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Epilogue
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2010
Summary
More than a century and a half has passed since the First Opium War. During this time, China and Taiwan have rapidly modernized economically, culturally, and ideologically, while following separate paths. This is especially true since the communist victory in 1949. Modernization means changes at different levels. Economic, political, and social changes, which destabilized traditional cultures, have led to formations of new axiological systems. On the surface, these systems bear little resemblance to their respective pasts, although they may be haunted on deeper levels by what has happened historically. Since the formation of a cultural identity largely depends on how people view and relate to their cultural heritages, Chinese cultural identity, after several decades of political segregation between the mainland and Taiwan, has often taken different forms on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The expression “discourse of modernity” here includes various versions of Western enlightenment concepts. These concepts, especially social Darwinist theory, which were imported to China at the turn of the twentieth century, influenced modern Chinese thinkers across a vast ideological spectrum. During the first half of the century, the importation of these ideas triggered various revolutions and reforms (for example, the Nationalist Revolution in 1911 and the New Culture movement that soon followed). These revolutions and reforms brought a sea change to China and its culture(s). The Nationalist and Communist parties, as the two main political forces in China since the beginning of the twentieth century, have governed their respective territories with nearly opposite ideological agendas.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001