Perception of identity in Modern China

Abstract

Abstract China had developed relatively independently and had been almost immune to Western influences until the 19th century. Its basic way of life, cultural identity and state organization had continued almost uninterrupted from the very beginning of the archaic period. How China has adapted to the modern world since it was forced to be integrated into the modern world and, in the process, how it has changed its perception of self‐identity provide an interesting topic for study. This paper offers a tentative discussion of the perception of cultural identity in modern China. It first explores the ideas of culture and cultural identity in traditional China, and then examines how these ideas were transformed in the context of the changing social, political and cultural environment of the early 20th century. The final part of the paper is devoted to the recent search in China for new ideas of culture and cultural identity in the context of a series of unprecedented events marked by the opening of China, eco...