Modernity with Chinese characteristics

Poonam Surie's insightful book invites readers to join her quest to explore how China approaches modernity, leaving much to ponder, like a solitary reverie on a trek

Contemporary China: Tradition and Modernity

Author: Poonam Surie

Publisher: KW Publishers

Pages: 253

Price: Rs 1,380

This is an era where most books about China written by Indians have tended to address the geopolitical rivalry between the two nations or the even more vexed boundary issue. It is, therefore, a relief to read a work that covers a different and vastly wider canvas. This book is Poonam Surie’s attempt to look at the many dimensions on which China’s trajectory towards modernity intersects with its traditions and historical currents. For the author, such an endeavour is not new: This book is a logical follow-on from her two previous works where she has explored related themes. Her first book covered ancient Sino-Indian links and the return of religion to today’s China, and the second examined the modern revival of Confucianism in that country, whose official ruling ideology remains “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

To do full justice to a subject such as “Tradition and Modernity”, however, is a challenge. The conventional response would require treading the academic route, which would probably entail the production of several heavily-annotated volumes covering the history, philosophy, economy and sociology of China. That would not only be a time-consuming task, but the end product would be accessible to a select few, leaving aside the larger public. Ms Surie, therefore, has chosen a different approach, which works far better in carrying the reader along the journey of her narrative.

The first chapter titled “Confluence and Eternity” sets the keynote for the reflective tone of the book, much of which was written at the time when we all remained isolated in our homes while the Covid pandemic surged around us. In those fraught years, which brought us face to face with existential questions about life, Ms Surie put together her thoughts about living and travelling in China. Though conventionally arranged in chapter form, the book’s chapter headings are at best loosely indicative, allowing her to range as widely or as deeply as she chooses.

To repeat the metaphor of a journey, Ms Surie invites us to join in her personal quest to discover how today’s China approaches modernity. This journey is somewhat like a spiral ascent around a tall mountain. As we ascend, the terrain around us changes, as do the views below. We see that the “same” landscape when viewed from different heights and angles appears different, much like it does at various times of day or when we are fresh or tired.

Take the example of climate change and the environment, the subject of the book’s last chapter. Here, Ms Surie covers not only the anticipated impact of climate change on both China and India, but the civilisational logic of sacred groves and tree spirits; how behavioural economics values the environment, and traditional or developmental approaches to nature in the two countries, among other issues. But the environment has many more intersections, revealed in the other chapters. Urbanisation and its pressures on women appear in the chapter on gender. Chapter 13 is a fascinating discourse titled “Animal-Human Interface” on the emergence of zoonotic diseases (such as Covid) emanating from human encroachment into forested areas. Ms Surie also examines the ecological significance of animal imagery in Chinese and Indian mythology. Chapter 14 deals with children growing up in an urbanised society of one-child multi-generation families, living in the embrace of a highly digitally-connected environment and an edgy surveillance state. Old customs and ancient traditions linger or are transformed in strangely adaptable ways. The reader will find obvious points of similarity in many such aspects between China and India.

Reading this work requires perseverance. It is not a book to be plucked off an airport bookstall to be devoured quickly on a short flight. The reader must pause frequently to digest and ruminate, as on a solitary reverie during a trek. There are also pitfalls along the track. As the wife of a senior diplomat (now retired), Ms Surie is fully aware of the complicated relationship between India and China, which poses obstacles to full-throated discussions between the peoples of the two nations: Occasionally,  we see such geopolitics injecting itself — jarringly — into the otherwise philosophical discourse. Ms Surie has no set prescriptions for the way forward. Still, there are indications aplenty that open-minded dialogue between the two peoples remains the only positive option for both. But how?

Every journey leaves a mark, sometimes as a blinding revelation, but mostly as new ideas or pathways to explore. For this reviewer, the insights from this virtual journey appeared as several questions. How can two large and populous nations like India and China — locked into an uneasy embrace by legacy problems — get themselves to cooperate innovatively? And address existential threats that will endanger their future and create planetary havoc? Can both peoples harness their creativity to look beyond the tactical and the binary?  Why can the myriad common challenges facing both India and China not be the subject of a wider and more diverse dialogue, particularly including the younger generation who will have to face the consequences of todays’ decisions (and evasions)? Are there nuggets in our civilisational knowledge that might point to such a new path?

As Ms Surie hints in this unusual and thoughtful book, that path might well be “the road less taken”, which can make “all the difference” (Robert Frost). Which direction will we choose?

The reviewer is a corporate coach and an honorary fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi