Chinese and Hindus: A Comparative Study of Cultural Traditions

As the two most populous countries in the world, China and India share a great deal of similarities. Among various recent comparative studies on China and India, cultural studies stand out, and these show distinct features. This is because while many once splendid ancient civilizations witnessed discontinuities in history and didn’t survive into modern times, only China and India possess lasting and uninterrupted traditions and cultural heritage. However, once people get to know more deeply about the two cultures, they will be surprised by their huge differences.

With a deep understanding of these similarities and differences, as well as great respects for the two cultures, Chinese scholar Shang Huipeng wrote the book Chinese and Hindus: A Comparative Study of Cultural Traditions. Divided into two, the book’s first part elaborates on topics including India’s religious traditions, fate of Buddhism in the two countries, and the two cultures’ aesthetic traditions. The latter part covers topics as clan groups, marriage, sex, and unity and separation of social groups in the two cultures. After analyzing major differences of the two cultures and the influences these differences have cast on social developments, Shang points out that in a sense, cultural traditions decide a country’s development path. “To address the common challenges that people on the planet are facing today, various existing development modes, including those of China and India, have their own limitations. To solve this problem, human beings need a new civilization. China and India, as two time-honored cultures, may provide some inspiration for the emergence of the new civilization,” Shang remarks.

Shang Huipeng, author of this book, is a professor with the School of International Studies, Peking University. He is mainly engaged in research on Japan, India’s society and culture, and comparative culturology. Among his many publications are Cultural History of India, Caste and Hindu Society, and Getting to Know Japanese.

AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:

DIFFERENT ROADS OF EAST AND WEST ON DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Back in the mid-17th century, the scientific and technological development of Chinese and Europeans were still more or less at the same level. However, why China and India, both boasting advanced scientific and technological developments in ancient times, stagnated in modern times? And, why modern science and technology blossomed in the West? Comparative studies on Chinese and Indian cultures help to answer the questions. Below we will analyze the issue from three aspects.

First, in terms of the general cultural and traditional values, both cultures place emphases on other fields rather than exploring nature. Discovering nature had never occupied an important place in the two time-honored cultures, which basically provided no ground for the birth of modern science. While the ethic-centered Chinese had a focus on dealings in the relationship among people, Indians went to another extreme. Supernaturalism-centered Indian culture placed emphasis on going beyond oneself and renouncing the world.

Second, in terms of thinking mode, while the Chinese lack imagination and enthusiasm to pursue abstract principles, Indians are too obsessed with illusions and are zealous about discovering abstract and general principles. The Chinese attach great importance to people’s real life. This explains why the Chinese didn’t probe scientific development more deeply although they had made many astonishing discoveries and the country had long had a scientific establishment. However, the Indians’ way of thinking tends to distance them from the objective world. They tend to refute the knowledge obtained from observations and experiments, which virtually provided no room for the establishment of modern science.

Third, in terms of the perspective of people and society, social formations of both China and India go against cultivation of independent thinking and action. Emergence and development of modern science presuppose the individual’s independent thinking. However, in both cultures, social relations are valued over individualism, and groups, rather than individuals, are emphasized. People are discouraged from independent thinking and action. The major social relation which restrained the Chinese people was kinship, which includes clanship. And in India, it was caste. In the West, the rise of the bourgeoisie, Renaissance and various reforms have created a cultural environment which encouraged scientific and technological development, while this kind of environment never obtained in China or India.