XUE Li, IWEP, CASS

CHENG Zhangxi, IWEP, CASS

What world order will China be committed to building? This is a topic of global concern, and one which Chinese scholars need to ponder and answer. This paper suggests that China may be committed to building The ChineseOrder Governed by Li（礼）. The main characteristics of this order is: it regards Li as the key means to relationships, it is based on a concentric zone structure, and it is open.

What is "Li" (礼)? Whilst this paper adopts Propriety as the English translation, Li is also often translated as Ritual or Rites, and it has a broad meaning in Chinese: proper words or behaviours, codes of conduct, ceremonies, gifts, surnames and etc. The Li amongst the Five Constant Virtues (五常Wu Chang: 仁 Ren, Benevolence, 义 Yi, Righteousness, 礼 Li, Propriety, 智 Zhi, Wisdom and 信 Xin, Fidelity)mainly refers to first two meanings.

The Standing of "Li"

Since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has become the primary backbone of Chinese culture and has great influence on the country's politics and peoples’ lives. And propriety is the key grasp of Confucianism. Not only benevolence and righteousness of the Five Constant Virtues rely on propriety to be realised, but also wisdom and fidelity are the requirements to achieve propriety. Further, ancient China has a belief that families and countries are based on same structure, hence it emphasis "man without propriety shall not stand, matters without propriety shall not succeed, and countries without propriety shall not last". In other words, whether to deal with personal affairs or inter-state affairs, propriety should always be the foundation, whereas rudeness can only lead to disasters.

In the history of more than a thousand years, East Asia has an international state system centred on China, namely the Hua-Yi Order (华夷秩序). Under this system, China adopts a policy of "give more but take less"(bo lai hou wang，薄来厚往). This policy obviously conforms to propriety, and it helped maintaining the stability of the East Asian region, thereby the Hua-Yi Order itself.

When driving forward the Belt and Road Initiative, China may not copy that policy, however, it is also not placing business interests first. To support the development of China-friendly countries is obviously an important factor, hence the emphases on the correct view of righteousness, the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and so on, and the implementations of bilateral government cooperation and investments in the less business desirable infrastructures. In the future of the Chinese order governed by propriety, China as a leading country, is less likely to stress relative gains, for it is neither a general practice of major powers to small states, nor is it a traditional Chinese approach.

Concentric Zone Structure

The Hua-Yi Order refers to a system which is built on a concentric zone structure that expands from the Emperor's palace to the outer. The relationships of the members within the system are not only distinguished by their closeness to the centre, but also hierarchical. Around the Emperor's palace is the Emperor's domain, from which, every 500 Chinese miles (250 kilometres) delimits a Circle (服Fu), and it expands to Dian Circle (甸服Dian Fu), Hou Circle (侯服Hou Fu), Sui Circle (绥服Sui Fu), Yao Circle (要服Yao Fu) and Huang Circle (荒服Huang Fu), altogether called Five Circles (五服Wu Fu). The first three Circles are called Hua, which means the civilised land. The latter two Circles are called Yi, which refers to the uncivilised land. Traditional Chinese culture believes that the inequality between individuals are normal, and what really matters is not to achieve equality, but to connect individuals with propriety so as to facilitate an orderly society. Both kindred and relationship between states can be divided into Five Circles.

Christianity has the concept of "everyone is equal before God". Therefore, under the framework of modernity, "equality before the law", "equality between men and women", "equality between major and small countries" have evolved. These concepts have changed from local knowledge to the concept and practice recognised by most people and countries in the world. Therefore, it is impossible for the Chinese order governed by propriety to rebuild its hierarchy. Still, the difference depending on closeness cannot be overlooked and its existence cannot be eliminated. Even in today's international system, the United States has a particularly close relationship with Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It can be expected that in the Chinese order governed by propriety, China will also classify its member countries according to closeness. However, the countries with relatively better relations with China may not necessarily come from the Confucian cultural circle.

The Openness of the System

In the history of the Hua-Yi Order, no countries were excluded from joining the system, and in places that were considered less-civilised land, pay in tribute or confer titles(recognition to the prominence of China) were entirely voluntary (although dependencies have less autonomy). This is mainly due to the concept of "inclusiveness" of Chinese traditional culture and believes in "harmony in diversity". In addition, it also stresses that "if people far away are not obedient, then improve civility and morality to smooth their way".

Given that Christianity is monotheism, to distinguish between "us" and "them" becomes necessary. Whilst emphasising on "us" is good, then "us" must find ways to assimilate "them", and "us" are advanced and "them" must be moralised. It is in this thinking that the nation-state system created and led by western countries stress on alliances and antagonism and are accustomed to utilise institutional constraints to assimilate allies.

Since the 1980s, China has promoted independent and peaceful diplomacy, and during the 1990s, this gradually becomes"partner diplomacy". After implementing the Belt and Road Initiative,China continues to strengthen partnerships. This is a manifestation of traditional culture and will also be reflected in the Chinese order governed by propriety. Considering that this order can only be established through a peaceful manner, it is greatly difficult to replace the existing international system. On the other hand, openness also makes the Chinese order governed by propriety compatible with the current international system.

Based on the above-mentioned characteristics, the number of member countries of the Chinese order governed by propriety will be dynamic – not too many, nor too few, they might spread over all continents, but the majority remain China's neighbouring countries.

In short, the Chinese order governed by propriety is not a power-based order which the Western world has engaged in for hundreds of years, nor a rule-based order which many countries have repeatedly promoted to China, it is an order that was found on the Chinese tradition and reformed through modernity. The Chinese order governed by propriety is a bilateral-oriented new international order that is compatible with the current international system.

This piece was published on THE DIPLOMAT on  April 14, 2018

The published version:https://thediplomat.com/2018/04/what-might-a-chinese-world-order-look-like/