the marco polo project: 为什么中国没有文化 Aufstieg？

中国已经是世界第二大经济体。尽管人均国民所得仍然很低，不管从哪一个角度来说，中国已经创造了世界经济史上的奇迹。但是有没有文化上的 Aufstieg？显然没有。中国 aufsteigen，经济生活富裕起来了，但既没有赢得国际社会的尊重，也没有使得本国的老百姓更幸福。

无论是内政还是外交，越来越多的人感到很生气。不过，这种现象实际上很容易理解。人们必须提问，除了经济实力之外，中国还能 erreicht 什么呢？能够 bieten 给老百姓一种道德生活吗？能够 bieten 给国际社会一种可 bieten 选择的文化或者 Werte 吗？

答案是显然的。从内部说，经济上的 Aufstieg 已经导致了全社会的道德危机。尽管社会经济的发展必然会导致旧道德体系的解体，新道德体系又是怎样的呢？没有道德体系，社会难以生存。从外部来说，das Fehlen 一种吸引人的文化和其所体现的 Werte 体系，经济 Aufstieg 往往被视为是非常可怕的事或一种 Bedrohung。中国也意识到了这点，因此也努力向外推销自己的文化。没有新的思想和 Werte，只好求助于孔子，办孔子学院；而孔子学院又被简化成学习中国的语言文字。无论是办孔子学院的人还是从事其它 Massenmedien 的人都不知道，他们要 verbreiten 什么样的文化和 Werte。

王 Gengwu 先生把今天中国的 Aufstieg 称为第四次 Aufstieg。历史上，中国至少曾有三次被公认为地区最强大的国家，因此人们也把中国的再次 Aufstieg 称为“复兴”。既然中国 stieg auf，人们可以从 Aufstieg 的历史中学到很多经验教训，诸如国家是如何 aufsteigen 的？又是如何衰落的？

根据王先生的看法，第一次 Aufstieg 是从公元前3世纪到公元3世纪，即从秦朝统一中国到汉朝。在汉朝，中国的影响力到了朝鲜半岛和东南亚部分地区。汉朝周边的很多国家进口汉朝的商品和技术，主要是丝绸、纸张、Keramik 以及陆军和海军技术。在这个 Phase，中国给人印象最深刻的是经济和文化。

汉之后的400多年里，中国四分五裂为几个 sich miteinander bekriegend 的小国。但7世纪唐朝的建立宣布了中国的第二次 Aufstieg。唐朝的影响力 verbreiten 到了日本和东亚其它地区，维持了近300年，这时的中国完全不同于汉朝。唐朝的强大和其外在影响得益于其高度的开放。唐朝不仅文化上开放，政治上也开放，被西方学者称为“开放的帝国”。佛教的 Verbreitung 和北方 nomadische 部落在中原定居，这两种影响的强大混合力 bildeten 一个新的国家，显示出其高度的世界性。高度开放也迎来了一个 Handel 和工业不断 wachsen 的时代。来自 entfernten 国度的商人和旅行者带来的新东西，不仅丰富了中国人的生活，而且对中国文化做出了 Beitrag，由此造就了一个中国历史上真正的全盛时期。

1368年，明朝建立，中国由此实现了第三次 Aufstieg，持续了约400年。这期间，Konfuzianismus 重新被确立为统治者的正统思想。这与前两次相比要逊色得多，因为中国的政治文化开始变得十分保守。闭关锁国的政策导致国家江河日下。尽管明朝加强 Verteidigung，仍不断 litt unter 来自周边的 Angriffe，并最终被满族人所 eroberten。虽然建国之初的清朝非常强大，而且更 aggresiv，但在此之后的统治中却更多地延续了明朝的保守和闭关锁国政策，最终衰落下去。1840年，强大的英国 angreifen 中国时，清政府统治下的中国已没有还手之力了。

Das Fehlen 创新气魄的 Aufstieg

今天中国的 Aufstieg，至少到目前为止，并不像汉唐，而更像明（清）朝。既没有汉那样的制度创新，也没有唐朝那样的开放和文化 Aufstieg。唯一和前面三次 Aufstieg 相同的，是经济发展和随之而来的军事力量的 Zuwachs。尽管经济因为全球化而变得相当开放，文化基本上还处于闭关锁国的 Zustand，在拒绝接受普世 Werte 的同时，又没有内部的文化创造力。

