Abstract
By tracing the origin and evolution of Chinese nationalism, this paper finds that the dialectical relationship between the Chinese “self ” and the foreign “other ” has provided the cultural-institutional context for the construction of its national identity. The positional change of the Chinese actor in the self-other interaction — resulting from the institutional shift from the tianxia order to the Westphalian system — and the consequent national humiliation have been embedded in the Chinese collective memory and given rise to the consensual norms ingrained in the national identity. Viewed through the lens of political sociology and identity politics, China’s tenacious struggle for national rejuvenation can be construed as a social practice guided by these memory-encoded social norms. Due to the protracted and ambivalent nature of the state’s purposive action in attaining great-power status on the international stage, the confidence of the resurgent state is compromised by an acute sense of frustration.
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