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Book Review: Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power

December 2013
International Journal of China Studies 4(3)

Authors:

John H.S. Åberg

Malmö University

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International Journal of China Studies

Vol. 4, No. 3, December 2013, pp. 397-399

Book Review

Yan Xuetong, Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power, edited

by Daniel A. Bell and Sun Zhe, translated by Edmund Ryden, Princeton:

Princeton University Press, 2011, 300 pp.

Yan Xuetong’s piece of scholarship sheds light on China’s ancient pre-Qin

thinkers and makes interesting contributions to international relations theory.

Not only does Yan’s study make an in-depth inquiry into the pre-Qin thinkers’

view on interstate relations, hegemony and global governance, he also allows

for criticism and comments on his work by other scholars to be included. This

enriches the book and gives it a broader scope. In the concluding section, the

book responds to the commentators as well as provides a final interview that

brings the reader closer to Yan through his life story.

The aim of the study is to dissect the international political philosophy

of the pre-Qin thinkers in order to enhance contemporary IR-theory and to

analyze the implications for China’s rise. The essential line of thinking that

unites the various pre-Qin thinkers and their different strands of thought

is that political leadership is at the core of international relations and that

morality is an integral part of that political leadership. Economic strength and

military power are indeed necessary and important to understand great power

relations and hegemony, yet they are secondary to the actor-centric core of

the pre-Qin line of thinking. Below I discuss the insights of the study within

four particular areas.

First, the philosophy of the pre-Qin masters was policy-oriented, aimed

at giving advice to the feudal rulers in the later Spring and Autumn period

and the following Warring States period. This is intimately connected to Yan’s

aspiration to do the same for present-day Chinese leaders, which connects to a

view of political science where the science component functions to discipline

the political. Yet much policy advice is circling around, and some recom-

mendations will serve for guidance while others will get discarded in keeping

with the purpose of the leaders. This reality stifles Yan’s desire to produce

objective policy advice through the scientific study of politics. Although

convinced that objective policy advice is attainable, Yan’s own inquiry reveals

the shortcomings of objectivity by revealing historical examples where the

ancient feudal rulers did not listen to the recommendations of the pre-Qin

masters, thus shedding light on the limitation of intellectuals and scholars in

shaping policy. The fruitless effort of the vast coalition of renowned American

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398 John H.S. Åberg

professors opposing the second Iraq war presents an interesting analogy. Of

course, this does not suggest that scholars should not strive to make policy

advice, but to believe that it exists in an ideological and purposive vacuum

is incorrect.

Second, out of curiosity and in line with the aim of letting pre-Qin

thought inspire contemporary Chinese policy, it would be interesting to hear

Yan’s perspective on how the pre-Qin view regarding the necessity of class

distinction to uphold order can be reconciled with a ruling Communist Party

that formally should work towards establishing a classless society, or at least

a moderately well-off, socialist, and harmonious society. According to pre-

Qin thought, in a society without class distinctions people would fight over

everything, standing in stark contrast to Marxist understandings of class

conflict and being intrinsically incompatible with the pre-Qin notion of a

hierarchical harmonious society.

Third, consistent with the actor-centric approach of the pre-Qin thinkers,

Yan regards the competition for talent as not just a feature of the knowledge

economy but as the essence of competition between great powers: from the

king having the most excellent ministers, and the ministries having skilled

bureaucrats. This is an interesting part of Yan’s line of thinking with concrete

impact on policy, exemplified by the Chinese government’s 1000 Talents Plan

designed to recruit strategic scientists and leading experts. Finding talents to

ensure the rise of great powers requires a high degree of openness, which Yan

relates to the hegemonic status of the United States (US) and the fact that it

attracts talented and outstanding foreigners. Yet in terms of openness China is

still far from the US and research shows that the 1000 Talents Plan is not yet

attracting the very best and the returnees are mostly not permanent. However,

the focus on competition for talent makes an original contribution to the

dynamics of great power relations, which, according to Yan, will become the

core dimension of Sino-US rivalry after China has reached a certain baseline

for economic and military hard power. He stresses that it is important to keep

officials responsible and effective and speedy removal of top officials as well

as strategic selection of officials based on performance requirements should

be allowed to help reducing erroneous policy-making.

