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Globalization and China: a Cultural

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Globalization and China: a Cultural Image Courtesy: Foreign Policy C3S Issue Map- IX Globalization and China: A Cultural Dimension Aishwarya S. Menon Research Intern Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S) November 07 2019 Hewlett-Packard About the Author Aishwarya S. Menon is presently pursuing a Master’s degree in International Relations and is an intern at Chennai Centre for China Studies. Her research areas include culture, globalization, soft power, women’s rights, human rights, media, environment and climate change. About C3S The Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S), registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act 1975 (83/2008 dated 4th April 2008), is a non-profit public policy think tank. We carry out in depth studies of developments relating to China with priority to issues of interest to India such as geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics of India-China relations, Chinas internal dynamics, border issues, Chinas relations with South Asian countries, prospects of trade, the evolution of Chinese politics and its impact on India and the world, ASEAN and SAARC relations, cultural links, etc. C3S attempts to provide a forum for dialogue with China scholars in India and abroad and give space for the expression of alternate opinions on China related topics.. Additionally, events, lecture discussions and seminars are organised on topics of current interest. What is an Issue Map? C3S launches its Issue Map initiative. The reports under this series analyse the status and developments of current scenarios in detail. They attempt to aid the reader to get a more comprehensive idea of the issue being addressed through a detailed illustration in the form of images, data and facts. Issue Maps are available for download as PDFs. Introduction The process of globalization in China is rather unique, especially when it comes to the country's culture. Chinese culture has always been dynamic historically and today, it is gradually becoming an amalgamation of two sets of contrasting principles that is, localism versus globalism and traditionalism versus modernism. With the international system moving towards multi-polarity and greater interdependence, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has assessed that possessing a robust economy alone will not suffice in accomplishing her national interest and goals. This realization by the PRC prompted the former Chinese President Hu Jintao, to emphasize the need to augment Chinese culture and strengthen the country's "soft power" in his keynote address to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) back in 2007.1 Following his monumental speech, global initiatives towards Chinese cultural promotion gained more momentum and continues to be a matter of great importance to the Chinese State even to this day. The PRC has been one of the more politically stable and economically strong countries in the world and has garnered much success in terms of its economic and military strategy which constitutes hard power. However, the People’s Republic of China’s drive to become a frontrunner in the international system has made achievement of soft power in the form of "its culture (in places where it is attractive to others), its political values (when it lives up to them at home as well as abroad), and its foreign policies (when others see them as legitimate and having moral authority)”(Nye 2011;183),2is one of the major goals that need to be fulfilled with much perseverance. This article seeks to describe how China defines its own culture and explains China's view on globalization as well as how they plan to provide an alternative to the existing Western notions of globalization. The aim is to examine relevant policies, plans, and initiatives of the Hu and Xi governments, both domestic and international, to understand how the global reputation or “Chinese Image” and soft power hold is being created by attempting to answer the following questions: ● How has the Chinese culture been viewed by the world in the past? ● How has the Chinese State carried out the “Easternization” of global culture, with Chinese culture at the forefront while aiming for soft power augmentation? ● Will China see as much success in cultural dominance as in the case of its economic dominance in the international system? ● What are some of the bottlenecks that China has to overcome to achieve its goal towards cultural globalization and soft power maximization? An Overview of Chinese Culture and the Chinese View on Globalization Image Courtesy: Global Times The Chinese culture as we know it today is one that has endured a tumultuous history at times. The Chinese government is now relentlessly working towards reviving the cultural nuances of the ancient past, all while simultaneously evolving into the postmodern era. In order to fully understand the modern-day Chinese culture, it is important to explore deeply into Chinese history, the minds of the Chinese people as well as the Chinese state itself to understand how the Chinese view themselves in relation to other cultures apart from their own, and see how the Chinese culture has taken shape in the more recent years. The People’s Republic of China currently holds the tag of the “world's most populated country”, consisting of 1.4 billion3 people, sharing a common national identity while belonging to multiple ethnic groups both within China as well as abroad. Nevertheless, the one tag she proudly claims even to this day is being “the oldest living civilization” on the planet. 4 It is important to note that China has a significant history of isolationism5, and for the most part preferred to be cut off from other countries. The Ming dynasty was the period when it was not in China’s best interest to form long-lasting friendly relations with those beyond her borders as the Confucian scholars became powerful in Chinese society. One of the main principles of Confucianism is ‘ethnocentrism’, (a belief or attitude that one’s own culture is better than all others; William Graham Sumner, 1906)6, which could have possibly led the Confucian scholars to influence the regulations thereby banning foreign trade and penalizing foreign travel.7 This history of isolationism and perpetual change in dynasties may have resulted in the West, who chiefly dominated the twentieth century, to write off China and the Chinese culture as relatively backward in terms of being uncivilized, having ancient customs and traditions, and rudimentary thinking when it came to innovation, “inexcusable hygiene”, proliferating population, and an aversion to interacting with other cultures.8 However, these prejudices, misunderstandings and preconceived notions held by the West were gradually nullified by the Chinese over time, revealing the true extent of influence that the Chinese have on their neighbours and now, the international system at the global front. Traditionally, China has been known to perceive herself as the “Zhōngguó” meaning “the Central Country” or “Tian Xia” meaning “The Middle Kingdom” (Kingdom between Heaven and Earth), an indication of how significant she viewed herself to be throughout history.9 As far as the ethnic and cultural identity is concerned the Chinese, now at around 1.4 billion in strength, comprising of 56 recognized ethnic groups, that is Han, the majority ethnic group (92%) and the 55 other nationalities classified as minority ethnic groups (8%), occupy different regions. 10 Despite having socio-cultural as well as linguistic variations, these groups coexist with each other as uniformity is relatively established by the Chinese Government in the form of standardizing the Chinese language, Mandarin (into “Putonghua”), in the education system based on the concept of "One State, One People, One Language”. This was implemented to ensure a sense of unity, peace and development were established between the ethnic majority and minority within Mainland China.11 Within the Chinese borders, the Xi government is striving to restore and “strengthen the cultural heritage” and “cultural confidence” among the Chinese people, especially the youth, after realizing that the “Young peoples' values would determine society's future values”.12 With each passing decade, Chinese culture has spread throughout East and Southeast Asia in the form of Chinese philosophy, music, dance, culinary skills, paintings, architecture, religion, social structure, administration, and most importantly the Chinese language and literature. There are not only cultural ties but also human ties between China and these countries.13 It is also important to note that historically, foreigners or “the barbarians”14 in the eyes of the Chinese were mostly viewed as subservient, unethical, treacherous, unpredictable, and uncivilized. Whether this ethnocentric view is held by the people of China even today, is something that is subject to various factors like class, education, exposure, censorship, media portrayals, migration and so on, most of which are regulated or monitored closely by the Chinese Government and those who lead it. Image Courtesy: Audley Travel For most of the modern era, the West, especially the United States of America and the United Kingdom with their "Ameri-globalization" and "An-globalization" (Niall Ferguson; 2002)15 respectively, had a huge role to play in how the world regarded any culture; the most important one of them all being the Chinese culture. Everything about China and her rich heritage was reduced to the Great Wall of China, Pandas, Bruce Lee, and red lantern-lit restaurants serving cheap Chinese takeout with
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