"Chinesische Lehre als Grundlage Westlicher Lehre zum praktischen Gebrauch": Der Westen aus der Sicht Chinas am Beispiel der Rezeption der Yangwu-Bewegung

Abstract

Within the historical debate that has been going on in the People’s Republic of China during the last ten years concerning the Yangwu Movement of the 19th century, history continues to be used as a mirror of the past able to be a guide for future generations. The debate provides an insight into the various ways of judging the Western role in the modernization process. Four groups may be distinguished here, corresponding to the differing political views: (1) the traditionalists, having a negative assessment of the West; (2) the Westerners, who highly respect the West as a source of technology and capital; (3) the modernizers, who take a positive view of the West in economic terms, but who have a negative view of the West politically; and (4) the reformers, considering the West as either equal or superior. As was the case in the Yangwu Movement, the most predominant positions are those which see the role of the West in the modernization process as an important yet inferior secondary factor.