초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Sinophobia is widely spreading across the world in this period of the Great Transition during which symptoms of the polycrisis are occurring, and this situation is related to the emergence of Global China. In the face of this reality, as a way to squarely grasp the current situation in China, this paper purports to reconstruct the idea of Critical Chinese Studies that I proposed, with the preceding studies on the topic in mind; the perspective of “the double project of modernity” is the buttress of the reconstruction. The main task to renew Critical Chinese Studies should be critical engagement with exceptionalism mushrooming inside and outside of China. This new trend as an empire discourse is succinctly defined as follows: China’s historical experience is exceptional in that it is a convergence of “nation-state” and “civilization state.” It has been diversely advanced on various issues. This paper performs a critical analysis of the issues by dividing them into six agenda: discussion 1 is on whether the foreign policy at the end of the Qing Dynasty is a modern transformation of the tribute system or a transition to imperialism; discussion 2 is on the problem of territorial demarcation of the period of the Republic of China; discussion 3 is on how to interpret the “one belt and one road initiative” policy with critical inquiries on the imperial trait of China’s expansionism; discussion 4 is on the national language; discussion 5 is on the troublesome relationship between the state and society within China; discussion 6 is on the prospect of China as a civilization state. Conclusively, this article defines China as a ‘compound state with imperial characteristics’. All told, this theoretical reconstruction of the critical Chinese Studies would serve as a historical mirror for Korea and China. It is also expected to help us reflect on and change ourselves in the field of research and education that produces and disseminates knowledge about China.
