Chinese Academia (Issue 21)

Author: Liu Dong, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: The editorial introduction is like a scholar who always has their own personality, and a scholarly journal also has its own overall image. Due to this potential, a journal (especially a grassroots journal) can be greater than the sum of all its published articles. However, this possibility of creating an overall image does not make one complacent but rather cautious, because it also means that once a journal loses its overall credibility, no matter how many articles it publishes thereafter—even if some of them are still good articles—they will ultimately just be isolated individual articles.
The Essays Section focuses on the reflection of political ideas in ancient and modern times. Craig Calhoun points out that the prevalent concept of globalization in the 1990s, which reversed the earlier promotion of identity politics or group cohesion, advocated humanitarian intervention in local issues by global society and praised hybrid, diverse, and overlapping political identities. Yet few have noticed that the widespread struggles between nation-states today are one of the few feasible ways to resist capitalist globalization. Therefore, it should be recognized that cosmopolitanism and nationalism are mutually constructed rather than mutually opposed. This relationship is manifested in: on the one hand, it is certainly necessary to remember the valuable aspects of cosmopolitanism that can be inherited, such as the recognition of equality for all and the recognition of cultural and social diversity; on the other hand, it is also necessary to try to improve the existing cosmopolitanism, because according to its usual construction, especially its individualistic form, it systematically blocks people's vision, making them unable to see the various forms of solidarity they rely on, as well as the special significance of these solidarity groups for those with fewer privileges and more excluded by capitalist globalization.
Xia Dongqi points out that many scholars in the past believed that Augustine's definition of the state deliberately excluded the factor of "justice" and differed from the mainstream of classical political thought. Based on this, the famous historian R.A. Markus interpreted Augustine as a "worldly theology," arguing that his concept of the state was secularized. However, the author, through an analysis of key texts in The City of God and a review of the process of Western scholars' exegesis, argues that although Augustine recognized that the state could not escape a certain "worldliness," he did not advocate cutting off the connection between political life and belief or morality; although he did have certain ideas about the neutrality of the state, Markus and others did not understand this accurately.
The next group focuses on marriage issues in rural northern China. Yan Yunxiang, based on longitudinal field research, explores how the practice of collecting betrothal gifts has transformed into a form of property division for the groom's family in rural northern China, and how the bride has replaced her parents as the recipient of betrothal gifts. This transformation has undergone a long process of intergenerational negotiation, during which a misunderstanding of Western individualism has provided ideological justification for young people's demands on their parents. The author emphasizes the agency of individuals in transforming betrothal gift practices, arguing that this is an important phenomenon often overlooked by existing marriage exchange studies; at the same time, he examines the specific strategies of these individuals, arguing that it is through these strategies that individuals realize their agency, thereby gaining more autonomy in marriage while creatively utilizing rather than abandoning the traditional custom of collecting betrothal gifts.
Wang Yuesheng, based on a grassroots social study, analyzes the changes in the spatial and social scope of marriage in rural southern Hebei from the 1930s to the 1990s. The author points out that before the land reform, the main characteristics of marriage behavior were to avoid in-village marriages while prioritizing nearby village marriages, showing a characteristic of being both close and distant. After the land reform, the marriage circle did not expand with the abolition of private ownership or the increase in economic equality, but instead showed a tendency to widen, with the proportion of in-village marriages increasing significantly. Before the land reform, the social scope of marriage was largely based on the concept of "matching in status," with a higher proportion of marriages among those with similar economic backgrounds. Although the land reform eliminated the foundation of extreme wealth disparity, class markers were emphasized, significantly affecting people's social status and future prospects, thereby transforming the principle of marriage based on status into a class principle and influencing people's choice of partners. It was not until after the reform and opening up that the concept of class composition gradually faded and was eventually eliminated.
The next group focuses on cross-border interactions during the Republican era. As a state-organized behavior of exporting and disseminating one's own culture abroad, foreign cultural policy is a feature of the later period of the nation-state era. Perhaps for this reason, it was the Republic of China rather than the late Qing Dynasty that began this process. Bastide, through the meticulous examination of original diplomatic archives, has reconstructed the brief attempts in this regard in the early years of the Republic. It was precisely these attempts that at least successfully added a long-standing research institution to European Sinology—the Chinese Institute in Paris—and further won the active support of French political elites.
As a benchmark for the rhythm of civilization, the calendar's symbolic authority comes as much from astronomy as from humanity. Therefore, in modern China, which was forced to transform, the entire nation had to be wound up with the hands of the world clock. Zuo Yuhé, by reviewing the movement to abolish the old calendar by the Nanjing government and the fierce resistance it encountered in the, highlights the cultural disorder caused by the collision between the East and the West. Perhaps it is only today that it is clear: what the Chinese lost was not only the original civilizational timeline but also the cultural rhythm closely linked to it.
The Reviews Section discusses translated works. Duan Qing points out that the translation of The Lotus Sutra by Kumārajīva is considered to have a "natural flavor of the Western Regions," and this flavor refers to the "foreignness" that can be appreciated when reading translated works today, that is, it is not entirely authentic Chinese. So, what linguistic elements make one feel the so-called "flavor of the Western Regions"? The author selects three words from the two versions of The Lotus Sutra and explores their true meanings through Sanskrit-Chinese translation, arguing that these words emerged in the context of contact between the two languages, hence showing different foreign flavors. From this, it can be seen that the flavor of the Western Regions is indeed the continuation of the vines of foreign culture.
Yang Lihua points out that the publication of the Chinese translation of Being and Time had a remarkable impact on contemporary Chinese thought and academia, and this is commendable. However, a careful reading reveals that this translation contains multiple omissions and errors, and it is necessary to raise constructive critiques. This inevitably reminds us that for a foundational work like Heidegger's, the Chinese world should, like other language regions, have more than one competing and mutually referenced translation.
Returning to the original topic. The China Academic journal, from nothing to something, after seven years of effort (including its preparation period), seems to have also begun to have its own overall image. However, this image is no fun at all and instead constitutes immense pressure—since both editors and readers believe that any article published here should naturally meet academic standards. Unfortunately, who knows that this quality has never been a free lunch but requires squeezing time out of teaching and research to seek it desperately, no matter how little the remaining time originally was.