Between Tianxia and Westphalia: China Searches for Its Position in the World.

This paper traces and analyzes Chinese views about world order. More specifically, it describes the evolution of the Chinese conceptualization and practice regarding political governance and international relations. In contrast to the Westphalia system of nation-states that has dominated the world for the past few centuries, a Chinese traditional view of world order, the idea of tianxia (all under the heaven), was largely practiced in East Asia from the Qin Empire of the 3rd century BCE till the mid-19th century. Today, a visible revival of the idea is seen among a diverse group of Chinese worldviews. Struggling between its tianxia tradition and the prevailing Westphalia world order, the PRC (People's Republic of China) appears to be now at a major juncture searching for its position in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]