The Future of China's Past

<p><b>Addresses the question of China's rise and what it portends for the future.</b></p><p><i>The Future of China's Past</i> examines how China's traditional culture is being reinvented and manipulated for political purposes. Like no time before in its recent history and certainly at no time in the history of the People's Republic China is being shaped in terms of its past but which past-Confucianism Legalism Daoism Buddhism-or combination of pasts is being held up as the model? Given its growing economic political and cultural significance it is incumbent upon us to take China's rise seriously yet perspectives involving modern and contemporary geopolitical and intrastate dynamics are insufficient on their own for understanding China's rise and the same holds true for economic analyses however pertinent. Instead this book looks at current engagements with models of China's past introducing the four traditional lenses of Chinese thought and reflecting on their potential relevance for China's-and the world's-future.</p>