What is China? : observations and perspectives

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“China is”, in the words of Bertrand Russell, “much less a political entity than a civilization.” To this we may add that China is also a geographical area. The word China has multiple meanings charged with different kinds of values and preconceptions. In this book ten scholars from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan explore various meanings and aspects of Chinese identity. What does “China” mean as a cultural concept and when referring to a geographical territory? What is the significance of the historical relationship between the interior and exterior for the Chinese identity? How have classical texts been used by the Chinese state? These are central questions in this book, where you will also find contributions analysing, among other topics, the Chinese self-image and China as seen from the outside. One article examines the ideological use of the notion of “Chinese characteristics” in contemporary Mainland China, while another analyses China’s future development in terms of the country’s transformation from a multiethnic empire to a homogenous national state.