"The Tenacity of Culture: Old Stories in the New China" by Professor Paul Cohen
Abstract:
Most historians have long since moved beyond the old view that for China to become a 'Modern society' it must turn its back completely on the values, behavior patterns, and cultural traits that characterised Chinese life for centuries. But there is still a sense, at least among the general run of people, that while conspicuous pockets of China's old culture persist - one thinks of such things as acupuncture and tai chi - these things aren't to be compared in importance to, say, the industrial revolution the country has undergone in recent decades or its growing military power. I want to challenge this view in my talk by calling attention to a manifestation of Chinese culture that, although immensely important, is largely sealed off from the eyes of foreigners - and may often, for an entirely different set of reasons, also be given insufficient weight by the Chinese themselves. I refer to the great variety of old stories, some of them distinctly secular, others deeply embedded in the religious beliefs and practices of the country, that have continued to play a vital part in the modernising China of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These stories supply essential data about the interior of the Chinese world. They form an undercurrent of intellectual/psychic meaning that flows beneath the surface of conventionally recounted history. But Westerners certainly - and perhaps Chinese as well - if we are to gain a deeper and fuller understanding of China, need to do a much better job of mapping the stories and illuminating how they fit into the larger picture of Chinese life.
Most historians have long since moved beyond the old view that for China to become a 'Modern society' it must turn its back completely on the values, behavior patterns, and cultural traits that characterised Chinese life for centuries. But there is still a sense, at least among the general run of people, that while conspicuous pockets of China's old culture persist - one thinks of such things as acupuncture and tai chi - these things aren't to be compared in importance to, say, the industrial revolution the country has undergone in recent decades or its growing military power. I want to challenge this view in my talk by calling attention to a manifestation of Chinese culture that, although immensely important, is largely sealed off from the eyes of foreigners - and may often, for an entirely different set of reasons, also be given insufficient weight by the Chinese themselves. I refer to the great variety of old stories, some of them distinctly secular, others deeply embedded in the religious beliefs and practices of the country, that have continued to play a vital part in the modernising China of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These stories supply essential data about the interior of the Chinese world. They form an undercurrent of intellectual/psychic meaning that flows beneath the surface of conventionally recounted history. But Westerners certainly - and perhaps Chinese as well - if we are to gain a deeper and fuller understanding of China, need to do a much better job of mapping the stories and illuminating how they fit into the larger picture of Chinese life.
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