Thinking through China
By (author) Jerusha McCormack, John G. Blair
Not available to order
Publication date:
01 August 2015Length of book:
328 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442247932
In this innovative book Jerusha McCormack and John G. Blair introduce China on its own terms. By explaining ten key concepts that frame the way most Chinese people think about the world, they compare these terms – which don’t translate readily into English – with the ways most of us, as Westerners, think. The book then poses four questions that Westerners routinely ask about China. But rather than answer with Western assumptions, the authors respond using these ten Chinese key words. Not surprisingly, the answers differ in startling ways from standard Western responses.
This intensive bridging work allows those without deep knowledge of China to understand the very different perspectives to be gained by looking at the world through Chinese eyes. As each of the ten words maps out new territory, the premises of a very dissimilar – but equally coherent – world view gradually emerge. Creating a cultural cartography through both text and image, the authors provide readers with a vivid sense of what is uniquely Chinese about China.
This intensive bridging work allows those without deep knowledge of China to understand the very different perspectives to be gained by looking at the world through Chinese eyes. As each of the ten words maps out new territory, the premises of a very dissimilar – but equally coherent – world view gradually emerge. Creating a cultural cartography through both text and image, the authors provide readers with a vivid sense of what is uniquely Chinese about China.
This book is by two senior scholars of American and English literature and civilization who have spent over a decade teaching graduate students in Beijing and have supplemented their personal experiences with extensive reading in secondary studies on contemporary China in English. In part I, the heart of their book (ten chapters), they discuss ten words offered as keys to Chinese thinking today and yesteryear, accompanied by well-chosen examples. Emphasizing continuities in time and space within China and the West and concentrating on the differences between these two traditions, the authors are more sensitive to Western than to Chinese exceptions to their thoughtful and thought-provoking generalizations. Part II consists of four chapters, on Christianity, human rights, democracy, and Chinese views on China's place in the world. In the short, concluding Part III, ‘Rethinking the West,’ the authors urge readers to reconsider their own thinking. In sum, this is a welcome book—very 21st century—reflecting how attitudes have changed both within and beyond China and useful for considering the present situation.