Tong (通)
Walking on an Open Road
To Help Build Ecological Civilizations
Zhihe Wang & Meijun Fan
Economic miracle, ecological challenge.
Over the past two centuries China has faced crushing problems; chief among them the loss of millions of lives in natural and man-made disasters. And yet the country is speedily becoming the world’s number one power. Its miracles match its many challenges; knowing China from the inside engenders the confidence that China will find solutions where other nations would face disaster and defeat. One key to this treasure chest: Tong.
What is Chinese culture? What are its salient traits? Some like to identify Chinese culture with “conservativism.” The Great Wall, built in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), often has been regarded as a symbol of this conservatism. But conservatism in itself fails to explain why Chinese civilization has lasted more than 5000 years and become “the longest continual civilization” in the world. Why does China continue to survive after enduring many hardships in the past thousand years? Where does China’s vitality come from? What has underpinned China’s continuity? In other words, what is an important concept for understanding China and her culture? There must be something else inherent in Chinese culture except conservatism. The concept of Tong will be our answer. ‘Tong’ can be regarded as a key for what the West can learn from China. In the Chinese language, Tong(通)is a very widely used word. Structurally, it is composed of two parts: one is “walk,” one is “road.”
Tong as an Open Way
The original meaning of Tong as a verb means: open, penetrate, get through, remove obstacles, unimpede, connect, communicate, link up, etc. As an adjective, Tong refers to whole, all, general, holistic, comprehensive, etc. Therefore, “Tong” is inherently related to Dao or Tao (the Way). In the words of Zhuangzi or Chuang-tzu (c. 369 BCE – c. 286 BCE), a defining figure in Chinese Taoism, “Dao identifies itself with Tong.”[1]Tong is not only the “the original meaning of Dao,” but also “the fundamental feature and condition of Dao”,[2] because a way cannot be called a way if it is not open.
We can say without exaggeration that Tong has been an essential and defining principle in Chinese culture. According to Yi Jing or I Jing (The Book of Changes), the oldest Chinese classic, also called “a book all about changes and tong” by some Chinese scholars, “It is change and tong that keep us up with the times.”[3] From the perspective of Yi Jing, “It is deprivation that leads to changes, it is changes that lead to Tong (finding a way out), it is Tong that leads to sustainability.”[4]
In a certain sense, Chinese culture can be regarded as a culture of Tong. Accordingly, Tong Ren (a person with the ability and deep appreciation of Tong) has been held in high esteem in Chinese culture. Tong Ren are the persons who have the ability to integrate knowledge and into practice and life. They have the ability to break up the Great Wall between things, the ability to transform things, the ability to set up connections to nature, to communicate to others.
Tong and Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine which sees the human body as an organic whole in which all components are interconnected also supports the deep convergence of Tong and Ren. It believes that "If there is free flow, then there is no pain; if there is pain, then there is no free flow" (Tong zebu tong; bu tong ze tong). The concept of Tong has played a crucial role in traditional Chinese philosophy and culture.[5] It can be, to a large extent, seen as China’s cultural DNA. As a matter of fact, acupuncture and Tai Chi (well-known representatives of Chinese culture) also reflect this DNA. The core of acupuncture lies in dredging the Jingluo (channels) in order to make Qi and blood flow through. Likewise, the main point of Tai Chi consists in unifying the body’s Qi. In one word, both of them aim at Tong.
It is safe to say that it is the concept of Tong that helped China find ways out of adverse conditions. No wonder it is Dujiangyan, the oldest and only surviving non-dam irrigation system in the world, not the Great Wall, that was regarded as “the most exciting project in Chinese history” by renowned Chinese authors.[6]It has carried out the principle of Tong by providing outlets to divert rather than block flood waters by dredging the river channels, thereby providing water to farmlands.
Also, it is Tong that offers an answer to the true nature of the “China model,” a key to the secret of China’s amazing rise in the past 30 years. Although many factors have contributed to this rise, there is little doubt that the Tong thinking has played an essential role in this process. It is Tong thinking that helps China overcome the dichotomy between socialism and capitalism. “Socialism with market economy” is the result of interpenetration of socialism and capitalism.
