contemporary purposes, including institutional practice and goal settings.The Chinese are still used to thinking in China's own historical discourse system and build the world with a long -term vision.According to their historical experience, they have established China's position in the world.
When interpreting China, historians should first admit that this country may experience setbacks and glory, but its self -organization method has provided the world with extensive and powerful strategies and meaningful rules.And this information and rules continue to provide us for our current behavior.
(The author is a professor and vice president of the Department of Sinology at the Free University of Berlin, Germany. In 2009, Fei Zhengqing's East Asian History Research Award winner was known as the successor of Fei Zhengqing and Shi Jingqian. This article is a new book published by Harvard University Press for him.Modernization of China: from Daqing to ... (Making China Modern: From The Great xi Jinping) Foreword.)
Many scholars who have studied Chinese politics or economy tend to be an official perspective, that is, the rise of China is a matter of 40 years, and began in 1978 Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up policy.But historians should understand that for this rise, China has experienced a long time.
