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“Two great civilisations with rich cultures and long histories. Overland and maritime trade. The flow of muslin, silk, pepper, gems, Ferghana horses and ideas, relics, and religious materials. Yet these two countries never had a direct trade divided as they are by the formidable Himalayas. How do they perceive each other today? Let's explore.”
Illustration by The Geostrata
The premise of Ambassador Shyam Saran's book is to provide a framework as to how Chinese behaviour today has been shaped by its major historical currents, and unique philosophical and cultural traditions, which further offers insights into their geopolitical ambitions and worldview.
The readers are first presented with the chronology of Chinese history as well as the corresponding historical developments in the subcontinent, providing a bird's eye view into the majestic work that follows. The author has meticulously sketched out the entire history of China right up to the present times, with extensive details about the administrations of different dynasties, and the development of art and culture, all the while offering rich insights into Chinese perception of themselves, their lens of looking at India and the world.
China has a notion of it being a civilised Middle Kingdom which is explained as we follow the trajectory of different dynasties.
We can understand it through the historical elements of the so-called tribute system, Confucian values of hierarchy in society (applied to global relations as well), language, Buddhism and maritime trade, which contributed to propagating a notion of its centrality.
As history proceeds, we are also presented with the affinities and differences between Indian and Chinese historical experiences and cultural nuances related to languages and poetry, among other things. The erudite author also explains both countries' spatial and ideal notions regarding their geographies and cosmology. An important difference between the two, as explained by the career diplomat, is that China is a visual culture (Chinese script) and India is an aural one (spoken word, musical notes, mantras).
The value attached to the written word, with rich historical records painstakingly compiled over centuries offers a prism to how China sees the world. Were it not for the travel accounts of Fa Hien and Xuan Zang, our understanding of ancient India would have been incomplete, and also would we have known about the diplomatic missions between China and the Malabar kingdoms?
This difference also manifests in nationalistic responses in the 20th century, with British historians and archaeologists reviving the great Indian past.
Citing extensive research, the author shows Buddhist practices have a pervading influence on Chinese material culture, which can't be reconciled with the notion of China being the centre of civilisational excellence.
India was perceived as the Tianzhu (Heavenly Jewel), Xitian (Western paradise) a sacred place with intellectual refinement, sophisticated culture and centres of learning.
Buddhism as a theme is extensively explored in this book, with a rich history of cultural exchanges, great sages and monks, China’s response to Buddhism, Sinicization of the same through centres of pilgrimage and new schools as well as the expansion to Japan all the while highlighting how such influences travelled from India to the east. China created an alternate Buddhist universe, to feed into its centrality concept and extend its influence on East Asia.
Even today, Chinese discourse is conducted through historical analogies. History revision with regards to Chiang Kai-shek; hard power use of Zheng He's maritime legacy to legitimize its historical claims to the entire South China Sea, the narratives around the Silk Roads when China was at the periphery of prosperous trade routes crisscrossing Central Asia right upto the Mediterranean are some of the examples of how China creates narratives. If not countered and critically analyzed, the Chinese push these narratives as legitimate facts.
In deriding India as a slave country under British rule, China had selective amnesia about the foreign origins of the Mongol Yuan and Manchu Qing dynasties.
While staking claim to the territorial expanse of the Qing including Tibet, and Xinjiang, the undercurrent of Han nationalism and that of alien rule is smoothened over to represent a continuity, legitimizing the current dispensation's entitlement to these areas.
Of course, there were dense networks of trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries as the author explains. While India was crucial to the Tang dynasty’s caravan trade overland, it also mediated the trade between the Roman empire and ancient China during the Song dynasty.
Contrary to what is widely believed, India has had a more pervasive cultural influence on Southeast Asia, with its institutions, religious beliefs, literature, Art and culture which is evidenced by the great empires in mainland and maritime Asia inspired by India (Champa, Srivijiya empires).
Ambassador Saran also meticulously explores the complex and contested relationship between Tibet and China, in-depth examination of historical accounts, presenting the genesis of the issue. Tibet’s history, along with the predominant influence of Tantric Buddhism from India is also explained in detail as also the Chinese claims to Tibet ‘since ancient times’ are soundly debunked. This crucial chapter offers rich insights for India to play its Tibet card right.
While offering the historical perspective, the author cautions that a linear approach applied mechanistically can't be used to understand today's China. Leninist one-party state, with flexibility and adaptability, is a modern construct, accordingly, the origins of the CCP, its crucial party resolutions, and Xi Jinping’s policies and visions are analyzed with templates of the past serving as useful guides.
Image by Bloomberg
However, it was during the colonial period that Chinese perceptions of Indians took hold and still guide their present behaviour. Translations of British colonial literature, the use of Indian soldiers by the British for their depredations of China during the ‘century of humiliation’ broadly shaped popular opinions about India. China, now, also views India through the lens of its relations with the US and not as a country with independent agency, which could ultimately be used to launch a Western assault on China.
The notion of hierarchy in the global order is also on display in present times, with China viewing itself as a superpower, expecting countries with diminished rankings to be in its deference, and undertaking punitive actions if anyone crosses the line.
The power asymmetry between India and China is perhaps the reason behind China's insensitivity to Indian interests.
It seems only logical that China should claim its rightful place in the emerging order based on its present economic-military achievements, and its advancements in technology, not through pedalling narratives about an imagined past. On dealing with the China challenge, Ambassador Saran swears by India's constitutional values, diversity and plurality of culture, its human resources assimilating and ultimately developing into a knowledge and technology hub.
This book is an absolute delight for history enthusiasts, with extensive historical records and accounts, offering a one-stop detailed account of Chinese history, its relations with India and equally interesting are the author’s anecdotal and personal experiences.
As we move forward, both countries need to shed their prejudices and understand each other better, so that in future there's a possibility, as the author suggests, for them to collaborate on the rich store of Buddhist manuscripts in China!
BY ADITI CHOUDHARY
TEAM GEOSTRATA
The book is a timely reminder of the need to be aware of China's historical context while analysing its actions and goals as a powerful global player. Wonderfully insightful review!
Loved the review!!!!