CULTURAL LOGICS AND THE EMERGENCE OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA,
MING AND EARLY-QING
Abstract
The role of the cultural logics in the production of useful knowledge for the late imperial China at the period
of changeover from the Ming to the Qing dynasty is investigated in this research material. As the author
provides the general background of the research context of the text, he states that there is a lack of
knowledge on the new relation between cultural rationalities and the production of knowledge. These are to
know how cultural logics have impacted the production of useful knowledge in the context of Confucianism,
technologies and medicine, imperial examinations, social relations, dissemination and transfer. It is made
evident that it can be valuable to learn while operating within a theoretical model based on cultural studies
even if it is theoretical architecture. The examples of Empirical evidence include case studies such as
where Wang Yangming saw moral and practical learning as being the same and cross-sectional
comparisons over time and space. The outcomes show that concepts which differentiated knowledge
concerns in neo-Confucianism, ethical training was utilitarian and how scholar-world dichotomy arose. It
was also evident that Confucian values were from the techniques used in agriculture to the perception
people had to the artwork. Thus emerged new cultural paradigms of early Qing, evidential studies, and
statecraft. We have seen how state knowledge in the Yongle Encyclopedia underwent division and
dissemination among scholars, artisans, merchants, and circulation of tracts, where we see the existence
of social relation over approved, useful knowledge. Impediments and facilitators of relating to foreign
scientific knowledge are intercultural in nature. These limitations include cultural intervention knowledge,
continuity and change in Chinese innovation is culturally constructed and discourses of Chinese
contribution to intellectual histories.
Introduction
Research background and context
How the Ming-Qing transition influenced the cultural logics and useful knowledge?
This is to fill the existing research gap on how distinct cultural rationalities played into the construction of
useful knowledge during the Ming and early-Qing eras in China. Although prior studies have focused on
different components of Chinese intellectual history the question of how deeply endogenous cultural
rationalities penetrated the formation of the ideas regarding the subject, significance, and advancement of
useful skills during this critical epoch has remained unanswered. Old school of thought in studying
philosophy had been reductionist and compartmentalized to individual aspects of scientific or philosophical
growth of a society and had been bewildered by the intricate relationship between the Confucian values,
social and technological demands. Examining this new link, the study examines the dominant discourses
that have historically positioned Chinese knowledge systems as being fixed or being a passive recipient of
accrual information. In addition, it accords with the generally sparse representation of the cultural
rationalities that underpinned and conditioned the generation and dissemination of useful knowledge within
China during the Ming-Qing transition.
It goes near the above gap in order to investigate more closely how cultural rationalities operated in
constituting knowledge practices, accreditation and circulation across the different status and profession.
Objectives and research questions: Analysis of cultural logics in the production of useful
knowledge
The research identifies how deeply cultural logics affected the Discourse and development of useful
knowledge in the Ming and early-Qing China.
In order to attain this, the following are the goals of the study in question:
1. Examine and compare the principal cultural rationalities that formed the basis of Chinese approaches
toward operant knowledge during this time.
2. Consider to what extent and how these cultural logics affected which forms of useful knowledge were
considered important, approved and promoted across different classes/socio-terrains and organizations.
3. Examine how Confucian remain the dominant organisational ethic of the region and how more
pragmatic questions about innovation and knowledge adaptation in operation, are emerging.
4. Examine how cross-cultural encounters have influenced Chinese cultural logics and in turn how these
have influenced knowledge building processes.
The research will answer the following questions:
1. In what way did the Confucian cultural logics influence perceptions of ‗useful knowledge‘ during the Ming
and early Qing period?
2. Concerning the extent to which cultural rationalities shaped the construction of exclusivities and
hierarchies of knowledge in the marketing networks associated with the lower Yangzi region, how did
knowledge processes of knowledge creation, certification, and dissemination increase among the scholar-
officials, artisans, and merchants during the Ming-Qing transition?
3. In what ways did cultural logics further or reduce the conflict between humanistic learning and utilitarian
change and what were the implications for technology?
4. It will be necessary to explore to what extent cultural rationalities developed during the Ming-Qing
transition affected approaches to useful knowledge.
5. How did cultural logics influence acceptance or rejection or reconfiguration of knowledge systems that
came with cross cultural interaction?
