Tianxia Studies: A Narrative Review of Domestic, East Asian, and Euro-American Scholarship

Abstract

The Tianxia concept is central to traditional Chinese political thought. It carries deep meanings such as great unity and the Hua-Yi distinction. Despite growing multidisciplinary interest, a systematic review of the research landscape remains lacking. This paper adopts a narrative review method to synthesize domestic and international scholarship on the Tianxia concept. Domestically, three research paradigms emerge. The first is a philosophical construction led by Zhao Tingyang. The second is historical contextualization, represented by Ge Zhaoguang and Liu Zifan. The third is institutional practice with ethnological perspectives, advanced by Liu Xiaodong, Xie Bo, Xi Jing, and Yang Nianqun. Internationally, Japanese scholarship shows three intellectual traditions: cultural homology, rupture theory, and Japan-centered discourses. A Marxist-influenced Asiatic discourse shifted from critique to colonial justification. Korean scholarship centers on the Little China ideology, evolving from admiring China to honoring Ming and resisting Qing. Euro-American research has two main orientations: theoretical dialogue with International Relations and critical/hegemonic analysis. The paper finds that these diverse interpretations reflect each scholar's national intellectual traditions. It calls for an open and inclusive attitude toward this diversity, which aligns with the Chinese vision of a community with a shared future for mankind.