CHINA’S CONCEPTION OF ITSELF AS A CIVILIZATIONAL STATE AND THE NEED OF THE HOUR FOR BHARAT TO DO SO

The recent stand-off along the Western and Middle sectors along the LAC between the PLA (Peoples’ Liberation Army) and the Indian Army can be explained and elucidated at various levels. However , it is important to analyse this at  the civilizational dimension as it is not only a clash between two Asian giants but  also between two ancient civilizations.

CHINA :  A CIVILIZATIONAL STATE

I recently came across Advocate J Sai Deepak’s article in TDG where he describes this magnum opus work of a British Journalist, Martin Jacques. One can call him  a dhirgadarshi!  In early 2009, he authored “When China Rules the World: The End of Western World and the Birth of a new Global Order.” This aroused a serious discussion between scholars about the shifting of the political and cultural global landscape and the “New World Order” which will be greatly altered by the growing might of the  “Dragon”. In 2011 , he wrote a critical article titled the “Civilizational vs Nation State.” This piece explores how China confounded Europe because the latter made the mistake of applying its Eurocentric lens to understand China. He also was of the opinion that China is seeing itself as a continuing entity of its ancient civilization and its deceptive appearance as a “nation-state” maybe only at the superficial level. He even blames the Western world for failing to understand this nuanced idea of this Asian power and asserts that the West will fail to make sense of China unless it gets down from this high of “Eurocentrism”. He adds , “one should see the emergence of a Chinese Civilizational State with a strong desire to establish a new global level playing field which would revolve around the Middle Kingdom prophecy or Zhonggou. Thus, one can extrapolate this intention of China as a modern form of Pax sinica (Chinese Peace). The idea of China as a civilizational state was made even more popular in 2012 by the Chinese author Zhang Weiwei in his book China Wave: Rise of a Civilisational State, which he subsequently built on in 2016 in his book China Horizon: The Glory And Dream Of A Civilizational State.

THE RESURGENCE OF CONFUCIUS UNDER PRESIDENT XI

The legacy of Confucius and Confucian thought lost its prominence in the mainstream Chinese discourse after the fall of the Imperial Court in Peking(now Beijing) and due to the 1960s  cultural revolution of Mao Zedong, the supreme leader of the Modern “dragon” which meant to do away with the 4 Olds. However, we see a U-turn during the presidency of Xi Jinping which results in a “rebirth” of this ancient scholar. Since Xi became the new helmsman of the Communist Party in 2012, he has vowed a “great rejuvenation” to restore China’s ancient prominence. The 2012 party congress featured slogans about ‘harmony’ and ‘sincerity’ taken from Confucian thought. Xi even visited the Research Institute of Confucianism in the city of Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, and Kong Family Mansion, the historical residence of the direct descendants of Confucius. He called for new and positive roles for Confucianism. He was also the first president of Modern China to visit a birthday celebration of the scholar. This further emboldens the claim made Jacques about China “re-realizing” itself as a continued civilization.

IMPACT ON BHARAT

These civilizational implications of China may have an aim of global outreach, but it surely has impacts on its neighbours especially Bharat which immediately can feel these “waves of ambitions.” The number of LAC violations between 2015-2020 are estimated to be around 2264, the clashes on June 15^th ,2020 being the most drastic development indicating this to be a tactical move in China’s greater and long-term civilizational game. These repercussions of global dominance and their detrimental effects on Bharat have been extensively written about by Shyam Saran and Akhil Deo of the ORF in their book Pax Sinica : Implications for the Indian Dawn. This arises a central question which needs to be answered. How is Bharat going to combat this self-conception of China as a civilization? Should India answer in a similar way mirroring the Chinese model? Thus, leading to the concluding question. Is it necessary for Bharat too to call itself a civilization to counter the strategy of the “dragon” ?

BHARAT AS A CIVILIZATION

Whether a people are a nation or a civilization is not merely a matter of opinion, but is largely a factual position which cannot be dictated by external agencies or factors because it is an inward-looking factual enquiry. My mind meanders back to this famous verse:

 “Uttaram yat samudrasya himadreschaiva dakshinam

Varsham tad bharatam nama Bharati yatra santatih”

Vishnu Purana , Ch 2 (3.1)

The  translation of the above quote roughly defines and demarcates the geographical boundaries of Bharatavarsha ages before the Radcliffe line was even thought about. Thus, affirming the idea of a sense of unity was ever present in the minds of our people despite there being a diversity of cultures, customs and cuisines. In fact, this idea of Bharatavarsha takes us back to the Constituent Assembly debates about deciding the name of this great land. Article 1 of the Indian constitution which says , “India ,that is Bharat” helps one draw an inference that the framers of this sublime document understood that this civilizational ethos formed the sacrosanct part of the soul of the Indian state. But successive political and cultural establishments that have governed the country in its intial years have actively ignored this intrinsic aspect and have contributed to colonial stereotypes about the Bharatiya society. No political dispensation (cutting across all parties) have represented this civilizational awareness to invest in long-term efforts to undo this damage.

THE DRAGON VS THE ELEPHANT

Therefore, independent of China’s claims, Bharat has the locus standi , perhaps a better one than the “Dragon” to claim in being a civilization state given its longevity and diversity. But however as mentioned earlier , the political setup of Bharat has caused a state of turmoil in this claim leaving her people ill prepared against an adamant but at the same time self-aware and confident China who is playing this civilizational game of chess meticulously as well as aggressively. Bharat however operates as a “Nation-state” and works on the superficial ideas of  “synthetic unity” (as discussed in the book Being Different by Rajiv Malhotra) at the political level despite her prana being this great “civilization”. It is also a fact that the people of China are more aware about their country’s history and its civilizational status and also are more interested in preserving as well as furthering this status compared to an average Bharatavasi. While expansionism or mercantilism and civilization need not go together, Bharat’s approach regarding its territorial integrity must change. This isn’t merely preserving the borders of Bharat from the attacks of external forces but also  preserving a 5000 year old civilization within the borders. China has realised this and hence has annexed buffer zones in Tibet and Xinjiang since 1959. After Pakisthan, it seems in 2020 , Nepal , a sister country who is civilizationally is more linked to Bharat has fallen into the trap of this larger Chinese agenda, thereby increasing directly the length of the Sino-Indian border even more.

THE WAY AHEAD….

Bharat need not create annexed buffer zones like China at the cost of the sovereignty and independence of its neighbouring countries but  should look at a policy to maintain independence of its neighbours and maintain neutral and friendly relations with them. There is also needed an urgent change of mindset of Bharatavasis in order for them to recognize themselves as part of the “Greater Bharatiya Civilizational Identity” thereby further strengthening the “Indian Grand Narrative”. The only question is whether the present political dispensation will turn the narrative around to counter adversaries like China and its stooge countries.