The attention of the outside world to China has always been on all sides, fearing that China surpasses them in some respects, but the British expert Martin Jacke has said a sentence that makes the West bigger.
China is not a country, but a civilization, in one word, the rise of China is said, China has long been not a participant in this game, but a real game "developer", China's current efforts are not to create, but to return to its former peak, so why did Martin Jacques say such a thing?
China: a civilization disguised as a nation
When you try to understand China from the perspective of an ordinary country, you may have been using the wrong map from the beginning, and a British scholar named Martin Jack, who was neither a politician nor a professional critic, provided a key to unlocking China. China, he said, is not a country in the unusual sense, but a “civilization disguised as a country.”
This view is not a cheap propaganda, but a subversive analysis framework. It directly challenged the Western notion of “national states” used for centuries, telling them that a non-reasonable participant came to the world stage.
Many of the identities of western countries are "imaginary communities" built based on the elements of language, skin color and religion in the wave of nationalism in the 19th century. The French speak French, the Germans have Germanic descent, and the boundaries are relatively clear, but this set has completely failed in China.
China's cohesion comes from a completely different set of underlying codes. It is not based on a single nation, but a cultural "identity community". When one says "We are the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation", this sense of identity has been flowing for thousands of years, far older than the concept of modern state.
This identity carrier is not a legal provision, but everything that permeates life. It is family concept, Spring Festival reunion, Confucius thought, even that set of writing system that has been passed down since Shang and Zhou dynasties and has almost never been interruptedThese cultural symbols have a powerful force that transcends ethnic groups.
The tenacity of this code of civilization in history has been exhausted, whether the Mongols established the dynasty or the Qing dynasty established by the people. If these foreign conquerors want to be firm in the country, they must continue the mantle of "orthodoxy in the Central Plains", and eventually they will be assimilated by the powerful Han culture. The regime can be changed, but the core of civilization can always be restored and regenerated.
This powerful capacity, The "Chinese" concept, which has evolved into Mr. Sun Yat-sen today, includes 56 ethnic groups within a unified framework.This is no different from the fate of empires such as Rome and Great Britain after the collapse.
The Engine of Civilization Driving Modernization
At the microscopic level, this civilization logic also shapes a unique social structure. The basic unit of Western societies is the individual, emphasizing the rights and freedoms of the individual.Their humanity theory can even be traced back to the assumption of "original sin."
The basic unit of Chinese society has been the family since ancient timesThis determines that society pays more attention to collective interests and long-term planning, believes in the "sexual good", emphasizes human relations and harmonious order, which is rooted in the family's values, constitutes the cornerstone of civilization for stability in the whole society, rather than some kind of force suppression imagined by the outside world.
This code was not fully westernized when it driven the country towards modernization. Instead, it came out of a unique "civilized modernization" path, the most intuitive expression is its long-term planning ability.
China could build a nationwide high-speed rail network in just a decade, while a similar line in the West could be argued for years because of various interests.Behind this difference in efficiency is the fundamental difference between Western capitalism's pursuit of short-term profit and Chinese civilization's emphasis on overall long-term planning.
China has not simply replicated the Western market economy. It cleverly combines traditional values with market laws to create a “model with Chinese characteristics.”The energy of this pattern is amazing.
It allowed China to surpass Japan in GDP in 2010, contributing 30% to global economic growth by 2024. The total GDP has reached an astonishing 134.9 trillion yuan, and has maintained a growth rate of 5%.
From industrial to technological civilization
More importantly, the engine did not stagnate in the glory of the past, but instead showed amazing future adaptability. It is driving China from an “industrial country” to a “technical civilization.”
Whether it’s photovoltaic, lithium battery or energy storage technology, China has become the world’s largest exporter., by 2024, the export volume of electric vehicles will rank first in the world, and the photovoltaic industry will account for half of the world. In terms of 5G and high-speed rail technology, China is also in a world leader.
Even in the future form of finance, China is the first to complete the test and launch of national-level digital currencies.This shows that its modern engine is not only powerful, but is always focused on the track of the future.
When such a massive and logical civilization returns to the center of the world, its impact on the outside world can be imagined. But this influence is not a hegemonic challenge in the traditional sense.
Martin Jack used a parable that China is more like a game’s “developer” than a “player.” It did not intend to win the game at the Western-dominated table, but to tell the world that there is actually another way to play.
This different gameplay is rooted in its ancient diplomatic philosophy, Zheng and Seven Down the West, brought with them trade and culture, never established a colony.This is quite different from the history of the British Empire's expansion by sea.
Today's Belt and Road initiative can be said to be a modern response to this ancient wisdom, which is rooted in the heritage of the ancient Silk Road, exports the idea of cooperation and infrastructure, never imposes any ideology. This has allowed many developing countries to see a different option than the West.
China’s influence is spread in a quiet, non-confrontational way.For example, the rise of Confucius Institutes and the Chinese fever around the world, the increasing number of Chinese themes and Asian faces in Hollywood movies, and its unique poverty alleviation model are being studied by Latin American and African countries.
This power is not to replace anyone, but through the natural spread of civilization, silently changing people's ideas and the pattern of the world. As Jacques warned, if the West continues to look at China from the "nation-state" perspective of the old era, it will completely fail to keep up with this era.
Martin Jacques reminded the world that the key to understanding China is to first take off the "nation-state" glasses that have been worn for hundreds of years to recognize its "civilized" essence. China’s “rejuvenation” is not a troubling “threat” to the world, but rather it looks at the future of the world’s multipolar and civilized diversity.
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