Philosophical Foundations of Chinese State Identity: The History of Formation and Modern Transformations

Abstract

The article presents the results of a retrospective analysis of the philosophical foundations of Chinese state identity, conceptualized in the idea of “Zhongguo” (“The Middle Kingdom”). The study aims to trace the evolu-tion of this concept from the sacred-geographical ideas during the Western Zhou period to contemporary ideo-logical constructs of the People’s Republic of China. The methodological framework relies on the principles of historicism, systemic approach, historical-philosophical reconstruction, and comparative analysis. The study identifies three fundamental dimensions of archaic identity: sacred-geographical (the center as a source of cosmic order), political (the hierarchical model of “Tianxia”), and the ethno-cultural (the opposition between “Huaxia” and barbarians). During the classical period, Confucianism consolidated the ethical-ritual foundations, Legalism established the institutional apparatus, while Daoism and Buddhism enriched the doctrine with uni-versalist meanings. In the modern era, the concept has transformed into “socialism with Chinese characteris-tics”, the idea of “the Chinese Dream”, and the concept of a “Community of Shared Future for Mankind”. It is argued that in the contemporary discourse, there is not so much rejection of the cultural superiority model as its reformatting into a model of cultural-political leadership, where universalist rhetoric is combined with an em-phasis on the exceptionalism of Chinese civilization.