“文明”面临考验 当代中国的文明话语与意识形态建构
日期:04-03
梁治平
中国艺术研究院中国文化研究所
摘要自从 26 年前塞缪尔•亨廷顿提出了“文明的冲突”的命题,围绕这一问题的论辩和讨论就不绝于世。尽管很多人不同意亨廷顿的观点,认为文明的差异无关乎冲突,更不接受以文明冲突为观察国际政治的认识框架,他们却很难否认下面的事实,即自那以后,国际政治与经济的种种发展,从世纪初震惊世界的 911 事件,到如今已然超出经济范畴的中美贸易战;从欧洲难民潮引发的社会与政治震荡,到川普入主白宫后美国国家政策的一系列改变,似乎印证而不是证伪了亨廷顿关于文明冲突的基本论述。
另一项有利于亨氏的证据,也是与上述情形并行的现象,则是“文明”话语的广泛传播和文明意识更强有力的表达。一位报刊的专栏作家注意到,中国、印度、俄罗斯、土耳其等国的一些知识分子都在强调本国文明的独特性,而“真正令人惊讶的是,连美国的右翼思想家也在放弃‘普世价值’,转而强调西方文明的独特性和‘濒危’处境”。 最近的一个事例,是美国国务院一位资深官员公开宣称,美中之间的对立是“美国之前从未有过的一场同真正是不同文明和不同意识形态的战斗”,甚至,“这是我们第一次将面对一个不是白种人的大国竞争对手”。 有意思的是,文明冲突的概念也被用来分析当下香港的抗议运动。从这样的视角观察,问题就变成了:“到底今天的中国是另一种和西方文明相提并论的文明,还是像明治维新之后,二战结束之前的日本一样,是文明门口的野蛮人”。
诚然,上述事例中“文明”概念的含义和用法不尽相同,这或者表明了文明概念的丰富性,以及它适用于不同语境的表现力, 而要了解文明概念的这些含义和效用,我们需要去考察流行的文明话语,了解其性质和特点,以及它们兴起的背景和条件。不过,本文不准备泛泛而论,而会把焦点放在当代中国。这样做的理由很多,这里只提两点:第一,在亨廷顿的开创性著作中,中国,或称儒教文明,与伊斯兰文明同列,被视为最重要的“挑战者文明”。 如今,在国际政治实践者和观察者眼中,中国的这种角色正变得越来越醒目。第二,也是自1990 年代以来,文明话语在中国的政治、思想和知识领域逐渐兴起,蔚为主流,不但“习近平主席在许多国际演讲中,总是对听众强调中国独特的历史和文明”, 思想学术界也围绕文明概念发展出各式各样的中国叙述。文明,而非其他,成为当下中国主体认同的首要基础。也因为如此,今天中国人对“文明”的想象和界定,进而,当下中国所展现的文明样态,对于中国乃至世界的未来,便有着不容忽视的影响。
Wenming Under the Microscope: The Ideological Contoursof the
Discourse on Civilization in Contemporary China
Liang Zhiping
Institute for Chinese Cultural Studies, the Chinese National Academy of Arts
Discourse on Civilization in Contemporary China
Liang Zhiping
Institute for Chinese Cultural Studies, the Chinese National Academy of Arts
Abstract
Recent global events, from the Sino-American trade war to refugee crises and other geopolitical disputes, suggest that Samuel Huntington’s famous ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis for the 21st Century may be proving rather apter than its critics would like to admit. The contemporary use of the word ‘civilization’, however, extends far beyond Huntington’s international relations context; intellectual circles in many individual countries, from India to Russia, Turkey and even the United States, have begun to debate the meaning of ‘civilization’ in general and the place of local civilizations in the wider world. Perhaps no country on Earth, however, has witnessed such an intensification of ‘civilization discourse’ in the last 25 years as China. This paper examines the ideological contours of this embrace of wenming or ‘civilization’ and some of its vast implications for China and the world.
Recent global events, from the Sino-American trade war to refugee crises and other geopolitical disputes, suggest that Samuel Huntington’s famous ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis for the 21st Century may be proving rather apter than its critics would like to admit. The contemporary use of the word ‘civilization’, however, extends far beyond Huntington’s international relations context; intellectual circles in many individual countries, from India to Russia, Turkey and even the United States, have begun to debate the meaning of ‘civilization’ in general and the place of local civilizations in the wider world. Perhaps no country on Earth, however, has witnessed such an intensification of ‘civilization discourse’ in the last 25 years as China. This paper examines the ideological contours of this embrace of wenming or ‘civilization’ and some of its vast implications for China and the world.