Thinking through tianxia: An old/new heuristic for world higher education

Abstract

<p>Ancient China was the source of two major ideas about the order of large human spaces. First, tianxia or ‘all under heaven', the inclusive and cosmopolitan world as a whole, with no exterior, and governance on the basis of shared values and benefits, which influenced thinking in the Western Zhou dynasty(1047-771 BCE). Second, the centralized nation-state emerged in the Qin dynasty(221-206 BCE). Both strands run through Chinese history. Tianxia varies between world-centered and China-centered approaches. Since the Qin, though the nation-state has been exerting a stronger influence, tianxia remains to be the method of conceiving the world level and impacts state thinking. In the last twenty years, the discussion of tianxia has revived, especially through Zhao Tingyang, primarily stimulated by globalization and the need to understand relations beyond the nation-state. As such, tianxia has the potential to fill an important gap in higher education theories and practices because of its spatiality and its focus on the relational values that maximize universal benefit in a diverse higher education setting. The paper reviews the different strands of discussion of tianxia, ancient and modern, and develops a tianxia higher education heuristic for interpreting and developing higher education and knowledge. The conclusion summarizes eight principles that could be the basis for agreement by diverse organizations and persons in a tianxia world of higher education.<br></p>

当今世界，关于人类社会中空间秩序的两大重要思想起源于中国 : 其一是“天下”思想，它将无所不包的世界看作一个没有边界的整体，遵循以共同的价值观和福祉为基础的治理理念。“天下”深刻影响了西周时期的思维观念。另一重要思想则是诞生于秦朝时期的中央集权和民族国家理念。这两种思想源流贯穿了整个中国历史。“天下”思想在以世界为中心和以中国为中心的路径之间不断变化。自秦朝以来，虽然民族国家的思想一直发挥着相对更强的作用，但是“天下”思想依然是构建世界体系的方法，对民族国家的理念产生着影响。在过去的20余年中，关于“天下”思想的讨论重新兴起。这一 方面源于赵汀阳等学者的影响，另一方面则是由于在全球化进程中，人们更需要从超越民族国家的视角来理解各种关系。因此，“天下”思想对于填补当下高等教育理论和实践中的空白具有重要意义。这是因为，“天下”思想不仅具有空间性，并且探讨了在 多样化的高等教育环境中如何最大化人类的共同福祉。本文梳理了古代和现代有关“天下”思想的讨论，并在此基础上提出了“天下”思想对于阐释和发展全球高等教育和科研的启发。本文在结论部分将其总结为八项原则。在“天下”思想影响下的全球高等教育中，这八项原则可以作为不同组织和个人达成共识的基础。