Nothing new under heaven

　　天下之事，古已有之

　　What philosophers thought when China was theworld and how it can help China now

　　昔日中国一统天下之时，哲学家们的所思所想，及其对今日中国的裨益

　　WHEN Henry Kissinger was paying his pioneering visits to China in the early 1970s, the countrywas in the grip of a campaign to criticise both Lin Biao, a recently dead and disgracedCommunist leader, and Confucius. As was later remarked, it was as if the American press werevilifying Richard Nixon and Aristotle. But Chinas own pastthe 5,000 years of history of whichits leaders often like to remind foreign interlocutorsis a constant presence in its domesticpolitics and its view of the world.

　　当亨利?基辛格在1970年代初开启访华的破冰之旅的时候，这个国家尚沉浸在批林批孔运动之中。就像后来评论所指出的那样，这种情况就好像美国报刊在诽谤尼克松和亚里士多德。但是中国自己的历史其领导人在谈话中总是喜欢向外国人提及的 5000年历史在中国国内政治和中国对世界的看法中，一直发挥着恒久不衰的影响。

　　Yet Chinas recent rise has taken place in a world organised along principles devised elsewhere,by foreign parvenus. Many Chinese chafe at the common Western notion that multipartydemocracy is the form of government towards which all other systems evolve. But somescholars also resent another European invention: the nation-state, the basis of moderndiplomacy. For years they have struggled to develop a distinctively Chinese theory ofinternational relations. This is almost a matter of national pride, even chauvinism: As a rapidlyrising major power, it is unacceptable that China does not have its own theory, wrote QiuYanping, a senior Communist Party man, in an article in 2009.

　　而近些年来中国崛起所处的大背景却是一个遵循外国新贵所创设的原则而建构起来的世界。西方人通常认为，多党民主是所有其他制度最终要逐渐发展到的政体，而许多中国人却对这种观念颇为恼怒。但一些学者也对欧洲另一项创造深表不安，那就是民族国家现代外交的基石。多年以来，他们一直殚精竭虑地阐发中国特色的国际关系理论，毕竟这几乎事关民族自豪感，甚至民族沙文主义：中国作为一个快速崛起的大国，绝不能没有自己的理论，2009年时一个名叫邱延平的共产党高官在一篇文章中如是写道。

　　So attempts to apply precepts devised by ancient Chinese philosophers to the modern worldare in vogue. One popular revival is the notion of tianxia, or all under heaven. This datesback to the golden age of classical Chinese philosophyof Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and therestin the warring states period before Chinas unification in 221BC under the first Qinemperor. Tianxia is widely understood as a unified world dominated by one country , to which neighbours and those beyond look for guidance and paytribute.

　　因此将中国古代哲学家创设的原则应用于现代世界之风气蔚为一时。时下有个词正重新流行起来，它叫做天下，或者叫普天之下。这个词要回溯到公元前221年中国第一个皇帝秦始皇统一中国之前的战国时期，在那一时期以孔子、孟子、老子以及其他诸子为代表中国古典哲学迎来黄金时代。天下被广泛理解为由一个国家所主导的统一世界，在这一世界中，该国的邻国和远邦要向它寻求指导和进行朝贡。

　　According to Zhao Tingyang, a Beijing-basedphilosopher known for his book of a few years agoon tianxia, the concept is based on the vision of anancient sage-king, the Duke of Zhou. The dukerealised that for Zhou, a small state, to exercisesway over other feuding states, he could not relyon force of arms. It had instead to draw on its ownmoral and political example. As Mr Zhao updates this,tianxia is a Utopian vision of universal harmony,unattainable, he concedes, for 200-300 years, whereeverybody opts into a system of global government.