Tong as Linking People's Hearts Together
Even today, we still can feel the powerful influence of Tong. “The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” is the most immediate example. In 2013, China’s new president Xi Jinping proposed establishing a modern version of the ancient Silk Road. This “world’s biggest project” aims at creating a network of railways, roads, pipelines, and utility grids that would link China and Central Asia, West Asia, and parts of South Asia. China plans to invest $900 billion on this project.[7] It is simplistic to see this project as mere physical connections (Tong), it is far more than that. It aims to create the world’s largest platform for economic cooperation and connectivity, including policy coordination, trade and financing collaboration, and social and cultural cooperation. This is called “five Tongs” by the Chinese government. Among the five Tongs (interconnection and interpenetration), “The most important one is Xin tong (Linking people’s hearts together.)”[8]
After totally abandoning Chinese tradition during the first enlightenment, beginning with the May Fourth Movement in 1919, China started its process of embracing Western modernity in an effort to destroy imperialist humiliation and become a prosperous modern country. In the process,[9] China learned a great many valuable things: democracy, science, and liberty from its Western teacher. Unfortunately, it also copied a number of negatives: anthropocentrism, reductionism and dualism. As a complete reversal of the traditionally prevailing idea of harmony of nature and humanity, struggle and competition has become the norm. The slogan known to all during the Cultural Revolution: “it is an endless enjoyment to fight against Heaven; it is an endless enjoyment to fight against earth; it is an endless enjoyment to fight against others” typically reflected this kind of mindset. Following this train of thought has led to blind pursuit of GDP. As a result, China has faced serious environmental and social problems. According to Pan Yue, a leading figure in China’s environmental movement, and also head of China’s Environmental Protection Ministry, “Five of the ten most polluted cities worldwide are in China; acid rain is falling on one third of our territory; half of the water in China’s seven largest rivers is completely useless; a quarter of our citizens lack access to clean drinking water; a third of the urban population is breathing polluted air....” The societal effects of these problems are obvious. In Pan Yue’s words, “Because air and water are polluted, we are losing from 8-15% of our gross domestic product. This does not include the costs for health and human suffering: in Beijing alone, 70-80% of all deadly cancer cases are related to the environment. Lung cancer has emerged as the number one cause of death.”[10] To Zhou Shengxian, minister of China's Environment Department, “In China’s thousands of years of civilization, the conflict between humanity and nature has never been as serious as it is today.”[11]
It is clear that China is moving closer to the environmental cliff. Where should China go? What can China do? “It is deprivation that leads to changes, it is changes that lead to Tong (finding a way out), it is Tong that leads to sustainability.” Again, it is the concept of Tong that is helping China to find ways out of the predicament. China, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases has chosen to create an “ecological civilization” to cope with the severe ecological crisis.
In 2007, the Chinese government officially proposed the idea of “ecological civilization” at the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China. The goal is to form “an energy and resource efficient, environment friendly structure of industries, pattern of growth, and mode of consumption.”[12] This notion reflects an important change in the Party's understanding of development. Rather than stressing economic growth as the core of development, as it did in the past, the Party authorities have come to realize that sustainable development must be based on an understanding of an intertwined relationship between human beings and nature. At the 18th Congress held from Nov.8-14, 2012, “ecological civilization construction” was even written into the CPC constitution. President Hu Jintao said in his report, “We must give high priority to creating an ecological civilization, work hard to build a beautiful country, and achieve lasting and sustainable development of the Chinese nation.”[13] To Xi Jinping, China’s current president, creating an ecological civilization is a cause “benefiting both contemporaries and future generations.” In short, ecological civilization has become a responsibility of the Chinese government to future generations and to the natural world. When answering questions from students on environmental protection after his speech delivered at the Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sept. 7, 2013, Xi Jinping stressed that China clearly puts the protection of the ecological environment in a prominent position. China prefers good ecological environment to economic growth. “We prefer blue water and green mountains rather than golden mountains and silver mountains.”[14]Xi emphasized that “GDP No Longer the Measure of Success” and, in a speech to party leaders, he said, “we should no longer evaluate the performance of leaders simply by GDP growth. Instead, we should look at welfare improvement, social development and environmental indicators to evaluate leaders.”[15] Three years later, on 22 December, 2016, the Central Government officially issued an “ecological civilization construction objective evaluation method.”[16]
Can China’s Ecological Civilization be successful? No one knows but, given the various obstacles she is facing, it is certainly a move in the right direction. It will help China create a better relationship between nature and humanity. Again, it is the concept of Tong that rescues China from a desperate situation; it is exemplified by President Xi’s recent efforts to revive traditional Chinese culture, including Tong.
