Social Sciences in China, 2024

Vol. 45, No. 3, 2024

 

Analysis of the Pacific Rim Austronesian Marine Civilization from a Cultural Exchange Perspective

(Abstract)

 

Tong Qingyan

 

Austronesian is the only large language family in the Pacific Rim Islands in the world. Its cultural continuity, which spans thousands of years, has attracted multi-disciplinary attention, thus becoming a major issue in exploration of the origin and development of human civilization. This paper shows that the Austronesians have utilized the human media identity of “nature users” to deal with maritime history and culture. In an “oral memory,” Austronesian people have turned the laws of nature into a visual memory language similar to that in comic books, thus giving myths, legends, and rituals “humanized and expanded media contents.” Their marine civilization developed in the course of socialization and features belief in and respect for nature. This process is a model of the continuity of a human civilization characterized by “human-nature interaction.” The marine civilization originating in the southeast coast of China is the foundation of the long history of Chinese civilization. This fine traditional Chinese culture that “complies with nature” presents the wisdom of China’s healthy development and integration with the world.

 

Keywords: Austronesians, media, Chinese civilization, culture