　　北京的赵汀阳是一个哲学家，以其几年前所写的一部关于天下的书而闻名遐迩，他表示天下这个概念是以古代一位圣君周公的愿景为基础的。周公认识到，对于周国这个小国来说，要想统治其他番邦，就不能诉诸武力，而必须转而求之于自己在道德和政治上的表率作用。天下 如果用赵翻译成的现代术语来说，就是一种普遍和谐的乌托邦式的愿景，他承认200-300年内是实现不了的， 因为现在人人都选择一种全球政府的体系。

　　Nothing new under heaven

　　天下之事，古已有之

　　What philosophers thought when China was theworld and how it can help China now

　　昔日中国一统天下之时，哲学家们的所思所想，及其对今日中国的裨益

　　WHEN Henry Kissinger was paying his pioneering visits to China in the early 1970s, the countrywas in the grip of a campaign to criticise both Lin Biao, a recently dead and disgracedCommunist leader, and Confucius. As was later remarked, it was as if the American press werevilifying Richard Nixon and Aristotle. But Chinas own pastthe 5,000 years of history of whichits leaders often like to remind foreign interlocutorsis a constant presence in its domesticpolitics and its view of the world.

　　当亨利?基辛格在1970年代初开启访华的破冰之旅的时候，这个国家尚沉浸在批林批孔运动之中。就像后来评论所指出的那样，这种情况就好像美国报刊在诽谤尼克松和亚里士多德。但是中国自己的历史其领导人在谈话中总是喜欢向外国人提及的 5000年历史在中国国内政治和中国对世界的看法中，一直发挥着恒久不衰的影响。

　　Yet Chinas recent rise has taken place in a world organised along principles devised elsewhere,by foreign parvenus. Many Chinese chafe at the common Western notion that multipartydemocracy is the form of government towards which all other systems evolve. But somescholars also resent another European invention: the nation-state, the basis of moderndiplomacy. For years they have struggled to develop a distinctively Chinese theory ofinternational relations. This is almost a matter of national pride, even chauvinism: As a rapidlyrising major power, it is unacceptable that China does not have its own theory, wrote QiuYanping, a senior Communist Party man, in an article in 2009.

　　而近些年来中国崛起所处的大背景却是一个遵循外国新贵所创设的原则而建构起来的世界。西方人通常认为，多党民主是所有其他制度最终要逐渐发展到的政体，而许多中国人却对这种观念颇为恼怒。但一些学者也对欧洲另一项创造深表不安，那就是民族国家现代外交的基石。多年以来，他们一直殚精竭虑地阐发中国特色的国际关系理论，毕竟这几乎事关民族自豪感，甚至民族沙文主义：中国作为一个快速崛起的大国，绝不能没有自己的理论，2009年时一个名叫邱延平的共产党高官在一篇文章中如是写道。

　　So attempts to apply precepts devised by ancient Chinese philosophers to the modern worldare in vogue. One popular revival is the notion of tianxia, or all under heaven. This datesback to the golden age of classical Chinese philosophyof Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and therestin the warring states period before Chinas unification in 221BC under the first Qinemperor. Tianxia is widely understood as a unified world dominated by one country , to which neighbours and those beyond look for guidance and paytribute.

　　因此将中国古代哲学家创设的原则应用于现代世界之风气蔚为一时。时下有个词正重新流行起来，它叫做天下，或者叫普天之下。这个词要回溯到公元前221年中国第一个皇帝秦始皇统一中国之前的战国时期，在那一时期以孔子、孟子、老子以及其他诸子为代表中国古典哲学迎来黄金时代。天下被广泛理解为由一个国家所主导的统一世界，在这一世界中，该国的邻国和远邦要向它寻求指导和进行朝贡。

　　According to Zhao Tingyang, a Beijing-basedphilosopher known for his book of a few years agoon tianxia, the concept is based on the vision of anancient sage-king, the Duke of Zhou. The dukerealised that for Zhou, a small state, to exercisesway over other feuding states, he could not relyon force of arms. It had instead to draw on its ownmoral and political example. As Mr Zhao updates this,tianxia is a Utopian vision of universal harmony,unattainable, he concedes, for 200-300 years, whereeverybody opts into a system of global government.

　　北京的赵汀阳是一个哲学家，以其几年前所写的一部关于天下的书而闻名遐迩，他表示天下这个概念是以古代一位圣君周公的愿景为基础的。周公认识到，对于周国这个小国来说，要想统治其他番邦，就不能诉诸武力，而必须转而求之于自己在道德和政治上的表率作用。天下 如果用赵翻译成的现代术语来说，就是一种普遍和谐的乌托邦式的愿景，他承认200-300年内是实现不了的， 因为现在人人都选择一种全球政府的体系。