Tong and the Process Tradition
Actually, Western philosophy has a concept similar to Tong; it is called process tradition or process-relational thinking, which emphasizes that we and the world are composed of relations and processes.[17] Ironically, while this concept has been marginalized in the West, it is becoming more appreciated in Chinese today. In the eyes of Peking University Professor Tang Yijie, a leading scholar in Chinese philosophy and culture, “Process philosophy criticizes binary thinking and views nature and humans as an interrelated bio-community. This idea has important implications for the solution of the ecological crisis facing us today.”[18]
Due to the convergence of the Chinese concept of Tong and contemporary Western Constructive Postmodernism (another expression of process philosophy), process thought and constructive postmodernism have become quite a movement in China. One study found that between 2001 and 2010 more than 180 monographs and 255 theses having to do with some aspect of Constructive Postmodernism were published.[19]More than 30 research centers focusing on process thought or Constructive Postmodernism have been established at Chinese universities. According to research by Fubin Yang, Dean and Prof. of Law and Politics School of Beijing International Studies University, so far, “no other school of contemporary Western philosophy, such as analytical philosophy or phenomenology, has yet established so many special centers of study in China.”[20] In a recent survey conducted by People’s Forum Poll Research Center on “The Most Valuable Theoretical Point of View in 2012,”the statement by Prof. Yijie Tang was selected as the most significant analysis:
At the end of the last century, Constructive Postmodernism based on process philosophy proposed integrating the achievements of the first Enlightenment and postmodernism, and called for the Second Enlightenment. The two broadly influential movements in China today are (1) “the zeal for traditional culture” and (2) “Constructive Postmodernism.” If these two trends can be combined organically under the guidance of Marxism, [they will] not only take root in China, but further develop so that, with comparative ease, China can complete its “First Enlightenment,” realizing its modernization, and also very quickly enter into the “Second Enlightenment” and become the standard-bearer of a postmodern society.[21]
Will the second Enlightenment help China reconnect the intellectual thought and imagination of contemporary China with the deepest intuitions of the Chinese classics? Will it provide a new perspective for looking at nature and society?
China has many problems today: environmental issues, massive debt burden, her record of human rights and freedom of expression including its recent internet control.[22]These issues continue to attract criticism from the Western world. Along with these problems are astonishing achievements and progress;“ the world’s largest market for solar panels,”[23]the world’s fastest train and the largest network of high-speed rail, the great leaps in alleviating poverty (over 700 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty since the late 1970s) and the recent “bike-sharing boom,”(Ofo, a Beijing-based bicycle sharing company founded in 2014 and one of the two largest Chinese bike-sharing companies already has over 20 million registered users)[24], Compare this to President Trump’s performance, favoring “business as usual” and increasing the effects of climate change by “ keeping us into the old energy. ”[25]
Perhaps it is time to apply tong thinking to today’s serious problems. It is time to be a Tong Ren: bravely facing reality, communicating with and learning from others, and working for the common good.
About the authors:
*Zhihe Wang, Ph.D. is director of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China. He was born in Beijing and got his Ph.D in Philosophy from Claremont Graduate University. His areas of specialty include process philosophy, constructive postmodernism, ecological civilization, and second enlightenment. His recent publications include: Second Enlightenment (with Meijun Fan, 2011); Process and Pluralism: Chinese Thought on the Harmony of Diversity (2012).
