As China is becoming a major power in the world, thinkers and writers are debating the implications of a Chinese vision of world order. The classical idea of tianxia has become the focus of debate in scholarship and public discourse. Literally meaning “all under heaven,” tianxia refers to a system of governance held together by a regime of culture and values that transcends racial andgeographical boundaries (more on this later). This new interest in tianxia calls to mind a similar focus half a century ago. In The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Relations, edited by John K. Fairbank in 1968, scholars examined imperial China’s trade and ritualistic relations with the adjacent regions of East and Southeast Asia under the rubric of the “Chinese culture area.” In his introduction, Fairbank claims that the Chinese concept and practice of an international order flourished over two millennia “until the Western powers intruded into East Asia in the mid-nineteenth century.” 1 Such investigations of a Chinese world vision, he cautions, would have to confront the challenge of the concepts of nation, sovereignty, and equality of states, which are ill equipped to deal with the body of thought and practice associated with tianxia. This challenge persists today and reflects the confrontation of two worldviews.

随着中国成为世界上的一个大国，思想家和作家们正在争论中国人对世界秩序的看法。“天下第一”的经典思想成为学术界和公众话语中争论的焦点。字面意思是“天下一家”，指的是一个由超越种族和地理界限的文化和价值观体系所维系的治理体系（稍后将详细介绍）。对天夏的这种新兴趣让人想起半个世纪前的一个类似焦点。在约翰·K·费尔班克（John K.Fairbank）1968年主编的《中国世界秩序：传统的中国对外关系》中，学者们以“中国文化区”为标题，考察了帝国主义中国与东亚和东南亚邻近地区的贸易和仪式关系，费尔班克声称，中国的国际秩序概念和实践在两千多年前一直繁荣，“直到19世纪中叶西方列强入侵东亚。”1他警告说，对中国世界观的这种调查将不得不面对国家、主权等概念的挑战，以及国家平等，这些国家没有能力处理与天下有关的思想和实践。这一挑战在今天依然存在，反映了两种世界观的对抗。最近的学术研究继续解决西方州际概念与中国世界观之间的差距。他对国际关系中根深蒂固的均势模式提出异议，认为东亚国家和平共处的条件是外交、礼仪和等级制度。