◎序言(引言/導(dǎo)言/出版后記/編輯手記/跋)

Foreword

I

A sustainable civilization is one that can examine itself, tolerate and accommodate others, coexist in harmony with others, and learn from others this is a common wisdom of both the Chinese civilization and the Greek civilization. It is the wisdom very much needed in todays world, where challenges we face are global, and we need more than ever to work together, to learn from each other, and to focus on common values. Pan Yues book makes an important contribution to the civilizational dialogue between the East and the West, and helps to bring us to the common ground, or Agora as I would call it, to enrich each other via debate, to move forward together,and to create a shared future for us all.

H.E. George Papandreou,

182nd Prime Minister of Greece,

President of the Socialist International

Foreword

II

The West has been the primary author of global history for the last two centuries. As a result of its dominance, the world sees history through a Western prism, based on an underlying assumption that the Western experience is universally relevant. The classic example is the nation-state. It has become the pre-condition for the recognition of polities. When a vast number of countries won their independence from their colonial masters after the Second World War, they were required to become nation-states. It was a condition of their independence. Yet the invention of the nation-state was an entirely European affair dating back to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The global dominance of Europe, and then the West more generally, imposed on the world a European-designedinternational system at the heart of which was thenation-state. It was not until the late 19th century thatChina was finally forced by its state of abject weaknessto adapt to the European norms of the internationalsystem and begin the process of becoming, at least inpart, a nation-state.

But China had never been a nation-state. It was aproduct of an entirely different history that was rootedin the Chinese civilization. China was a civilization-state.It is still primarily a civilization-state, although,being secondarily a nation-state, it might be describedas a hybrid. And China is not alone. As Pan Yue pointsout, there are many other nation-states that are theproduct of civilizational histories such as Iran, Turkey,and Russia. But it is China that concerns us here. It isimpossible to make sense of China unless its historyas a civilization is recognized and understood. Alas,the West is in denial. It sees the world, and China,in narrowly Western terms. As a result, in a mostfundamental way, the West does not understand China. It requires China to be Western, but China does not conform to the Western paradigm, never has and never will. During Chinas long history of weakness, this did not matter. China could be used, abused, and ignored. But Chinas rise makes this position unsustainable. The West is now obliged to understand China as it is not how it thinks it should be.

Pan Yues book is a book for our time. He shows how profoundly different the histories of Europe and China have been over more than two millennia and how this has resulted in the very different societies we see today. This is not a reason for regret but embrace and celebration: It is testimony to the richness of human history and the diversity of human experience. A knowledge of history, and a resulting respect for difference, opens up the possibility of a new kind of creative dialogue between the West and China based on mutual respect and understanding.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The fundamental problem in the West is that it does not understand China, or even know how to understand China. The ideas in this book are the path ofenlightenment.

Martin Jacques,

British Scholar of China Studies

Preface

This book Ancient China and Rome under the AlienRule is translated from the third part of the Chineseedition of Comparative Studies on Chinese and WesternCivilizations, a part that probes into the historical eventsof the incursions of the Germanic tribes into theWestern Roman Empire and of the Five Northerners(wuhu) into the Central Plains of China.

The Chinese edition was published by the NewWorld Press in January 2022. My discussions onthe Inner Asian perspective, on the Orientalhistoriography in Japan, and on the New Qing Historyapproach in the United States, as shown in the book,have drawn the attention of domestic and overseasscholars on the histories of the Yuan, the Ming, andthe Qing dynasties, and aroused their discussions.

I have strongly perceived the necessity to respondto these discussions. Although the third part of myoriginal work is clearly focused on the Wei, the Jin,and the Northern and Southern dynasties (220-589),discussions on the Inner Asian perspective andon the New Qing History approach will inevitablygo beyond this time range. Therefore, in the currentEnglish edition, I also use historical materials fromthe Liao (916-1125), the Song (960-1279), the WesternXia (1038-1227), the Jin (1115-1234), the Yuan (1271-1368), the Ming (1368-1644), and the Qing (1644-1911)dynasties of China.

It is also a necessary extension to better communicatewith the Western academic circles. Given that theoverseas scholars mainly focus on the above-mentionedperiods of Chinese history to discuss the Inner Asiannature of Chinese dynasties, to respond to relevantdiscussions on my book in a more targeted manner, Ireduce the historical materials previously used in theChinese edition and instead use more typical materialsand cases from the Liao, the Song, the Western Xia,the Jin, the Yuan, the Ming, and the Qing dynasties.At the same time, I also adjust part of my arguments,so as to more effectively respond to the discussions athome and abroad, and better illustrate the inner logicbehind the different development paths of Chineseand Western civilizations. It should be noted that theConclusion part is also different from that of theChinese edition, as it was rewritten in response to theWesterners overall concerns about Chinas path.

This English edition is translated by ProfessorYuri Pines, a renowned Sinologist from the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem, Israel. Here I would like toextend my sincere gratitude to Professor Yuri, as hehas worked out a precise, elegant, and readable Englishversion with his profound academic attainments, broadvision encompassing both China and the West, andproficiency in the historical and classical literature ofChina.

Many thanks to Benjamin Coles, a young BritishSinologist and associate professor at Huaqiao UniversitysSchool of Philosophy and Social Development, ProfessorPeng Ping from Beijing Foreign Studies University, andZhang Zhe, Research Fellow at Peking UniversitysDepartment of Sociology, who have also given helpfulsuggestions for translation.

I would also like to thank the New World Press, asits working team has made great efforts to edit andpublish this book.

There will inevitably be some omissions in the book,and I sincerely welcome valuable opinions from readersat home and abroad.