**Meijun Fan, Ph.D is the co-director of the China Project at the Center for Process Studies, Claremont; the program director of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China; the editor-in-chief of Cultural Communication, a Chinese newspaper. She completed her doctoral studies at Beijing Normal University and master program at Peking University. Her areas of specialty include Chinese traditional aesthetics, process and aesthetical education. She has authored several books including: Contemporary Interpretation of Chinese Traditional Aesthetic (1997), The Popular Aesthetics in Qing Dynasty (2001), and The Second Enlightenment with Zhihe Wang (2011).
Contact: Zhihe Wang
[email protected]
(A revised version of this article was published in the Supplement to New York Times, June 28, 2018)
[1] Chen Guying, ZhuangziJinzhujinyi. Beijing: Zhuanghuashuju, 1983,p.62
[2]Geling Shang, “A New Interpretation of ‘the Oneness of Dao and Tong’”, Philosophical Researches 7 (2004):41-46
[3]Wang Bi, ZhouyiZhu.ed .LouYulie. Beijing:China Publishing House, 2011, p.363.
[4]Wang Bi, ZhouyiZhu.ed. LouYulie. Beijing:China Publishing House, 2011,p.361.
[5]Genyou Wu, “The Notion of ‘Tong’ in the Philosophies of Yi and Zhuangzi and its Contemporary Inspiraion.” Zhouyi Studies 3(2012):3-12.
[6]Qiuyu Yu, A Bitter Journey Through Culture. Shanghai:Oriental Press, 1992, p.36.
[7]Anna Bruce-Lockhart, “China’s $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know”,https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/china-new-silk-road-explainer/
[8]YuzeLuo, “Putting Xintong First when Promotinginterconnection and interworkingin The Belt and Road Initiative.” January 26, 2015, The People’s Daily
[9]Roger T. Ames,“On the Intellectual Generosity of Tang Yijie: Getting Past an Asymmetry in World Philosophy.”Chinese Culture Studies 2 ( 2017):7-18
[10]Andreas Lorenz, “China's environmental suicide: a government minister speaks.”6 April 2005 https://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-climate_change_debate/article_2407.jsp
[11]Thomas L. Friedman, “The Earth is Full.” New York Times JUNE 7, 2011
[12] Hu Jintao, “Report at 17th Party Congress ,“ Oct. 15, 2007, http://china.org.cn.
[13]HuJintao, “Report at 18th Party Congress,”http://v.china.com.cn/18da/2012-11/11/content_27074139.htm
[14] Xi Jinping, “We Prefer Blue Water and Green Mountains rather than Golden Mountains and Silver Mountains.”http://news.youth.cn/gn/201309/t20130907_3839400.htm
[15]Kenneth Rapoza , “China's Pres Xi: GDP No Longer the Measure Of Success,” Forbes, July 1, 2013.
[16]CPC Central Committee and the State Council: “Ecological civilization construction objective evaluation method.” http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2016-12/22/content_5151555.htm
[17]C.Robert Mesle, Process-Relational Philosophy: An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead..Templeton Foundation Press, 2008,p.8
[18]Yijie Tang, “Reflective Western Scholars View Traditional Chinese Culture.” The People’s Daily. February 4, 2005.
[19]Weifu Wu, “A Postmodern China in the Making.”Process Studies Vol.43, Issue 1 (Spring/Summer 2014):68-74.
[20]Fubin Yang, “The Influence of Whitehead’s Thought on the Chinese Academy,” Process Studies 39 (Fall/Winter 2010): 342-9,
[21]Yijie Tang, “The Enlightenment and its Difficult Journey in China,” Wen HuiBao, November 14, 2011, http://theory.people.com.cn/n/2013/0110/c49165-20158762.html.
[22] Simon Denyer ,"The walls are closing in: China finds new ways to tighten Internet controls."Washington Post September 27, 2017.
[23]Katie Fehrenbacher, "China is utterly and totally dominating solar panels,” Fortune, June 18, 2015.
[24]Katie Herzog, “Chinese Bike-Share Startup to Launch in Seattle Thursday.” Aug 15, 2017 http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/08/15/25350215/chinese-bikeshare-startup-to-launch-in-seattle-thursday
[25] Jeremy Rifkin“A key player in China and the EU's 'third industrial revolution' describes the economy of tomorrow”, Jul. 16, 2017, 1:13 PM http://www.businessinsider.com/jeremy-rifkin-interview-2017-6
Over the past two centuries China has faced crushing problems; chief among them the loss of millions of lives in natural and man-made disasters. And yet the country is speedily becoming the world’s number one power. Its miracles match its many challenges; knowing China from the inside engenders the confidence that China will find solutions where other nations would face disaster and defeat. One key to this treasure chest: Tong.
