For such a powerful country, the Chinese have a surprisingly strong sense of victimization. They frequently talk about having historically been “deprived of territory and assets” by foreign powers, stressing that it is time to take back what they lost now that they have become powerful again. This formidable sense of victimization, deep in the Chinese psyche, is what drives them to their own expansionism today. One finds the same element in Xi Jinping’s call for the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

　　　　　Mongolian-born cultural anthropologist Yang Haiying of Shizuoka University describes this Chinese mindset as a “complex.” In his latest book, Gyakuten no Dai-Chugoku-shi (China’s Reversal of Fortune)(Bungei Shunju Ltd.; 2016), Professor Yang offers noteworthy clues to understanding China today. Born in Southern Mongolia, coming of age immersed in Chinese culture and subject to a Sinocentric education, Yang’s account as a member of a minority among the Han Chinese is strongly convincing.

　　　　　In his book, Yang declares:

　　　　　“Entrenched in its excessive complexes, China is unable to come into the modern times…Their complexes are more deep-rooted than we (Japanese and Mongolians) can imagine.”

　　　　　Chairman Xi Jinping daily expresses his thoughts on issues ranging from domestic policies to China’s posture towards foreign relations, but his Sinocentrism clouds his vision. All of modern history becomes a great success story for China in which “the evil and imperialist Japanese and Western powers were beaten off when the Han Chinese led the downtrodden peoples of the world in joint resistance.” In this way, Xi may avoid the pain of acknowledging China’s defeats but will in the end learn very little from history.

　　　　　Disinterested in facing up to the realities of the past, comfortably surrounded by their own version of history, the Chinese indiscriminately try to force their logic on others. This is the essence of their Sinocentrism.

Revenge of History

　　　　　China is very active in many areas of the world today. The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank was presented with big fanfare earlier this year, the so-called “Belt and Road” economic initiative is underway, and massive loans and grants have been given to African nations. But through these actions has China managed to opened itself to the world and become a nation welcomed by all the other members of the international community? The answer is no, and the reason is its Sinocentrism. Since ancient times, China has never been compatible with the outside world. Yang concludes China very likely will not be able to avoid anther “day of reckoning.”

　　　　　What then is China? Who are the Han Chinese? Yang pursues this point by closely examining the whole of the Eurasian Continent. His “Chart of Dynastic Transition in China and Eastern Eurasia” at the outset of the book eloquently presents China’s past and present. He points out that the Hans ruled over China for a total of only 681 years during the Western Han, Eastern Han, and Ming Dynasties. (The Han also ruled over a smaller regional area during the Song Dynasty.)

　　　　　China is said to boast 4,000 to 5,000 years of history. However, according to Yang, this history does not equal the history of the Han Chinese, as the original Han Chinese, known as “proto-Chinese,” virtually vanished following the Yellow Turban rebellion in 184 CE.

　　　　　If so, who really are the people we know today as the Han Chinese? In the first place, they do not regard themselves as members of the Han race, because they identify so little with the concept of a nation-state—so different from the Japanese to whom their state virtually equals their race.

　　　　　Further, the Han Chinese do not have a bond based on a religion, like the Jews. Yang states that even the “Chinese language” they speak today does not constitute a common language among the Hans. Of the many dialects spoken across China, Mandarin was designated as standard Chinese amid a movement that developed during the “May Four movement” of 1919 aimed at unifying the written and spoken language in China, and has since been known as Chinese. In other words, Yang stresses that Mandarin is not a common element banding the Han Chinese together.

　　　　　Yang is not the only scholar who believes that Chinese characters were used as a powerful common denominator to band the Han Chinese together when they would otherwise have fallen apart, as no other element such as state, community, race, religion , or language constituted a common base that would convince them that they were Han Chinese. However, even if they banded together under a language system using Chinese characters, there was little possibility that a society based on the concept of nation or community would automatically emerge. Here possibly is the reason why Chinese under the Communist dictatorship today tend to assume a behavior pattern that appears to make them value individual gains and profits over their nation’s fate.

　　　　　Meanwhile, searching for the creators of the once glorious Chinese culture with the understanding that the Hans ruled China only less than 700 years in its long history, unexpected facts reveal themselves.

Dividing Eurasian Continent Horizontally

　　　　　China’s superb culture probably is most closely associated by Japanese with the Tang Dynasty. We learned much from the Tang Dynasty Chinese through emissaries who were dispatched to China at the time. Even in modern China, a drama entitled Li Shin, the Emperor of Tang Dynasty China, was greatly popular during that period, with the Communist regime teaching the people that “the Tang Dynasty was the most colorful period of history of the Han Chinese.” However, after it became increasingly clear following historical research in recent years that the Tang Dynasty had actually been formed by the Xianbei (a nomadic tribe of ancient Asia), not the Han Chinese, the Chinese Communist Party apparently decided to stop praising the Tang Dynasty. The next most glorious era in Chinese history was the Yuan Dynasty, which actually was run by Mongolians. Yang concludes that, after all, modern China has no glorious history worth taking pride in that is credited to the Han Chinese.

　　　　　What was also very enlightening to me about Yang’s book was his suggestion that one divide the Eurasian Continent “horizontally.” While Japanese scholars tend to divide the Eurasia Continent vertically along a line stretching from Kazakhstan to Kirgyztan, the Pamirs, the Tian Shan mountains, the Altay Mountains, and to the Sayan, their Mongolian, Russian, and Chinese counterparts view the continent by dividing it horizontally.

　　　　　The first horizontal dividing line was the Great Wall of China built by the ancient Chinese. Yang proposes drawing a line from the Great Wall of China to the Arctic Circle and another stretching from the Great Wall west to the Himalayas, the Plateau of Iran, and the southern coast of the Black Sea, dividing the Eurasian Continent along these lines.

　　　　　What a novel and evocative idea!

　　　　　In today’s drastically changing world, Japan without doubt is approaching a critical stage, its ability to face up to China and to positively contribute to the international community with its competitive traditional values being severely tested. I wish to recommend Yang’s book as a must read not only to better come to grips with today’s actual conditions in China but to better understand ourselves as well.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column #719 in the September 8, 2016 issue of The Weekly Shincho)