Fourth, another interesting aspect that is brought to the fore by the book

is regarding the views of the pre-Qin thinkers on power shifts and hegemony.

It is generally believed that international power shifts are explained more

by political power and ideas than material wealth and military might. For

instance, Mencius puts strong emphasis on morality while downplaying the

importance of power, while Xunzi recognizes the twin importance of both.

Yet both differentiate between hegemonic authority and humane authority,

where the former relies on power alone and the latter uses its power to

implement benevolent rule and takes the lead in implementing and upholding

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Book Reviews 399

international norms through morally informed political leadership. Yan uses

American unilateralism during the Bush regime to exemplify hegemony and

stresses that the goal of China’s strategy should not only be to reduce its

power gap to the US but also to establish a better model for the international

system than the one given by the US. To revise the US-led model of the

international system China should act like a humane authority and the Chinese

government should not assume that more economic power translates into

power to shape international norms. Although Yan stresses that China needs

to shift its heavy focus on economic development, the launch of new concepts

under Xi Jinping’s leadership (the new model of great power relations, the

Chinese dream, etc.) can be said to depict the influence of pre-Qin thinkers

such as Laozi, Mozi, Confucius and Mencius and their emphasis on the

primacy of concepts and ideas. Moreover, the notion of humane authority

and Xunzi’s views on just war carry interesting insights into a potential future

with a more globally active China. According to Xunzi, just wars should

uproot evil and the armies of the benevolent circulate under heaven, which

can be related to China’s development of its navy and a possible future where

Chinese aircraft carriers will circulate the seas around the globe. Ultimately

opening up for what some scholars have called harmonious intervention and

a more relaxed interpretation of China’s traditional non-intervention policy

where China puts down inhumanity and stops violence around the globe. Thus

shedding a different light on China’s involvement in Mali and its willingness

to send combat troops for the first time within a United Nations mission;

in essence echoing E.H. Carr: realism and morality are different sides of

the same coin. And here is where the greatest strength of Ancient Chinese

Thought, Modern Chinese Power lies; that it offers in-depth insights into

the thought of the pre-Qin masters that stimulates thinking on how it might

influence China’s foreign policy and its future trajectory.

John H.S. Åberg

Department of Political Science

Lingnan University

Hong Kong

John H.S. Åberg is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Political Science, Lingnan

University, Hong Kong. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Political Science

from Lund University, Sweden. John’s research interests include US and Chinese

foreign policy, international relations theory, and Sino-ASEAN and Sino-African

relations. <Email: jaberg@ln.edu.hk>

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International Journal of

China Studies

Volume 4 Number 1 April 2013 ISSN 2180-3250

International Journal of China Studies Volume 4, Number 1, April 2013

Articles

The Rise of Multipolarity, the Reshaping of Order: 1

China in a Brave New World?

Gerald Chan

China’s Rise and Environmental Degradation: The Way Out 17

Jinghao Zhou

Pan-Marketization Phenomena in Contemporary China 41

Guang Tian, Xiaoyan Lin, Qinqin Dai and Minzhi Hu

Can Chinese Cities Achieve Higher Technical Efficiency 85

after Hosting Mega Events?

Chun Kwok Lei

Lucian Pye’s Contributions to, and Flaws in, the Study of 111

Chinese Political Culture

Zurong Mei

Understanding China’s Economic Growth in Global Context 129

through Adam Smith the Overlooked Moral Philosopher

behind the Overrated “Capitalist” Economist

Shudong Chen

Book Reviews

Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten: 169

A Childhood in Wartime China

reviewed by Yuxin Ma

Lance L.P. Gore, The Chinese Communist Party and China’s 173

Capitalist Revolution: The Political Impact of the Market

reviewed by Ngeow Chow Bing

Institute of China Studies

The International Journal of China Studies is a triannual academic journal of

the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia. The journal is

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Research Library,ABI/INFORM Complete,ABI/INFORM Global,PAIS (Public

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International Journal of

China Studies

Volume 4 Number 2 August 2013 ISSN 2180-3250