今天中国的 Aufstiegsart，有可能重复明朝的悲剧，即在国家真正 Aufstieg 之前就开始衰落。明朝在体制和思想上的闭关锁国，使得中国失去了成为一个海洋国家的机会。明朝是世界海洋世纪的 Beginn。当时中国无论从国家还是社会，都比任何国家都具备成为海洋国家的能力。郑和下西洋是国家能力的 Symbol，而在东南 Küste “异常 wilde” 的“海盗”，则是民间海洋能力的 Zeichen。但没有思想的创新和制度创新，王权 geschützt 的巨大既得利益，würgten ab 中国通往海洋国家的道路。

文化 Aufstieg 对一个国家的可持续发展的意义远远被 unterschätzt。汉唐的 Aufstieg 在于文化，其最终衰落也在于文化。如果文化不能 aufsteigen，必然对经济甚至政治产生严重的制约。从内部来说，没有思想的产生，就不会有制度上的创新，最终必然导致封闭和衰落。从外部来说，没有思想的产生，就不能 bieten 有吸引力的文化和 Wertesystem。如果光有经济上的 Aufstieg 和与之相关的军事化，就会被视为是“霸道”和 “Bedrohung”，从而恶化国际关系环境。

文化没有随着经济 Aufstieg，首要的因素是经济和文化之间的关联。尽管人们可以观察到经济和文化同时 aufsteigen 的案例（汉唐），但也可以观察到经济 Aufstieg 没有导致文化 Aufstieg 的案例（明朝）。经济 Aufstieg 和文化 Aufstieg 并不存在必然关联，两者不是同一件事情。即使是没有经济上的 Aufstieg，同样可以有文化上的 Aufstieg。无论中国还是西方，很多伟大的思想和文化创造，都是在极其贫困状况下进行的。

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作者是新加坡国立大学东亚所所长，文章仅代表个人观点

Zheng Yongnian

Übersetzung

Why is Chinese culture not rising?

China has already become the world’s second largest economy. Although per capita income is still low, no matter what angle you look at it, China has performed a miracle in the world’s economic history. But is culture also on the rise? Apparently not. China has risen and it’s economy has become richer, but it hasn’t won the respect of the international community, nor has it made its people happier.

Whether it’s internal politics or international relations, more and more people are getting angry. However, this phenomenon is actually very easy to understand. We must ask: apart from economic strength, what else has China achieved? Has it given the common people a moral to follow in their life? Has it provided the international community with an alternative culture or an alternative set of values?

The answer is obvious. Internally, the economic growth is already presenting a moral danger to all society. Although social and economic development will inevitably lead to the disintegration of the old moral system, what does the new moral system look like? Without a moral system, it is hard for a society to survive. Externally, in the absence of an attractive culture and the value system it embodies, economic growth is perceived as fearful or threatening. China is aware of this, and therefore is making efforts to promote its own culture externally. Without new ideas and values, China turns towards Confuciusism, and established the Confucius Institute; but the Confucius Institute have been reduced to Chinese anguage learning centres. Whether it’s the founders of the Confucius Institute or other people working in the mass media, none of them knows what kind of culture and values they want to promote.

Mr Wang Gengwu talks of China’s current rise as ‘the fourth rise of China’. Historically, China has already been the most powerful nation in the region three times, so people talk of China’s re-emergence as a ‘renaissance’. And since China has already risen in the past, people can learn a lot from history, such as why countries rise, and why they fade.

According to Mr Wang, the first rise took place from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD, that is in the period from the Qin dynasty to the Han dynasty. Under the Han Dynasty, China’s influence extended to the Korean peninsula and parts of South East Asia. Many surrounding countries imported good and technology from Han China, particularly silk, paper and ceramics, as well as military and navigation technology. At this stage, the most impressive things in China were its economy and culture.

During the 400 years that followed the end of the Han Dynasty, China fragmented into large numbers of small countries at war with each other. But in the 7th century, the Tang Dynasty hearalded a new age of ascension for China. The influence of the Tang dynasty extended to Japan and parts of South East Asia, and lasted for about 300 years. During this time, China was very different from what it was under the Han dynasty. The strength and influence of the Tang dynasty was connected to its high level of openness. The Tang dynasty was not just opened culturally, but also politically, and Western scholars have called it ‘an open empire’. The spread of Buddhism and the settling of nomadic tribes from the North in the central plains created a new country of hybrid strength, showing a high degree of globalisation. This high openness also ushered a period of growth for industry and trade. The new things that merchants and travellers brought from distant places not only enriched the daily lives of Chinese people, but also contributed to Chinese culture, and therefore constituted a real high point in Chinese history.