6. Continuing to what extent and in what ways do the cultural logics of the Ming and early-Qing periods
sustain Chinese approaches to knowing and inventing in later ages?
Theoretical framework and significance: Cultural studies with the knowledge that is practical
This theoretical framework intertwines cultural analysis with the manner in which the talent of embodied
and practical knowledge is produced; this approach encourages the consideration of the written and
experienced knowledge of Ming and the early Qing Dynasty in a way which is uniquely different. Cultural
anthropology, sociology of knowledge and science technology studies theories afforded this approach
which provided a ‗feel‘ for how cultural rationalities underwrote the production of useful knowledge. To a
rather large extent, the analysis draws out the comparisons that Bourdieu drew regarding the forms of
cultural capital and Foucault in describing the power-knowledge forms in order to ask how the different
societies of the Confucian cultures engaged in the production and distribution of practical knowledge.
The significance of this approach
This approach may help to avoid the gap between the traditional Sinology and modern science and
technology studies and through paying attention to the issues of cultural epistemology, this research starts
from the perspective that is more appropriate from the Chinese intellectual point of view of the evolution of
science. It provides a heuristic view on dynamics of cultural values and the imperative to promote and
moderate innovation, which the postmodern culture is inarguably lacking as the postmodern debates on
knowledge and culture suggest in today‘s world. Its framework allows for the reconsideration of the so-
called ‗Needham Question,‘ that is, the list of questions that deals with the question of why some branches
of knowledge emerged in China while others did not. From the point of view of global intellectual history it
supplements some conclusions of scholars about the practical knowledge through the inclusion of cultural
frameworks in the field of intellectual history.
Situating the Analysis of Confucian Cultural Logics and Knowledge Categorization
On the ways in which neo-Confucian philosophy has influenced the construction of the concept of
useful knowledge
In Chinese society it is clear that Neo-Confucian philosophy has contributed to the construction of useful
knowledge. As Yao (2000) has described, Confucianism divided knowledge and learning into two parts,
greater and lesser, emphasizing on the personal development of a person, ethical and spiritual values than
on professional knowledge. This brought about a cultural disposition that believed that certain fields were
more valuable than others. In imperial China for centuries, humanities such as philosophy, ethics, literature
and history were supported by the state examination system while applied sciences and technical subjects
were rather neglected (Elman, 2014).
In this Confucian framework, useful knowledge was ethical, cultivated inner virtue and intended to produce
superior persons who could govern society rightly (Yao, 2000). For example, as de Bary (1991) explains,
Zhu Xi, the neo-Confucian, claimed that education has to enable students to investigate things, to extend
knowledge for the sake of the society, with moral values as the guiding principles. Technical subjects were
considered as the lower knowledge that did not meet this cultural rationality. Although science and
technology was not rejected completely, they stood secondary to moral self-cultivation (Zhang & Peng,
2021) influencing categorization of knowledge in china for a long time.
Some of these Confucian cultural logics are still existent in Chinese education and society despite the fact
that these clear separations between subjects have not been rigid in the same manner. The status of
technical education has improved, however, conflict between humanities and sciences prevails at the
present moment (Elman, 2014). As Huang noted 2016 Confucian notions are still present in the society in
connection with different disciplines and their applicability. Although technical subjects are recognized more
today, elements of the Confucian paradigm that placed the cultivation of the self‘s ethical character at the
top of useful knowledge are evident.
How imperial examination system influenced knowledge priorities
Imperial examination was the civil servant examination system of Imperial China which was an attempt to
identify worthy candidates who could be employed as administrative officials for the state bureaucracy
(Elman, 2013). This system was the most widely used method of getting into civil service from the 7th
Century until early part of the 20th century and played a major role in determining the priorities and
diffusion of knowledge in the traditional Chinese education system and the whole society. The keju or
imperial examination which tested the candidates on Confucian clas-ics and prospects on style laid
emphasis on memorization and writing ability of the examinee (Miyazaki, 1981). According to Elman
(2013), ―test content oriented education toward developing literary skills tested by the examinations‖ (p.
