Is Zhao's Tianxia System Misunderstood?

• Author: Xu Bijun
• Pages: 96-108

XU (DO NOT DELETE) 2014-1-29 12:55 PM

96 TSINGHUA CHINA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 6:95

IS ZHAO’S TIANXIA SYSTEM MISUNDERSTOOD?

XU Bijun

Zhao Tingyang’s Tianxia System has become a hot topic of

discussion since he first introduced it during the 2005 Culture of

Knowledge conference in Gao, India.1 Some commentators have

spoken highly of this system as a worldview that can address

problems in global development.2 Others have lodged criticisms

against it.3 However, many critical commentators have an inaccurate

understanding of Zhao’s theories. This paper aims to show the ways

in which Zhao’s Tianxia System has been misunderstood and

responds to misinterpretations of his theories. I will begin by briefly

introducing the Chinese term Tianxia, the core points of Zhao’s

Tianxia System, and the current debates surrounding it. I will then

respond to the main misunderstandings of Zhao’s System. Finally, I

will present my own thoughts on Zhao’s Tianxia System and its

potential impact on international law and relations.

I. INTRODUCTION TO TIANXIA

Although Zhao’s Tianxia theory is not equal to the ancient

Chinese cultural concept of Tianxia ( 天下, literally

All-under-Heaven), Zhao borrowed this ancient Chinese cultural

concept and its core meanings as a basis for his own ideas.

Therefore, one must understand the traditional concept of Tianxia

before exploring Zhao’s theory.

Tianxia forms the basis for the worldview of the Chinese people

not only in the past but also in the present. Although Chinese people

are familiar with the concept of Tianxia, clearly defining it has been

difficult. In 1981, this topic was discussed in a nation-wide

conference organized by the Chinese Association of Sociology of

Ethnicity and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Various

1 Zhao first introduced his Tianxia system in a paper delivered at the international conference

“International Conference on Universal Knowledge and Language” in Goa, India, on 22 November

2005.

2 See Sunndeep Waslekar, Women Shidai de Da Wenti: Cong Minzu Guojia Dao Quanqiu

Gongtongi (我们时代的大问题：从民族国家到全球共同体) [The Big Problem of Our Time: From

Nations to the Global World] in Zhao Tingyang (赵汀阳), Tianxia Tixi—Shijie Zhidu Zhexue Daolun

( 天下体系—世界制度哲学导论) [The Tianxia System—An Introduction to the Philosophy of a World

Institution] 111 (2005) (A function of Tianxia System) [hereinafter Waslekar]; Francesco Sisci, Under

the Same Sky: A New World-view from China, 56 DIOGENES 74–82 (2009).

3 See William A. Callahan, Chinese Visions of World Order: Post-Hegemonic or a New Hegemony,

10 INT’L STUD. REV. 749 (2008); Chang Chishen, Tianxia System on a Snail’s Horns, 12 INTER-ASIA

CULTURAL STUD., 1 (2011).