The establishment of the Ming dynasty in 1368 started China’s third period of ascension, which lasted for 400 years. In this period, Confucianism was re-established as the orthodox ideology of the rulers. This period is much less impressive than the previous two, because China’s political culture started to become very conservative. The closed door policy resulted in national decline. Although the Ming dynasty strengthened its defence, the country was still exposed to attacks from its periphery, and eventually conquered by the Manchus. And although the Qing dynasty was very powerful in its beginning, as well as more aggressive, but it continued the conservative attitude of the Ming dynasty and its closed door policy, and eventually waned. In 1840, powerful England attacked China, and the country ruled by the Qing Dynasty had no strength to resist.

The lack of the rise of the innovative spirit

The current rise of China, so far at least, does not resemble what occurred under the Han or Tang dynasty, but rather under the Ming and Qing. Neither can we observe the kind of institutional innovation of the Han, nor the cultural rise and opening of the Tang. The only point that resembles the previous three periods of ascension is economic development and ensuing increase of military strength. While the economy has become quite open as a result of globalisation, on the cultural level, the situation is basically still that of a secluded State, which refuses to accept universal cultural values, and at the same time shows no internal cultural creativity.

The form of China’s rise today may repeat the tragedy of the Ming Dynasty, whereby the country started to decline before it even started rising. The Ming dynasty closed off the country institutionally and ideologically, and China lost the opportunity to become a maritime nation. The Ming Dynasty marks the start of the world’s ‘maritime century’. At that time, whether from a national or social point of view, China had more ability than any other country to become a great maritime nation. Zheng He is a symbol of this national capacity, and the ‘especially rampant pirates’ of the South Eastern coast are a sign of its society’s maritime capability. But in the absence of ideological and institutional innovation, vested interests shielded by the monarchy strangled China’s future as a maritime nation.

The importance of cultural ascension for the sustainable development of a country has been greatly underestimated. The rise of the Han and Tang dynasty was cultural – but their ultimate fall was also cultural. If there can be no cultural rise, there is bound to be serious economic and even political restrictions. Internally, there will be no generation of new ideas, thus there will be no institutional innovation, eventually lead to the country isolating itself and declining. Externally, without the generation of ideas, no attractive culture and values can be provided. And if China only relies on economic ascension and ensuing militarization, she will be considered as a ‘threat’, which will negatively affect the ecosystem of international relations.

Economic ascension does not necessarily lead to cultural ascension. This is primarily due to the connection between culture and economy. While there have been cases of simultaneous economic and cultural ascension (in the Han and Tang dynasty), there have also been cases of economic ascension which did not lead to cultural ascension (in the Ming and Qing). There is no necessary correlation between economic and cultural ascension: the two are not the same thing. Even without economic ascension, there can be a cultural ascension. Whether in China or in the West, many great ideas and culture are generated under extreme poverty.

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The author is the director of Singapore National University’s East Asia Institute. This article only represents the personal views of its author.

Julien Leyre website

Das Buch der Riten

Übersetzung Richard Wilhelm

Bei der Leitung der Menschen und beim Dienst des Himmels

gibt es nichts Besseres als Beschränkung.

Denn nur durch Beschränkung

kann man frühzeitig die Dinge behandeln.

Durch frühzeitiges Behandeln der Dinge

sammelt man doppelt die Kräfte des Lebens.

Durch diese verdoppelten Kräfte des Lebens

ist man jeder Lage gewachsen.

Ist man jeder Lage gewachsen,

so kennt niemand unsere Grenzen.

Wenn niemand unsere Grenzen kennt,

können wir die Welt besitzen.

Besitzt man die Mutter der Welt,

so gewinnt man ewige Dauer.

Das ist der Sinn der tiefen Wurzel,

des ewigen Daseins

des festen Grundes,

und des dauernden Schauens.

Übersetzung wikisource

In governance and management, nothing compares to being conservative.

Only being conservative,

Can withdrawal be advanced.

Advanced withdrawal is putting weight on building Virtue

Put weight on building Virtue,

Then there is nothing insurmountable,

Insurmountable, and limitations are unbeknownst,

When one's limitations are unbeknownst,

One can inspire a nation.

A nation inspired, is a nation that can be viable.

That is being deeply rooted,

In the viability and vision of the Dao.