425). As a result, the knowledge that was deemed necessary for candidates to learn and take to their work
was limited by what was being tested in the examinations. The Chinese government designed the tests, in
such a way that it supported the Confucianism and the Neo-Confucianism that emphasized on loyalty to the
state and the social order (Miyazaki, 1981). Those students who wanted to pass the exams and become a
member of the scholar-official class were motivated to concentrate solely on the specific texts that were
included in the testing syllabus. Miyazaki (1981) says, ―The examination system dominated the intellectuals
and scholars by exercising complete control over the aims of education and learning‖ (p. 115). In this way,
the examination system strongly influenced knowledge concerns within the direction towards the ideology
that the ruling elite wanted.
Such examinations were extremely competitive, so only 1% of examinees passed, for example; Elman,
2013), which also promoted selective learning of only the most frequently tested topics. Candidates had to
devote themselves for years to memorizing the Confucian texts and mastering the specific form of the
―eight-legged essay‖ which was popular in exams. This heavy concentration on preparing for the
examinations was at the cost of having little time scholars spent studying other courses other than those in
the testing domain. As Miyazaki (1981) stated, under the imperial education system, there was not much
expansion of other areas of study such as Mathematics, astronomy, geography and foreign languages. The
social elitism also excluded the practical or technical training that was related to agriculture, industry and
business among the intelligentsia (Elman, 2013). The examination system thus limited and skewed
scholars‘ academic concerns for generations, directing the tending of learning in line with the state‘s
political orthodoxy. Real attempts to reform the education system and expand the range of scholarly
disciplines beyond the scope of keju were initiated only after China‘s defeat by the Western powers in the
19th century.
Confucian ethical ideas and the matter of the utilitarian education
The aspects that mainly characterize Confucianism are ethical and moral code, benevolence, and
education of the self and the society as well. The core principle of Confucian ethics is ren which means
humaneness, benevolence or compassion towards other people (Tan, 2016). According to Confucius,
people should work on becoming ren in the spirit of lifelong learning and social beneficence. This cultivation
begins with education. As stated by the originator Confucius ―It is for this reason that, self-cultivation is
always within and through community.‖ Conformity and respect for relationships are achieved through
schooling that formally educates the young generation on manners and other such features of the Chinese
traditional virtues of li (rites, rituals), yi (righteousness), xiao (filiality) among others Olberding, 2012.
On the other hand, the utilitarian theories of education consider learning in a more utilitarian manner as a
means to an end toward the attainment of the maximum benefit. The utilitarian approaches to moral
decision making were introduced by Bentham, Mill, and others, who suggested that actions ought to be
assessed not by motives but by consequences: the amount of pleasure and happiness less the amount of
pain and suffering (Driver, 2014). This principle could also be used in the educational context to know
which curricula, policies and effective pedagogy creates the most social good? For instance, the
government may compare the returns of investment on different academic and vocational training
programs. Or they could align literacy education with skills that are desirable and most wanted in the labour
market. The recent trend of modern school reforms has seen the increased adoption of utilitarianism as a
dominant thinking paradigm; however, its adoption is incongruent with the moral self-cultivation aspect of
Confucianism. In any case, as Driver (2014) rightly argues, ―Whatever is being maximized, it is not clear
that it is the development of character in the individual.‖ (p. 87).
It is quite interesting to note that while the two systems are different in their principal concern, that is
Confucianism‘s concern with emphasis on education and character development of the person and
utilitarianism‘s concern with production and efficiency, both have similar considerations regarding the role
of education in enhancing individual and collective welfare or happiness. Maybe there is a middle ground.
Confucian self-cultivation could enable students on how to use acquired knowledge and skills for the right
purposes while utilitarian analysis enables the matching of programs and opportunities to societal needs.
According to Tan (2016), comparing various perceptions helps to imagine schools that will produce
individuals who can become the best versions of themselves and be useful members of society.
Conflict between the scholarly and the real world
The search for knowledge in the scholarly manner is a worthy cause by any standard that has resulted in
several important findings. The above statement can be attributed to Albert Einstein, whereby he stated, ―In
theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not‖ (Goodreads, n.d.). This highlights the
fact that it is not easy most of the times to take research ideas from the classroom and apply them to real
life scenarios hence applying the results of the research to practical questions.
If one tries to look at the matter carefully it is actually possible to distinguish some features that can lead to
the emergence of tension between scholars and practitioners. Nelson (2022) laments that in academia,
productivity is measured by count of ideas and articles produced, creativity is not encouraged because the
ideas developed are not necessarily useful, and the rewards accomplished in the system are geared
towards great professors for placing studies in journals that are not necessarily popular outside the
academia and not really for assisting corporate, government or community organizations to make a positive
change. This can contribute to the development of an ‗ivory tower‘ approach that means that the ideas
being promoted are not grounded in a realistic view of the world.