What is Chinese culture? What are its salient traits? Some like to identify Chinese culture with “conservativism.” The Great Wall, built in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), often has been regarded as a symbol of this conservatism. But conservatism in itself fails to explain why Chinese civilization has lasted more than 5000 years and become “the longest continual civilization” in the world. Why does China continue to survive after enduring many hardships in the past thousand years? Where does China’s vitality come from? What has underpinned China’s continuity? In other words, what is an important concept for understanding China and her culture? There must be something else inherent in Chinese culture except conservatism. The concept of Tong will be our answer. ‘Tong’ can be regarded as a key for what the West can learn from China. In the Chinese language, Tong(通)is a very widely used word. Structurally, it is composed of two parts: one is “walk,” one is “road.”
Tong as an Open Way
The original meaning of Tong as a verb means: open, penetrate, get through, remove obstacles, unimpede, connect, communicate, link up, etc. As an adjective, Tong refers to whole, all, general, holistic, comprehensive, etc. Therefore, “Tong” is inherently related to Dao or Tao (the Way). In the words of Zhuangzi or Chuang-tzu (c. 369 BCE – c. 286 BCE), a defining figure in Chinese Taoism, “Dao identifies itself with Tong.”[1]Tong is not only the “the original meaning of Dao,” but also “the fundamental feature and condition of Dao”,[2] because a way cannot be called a way if it is not open.
We can say without exaggeration that Tong has been an essential and defining principle in Chinese culture. According to Yi Jing or I Jing (The Book of Changes), the oldest Chinese classic, also called “a book all about changes and tong” by some Chinese scholars, “It is change and tong that keep us up with the times.”[3] From the perspective of Yi Jing, “It is deprivation that leads to changes, it is changes that lead to Tong (finding a way out), it is Tong that leads to sustainability.”[4]
In a certain sense, Chinese culture can be regarded as a culture of Tong. Accordingly, Tong Ren (a person with the ability and deep appreciation of Tong) has been held in high esteem in Chinese culture. Tong Ren are the persons who have the ability to integrate knowledge and into practice and life. They have the ability to break up the Great Wall between things, the ability to transform things, the ability to set up connections to nature, to communicate to others.
Tong and Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine which sees the human body as an organic whole in which all components are interconnected also supports the deep convergence of Tong and Ren. It believes that "If there is free flow, then there is no pain; if there is pain, then there is no free flow" (Tong zebu tong; bu tong ze tong). The concept of Tong has played a crucial role in traditional Chinese philosophy and culture.[5] It can be, to a large extent, seen as China’s cultural DNA. As a matter of fact, acupuncture and Tai Chi (well-known representatives of Chinese culture) also reflect this DNA. The core of acupuncture lies in dredging the Jingluo (channels) in order to make Qi and blood flow through. Likewise, the main point of Tai Chi consists in unifying the body’s Qi. In one word, both of them aim at Tong.
It is safe to say that it is the concept of Tong that helped China find ways out of adverse conditions. No wonder it is Dujiangyan, the oldest and only surviving non-dam irrigation system in the world, not the Great Wall, that was regarded as “the most exciting project in Chinese history” by renowned Chinese authors.[6]It has carried out the principle of Tong by providing outlets to divert rather than block flood waters by dredging the river channels, thereby providing water to farmlands.
Also, it is Tong that offers an answer to the true nature of the “China model,” a key to the secret of China’s amazing rise in the past 30 years. Although many factors have contributed to this rise, there is little doubt that the Tong thinking has played an essential role in this process. It is Tong thinking that helps China overcome the dichotomy between socialism and capitalism. “Socialism with market economy” is the result of interpenetration of socialism and capitalism.
