EURO-SINICA:The Past and the Future

Title

EURO-SINICA:The Past and the Future

Author

Adrian Hsia

Page

17-58

DOI

Abstract

I use Euro-Sinica to denote the European (re-)construct of Chinese culture. In his- torical perspective, the present constitutes the crystallization of the past and, at the same time, the foundation of the future. Within this framework, my paper has four parts: the first three parts analyze the historical stages from the 17th to the 20th centuries (inclu- sive) and the last part forecasts, based on past experience, possible future developments. We as scholars in the present should try to sow seeds and thus help influence future atti- tudes concerning intercultural perspectives between China and Europe so that some day, there will be a diversified humanity-culture, i.e., a true multi-cultural world. In comparison, the past is easy to delineate. The first part can be called the Jesuit Epoch. Here I present the accommodation and the Figurist theory of the most influential Jesuit Fathers, as well as the discussions of those philosophers such as Leibniz and Vol- taire who were sympathetic to the accommodation. The second phase can be termed the Protestant Epoch, because after the Rites Controversy it was mainly the Protestant phi- losophers, with a scattering of French (Roman Catholic) ones, who consciously or un- consciously used the Bible or their interpretation of it, to judge Chinese culture. Most of the philosophers in this category were German, including Herder, Hegel, Schlegel, and Schelling. They were followed by Protestant missionaries who entered China after the First Opium War. However, at the height of this period, about the time of the Boxer Rebellion, the orthodox and quasi-fundamentalist attitude began to change. In the third period, some Protestant missionaries, writers, and philosophers took a sympathetic view to Chinese culture. Schopenhauer, Richard Wilhelm, Bertrand Russell, and Martin Buber were prominent examples. Perhaps we can call this third period non-denominational, because these thinkers did not judge China based on orthodox religious views. These “inclusivists”, of course, co-exist with the “exclusivists” such as Max Weber of the first half, and Julia Kristeva of the second half of the 20th century. Based on the “inclusivist” view, I shall propose a scenario (perhaps more than one) of possible future development. It is in part be based on Karl Jaspers’s initiative of putting Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, and Jesus Christ on equal footing so we can study them and their ideas as human beings. If we can respect all great personages who contributed to the formation of important cultures, then we shall have no need for utopias.

Keyword

China-construct, European thinkers, 17th-20th centuries, eurocentrism, si- nocentrism, revealed religions, mutual acceptance

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