The Rivalry Between Chinese And Western Culture In The Ming-Qing Dynastic Transition In Fujian

As a coastal area of Southeast China, Fujian has bred its culture by its special geographical conditions and glorious history. Fujian culture is a part of the traditional Chinese culture, but it also has its specific regional features: marine culture. Having been strengthened by the booming maritime commerce since the Tang and the Song Dynasties, the features of the Fujian culture became more open and inclusive of foreign culture, which remain in the minds of Fujian literati as common cultural psychology. Due to their disappointment with the dilemma of the Chinese moral principles, political situations and traditional culture, especially the Fujian culture, they could treat the western culture with open-mindedness and provide a platform for dialogue and exchange with alien culture. Such a cultural exchange found a vivid expression in the following: some literati accepted the western culture while others repelled it.Set against the background of volatile politics and ideological split in the Ming-Qing dynastic transition, this paper focuses on the gradual understanding of Catholicism by literati, and tries to reveal the connotations of the rivalry between Chinese and Western culture, by comparing the works, ideas and activities between the groups of literati who accepted the foreign culture and those of the literati who repelled it.Cultural difference is a major obstacle for cultural exchanges between different cultures. Only by being open and inclusive, seeking common ground while reserving differences and learning from each other could different cultures carry out dialogue and create an environment for the co-existence of diverse cultures. The way that Fujian literati accepted or repelled a foreign culture was not without its local features, which was an epitome of the cultural exchange between the East and the West in that period. As evil can never prevail over good, the Chinese civilization with thousands of years behind it seemed to have heralded the end of the game.