Tong as Linking People's Hearts Together
Even today, we still can feel the powerful influence of Tong. “The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” is the most immediate example. In 2013, China’s new president Xi Jinping proposed establishing a modern version of the ancient Silk Road. This “world’s biggest project” aims at creating a network of railways, roads, pipelines, and utility grids that would link China and Central Asia, West Asia, and parts of South Asia. China plans to invest $900 billion on this project.[7] It is simplistic to see this project as mere physical connections (Tong), it is far more than that. It aims to create the world’s largest platform for economic cooperation and connectivity, including policy coordination, trade and financing collaboration, and social and cultural cooperation. This is called “five Tongs” by the Chinese government. Among the five Tongs (interconnection and interpenetration), “The most important one is Xin tong (Linking people’s hearts together.)”[8]
After totally abandoning Chinese tradition during the first enlightenment, beginning with the May Fourth Movement in 1919, China started its process of embracing Western modernity in an effort to destroy imperialist humiliation and become a prosperous modern country. In the process,[9] China learned a great many valuable things: democracy, science, and liberty from its Western teacher. Unfortunately, it also copied a number of negatives: anthropocentrism, reductionism and dualism. As a complete reversal of the traditionally prevailing idea of harmony of nature and humanity, struggle and competition has become the norm. The slogan known to all during the Cultural Revolution: “it is an endless enjoyment to fight against Heaven; it is an endless enjoyment to fight against earth; it is an endless enjoyment to fight against others” typically reflected this kind of mindset. Following this train of thought has led to blind pursuit of GDP. As a result, China has faced serious environmental and social problems. According to Pan Yue, a leading figure in China’s environmental movement, and also head of China’s Environmental Protection Ministry, “Five of the ten most polluted cities worldwide are in China; acid rain is falling on one third of our territory; half of the water in China’s seven largest rivers is completely useless; a quarter of our citizens lack access to clean drinking water; a third of the urban population is breathing polluted air....” The societal effects of these problems are obvious. In Pan Yue’s words, “Because air and water are polluted, we are losing from 8-15% of our gross domestic product. This does not include the costs for health and human suffering: in Beijing alone, 70-80% of all deadly cancer cases are related to the environment. Lung cancer has emerged as the number one cause of death.”[10] To Zhou Shengxian, minister of China's Environment Department, “In China’s thousands of years of civilization, the conflict between humanity and nature has never been as serious as it is today.”[11]
It is clear that China is moving closer to the environmental cliff. Where should China go? What can China do? “It is deprivation that leads to changes, it is changes that lead to Tong (finding a way out), it is Tong that leads to sustainability.” Again, it is the concept of Tong that is helping China to find ways out of the predicament. China, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases has chosen to create an “ecological civilization” to cope with the severe ecological crisis.
In 2007, the Chinese government officially proposed the idea of “ecological civilization” at the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China. The goal is to form “an energy and resource efficient, environment friendly structure of industries, pattern of growth, and mode of consumption.”[12] This notion reflects an important change in the Party's understanding of development. Rather than stressing economic growth as the core of development, as it did in the past, the Party authorities have come to realize that sustainable development must be based on an understanding of an intertwined relationship between human beings and nature. At the 18th Congress held from Nov.8-14, 2012, “ecological civilization construction” was even written into the CPC constitution. President Hu Jintao said in his report, “We must give high priority to creating an ecological civilization, work hard to build a beautiful country, and achieve lasting and sustainable development of the Chinese nation.”[13] To Xi Jinping, China’s current president, creating an ecological civilization is a cause “benefiting both contemporaries and future generations.” In short, ecological civilization has become a responsibility of the Chinese government to future generations and to the natural world. When answering questions from students on environmental protection after his speech delivered at the Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sept. 7, 2013, Xi Jinping stressed that China clearly puts the protection of the ecological environment in a prominent position. China prefers good ecological environment to economic growth. “We prefer blue water and green mountains rather than golden mountains and silver mountains.”[14]Xi emphasized that “GDP No Longer the Measure of Success” and, in a speech to party leaders, he said, “we should no longer evaluate the performance of leaders simply by GDP growth. Instead, we should look at welfare improvement, social development and environmental indicators to evaluate leaders.”[15] Three years later, on 22 December, 2016, the Central Government officially issued an “ecological civilization construction objective evaluation method.”[16]
Can China’s Ecological Civilization be successful? No one knows but, given the various obstacles she is facing, it is certainly a move in the right direction. It will help China create a better relationship between nature and humanity. Again, it is the concept of Tong that rescues China from a desperate situation; it is exemplified by President Xi’s recent efforts to revive traditional Chinese culture, including Tong.
