CCR has treated Chinese civilization across multiple registers: as a Confucian civilizational system (v80, v87), as a comparative case in studying the Needham Question and the Great Divergence (v71, v76), as a vanguard civilization in the early 21st century (v80, v89), and as a comparator with Rome and the Han Empire (v79, v84).

Yuanhui Shi’s “Contemporary Contexts of Confucianism” in v80 examines how Confucianism continues to shape East Asian civilization in the present day, with attention to both Chinese and Korean contexts. In v87, “Two Modes of Cyclicality in the Ancient World” by an author engaging S.J. Tambiah compares the Indo-Hellenic and Confucian conceptions of cyclical time. Andrew Targowski’s “From Globalization Waves to Global Civilization” in v70 and v71 traces the role of China as a civilizational pole in globalization theory.

In v89, “North China: Beijing, Kaifeng and Taiyuan” examines Qing grain price data (1736-1842) as a window into the spatial market structure of late imperial China, using network analysis, the Louvain and Spinglass clustering algorithms, and G. William Skinner’s physiographic macroregions. Erich Gruen’s Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean and Philip Ball’s The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China are reviewed in this issue.

Source summaries:

  • v66 (Spring 2012) — Ruan Wei, “Geo-Civilization,” sets Chinese civilization in geo-civilizational framework. (v66)
  • v67 (Fall 2012) — Toby Huff, “Health Insurance in the U.S.: Romneycare and Obamacare,” includes comparison of Western and Chinese civilizations in Table 3. (v67)
  • v74 (Spring 2016) — Theodor Damian, “A Comparative Study of Han and Tibetan Views of Death.” (v74)
  • v79 (Fall 2018) — Comparison of Rome and the Han Empires across pre-expansion geopolitical environments, expansionary wars, annexation, colonization. (v79)
  • v80 (Spring 2019) — Tseggai Isaac, “In China’s Vanguard Civilization: Is there Shelter for the Third World?”; Yuanhui Shi, “Contemporary Contexts of Confucianism.” (v80)
  • v84 (Spring 2021) — “Do All Roads Lead to Rome? Exploring the Underlying Logics of Similar Policies and Practices of Recruiting Barbarian Soldiers in Roman and Early Chinese Empires.” (v84)
  • v87 (Fall 2022) — S.J. Tambiah-style comparison of cyclicality in the ancient world. (v87)
  • v89 (Fall 2023) — “North China: Beijing, Kaifeng and Taiyuan” applies network analysis to Qing grain price data. (v89)