More than a century ago, in 1843, Haiguo Tuzhi, or the Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms, a Chinese gazetteer mainly compiled by scholar-official Wei Yuan (1794-1857), was printed and published in present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. The publication was one of the earliest works compiled by modern Chinese people that introduced foreign countries, covering topics related to their politics, economics, military affairs, history, geography and culture.
The collection was so important because it broke the ideological shackles of the isolationism of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), allowing the Chinese of that era to open their eyes to the world through this book.
Wei’s work laid the foundation for China’s understanding of the world. Building on that spirit of openness, later scholars have continued to expand and deepen such research, culminating in the new edition of the Guide to the World Nations and International Organizations Surveys.
This is an academic program that aims to conduct systematic studies of the humanities and history, political economy, social governance, security and diplomacy of sovereign states around the world, as well as the historical evolution, institutional development and international influence of major organizations.
The first batch of eight books, as the first phase of the program, has now been published, said the organizers of a seminar in Beijing on April 20. The new edition is based on an earlier version launched by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the 1990s, covering 174 countries and 42 international organizations. The new edition expands this to 196 sovereign states and 60 major international organizations.
“The program is a large-scale, multivolume academic book series with a long history, grand scope, and distinctive representativeness in the fields of area and regional studies, both within the CASS and across China as a whole,” says Yao Zhizhong, head of the bureau of international cooperation at the academy.
Zhao Rui, deputy director of the academy, says the new edition was written to meet the needs of the new era. “As we enter this new age, the world is undergoing unprecedented and accelerating transformations, the likes of which have not been seen in a century. Therefore, we must seek a more comprehensive, multidimensional, and in-depth understanding of the world to better serve the cause of building a community with a shared future for humanity.”
Currently, 66 projects under the framework have been launched, involving invited experts from across China. The first batch of eight books includes volumes introducing the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Czech Republic, Fiji, the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Zhao Chuandong, deputy director of the National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences, says the new edition, while being informative and readable, aims to place greater emphasis on the academic nature and research value of the collection.
“Efforts should be made to achieve a balance between academic rigor and general readability,” he says.
Liu Chenyang, head of the project to study the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, says that on the basis of a true, systematic and comprehensive introduction of APEC’s progress and influence, their project will conduct an in-depth analysis of the role the organization can play in promoting cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and global governance in the new era.
“APEC brings together major political and economic powers from around the world. Its 21 member economies together account for half of global economic and trade volume. Not only does APEC play a primary role in regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, but its influence in the global governance system is also steadily increasing,” he says.