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The evolution of tianxia cosmology and its philosophical implications |
Liu Junping |
School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China |
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Abstract The terminology tianxia has both historical evolution and cultural and philosophical connotations. This concept not only denotes a geographical and spatial meaning, but also implies the moral construct of metaphysics. A systematic study of its historical and cultural repercussions can show that the evolution of the meaning tianxia not only embodies the cosmological construction, moral belief and self-identity of the Chinese nation, but also manifests the historical processes of modern China evolving from tianxia to a modern nation-state. Meanwhile, the deconstruction of the tianxia cosmology has shattered the old Chinese concept of a single united tianxia, or the whole world under one Heaven. Also, Confucian China has been increasingly losing its vitality and strong hold on the people, while the concept of nation-state has gained its way into people s consciousness, which has added more diversity and open-mindedness to the concept of tianxia.
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Issue Date: 05 December 2006
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