Tong and the Process Tradition
Actually, Western philosophy has a concept similar to Tong; it is called process tradition or process-relational thinking, which emphasizes that we and the world are composed of relations and processes.[17] Ironically, while this concept has been marginalized in the West, it is becoming more appreciated in Chinese today. In the eyes of Peking University Professor Tang Yijie, a leading scholar in Chinese philosophy and culture, “Process philosophy criticizes binary thinking and views nature and humans as an interrelated bio-community. This idea has important implications for the solution of the ecological crisis facing us today.”[18]
Due to the convergence of the Chinese concept of Tong and contemporary Western Constructive Postmodernism (another expression of process philosophy), process thought and constructive postmodernism have become quite a movement in China. One study found that between 2001 and 2010 more than 180 monographs and 255 theses having to do with some aspect of Constructive Postmodernism were published.[19]More than 30 research centers focusing on process thought or Constructive Postmodernism have been established at Chinese universities. According to research by Fubin Yang, Dean and Prof. of Law and Politics School of Beijing International Studies University, so far, “no other school of contemporary Western philosophy, such as analytical philosophy or phenomenology, has yet established so many special centers of study in China.”[20] In a recent survey conducted by People’s Forum Poll Research Center on “The Most Valuable Theoretical Point of View in 2012,”the statement by Prof. Yijie Tang was selected as the most significant analysis:
At the end of the last century, Constructive Postmodernism based on process philosophy proposed integrating the achievements of the first Enlightenment and postmodernism, and called for the Second Enlightenment. The two broadly influential movements in China today are (1) “the zeal for traditional culture” and (2) “Constructive Postmodernism.” If these two trends can be combined organically under the guidance of Marxism, [they will] not only take root in China, but further develop so that, with comparative ease, China can complete its “First Enlightenment,” realizing its modernization, and also very quickly enter into the “Second Enlightenment” and become the standard-bearer of a postmodern society.[21]
Will the second Enlightenment help China reconnect the intellectual thought and imagination of contemporary China with the deepest intuitions of the Chinese classics? Will it provide a new perspective for looking at nature and society?
China has many problems today: environmental issues, massive debt burden, her record of human rights and freedom of expression including its recent internet control.[22]These issues continue to attract criticism from the Western world. Along with these problems are astonishing achievements and progress;“ the world’s largest market for solar panels,”[23]the world’s fastest train and the largest network of high-speed rail, the great leaps in alleviating poverty (over 700 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty since the late 1970s) and the recent “bike-sharing boom,”(Ofo, a Beijing-based bicycle sharing company founded in 2014 and one of the two largest Chinese bike-sharing companies already has over 20 million registered users)[24], Compare this to President Trump’s performance, favoring “business as usual” and increasing the effects of climate change by “ keeping us into the old energy. ”[25]
Perhaps it is time to apply tong thinking to today’s serious problems. It is time to be a Tong Ren: bravely facing reality, communicating with and learning from others, and working for the common good.
About the authors:
*Zhihe Wang, Ph.D. is director of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China. He was born in Beijing and got his Ph.D in Philosophy from Claremont Graduate University. His areas of specialty include process philosophy, constructive postmodernism, ecological civilization, and second enlightenment. His recent publications include: Second Enlightenment (with Meijun Fan, 2011); Process and Pluralism: Chinese Thought on the Harmony of Diversity (2012).
**Meijun Fan, Ph.D is the co-director of the China Project at the Center for Process Studies, Claremont; the program director of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China; the editor-in-chief of Cultural Communication, a Chinese newspaper. She completed her doctoral studies at Beijing Normal University and master program at Peking University. Her areas of specialty include Chinese traditional aesthetics, process and aesthetical education. She has authored several books including: Contemporary Interpretation of Chinese Traditional Aesthetic (1997), The Popular Aesthetics in Qing Dynasty (2001), and The Second Enlightenment with Zhihe Wang (2011).
