Reflecting on Europe from the Outside (via China): The Far West Dialogue

Author: (French) Fran?ois-Joseph de La Barre, Diéry Marcellès / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-12-01
Features: China is one of the ancient civilizations of the world. The world has known China since ancient times, and tracing back history, there have been five high points of cultural exchange between China and the outside world. The depth and breadth of this cultural exchange have also surpassed that of ancient times. Cultural exchange, integration, absorption, and complementarity are not inevitable phenomena. Only when a nation is strong, its culture is advanced, and its science is progressive can it take the initiative in exchange and absorb what is useful for its own purposes. When a nation is weak, its culture stagnates, and its science lags behind, it often finds itself in a passive position in exchange, even losing the initiative to choose foreign cultures, becoming a completely passive recipient. After the Opium War, during the long period of over a hundred years, some of the foreign cultures introduced into China were actively absorbed, some were rejected by China, and some were forcibly introduced. History tells us that the current world economy has been integrated. When an economic crisis occurs in one region of the world, it affects the entire globe. While cultural exchange has not reached such a close level, it also has a tendency of "pulling one thread and shaking the whole body." The conditions for cultural exchange today far surpass those of ancient times, and the means of transmission are so swift that they are unimaginable to the ancients. Therefore, the responsibility of cultural exchange is also far heavier than in ancient society. The "International Sinological Studies Series" bears the arduous task of promoting cultural exchange between China and the outside world in the 21st century.