Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1990

'Tian ren he yi' (Heaven and Man are One ) and China's Modernization The full text of an address by Prof. Chang Kwang-chih (with heading and subheadings added by the editor) I wish to express the appreciation shared by all the recipients of the honorary degree for the unusual honour being bestowed upon us. To varying degrees we are all friends or affiliates of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and it is most gratifying to be so recognized by the institution that owns so much of our affection. But in this time and place, an honorary degree must be received not only as a reward for work accomplished in the past but also as a challenge for continued constructive thinkin g about the future. The Chinese University of Hong Kong stands for many things, above all education and research; but to me it especially stands as the personification of a historical process. This historical process has been ongoing since the Opium War of 1840-42, was a t the root of most important events in China's recent history, and will, eventually, in all likelihood determine China's fate. I am, of course, referring to China's modernization, which is in fact China's march to westernize. This university in this colony is by definition a meeting place of two of the many great civilizations in human history: Chinese and Western; and no institution is more appropriate than this one to assert and assume a leadership role in the study of the importan t issues pertaining to China's modernization. Chinese andWestern civilizations are fundamentally different How to modernize the old country after the Western model has been a topic of debate among all of modern China's statesmen and thinkers. A s an archaeologist focusing my eyes on the China of several thousand years ago , I am not so presumptuous as to want to discuss the subject of modern China, especially in such a brief speech. I can point out, however, that at their beginnings these two civilizations, Chinese and Western, were in many respects governed by fundamentally different principles. In the ancient China of the Three Dynasties, when Chinese civilization began, the material wealth basic to that civilization's manifestations was accumulated and concentrated through the acquisition and exercise of political authority and powe r. In ancient Mesopotamia, to which Western civilization traces its earliest roots, that wealth was, instead, amassed through the application of new technologies and the intensified manipulation of diverse r e s ou r c es t h r ough t r ade . Th r oughout their respective histories China and the We st bot h went through winding and tumultuous courses of change, but, if I may be permitted to oversimplify, in these last several thousand years they have maintained their separate, political versus economic, approaches to the generation of wealth and the management of human affairs. Left alone, China would still be treading her own path today. During her long history that path sometimes led to glor y and sometimes to decline; one has no way of knowin g whether today an untouched China would have been in a glorious or in a declined state. Problems confronting China on her march to Westernize We will never know because Chin a did not have a choice. As the historian, Ray Huang, has recently pointed out, China was forced into her modernization by the expansion of Western capitalism and the consequent contact and irreversibl e diffusion of institutions and ideas. This modernization is so fundamental in nature and vast in scope that Huang calls it a revolution, and predicts it will be a long process. These points one can hardly argue with. However, for a revolution to be successful it needs a blueprint. Modern politicians and thinkers have offered man y such blueprints, but apparently none o f them have worked completely, since otherwise we would not be still talking about the subject. In these last several thousand years they have maintained their separate political versus economic approaches to the generation of wealth and the management of human affairs 40TH CONGREGATION 7