Change vs. Order: Shijie Meets Tianxia in China's Interactions with the World

Abstract

This article examines how China, understood as a construct made up of multiple identities, constantly negotiates its relationships with the world. The oppositions—between tradition and modernity, the past and the present, China and the West— that are often presumed or reproduced in our thinking about China's place in the world are called into question. China's relationship with the world must be understood through the interplay between history and present, and thus through the particular uses of history in practice. The article especially explores how the world and China's place in it are seen in Chinese popular culture and visual expressions of state initiatives to promote Chinese culture. It focuses on the way images of the ever-changing world are depicted in two visual narratives: a promotional video of the Confucius Institute and the film The World (Shijie).