I've finished a manuscript for a second novel. That took up much of my time for the last few months. Now I have more time as I wait for some reviews of it to come in. It has a connection to traditional China, not always obvious--but more on that later.

First, some thoughts about contemporary China. When you think of how the nation was a disaster and a wreckage after World War II, it is amazing that the country is now on the verge of overtaking the U.S. in some aspects of world leadership, and has already overtaken us in others, like manufacturing. What is amazing is the speed at which this happened. Even Deng Hsiaoping, around 1980, predicted that China would overtake the U.S., but only in 2050. How modest!

That China should be the leading country of the world, however, is not a recent idea, but a very old one, over two thousand years old. They have always called themselves Zhongguo, "The Middle Country," meaning that they are central and all the other countries were ranged around the periphery, tributary nations, or pejoratively, "barbarians." Down to the 18th century, China carried on trade under a fiction, as if it were part of the tribute system. Trade implies some kind of equality between the trading parties, and that the Chinese government could not allow. They explained it this way: all the nations sent their goods to China as "tribute," and of course, in his largess, the Emperor would send "gifts" in return, for the ruler of the Central Kingdom could not be outdone in generosity.

The implications of this grandiose self concept of China have had a powerful influence on Chinese political thinking in recent times and continues to do so today. I'll discuss some examples next blog.