Mr. Zhong Wen invited me to write a preface for his magnificent and wide-ranging work Confucius, and this immediately brought to my mind the idea of “the Light of the Third Phase of Chinese Civilization.”

The third phase of Chinese civilization is formed on the basis of the first phase—the indigenous Chinese civilization (a synthesis of Huaxia and the so-called “four barbarians”)—and the second phase—the Buddhist Chinese civilization (restructured under the influence of the Five Barbarians, the Western Regions, and India). It is the third phase: a Christian Chinese civilization, reshaped under the influence of Western Europe, Japan, and Russia.

Taking Mr. Zhong Wen’s extensively researched Confucius as an example: the figures prior to Confucius and Laozi—Nuwa, Fuxi, the Yan Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Kings Wen and Wu, and the Duke of Zhou—as well as those following Confucius and Laozi—Zengzi, Zisi, Mencius, Xunzi, Dong Zhongshu, Sima Qian, Yang Xiong, Zheng Xuan, and others—whether legendary or historical, all belong to the first phase of Chinese civilization, that is, China’s indigenous civilization before the introduction of Buddhism.

Later figures such as Wen Zhongzi, Han Yu, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, and Huang Zongxi belong to the second phase of Chinese civilization, which was shaped under the influence of Buddhism and Western-Region cultures. Figures from Zeng Guofan, Liang Qichao, Hu Shi, Ma Yifu, Xiong Shili, and Liang Shuming onward belong to the third phase of Chinese civilization, whose defining characteristic is the recognition of “Confucius and Jesus as one”, and which is deeply influenced by Christianity and Western civilization.

China’s several-thousand-year civilization has now entered its third phase. Arnold Toynbee merely perceived this broader historical trend. The Confucius and Laozi inherited and interpreted across these three phases are fundamentally different—each reinterpreted and reshaped according to the needs of its own era. How, then, could there ever be a fixed or final interpretation?

Even in Mr. Zhong Wen’s Confucius, we can see the integration of Christian elements—for example, Ode to Joy (music by Beethoven, lyrics by Zhong Wen). His discussion of the “core of Chinese civilization” also bears affinities with the ideas of American political scholars.

Confucius itself is a product of the third phase of Chinese civilization, integrating ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign elements—much like the Italian Renaissance, which did not merely exhume a completely failed zombie culture from the graves of Greece and Rome, but also laid a new foundation for subsequent Western civilization.

This is the cyclical growth of history, like the succession of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The Republic, The Spirit of the Laws, and The Social Contract are no exception—none can flourish eternally without decline.

As for Laozi, in 2016 I published Laozi’s Dao De Jing: Xie Xuanjun’s Revised and Upgraded Complete Edition (Volume 30 of The Complete Works of Xie Xuanjun), in which I explicitly stated that the Dao De Jing transmitted by Laozi is one of the most important classics of China and has exerted wide influence throughout the world. The Dao De Jing is not only philosophy; it is also a work of stratagems, political manipulation, and the ancestor of military thought.

However, I have discovered that the Dao De Jing is fundamentally ambiguous: every theory it presents can be argued in reverse with equal—or even greater—plausibility. Therefore, Laozi’s Dao De Jing can be reconstructed, “renewed,” and “upgraded” to better meet the needs of modern people. Such reconstruction and renewal precisely embody “the Light of the Third Phase of Chinese Civilization”—a light that comes from the True Light, which enlightens everyone who comes into the world.

“Heaven” has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of China, flowing through the nation’s blood. Popular expressions include “Heaven has eyes,” “submit to Heaven’s will,” praying for “blessings from the Heavenly Palace,” asking for “the Old Lord of Heaven’s protection,” and after death “returning to Heaven.” The Chinese exclamation “My Heaven!” carries the same meaning as the Western “My God!”

Five hundred years ago, the missionary Matteo Ricci already recognized that the Chinese concept of “Heaven” was equivalent to the Western concept of “God,” and that Confucius and Jesus were like brothers. The great Han-dynasty Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan stated plainly: “Shangdi is simply another name for Heaven.”

In my view, all of this manifests the Light of the Third Phase of Chinese Civilization. It is for this reason that I have written this preface for Confucius.

March 18, 2024
Philadelphia, United States