论天下中国的“土”气与“洋”气

On the"Earthboundness"and"Oceaness"of China as Tianxia

在《历史哲学》中,黑格尔认为,亚洲各国把海洋看作陆地的中断和界限,因而缺乏海洋精神,是属“土”的陆地国家;亚洲各国包括中国看起来是“土”气的,缺乏“洋”气。黑格尔的欧洲中心主义思想表达了海洋文明优于陆地文明的意思。从中国思想界内部来看,天下秩序和乡土中国也强调了一个陆地中国的形象。外因是传教士对欧洲主流思想家的影响,内因则在于中国典籍自身的解读方式。无论从历史还是地理来看,中国不仅是立足大地的“土”气中国,也是面向海洋对外开放的“洋”气中国。

In his Philosophy of History,Hegel contends that the nations in Asia are the nations of the land,lacking in ocean spirits,because they consider oceans as the interruption and limitation of the land.Asian nations,including China,therefore look earthbound with a lack of"oceanness".Hegel’s Eurocentrism expresses a superiority of ocean-based civilizations over land-based ones.In contemporary Chinese thoughts,the ideas such as Tianxia and earthbound China have also strengthened the image of China as a nation of the land.This image was forged due to both external and internal reasons.The external reason is the influence of Missionaries on European mainstream thinkers,and the internal reason can be traced to the way of interpreting Chinese classics.From a historical as well as a geographic point of view,China is not only a land-based earthbound nation,but also an open ocean-oriented seafaring nation.