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The Hub took almost 2 weeks to read intermittently, first, the volume of the book is relatively large, with 660 pages and 500,000 words; The second is that most of the history books I used to read were story-based narratives, and it was difficult to read the content of this kind of philosophical narrative, and frankly I wanted to give up halfway.
However, because one of the directions of this year's reading is to deepen my understanding of China, I finally insisted on finishing the reading, but I didn't expect to have a philosophical feeling of looking beyond the surface to see the essence. The main thing this book has given me is a new perspective on history, and I would like to share some of my personal takeaways:
The big picture in the time dimension
According to the changes in the social structure, this book divides Chinese history into four major cycles:
OneFeudal society: The Zhou Dynasty was perfected and ended in the Qin Dynasty;
IIHoward society: It began to appear in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and ended at the end of the Tang Dynasty;
IIIAncient civilian society: Beginning in the Northern Song Dynasty and ending in the Second Opium War;
FourthModern civilian society: It began to emerge at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and it is still unfinished.
Extending the dimension of time, this book provides a perspective to understand the larger framework of the historical process, and Chinese history is no longer just a circular representation of the succession of dynasties, nor is it a "singularity that never changes" as Hegel said, but is endlessStructural changesThe dynamic mechanism of this change is the tension between the self-generated order and the centralized order, and the dynastic change that we are familiar with in history is the external manifestation of the process of breaking and rebuilding the equilibrium between the two orders.
Every transformation is accompanied by the introduction of new technologies and spiritual reflection. If the three cycles of transformation in ancient times mainly relied on internal factors, the transformation in modern times took place under the impact of external (Western) factors, and China is no longer just the "world" (Tianxia) in its own opinion, but has become the "China" of the world.
Large field of view in the spatial dimension
China is onePluralistic systemChinese history is the evolutionary history of this pluralistic system, and each system has formed different operating logics due to the differences in its geographical regions, which in turn constitute the constraints of its order formation path and sustainability ability. This book starts with a review of the operating logic of each geographical region, and runs the spatial perspective through the whole book.
Central Plains: In the core area of the ancient Chinese Empire, Confucian culture with agricultural life as the carrier was the basic legitimacy of the dynasties**;
Prairie: In the grassland area north of the Great Wall, nomadic life formed a super combat effectiveness in the cold weapon period, injecting passion into the Central Plains civilization;
Transition Zone: along the Great Wall to the northeast, providing dual governance capabilities for the integration of the Central Plains civilization and grassland forces;
Western Regions: Some regions of Greater Central Asia, due to the fragmentation of geography, Central Asia has both nomadism and sedentary, and its freedom is naturally suitable for **, so it has become a "free passage" connecting Europe and Asia before the Great Voyage;
Snowy: The plateau ecology is harsh, and the geographical division is more fragmented, forming its unique religious order and exporting the spiritual order to the outside world;
SouthwestThe geographies are extremely fragmented due to the high mountains and rivers, creating cultural, ethnic and ecological diversity, thus forming a animistic belief structure, which is inconvenient but has the function of connecting with Northwest China and Southeast Asia.
OceanOpen and fluid, different from the continental centralized order, the ocean naturally gives birth to a free-growing self-generated order, that is, the current world economic and trade order.
In ancient China, the transition zone between the grassland and the Central Plains was the creative force of order. In modern times, the political process caused by the collision between the sea and the land continues on the East Asian continent to this day. From the late Qing Dynasty to the end of the Cold War, China's relationship with the sea was subordinate to the confrontation between the Northern Continental Empire** and the maritime world; In the post-Cold War era, China passedDeeply embedded in the world economic and trade orderRise again.
Why does China advocate a "community with a shared future for mankind"?
This book argues that the fundamental particularity of Chinese history is reflected in two points: 1. China is oneCarrier of the Axis civilization；2. ChineseHyperscale。Because of its mega-scale, China has become a member of the world orderIndependent variables；At the same time, China's complex political spatial structure is unique, making it part of the modern world orderLand and sea hubsIt is a necessary intermediary force between the sea and the continent.
As a nation-historical nation, we need to be able to understand the inner consistency between ourselves and the world, and to grasp the destiny of world history in the unfolding of self-consciousness, so as to lead the universal consciousness of mankind. The leading country of an era needs to think in terms of "global".Strength, ideals, systemAll three elements have a cosmopolitan character that transcends nationalism.
In recent years, China has persisted in publicizing and implementing the policy on various occasions, especially in foreign-related activities."A community with a shared future for mankind"Concept, it was just a concept that I heard repeatedly in the news, but after reading this book, I understood the deeper meaning behind it. Religion achieves universality through faith, but it naturally produces companion groups of so-called "infidels"; The idea of communism transcends nationalism by pointing directly at the universal order of all mankind, but the division of classes also naturally creates the opposite of the "class enemy" until the class disappears.
The reason why China put forward the concept of "a community with a shared future for mankind" is, on the one hand, the East itself".People-orientedOn the other hand, it is the inevitable choice and responsibility of the historical nation of the world, and it is the spiritual consciousness of China to achieve self-transcendence on the element of "ideal". Building a "community with a shared future for mankind" has achieved the greatest universality, unless we want to stand on the opposite side of all mankind.
Conclusion
Our imagination of the future is based on an understanding of the past, and in this sense, history is futurology. "This book jumps out of the single discipline of history and tries to understand the research of geography, history, philosophy, thought, economics, finance, currency, military, population, society, law, international politics and other fields."What is China?This issue provides a coherent and coherent framework of interpretation.
Limited by the lack of various disciplines, especially history and philosophy, my understanding of the content of this book may be less than 30%, and the above sharing is very shallow and may even be wrong.
The author published an updated edition in April 2023, with about 40,000 words added, not only responding to the various controversies caused by the first edition after it was launched, but also interpreting and looking forward to the rapid changes in reality and the future order, and I will read the updated edition again when I have the opportunity to read it again in the future.
As the book says: the world is not a given object to be known, but to be knownThe object of practiceIt is a condition for the self-realization of the nation, a process that is in progress. We are in a "generative world", so for individuals, what needs to be built is an open cognitive system that can be upgraded and iterated with the world.