China Social Science Review

No.4, 2020

 

The Theory and Practice of Transcultural Undertakings: Starting with The Shadow of Monotheism

(Abstract)

 

Wang Qi

 

The French anthropologist Alain Le Pichon created the concept of “transculture” about forty years ago. He and the Chinese philosopher Zhao Tingyang conducted a transcultural dialogue through letters. The topics they discussed ranged from transcultural theory to the problems arising from the combination of monotheism and universalism, and thence to Confucian “benevolence” or “human-heartedness” as an ontological principle. This opened up many issues that merit further discussion. If Le Pichon’s transcultural theory is based on his “reciprocal anthropology” research paradigm, then Zhao’s is based on his ontological “being-with-others” facing the life world. This existential philosophy breaks down the view of truth as universal, inevitable, and, especially, as the one and only, and establishes the possibility of multiple truths, thus making it possible for participants in transcultural dialogue to pursue mutual reflections and contrasts by entering deeply into the context of the other, with a view to achieving the goal of cultural reconstruction. In practice, however, the profound difference between Chinese and Western cultural backgrounds and claims makes transcultural dialogue into an arduous Sisyphean task, unending yet full of courage and strength.