SPD2321 Chinese Civilization and Modern

Consciousness from the West ( 中華文明與西

方現代意識 )

{ Lecture 1 What Are Culture and Civilization?

Lecturer: Dr. Man-tat Terence Leung
 Course Objective:
 透過介紹一些基本的文化理論去分析中西文明比較研究
中經常出現的主 題 , 課程能讓學生清楚認識和理解中西
文明互動和衝突的不同方式。此外 , 透過說明現代意識在
西方世界的起源及其對中華文明發展的各種影 響 , 本課
程亦旨在幫助學生對當代社會中仍存在的一些傳統文化
矛盾進行分析。

 Perspectives:
 Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural

 Medium of Instruction:
 Chinese and English

 Assessment Methods:
 a) Class participation; b) Mid-term test (in-class); c)
Group Presentation; d) Individual Essay

 My Expectations
  一 般 人 常 將 「 文 化 」 (Culture) 與 「 文 明 」
(Civilization) 視為同一的概念 , 然而從意涵而言 , 文化
與文明仍是有相當的差異。
 有關「文化」 (Culture) 與「文明」 (Civilization) 之
定義有 :
 一、一般認知 : 人類社會由野蠻到文明 , 其努力所得的
成績 , 表現於各方面 , 為科學、藝術、宗教、道德、法
律、風俗、習慣等 , 其 綜合體即為文化 ; 人類社會開化
的狀態 , 與「野蠻」相對 , 多指具體之事物稱之文明。
 二、社會學者 : 文化就是人類生活的表現 , 因為生物界
中 , 祇有人類才能支配環境 , 創造文化。

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  三、中國哲學家胡適 : 文明是一個民族應付他的
生存環境的總成績 , 而文化卻是文明所形成的生
活方式。
 四、在德語語源之解釋上 : 德國人以為人類進步
的重心 , 應求之於精神方面 , 故文化的意義上帶
有宗教色彩 ; 而文明卻是與政治、法律的生活相
關。此與英、美國人恰好相反。

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  杭廷頓 (S. Huntington) 在其《文明衝突與世界
秩序重建》指出 : 「文化與文明都是指涉人類整
體生活方式 , 文明只是文化的擴充 , 兩者都涉及
『價值觀、規範、制度與思考方式』」。
 文化是一群人 ( 一個民族或團體 ) 在歷史綿延中
所歷經的生命精神、生活態度、心靈蘊涵、思想
典型等所建構成其對外的探索與創進的目的 ; 而
文明就是建基在這種內在蘊涵之上的一種外在的
事功、器物、文物和成就。

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  文化的概念源始於拉丁文「 cultura 」 ,18 世紀後才被廣
為使用 , 其意涵廣泛 , 指 : 「發展和提高人類能力的過
程 , 此過程是透過吸收學術著作與藝術作品推進 , 並 與
現代時期的進步特徵相互聯繫」
 文明可能涉及一大群人 , 也可能是指一小部分人 ; 文明是
最強烈的認同 , 因此有著十分廣義的定位。隨著文明的
演化和進步 , 文明內部的構成單位或是數量或是本質 亦
經常隨之變化 , 文明內部通常包含數個民族國家 , 例如西
方、拉丁美洲、阿拉伯文明等
 在一些極端的情形中 , 文明也可能彼此混合或是重疊 , 亦
可能包含許多子文明 , 例如西方文明包含歐洲、北美洲
文明 , 伊斯蘭文明包含阿拉伯、土耳其、馬來語族等。

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  艾愷 (G.Alitto) 對文化和文明的定義作出釐清 , 他認
為 : 「『文化』是一個人群 特有 的生活方式 ; 是 本
質的、有機的、歸約性的 , 以及主觀的各方面 , 包
括風俗習慣、宗教、藝術、文化、 道德等。
 而『文明』則是指一群人生活方式的 一般 體現 ; 是
數量的、機械的、認知的、 具有累積的各方面 , 包
括科學技術、經濟生產等。文化的領域是個人和主
觀的 , 而文 明的領域則是客觀與科學的」。
 由此可知「文化」偏重的是心理和意識層面 , 而
「文 明」則偏重於器物以及工具層 。

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  事實上 , 有文明並不見得一定有文化 , 以文明的觀點闡述
文化的差異性其自身的缺陷。
 因為文明是屬於數量、器械上的發展 , 指的應為物質層面
較大 , 然而文化卻是一種傳統價值的累積 , 其對心理或意
識層面的意涵較深。
 Both domestic and international news media in recent
years have frequently published stories about successful
mainland Chinese citizens traveling overseas, whether
as students, shoppers, businesspeople, or tourists.
 While the Chinese authority is constantly congratulating
the grandiose tradition of Chinese civilization, one major
issue repeatedly raised concerns in the recent Western
reportages on China is precisely the “uncivil behavior”
( 不文明行為 ) of contemporary Chinese tourists.

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  神廟“到此一遊”事件、“盧浮宮洗腳”事件……中國
遊客一系列的不文明行為，近來接連引發對國人旅遊文
明和素質的熱議，讓同胞備感顏面無光，也讓有關部門
傷透腦筋。
 據《中國青年報》報道，不久前，中央文明委召開提升
中國公民出境旅遊文明素質電視電話會議。隨後，國家
旅遊局連續在其官網發布了 6 條有關文明出遊的通知，
其中包括《中國公民國內旅遊文明行為公約》、《中國
公民出境旅遊文明行為指南》、《中國公民出境旅遊倡
議書》。據國家旅遊局透露，“文明旅遊”有望納入旅
遊合同附件，即旅遊合同的補充說明條款，具有法律效
力。未來，遊客的不文明行為或將受到處罰。

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
  據記者了解，國家旅遊局此番公布的“指南”和“公約”其實
早在 2006 年 10 月就已推出，同年 8 月開始實施“提升中國公民
旅遊文明素質行動計劃”。當時還有外電評價說：“中國政府
和民眾對旅遊陋習毫不留情的揭露和對文明旅遊公約的執行力
度，表明了中國目前所具有的空前的自信心。”
 自 2006 年以來，有關中國人境內外旅行種種不文明舉止的報道
集中爆發 :
 如計劃飛往荷蘭的 6 名中國頭等艙乘客，不係安全帶、衝著機
長和空姐大爆粗口；如放任小孩在機艙過道大小便；如旅客砸
壞登機口門開應急艙門；更有一些中國遊客把不文明行為帶出
國門，街上想扔垃圾就扔，博物館裡想拍就拍，西餐廳裡想吼
就吼，至於進音樂廳穿牛仔 T 恤，在肅穆的教堂裡大聲喧嘩這
類情景，就更不用說了，以至於在個別國家，有當地人稱中國
遊客為“會走路的錢包”，直指國人的不文明素質。

 Source: http://big5.chinanews.com/cul/2013/08-19/5176263.shtml

Similarities and Differences Between Culture

and Civilization
Similarities and Differences Between Culture
and Civilization
Similarities and Differences Between Culture
and Civilization
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j9bLIg84XM Uncivilized Chinese Tourists
Provoke Outrage Abroad (4 mins)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmyLhVyhIBw&x-yt-ts=1422327029&x-yt-cl
=84838260
Woman finishes shitting alone on subway platform within 10 seconds (2 mins)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quk3b4XmfNY Chinese tourists behaving
badly: Mainland sightseers throw hissy fit at Hong Kong hotel (3 mins)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bhjcHdwslU 不 文 明 飞 机 上 也 有 大 便 弟
(0.5 min)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJUc4oeQMGI 时尚巨头在巴黎开酒店拒绝
接待中国游客 (2.5 mins)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uova3SC-32o 不文明行為煞風景大陸另類
景色 (24 mins)
  But this kind of labeling is still quite problematic in
itself  i.e. implicitly upholding the modern Western
cultural values as a superior point of departure to
judge or even criticize those “uncivil behaviors” of
contemporary Chinese individuals
 1st: Logical question  以偏概全
 2nd: Definitive question  Ever since the 1960s, the
definition of culture has radically changed  Culture
is now broadly defined as the practice(s) of ordinary
and everyday life  「 文 化 本 是 平 常 事 」 (cf
Raymond Williams) [there is no innate hierarchy
between different cultures!]

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  3rd: Historical question  a) the civilizational histories
of the modern West were only emerged since the 15 th
century (i.e. Western modern consciousness) whereas
the epic tradition of Chinese civilization existed even
much earlier; b) Chinese societies were colonialized by
their Western counterparts since the 19 th century, thus
resulting its ‘belated’ modernization
 Without acknowledging these several founding
problems, a cultural stereotype 刻 板 印 象 or even
racial bias towards China can easily arise.

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  Historically, the discourse of “Yellow Peril” ( 黃禍論 ) was
a color metaphor for race that originated in the late
nineteenth century with Chinese immigrants as coolie
slaves or laborers to various Western countries, notably
the United States.
 For example, the American distrust of the influx of
Chinese immigrants to California during the Gold Rush
resulted in the Chinese Exclusion Act 排華法案 of the late
nineteenth century.
 The possibility of abundant Asian bodies outnumbering
and thereby overwhelming whites is of concern to the
Western mindset.
 There is always a fear of the supposedly limitless hordes
of Chinese overrunning the white nation and polluting its
racial pool.

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  The Western fear and anxieties about
the exponential growth of China are
usually associated with:
 Its Gigantic Size & Uncontrollable

Numbers
 Its Tyrannical 独裁的 & Totalitarian

Implications

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

{
Fu Manchu ( 傅滿州 )

{
Suzie Wong ( 蘇絲黃 )
  The short story “The Unparalleled Invasion”
前所未有的入侵 , written by American writer
Jack London in 1907, describes a similar
Western anxiety about China.
 The writer imagines the wholesale genocide of

China through a Western-engineered scheme of

germ warfare 細菌戰 .
 The story begins with the modernization of

which, in which Japan awakens the sleeping

dragon but is finally thrown out by the Chinese
when the work of modernization is finished.

