The Chinese construction of the West, 1862-1922: Discourses, actors and the cultural field

The identity of the "West" in modern China is a product of social construction by the Chinese in the process of understanding and appropriating Western culture for the purpose of modernization. The Chinese concept of the "West" consists of a complex whole of many visions and discourses, each focusing on certain aspect of Western life. At least three such discourses were constructed in China during the period from 1862 to 1922. The technological discourse claims that Western technology is superior to that of China and is the key to China's revival though Chinese social institutions and cultural order are far superior to those of the West. The political discourse argues that Western political institutions and the Western way of managing social relations are the key to Western success, and are precisely what China needs to learn for its modernization. The cultural discourse insists that Western technology and political institutions can not be separated from Western ideologies and cultural values. China needs to adopt Western cultural values together with Western technology and political systems in order to become a modern nation.