China in Transformation (review)

564 China Review International: Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 1995 Tu Wei-ming, editor. China in Transformation. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 1994. xxviii, 253 pp. Paperback $14.00. China in Transformation is a fascinating and timely book which brings together twelve scholars from very different specialties—philosophy, history, literature, law, sociology, anthropology, political science, and religion—to analyze the complexities and possibilities ofChina's future. As the preface tells us, this is a special time for China. As in many post-Communist countries, the old order is passing, but what will replace it? How will the political, economic, and cultural reorganization ofthe post-Cold War world act itself out in China? Will there be the chaos ofpost-Leninist Europe, a peaceful evolution to capitalist democracy, or a new chauvinism that borders on fascism? As the authors in this volume wisely caution, there are no answers yet for these questions, and it is noteworthy that some ofthe most commonly used words in the volume are "ambiguity," "entanglement," and "chaos." Indeed, though each of the contributions here is unique, there are certain themes that run throughout. Many authors look to the past for times of upheaval in Chinese history , especially the end ofthe Qing dynasty, for clues to how present struggles will progress. Some ofthe writers are looking for the unity of the Middle Kingdom, and some for space within the Chinese identity. The organization ofthe text is conducive to the discussion ofthese and other issues because many ofthe essays play offpreceding ones. This collection, which is reprinted from Dœdelus (vol. 122, no. 2 [Spring 1993] and no. 3 [Summer 1993]), is important not only for its strengths, but because its weaknesses also raise enduring questions about the utility offraming an analysis in terms of Chinese studies. As the titles ofsome ofthe essays suggest, the project of Chinese studies seems to be founded upon discourses ofthe uniqueness ofthe Chinese culture, which is described as an authentic unity of soul, core, mind, face, and so on. Against this unity of Chinese civilization is posed another ahistorical stereotype ofthe "modern West," which is naturally democratic, capitalist , and scientific. Yet, as many of the essays attest in the subtext of their research, most of the "modern" influence on China has been indirect, first through Japan in the nineteenth century, and now through overseas Chinese in the late twentieth century. Still, many ofthese same essays refuse to address the complexity of this influence,© 1995 by University and thus set up a series of straw men and romanticized civilizations. This is parofHawai 'i Pressticularly odd since, in the past twentyyears, "the West," "democracy," "capitalism ," and especially "science" have been deconstructed and denaturalized in many ways. I will follow this romanticizing project while summarizing each ofthe Reviews 565 essays, and come back to it again when discussing the last chapter, because Benjamin Schwartz most directly confronts the problems ofanalysis according to such categories. Tu Wei-ming's "Introduction: Cultural Perspectives" summarizes the issues and how the essays address them. The main issue for Tu is the Chinese identity crisis, and the task is to restore the national character in a way that avoids "xenophobic chauvinism or contentious separatism." This will be difficult because there has been a "collapse ofsocial solidarity and the absence ofa sense ofdirection" brought about by the confusing combination ofeconomic promise and political despair (pp. xx, xiv). It is a new and challenging problem, Tu maintains, and to creatively address it, "We need to develop a new conceptual framework" to meet China's unique circumstances. Tu criticizes the present conceptual framework, but he seems to inhabit its categories and concepts quite comfortably: for example , with "democracy" Tu sounds more like an official political scientist than a philosopher when he defines it as elections, not participation. Yet, as in the last volume from Dcedelus, Tu's introduction is hard to analyze because it is more a manifesto than an academic argument. He writes boldly but sometimes brashly by setting up straw men like PaxAmericana and "classical liberalism ," while speaking not ofChina but enthusiastically ofthe Sinic world. Though this may be a rallying cry among Chinese scholars in the United States, the possibility of a...