Table Of Contentworld political theories
World Political Theories aims to change the way we think about non-
Western political ideas. Each book in the series looks at a particular
region or country, and how thinking about politics has developed
there. In doing so, the books ask how universal political theory
actually is, and to what extent place makes a difference. Through
looking at the historical development of political thinking, the books
provide important context for understanding contemporary politics,
whilst introducing fresh ideas and challenges to conventional political
theory.
titles already published
Patrick Chabal, Africa: The Politics of Suffering and Smiling
Shahrough Akhavi, The Middle East: The Politics of the Sacred and Secular
forthcoming titles
Gurpreet Mahajan, India: Cross-Cultural Conversations
about the author
Tongdong Bai is a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. He
holds a BS degree (nuclear physics) and an MA degree (philosophy
of science) from Peking University, and a PhD degree (philosophy)
from Boston University. He was an associate professor of philosophy
at Xavier University in Cincinnati. His most recent books are: A New
Mission of an Old State: Classical Confucian Political Philosophy in a Contemporary
and Comparative Context and Tension of Reality: Einstein, Bohr, and Pauli in the
EPR Debates (both in Chinese). His research is focused on the contem-
porary relevance of traditional Chinese political philosophy.
china
The political philosophy of the Middle Kingdom
tongdong bai
Zed Books
london & new york
China: The Political Philosophy of the Middle Kingdom was first published in 2012 by
Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London n1 9jf, uk and
Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, ny 10010, usa
www.zedbooks.co.uk
Copyright © Tongdong Bai 2012.
The right of Tongdong Bai to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
Designed and typeset in Monotype Joanna
by illuminati, Grosmont
Cover designed by Lucy Morton @ illuminati
Index by John Barker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or
otherwise, without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data available
isbn 978 1 78032 077 9 eb
Contents
acknowledgements vii
introduction 1
1 Modernity before its time: the historical context
of ‘classical’ Chinese political thought 16
2 The middle way of Confucianism: humanity as
the new social glue 28
3 The middle way of Confucianism:
an equality-based mobile hierarchy 60
4 Daoism: return to an age of innocence 82
5 The Legalists: builders of modern bureaucracy
and institutions 113
6 Later developments: the middle way 156
conclusion
The contemporary relevance of traditional
Chinese political philosophy 176
notes 183
references 195
index 201
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Zed Books for publishing this fascinating series
of world political theories and for asking me to write this short
book on traditional Chinese political philosophy. I am particularly
grateful to my editor, Ken Barlow, for his kind support, patience
and helpful comments.
Many people have been instrumental in the formation of my
outlook on traditional Chinese political philosophy; they are too
numerous to thank here. However, special thanks are due to Daniel
Bell, for his never-ending support for my work, for offering me his
insights on many political issues, and for his comments on an earlier
draft of this book.
Some of the material in this book is based on previously published
work (Bai 2011 and Bai 2009b; the latter in turn being based on
articles, including Bai 2008a, 2008b, 2008c, 2009a and 2009c). The
English (and revised) version of Bai 2009b is now being considered
for publication as well. I thank all the journals and presses that
have published my works for their support. I have already expressed
gratitude to those who offered criticisms of these works, so will not
repeat these acknowledgements here.
viii china
The research for this book was supported by the Program for
Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai In-
stitutions of Higher Learning, the ‘New Century Excellent Talents
in University’ grant, Shanghai Educational Development Foundation
(Shuguang Project), the ‘Pujiang Talents’ grant from the Shanghai
government, the Shanghai Philosophy and Social Sciences Projects,
and by research grants from Fudan University (the Guanghua pro-
gram, 985 Project 2011rwxkzd009, 985 Project 2011rwxkzd010
and others). I am grateful for their support.
Introduction
Message from China
China is rising, but both Chinese and non-Chinese are wondering
what message this rise offers. What do the Chinese want from the
world? What can they give to the world? Many of those non-Chinese
who perceive China’s rise as a threat and those Chinese who hold
grievances over the wrongs that the Western and Japanese colonial
powers inflicted upon China in the late nineteenth and twentieth
centuries believe that the Chinese want to revive the country’s
power and then take revenge for those wrongs. If this is the case,
the world will be in a big trouble. Others believe that the rise of
China may offer alternatives to the received economic and political
models, which have been shown to be increasingly problematic.1
Therefore the message of the rise of China has become an issue that
haunts not only academic researchers but also concerned citizens
the world over.
This book is intended to address these concerns by examining
the traditional political thought of China. Before I explain how the
book sets out to address these concerns, let me make clear what this
book is not. It does not answer directly empirical questions such as
