Plato Goes to China: The Greek Classics and Chinese Nationalism

by Shadi Bartsch

The surprising story of how Greek classics are being pressed into use in contemporary China to support the regime’s political agenda

As improbable as it may sound, an illuminating way to understand today’s China and how it views the West is to look at the astonishing ways Chinese intellectuals are interpreting―or is it misinterpreting?―the Greek classics. In Plato Goes to China , Shadi Bartsch offers a provocative look at Chinese politics and ideology by exploring Chinese readings of Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, and other ancient writers. She shows how Chinese thinkers have dramatically recast the Greek classics to support China’s political agenda, diagnose the ills of the West, and assert the superiority of China’s own Confucian classical tradition.

In a lively account that ranges from the Jesuits to Xi Jinping, Bartsch traces how the fortunes of the Greek classics have changed in China since the seventeenth century. Before the Tiananmen Square crackdown, the Chinese typically read Greek philosophy and political theory in order to promote democratic reform or discover the secrets of the success of Western democracy and science. No longer. Today, many Chinese intellectuals use these texts to critique concepts such as democracy, citizenship, and rationality. Plato’s “Noble Lie,” in which citizens are kept in their castes through deception, is lauded; Aristotle’s Politics is seen as civic brainwashing; and Thucydides’s criticism of Athenian democracy is applied to modern America.

What do antiquity’s “dead white men” have left to teach? By uncovering the unusual ways Chinese thinkers are answering that question, Plato Goes to China opens a surprising new window on China today.

Genres: China, Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Politics

304 pages, Hardcover

Published January 10, 2023

Reviews

[Brady Turpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this was an interesting book. Dr. Bartsch essentially spent years learning Chinese to write this book, which is what I would consider dedication. She is quite clever in her critiques and explanations of how Chinese intellectuals have interacted with and used Greek classical texts for their own purposes, which made the text surprisingly enjoyable to read. I learned a lot.

I would also agree with Dr. Bartsh's claim that this book leaves many questions to be answered (and asked in some cases). It felt like an introductory text of sorts into this subject and more scholarship needs to be done. Well worth the read.

[Thomas Noriega · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is frustrating by its very nature. Bartsch is attempting to narrow a massive range of Chinese reactions to Plato and the classics into a short, coherent book, and is sometimes overwhelmed by the necessary scale of such an endeavor. There is just so much to discuss, from the formation and dissolution of diverse academic schools of thought to opinion pieces and blog posts that range from the curious to the demagogic. It is frustrating to come away from this book without a clear picture of China's interpretation of the western classical canon, but Bartsch skillfully redirects that disappointment into a call for understanding. By identifying how ancient philosophy has been read and misread to edify national myths on both sides of the Pacific we can strive to be more careful in how we employ historical narratives. By pointing out false equivalencies made between Plato and Confucius we can compare them without dissembling. In twenty years, I hope to look back at this book as the start of a new conversation about the global place of the classics, not its mystifying end.

[Doug Orleans · Rating 2 out of 5]

[I read this for a book club.]

I went into this book thinking it was going to show how Plato and other Greek philosophers influenced Chinese thinkers in the various eras of their government. But it ends up being a detailed survey of all the ways Chinese writers have referenced Plato et al for their own ends, often in contradictory ways. It's easy to pick and choose from the classics to support any point you want to make, and that's exactly what they did (and still do). To me this is a much less interesting subject. The book is fine given that subject, I just probably wouldn't have voted for it to be our book club pick if I'd known that's what it's about. Also it perhaps assumes of its audience too much knowledge of Plato's writing; I haven't read any though I've generally read enough about it to get the gist, and I mostly understood the points from context here too, but I might have appreciated a bit more explanation in that respect.

[Brent Pinkall · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has been quite heavily involved in classical education in China, I found this book refreshing. I've often been frustrated and puzzled by many Chinese interpretations of Western classics, and Bartsch capably accounts for many of these interpretations. I've especially been puzzled with the Chinese fascination over Leo Strauss, and so I was relieved to find Bartsch dedicate an entire chapter to this. I also appreciate that he tries to engage with multiple (often contrary) perspectives on the Western classics, for example showing how some Chinese interpret Plato as harmonious with Confucius and others as diametrically opposed to him. Unfortunately, his analysis is still shallow at many points, and I especially cringed at the way he characterized the 16th-century Jesuit missionaries' attempt to interpret Chinese classics. He dismisses their interpretations as incorrect and driven solely by religious zeal for converts, which I don't think is fair. But this is still a fascinating read for anyone interested in Chinese classical education, and I only wish there was another book like it explaining the various Chinese interpretations of CHINESE classics.

[Michael Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadi Bartsch presents an enlightening introduction to a field that deserves further stuy. Classics and Chinese nationalism, on the outset, seem like two fields that has no overlap, but the connection between these two subjects can be traced back to the fall of the Qing dynasty. In an effort to revalue the Chinese political structure, academics like Liang Qichao turned to Plato and Aristotle for inspirations, interpreting(or intentionally misinterpreting) their works as a push for a democratic reform, which evidently failed. After 1989, Classics are still studied; however, this time through a Straussian perspective to point out the deviation of modern western civilization from their classical roots, while at the same time highlighting the agreement between Classics and modern China.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. First time in years that I couldn't put down a work of non-fiction. Author is rare in being a professor in Ancient Greek and Roman Classics, but also a scholar in Chinese language, history and philosophy. The various themes are presented in a factual, non-judgemental way, even if one discerns a melancholy at the recent turn to more authoritarianism. I was moved to read this book upon finishing her translation of the Aeneid, which I also recommend.

[Major Kusanagi · Rating 3 out of 5]

More descriptive than analytic, and I am tempted to suggest Bartsch's refusal to quote ongoing scholarship and conversations with classics scholars hindered her argument and instead presents disconnected but interesting anecdotes