The artificial manipulations brought in to the experiments are not suitable as they do not portray the realistic
contexts and structures in practice (Belter & Seidel, 2013). According to a psychology professor Barbara
Fredrickson, ―The scholar‘s life is all about pursuing of the truth and knowledge in the controlled
environment, while the practitioner is about improving the lives of real people in the uncontrolled
environment‖ (as cited in Gelles, 2017, para. 26). Closing this research–practice gap entails designing
research methodologies that provide more ecological validity while at the same time being academically
sound and replicable.
Last but not least, academic language which is filled with terms that are barely understandable in common
language severely limits the applicability of otherwise helpful theories and research results (Sword, 2012).
Habits of professional language expression and technical writing present some constraints to the relevance
of knowledge transfer in a way that the scholarly-products may actually reach its intended end-users like
the policymakers, Organization managers and emancipated activist communities. It should be remembered
that one of the ways of making the results of research to have an impact is through improving the reporting
style and manner, where making them easily understandable should be an ethical reason that scholars who
want change to occur, should consider (Willinsky, 2006).
There will always be areas of tension between the Ivory Tower and the messy world, but there are ways to
get everyone pushing in the same direction, tweaking the approaches, and translating the ideas. It can be
recalled that the Roman philosopher Seneca said, ―There is no breeze so pleasant as that of the landward
breeze when you are wearied by the sea‖ as quoted in Goodreads (2023. Scholars can come up with new
ideas that may be refreshed by feedbacks and opinions from the real society and this keeps the desire to
do more for the society of need.
Case study: Wang Yangming’s correlation of moral and practical knowledge
Wang Yangming (1472-1529) was one of the most prominent Neo-Confucian philosophers of the Ming
dynasty in China and he is best known for his concept of the unity of theory and practice. This view went
against the Orthodox Neo-Confucianists at that time that distinguished between moral knowing and
knowing how (Ivanhoe, 2020).
Wang argued that knowing is doing and mind is intrinsically good and endowed with moral sensibility or
liangzhi (inherent moral knowing) (Makeham, 2003). As for Wang, real knowledge was an integration of
knowing and doing with the presence of utmost good faith. He also said, ―The practice of waiting on
knowledge is the scholar mentality; knowledge and action are one is the sage mentality‖ (Ching, 1976, p.
63). According to Wang, the person who understands good through the inborn moral knowledge will
definitely act good as well. In this arrangement there would be perfect synchrony between moral
apprehension and moral action, in that there will be no interval between the two. For Ivanhoe (2020),
knowing and doing or in other words wisdom and conduct are mutually constituted and mutually
confirmatory in a sage.
Comparative analysis: Useful knowledge approach between ming and song
In the case of ―knowing and acting,‖ Wang demonstrated them with a phrase ―to know filial piety is to act
with filial piety; to know brotherly respect is to act with brotherly respect.‖ According to Wang, true
knowledge does not remain mere knowledge, but it is put into practice. When one studies a thing with a
view of knowing its principle, such knowledge ought to be put into practice immediately. He viewed moral
principles as imperatives which drafted people to moral behavior and not merely descriptions of reality. To
Wang, understanding had to be applied in a practical manner to be regarded as proper knowledge
(Makeham, 2003). If someone says he knows what filial piety is but fails to take good care of their parents,
Wang would say that he has not understood filial piety at all in the sense of correlation between moral
knowledge and moral practice. Their inner moral knowledge and outer conduct are divided instead of
integrated into one body (Ching, 1976).
Comparative analysis: About Ming and Song methodologies of useful knowledge
This paper will compare and contrast the two dynasties, namely the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and the
Song dynasty (960-1279) to understand how they perceived the so-called useful or practical knowledge
and how this knowledge was perceived in society. The Ming method was more rigid and less widespread in
comparison with the Song method which encouraged knowledge for different purposes and introduced
practical education for the different sciences.
The Ming dynasty‘s curriculum focused mainly on Confucian classics and literary skills as important and
beneficial knowledge, which made it rather conservative (Chan, 2016). Students focused on memorizing
Confucian Four Books and Five Classics with intention of passing civil service examinations (Elman, 2014).
