The Idea of "Zhongguo" and Its Transformation in Early Modern Japan and Contemporary Taiwan

要旨

In East Asian intellectual history, while the apparently referential idea of “Zhongguo” received its basic definition in ancient China, it underwent twists and changes in early modern Japan and contemporary Taiwan. In Tokugawa Japan (1600-1868), the idea of “Zhongguo” was altered to denote Japan, not China, in sync with and supported by the development of Japanese national subjectivity. In contemporary Taiwan, the idea of “Zhongguo” contains the two elements of “cultural China” and “political China” and their dialectical relationship. These turns and changes in the idea of “Zhongguo” in Japan and Taiwan are worthy of study in the context of East Asian intellectual history. In Section Two of this paper, we shall examine features of the idea of “Zhongguo” as it evolved in ancient Chinese documents. Section Three then analyzes twists and changes in the idea initiated by Tokugawa intellectuals, who gave it new referential content. Section Four discusses further changes in the idea of “Zhongguo” in contmporary Taiwan. Finally, section Five recounts the main points of this inquiry and offers some concluding reflections.

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