A prominent cultural critic has called on Chinese scholars to deepen their knowledge of neighboring countries, saying it's shameful that so many people know more about the West than about other Asian countries.
Chang Jiang, a cultural scholar and commentator, was impressed by the deep knowledge of China among other Asian researchers at a recent forum in South Korea, and felt ashamed that he couldn't reciprocate with the same level of understanding of their nations. Chang said this is common among Chinese scholars, who are increasingly active in English-language academia but know little about other cultures.
In his article in The Beijing News on September 2, Chang attributed this to “arrogance” and “prejudice” among Chinese scholars, whom he said often saw smaller cultures as "peripheral" and unimportant. He added that the dominance and ease of English-language research in most subjects also played a role.
Chang argued that Chinese scholars need to shift from a bipolar vision of a world divided between China and the West to the idea of a global "social network" where any two cultures can interact. Only when academics treat every culture equally can they develop the "modesty and vision" that true scholars need, he wrote.
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