Learning from the Barbarians? Reflections on Chinese Identity and ‘Race’ in the Educational Context

Abstract

This paper takes a reflective look at the notions of identity, ‘race’ and ethnicity using a few ancient and modern Chinese ‘texts’. It begins with an examination of the reforms known as ‘adopting the costume of barbarian/foreign people and practicing mounted archery [hufuqishe]’ carried out by King Wuling 武靈王 (in reign 325–299 BCE) in 307 BCE as described in the Zhan Guo Ce 戰國策 and the Shiji 史記 by Sima Qian 司馬遷 (c.145-c.87 BCE). Its cultural and educational significance is then discussed in order to show how the issues faced by King Wuling are still relevant to the educational scene in the contemporary world. Some recent materials from Hong Kong school textbooks relating to the issues on identity and ‘race’ are then used to contrast and compare with the approach taken by King Wuling. This study argues that the inability to take a critical stance toward categories such as ‘race’ (zhongzu) risks perpetuating dated and ethically questionable mentalities. In addition, the importance of taking into consideration issues pertaining to purpose and evaluation in the context of education is highlighted.

Keywords:

• Chinese identity
• ‘race’
• zhongzu
• Shiji

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my gratitude to Chun-Kit Chui for kindly sharing his research findings on Hong Kong textbooks. In addition, I would like to thank Samantha Wray for her support and advice. This paper has also benefited from the useful and constructive comments of the anonymous reviewers.

Notes

1. In preparing my translation of the passages from the Shiji, I have consulted Han (2010), Pei, Sima, and Zhang (1982), Sima (1994) and Wang (1983). The Zhan Guo Ce (or Chan-kuo Ts’e) contains a version of King Wuling’s story and it has been translated into English (Crump, 1996, pp. 288–294).

2. For a discussion on the relationship between knowledge and what is teachable, see Holland (1980, pp. 10–25).

3. The fact that these concepts emerged in this particular context attests to the importance given to education in ancient China. In the essay ‘Record on the Subject of Education [學記 Xue Ji]’, which forms part of an early Confucian text known as the Liji (禮記), it is stated that: ‘Only if the Junzi can understand what is difficult and what is easy in perfecting learning and understand what is beautiful and ugly about it, then it is possible that the Junzi can use metaphor(s) to give a variety of examples [in teaching]. If the Junzi can use metaphor(s) to give a variety of examples [in teaching], then the Junzi can be a teacher. If the Junzi can be a teacher, then the Junzi can be a leader. If the Junzi can be a leader, then the Junzi can be a ruler. This is why learning to be a ruler starts from the teacher’. (My translation) See also the Analects 19.13 (Yang, 1958, p. 209): ‘Having fulfilled his duty, the official should study. Having fulfilled his duty, the scholar should become an official. [仕而優則學，學而優則仕]’ The intimate connection between the positions of the official (shi 仕) and the scholar (shi 士) can be discerned from the characters themselves: they share a common radical and they are homophones.

4. Cf. Nevo (2013, p. 270): ‘If the public is the medium through which relations of power are regulated in a given society, and there are better and worse ways of organizing such relations, society is clearly benefitted by scholarly disciplines in which the terms of these power relations are subordinated to a critical study, and in which the human reality of such power relations is expressed and clarified in a participatory, non-objectifying manner’.

5. The story of King Wuling, as recounted in the Shiji and Zhan Guo Ce, can be seen as a clear case of an agon: ‘The agon, or conflict, has been so central a feature of narrative throughout its recorded history that it is reasonable to assume that it serves important cultural purposes. One very plausible possibility is that the representation of conflict in narrative provides a way for a culture to talk to itself about, and possibly resolve, conflicts that threaten to fracture it (or at least make living difficult). In this view of narrative, its conflicts are not solely about particular characters (or entities). Also in conflict, and riding on top of the conflict of narrative entities, are conflicts regarding values, ideas, feelings, and ways of seeing the world. There is, of course, no culture without many such conflicts. Narrative may, then, play an important social role as a vehicle for making the case for one side or another in a conflict, or for negotiating the claims of the opposing sides, or simply for providing a way for people to live with a conflict that is irreconcilable (as, for example, the conflict between the desire to live and the knowledge that we have to die)’ (Abbott, 2008, p. 55).

6. Cf. Cobley (2014, p. 37): ‘[…] narrative does not reveal universality; rather it has been instrumental in the promotion of difference, helping to preserve some memories and not others, and helping to bind some people into a given community and not others. In fact, narrative has sometimes assisted in upholding an absolutist conception of cultural difference, especially in its contribution to the concept of tradition’.

7. For a recent look at ‘race’ in the Chinese context, see Cheng (2011). The question whether ‘race’ has a sound basis in biology is an on-going one. On this issue, see, for example, Glasgow (2010) and Sesardic (2010).

8. The reference to Emperors Yan and Huang (‘Yellow’) appeared recently in Ma Ying-jeou’s speech during his meeting with Xi Jinping on 7 November 2015.

9. For a discussion of zhongzu in the Chinese context, see Dikötter (2002).

10. See Nussbaum (1997), especially Chapter Four.