Contact: Zhihe Wang
[email protected]
(A revised version of this article was published in the Supplement to New York Times, June 28, 2018)
[1] Chen Guying, ZhuangziJinzhujinyi. Beijing: Zhuanghuashuju, 1983,p.62
[2]Geling Shang, “A New Interpretation of ‘the Oneness of Dao and Tong’”, Philosophical Researches 7 (2004):41-46
[3]Wang Bi, ZhouyiZhu.ed .LouYulie. Beijing:China Publishing House, 2011, p.363.
[4]Wang Bi, ZhouyiZhu.ed. LouYulie. Beijing:China Publishing House, 2011,p.361.
[5]Genyou Wu, “The Notion of ‘Tong’ in the Philosophies of Yi and Zhuangzi and its Contemporary Inspiraion.” Zhouyi Studies 3(2012):3-12.
[6]Qiuyu Yu, A Bitter Journey Through Culture. Shanghai:Oriental Press, 1992, p.36.
[7]Anna Bruce-Lockhart, “China’s $900 billion New Silk Road. What you need to know”,https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/china-new-silk-road-explainer/
[8]YuzeLuo, “Putting Xintong First when Promotinginterconnection and interworkingin The Belt and Road Initiative.” January 26, 2015, The People’s Daily
[9]Roger T. Ames,“On the Intellectual Generosity of Tang Yijie: Getting Past an Asymmetry in World Philosophy.”Chinese Culture Studies 2 ( 2017):7-18
[10]Andreas Lorenz, “China's environmental suicide: a government minister speaks.”6 April 2005 https://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-climate_change_debate/article_2407.jsp
[11]Thomas L. Friedman, “The Earth is Full.” New York Times JUNE 7, 2011
[12] Hu Jintao, “Report at 17th Party Congress ,“ Oct. 15, 2007, http://china.org.cn.
[13]HuJintao, “Report at 18th Party Congress,”http://v.china.com.cn/18da/2012-11/11/content_27074139.htm
[14] Xi Jinping, “We Prefer Blue Water and Green Mountains rather than Golden Mountains and Silver Mountains.”http://news.youth.cn/gn/201309/t20130907_3839400.htm
[15]Kenneth Rapoza , “China's Pres Xi: GDP No Longer the Measure Of Success,” Forbes, July 1, 2013.
[16]CPC Central Committee and the State Council: “Ecological civilization construction objective evaluation method.” http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2016-12/22/content_5151555.htm
[17]C.Robert Mesle, Process-Relational Philosophy: An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead..Templeton Foundation Press, 2008,p.8
[18]Yijie Tang, “Reflective Western Scholars View Traditional Chinese Culture.” The People’s Daily. February 4, 2005.
[19]Weifu Wu, “A Postmodern China in the Making.”Process Studies Vol.43, Issue 1 (Spring/Summer 2014):68-74.
[20]Fubin Yang, “The Influence of Whitehead’s Thought on the Chinese Academy,” Process Studies 39 (Fall/Winter 2010): 342-9,
[21]Yijie Tang, “The Enlightenment and its Difficult Journey in China,” Wen HuiBao, November 14, 2011, http://theory.people.com.cn/n/2013/0110/c49165-20158762.html.
[22] Simon Denyer ,"The walls are closing in: China finds new ways to tighten Internet controls."Washington Post September 27, 2017.
[23]Katie Fehrenbacher, "China is utterly and totally dominating solar panels,” Fortune, June 18, 2015.
[24]Katie Herzog, “Chinese Bike-Share Startup to Launch in Seattle Thursday.” Aug 15, 2017 http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/08/15/25350215/chinese-bikeshare-startup-to-launch-in-seattle-thursday
[25] Jeremy Rifkin“A key player in China and the EU's 'third industrial revolution' describes the economy of tomorrow”, Jul. 16, 2017, 1:13 PM http://www.businessinsider.com/jeremy-rifkin-interview-2017-6