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Conclusion The creation of Chinese images and interpretations of the United States is a continuous historical process, featuring active interplay of multiple factors. Foremost among these are the cultural differences between China and the United States; the particular circumstances under which China attempted mod‑ ernization; the distinct preoccupations and propensities of various sociopolitical groups such as the Chinese state, intelligentsia, and masses; the interactions between China’s domestic affairs and Sino‑American relations. These factors, along with many others, converged to shape and reshape Chinese views of the United States of America in the twentieth century. Specific conceptions and attitudes varied considerably over time and across the sociopolitical spectrum, but the same larger forces were at work constantly, maintaining a general pattern in a complex and dynamic process. To be sure, the Chinese nation was not the first in history that, pressed by circumstances, had to reassess and reinvent its culture and institutions. Of the better‑known examples one may cite Peter the Great, who moved boldly to reform Russia in the image of Western Europe; or the Japanese, who had actively borrowed from the Chinese civilization before they shifted to a new source of inspiration in more recent times and modernized their country at an astonishing speed. Even Western Europe, which led the world in marching into the modern age, used to have self‑doubts and looked outward for ideas. The philosophes of the Enlightenment earnestly sought information about China, which they thought provided a good model of enlightened government. In the nineteenth century, a new experiment in social and political organization—the United States of America—drew the attention of thoughtful Europeans such as the young French nobleman Alexis de Tocqueville. In seeking fresh ideas for national rejuvenation from foreign lands, China of the twentieth century indeed carried on a long‑standing human tradition. Still, a number of factors made the Chinese experience more complex and intense than many others. First, in some ways traditional Chinese civilization stands as the virtual antithesis of modern American culture. Whereas old 227 228 / China’s America China was a predominantly agrarian society with strong emphasis on har‑ mony and stability, modern America has thrived on innovation and individual initiative. There exist, therefore, fundamental differences between Chinese and American ideas regarding what constitutes a good society and by what means a good society can be built. In the Chinese Confucian context, virtues are defined largely in terms of proper relationships among men. In that context, individualism and self‑reliance—high ideals so eloquently expounded by Americans such as Ralph Emerson and Henry Thoreau—hardly make sense and are indistinguishable from mere selfishness. To comprehend America, the Chinese must take a wild leap of imagination outside the influence of their traditional culture. This proved to be a daunting, even impossible task for many Chinese. Adding to the difficulty of the matter are the rather unfavorable conditions under which the Chinese had to attempt the modernization of their country. It was only after numerous devastating and humiliating defeats at the hands of Western powers that the Chinese came to recognize that, in order for China to survive as a nation, they must bid farewell to their traditional way of life and seek a new one in the modern world. To the Chinese, the West was at once a model to emulate and a mortal enemy. Should the Chinese adore or should they hate? Should they imitate or should they resist? As some Chinese asked: What do you do with a mentor who is bent on the destruction of his disciple? In that the West seemed to be seeking the annihilation of the Chinese nation, it was a dangerous predator that China must fend off; in that the West stood for a more advanced way of life, it was a model that China should respect and follow. The Chinese thus found themselves in a quandary, plagued by emotional complications that they could not easily rationalize. This paradox can be seen clearly in China’s relationship with the United States, which is marked by some wild swings between acts of heart‑warming goodwill and outbursts of deadly hostility. From the mid‑nineteenth century to the mid‑twentieth century, for the most part, the United States came across to the Chinese as a friendly nation, which, unlike the other Western pow‑ ers, did not seek territorial expansion in China. During World War II, when China and the U.S. fought as allies against imperialist Japan, Sino‑American...

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