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  前所未有的入侵 ( 杰克 · 伦敦 ) (extract)
 “ 世界和中国之间的麻烦，在 1976 年达到其顶峰。因此，

美国自由女神像屹立二百年的庆祝活动被延期。世界上的许
多国家的其他计划也出于同样的原因被取消，改变或者推迟
了。世界冷不丁醒来，发现了这个七十年来未被察觉的危
险，但事态已经不可控制地向着它必然的趋势发展。”
 “ 真正的危险在于中国的繁殖力，于 1970 年开始，第一次

有人提出预警。而一段时间之后，毗邻中国的所有领土已经
开始抱怨中国移民，但现在世界突然了解到，中国的人口是
五亿。因为她的觉醒，中国人口又增加了几亿。博彻特公爵
呼吁关注中国人的数量已经超过白人的事实。他做了一个简
单的加法。他把美国，加拿大，新西兰，澳大利亚，南非，
英国，法国，德国，意大利，奥地利，俄罗斯欧洲部分，以
及所有斯堪的纳维亚半岛的人口相加。结果是四亿九千五百
万。比中国人口少了五百万之多。博彻特的数据传到了整个
世界，全世界都颤抖了。”

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  “ 在这段过渡和发展力量的时间里，中国并没有表现出征
服世界的打算。中国不是一个帝国主义的种族。而是勤
劳，节俭，爱好和平的。战争被中国人看成一个不愉快
的，但有时必须执行必要的任务。而西方种族却在不停地
争吵和战斗，在整个世界冒险，中国则完全冷静下来，在
她的机器上工作和成长。现在，中国开始派出大量移民，
在所有的边境上，中国移民以一种可怕的冰川一般的缓慢
而坚定的势头蔓延到邻近的领土。”
 “ 继勃彻特的数字提出报警后，法国在被长期威胁后，于

1970 年作了一个决定。那时法属印度支那已完全被中国移
民占领。法国人要求停止。却无法阻挡来自中国的人流。
法国在她不幸的殖民地和中国之间的边界集结了十万部
队，中国派出了一百万民兵战士。后面跟着战士的妻子和
儿子，女儿和亲属，以及他们的家庭行李，组成第二集团
军。于是法国部队像一只苍蝇一样被拍死了。然后中国民
兵战士与他们的家人一起共超过五百万人冷静地在法属印
度支那落户并计划停留个几千年。”

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  Even though China, as described in the story, is peace-
loving, the nation is propelled beyond its traditional
borders by rampant and uncontrolled population
growth into the Western-held colonies of Southeast
Asia.
 Western nations attempt to contain this spread by
invading Chinese territory but their troops are totally
swallowed up in the densely populated Chinese land.

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  Such a view of China’s development is thoroughly a
European self-projection since, historically, it is the
European system that is characterized by incessant military
competition with other states and by a strong tendency
toward territorial expansion.
 Jack London writes in a journalistic and matter-of-fact
manner that an American scientist has a secret plan to unite
all Western nations in a joint mission: various Western
armies close off all routes of escape, and airships bombard
China with plague-bearing germs and biological weapons,
turning the country into an inferno, killing all; “so perished
China.”
  a highly dangerous implication (i.e. racial genocide 種
族屠殺 reminding of/prophesizing the Holocaust)

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  Sounds familiar to people living in Hong Kong
today?
  We may have indeed already internalized such
inherently biased Western views during our
stereotypical, if not racist labeling of the
mainland Chinese as dangerous “locusts” 蝗蟲

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
aWZFgkJNxDM (4 mins) [ 蝗蟲天下 ]

Modern Western Culture and Racial Stereotype

  However, I am NOT trying to justify all those Chinese
“uncivil behaviors” symptomatic to our contemporary
China’s Century, insofar as those daily practices as such
are perhaps highly ignorant of or even disrespectful
towards the dominant Western civility emerged since the
modern era .
 My teaching objective in this course is to strike a more
balanced view between Chinese nationalism and Western
racism.  i.e. both Chinese nationalism and Western
racism in fact entertain a strict East-West dichotomy 東西
兩分法 in perceiving each other
 One way to overcome the problematic East-West
binarism can be achieved through a constant emphasis
on both Chinese and Western modes of civilization as an
ever-expanding global vision or inter-civilizational project .

How to Think Beyond East-West Binarism ( 東西

二元論 )?
  Comparative Approach:
 What would happen when country attempts to
impose its values on other?
 What could one nation learn from the other
nation in their cross-cultural exchange?

  Cross-cultural comparison without being

uncritically fallen into either side of monolithic
單一的 or stereotypical judgment
  Realizing that both Chinese and Western
civilizations have their own potentials as well as
inherent limits

How to Think Beyond East-West Binarism?

  Probing questions in this course:
 What can we (i.e. people living in Hong Kong—
including both Hong Kongers, people from Mainland
China and other countries), deal with this East-West
comparative topic?
 Is our entry of Hong Kong culture already Westernized
(because of the colonial history 殖民地歷史 ), though
many Hong Kong people are ethnically Chinese?
 But at the same time, can we also use a different, if
not a more balanced perspective to look at Chinese
and Western civilizations since the modern era
precisely because we are constantly caught between
the two cultures?

How to Think Beyond East-West Binarism?