Bonus Content
On China
CHAPTER 1
The Singularity of China
SOCIETIES AND NATIONS tend to think of themselves as eternal.
They also cherish a tale of their origin. A special feature of Chinese civilization is that it seems to have no beginning. It appears in history less as a conventional nation-state than a permanent natural phenomenon. In the tale of the Yellow Emperor, revered by many Chinese as the legendary founding ruler, China seems already to exist.
When the Yellow Emperor appears in myth, Chinese civilization has fallen into chaos. Competing princes harass each other and the people, yet an enfeebled ruler fails to maintain order. Levying an army, the new hero pacifies the realm and is acclaimed as emperor.1
The Yellow Emperor has gone down in history as a founding hero; yet in the founding myth, he is reestablishing, not creating, an empire. China predated him; it strides into the historical consciousness as an established state requiring only restoration, not creation. This paradox of Chinese history recurs with the ancient sage Confucius: again, he is
seen as the “founder” of a culture although he stressed that he had invented nothing, that he was merely trying to reinvigorate the principles of harmony which had once existed in the golden age but had been lost in Confucius’s own era of political chaos.
Reflecting on the paradox of China’s origins, the nineteenth- century missionary and traveler, the Abbé Régis-Evariste Huc, observed:
Chinese civilization originates in an antiquity so remote that we vainly endeavor to discover its commencement. There are no traces of the state of infancy among this people. This is a very peculiar fact respecting China. We are accustomed in the history of nations to find some well-defined point of departure, and the historic documents, traditions, and monuments that remain to us generally permit us to follow, almost step by step, the progress of civilization, to be present at its birth, t watch its development, its onward march, and in many cases, its subsequent decay and fall. But it is not thus with the Chinese. They seem to have been always living in the same stage of advancement as in the present day; and the data of antiquity are such as to confirm that opinion.2
When Chinese written characters first evolved, during the Shang Dynasty in the second millennium B.C., ancient Egypt was at the height of its glory. The great city-states of classical Greece had not yet emerged, and Rome was millennia away. Yet the direct descendant of the Shang writing system is still used by well over a billion people today. Chinese
today can understand inscriptions written in the age of Confucius; contemporary Chinese books and conversations are enriched by centuriesold aphorisms citing ancient battles and court intrigues.
At the same time, Chinese history featured many periods of civil war, interregnum, and chaos.
Reprinted by arrangement with Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from ON CHINA by Henry Kissinger.
Copyright © 2011 by Henry A. Kissinger
On China
In On China, Henry Kissinger turns—for the first time in book-length form—to a country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape.
Since no other country can claim a more powerful link to its ancient past, any attempt to understand China’s future world role must begin with an appreciation of its long history. With this in mind, Kissinger begins with an essential look at China’s classical past and philosophical traditions, explaining the Chinese perspective on war, peace and diplomacy—and discussing how its emphasis on subtlety and patience contrasts with the more pragmatic and direct approach taken by the West.
The bulk of the book then focuses on Chinese history since the rise of Mao Zedong, discussing such pivotal events as the Korean War, Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing and the clash at Tiananmen. Drawing on his extensive personal experience, Kissinger also brings to life towering figures such as Mao, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, revealing how their different visions shaped China’s modern destiny. Closing with a chapter on China’s growing role in the 21st century, this is one of the most insightful books on modern China yet published.
Hardcover : pages
Publisher: Penguin Group USA ( May 17, 2011 )
Item #: 13-397460
ISBN: 9781594202711
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 1.37inches
Product Weight: 21.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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