Although the examination syllabi of the dynasty did include policy questions on statecraft, what was really
being stressed was the grand literary essay style (Chan, 2016). Unlike the scholar-officials who
emphasized on literary elegance, the scientists and technicians stood in a lower rank. Civil intellectual
activity was based on belle letters rather than the technology or policy discourses (Needham, 2004). From
the founder of the Ming dynasty himself, the Hongwu emperor, we see prosaic technological developments
in technical areas such as calendar and astronomy dismissed and rolled back as socially destabilizing by
the Song (Elvin, 1973). All in all, the Ming way of approaching useful knowledge was quite conservative
and limited, it focused on literary skills for training the scholar-officials.
However the Song dynasty stressed on the quest for knowledge in various fields of technology and
science, finance militarism etc. (Needham, 2004). The civil service examinations downplayed elegance in
writing and provincialism and focused on testing candidates‘ knowledge with regard to specific policies and
comprehension of actual statecraft, which certain candidates derived from actual administrative experience
(Elman, 2014). Some of the early Song leaders such as Taizu and Taizong emperor encouraged scholars
to conduct research on military engineering, agriculture, fiscal measures among other things thinking that
specialized knowledge was crucial in the running of the state (Needham, 2004). By now, however, respect
for Confucian scholars was in decline although the examination system permitted other experts to become
letterted men and receive status and influence at court on the basis of their specialised practical skills such
as calendrical computation, finance, diplomacy etc. (Elvin, 1973). In the sphere of intellectual life also, early
Song scholars posed practical policy questions for critical scrutiny more assertively than Ming literati.
The Song could be seen as taking an unusually broad view on what constituted officially acceptable
sources of useful knowledge for society practical policy and technical expertise, as opposed to the Ming,
with its Confucian literati focus on a narrow set of formal writing skills. These attitudes had political aspects
originating from political views of the rulers but evolved to the intellectual aspects of the society. Practical
learning expanded over more spheres in the Song though the Ming deliberately limited ideas about
utilitarian wisdom to the proper literary credentials as their officially sanctioned route to social status and
power.
The cultural logics in technological innovation
How Confucian values impact on agricultural technology
It is a fact that Confucianism has much to do with the with the development of agriculture as well as with
the improvement of agricultural tools in the East Asian region. Confucianism also lays down the cardinal
principle that nature and the environment should be preserved at its fundamental (Tan, 2009). This has
resulted in an agriculture that seeks to engage the land gently as opposed to dominating it with the end
view of making it produce more.
Confucianism was practiced was adopted as a state religion and was employed by several dynasties in
china. Political affairs of agriculture and its importance linked with Confucianism that upheld farmers as the
backbone of a stable society. Therefore, when the technological advancements occurred the main goal was
to enhance and provide stability for the rural farming class instead of revolutionizing the traditional village
life. For instance, the development of water conservation projects to increase arable land was considered
more important than the provision of labor saving equipment because the goal of the reform was to
strengthen smallholder farms (Tan, 2009). Current policies regarding the development of modern
agriculture in China are also rooted in the main Confucian values and emphasize the importance of
maintaining harmony in society and preventing the emergence of inequality that became characteristic of
the decades of industrialization (Zhang, 2013).
Confucianism has also impacted information diffusion in agriculture technology since it upholds humility and
gives much credence to the experience of the elderly. Farming practices, to the previous historians, were
established through small-scale experiments in small fields before scaling up to other regions as an
advantageous practice (Chen, 2016). Such cautious approach ensured that large disruptions or losses
could be prevented if the new technologies did not perform well as expected. In addition, oral and written
teachings were significant to face to face transfer from one generation to another on seasonal practices,
signs of nature, and other best practices as inherited from the previous generations, which might have
taken several centuries or millennia in some traditions (Tan, 2009). Thus, though Confucian thought could
reject new practices in favour of established practices, it could also accept gradual improvements that
would be advantageous for the social collective.
The basic tenets of Confucianism have informed a workable, socially-oriented perspective of agricultural
technology in East Asia. This philosophy developed policies and culture in which new machines or
techniques sought to uplift small-scale village farmers as society‘s backbone rather than replace them.
Technology directly transformed only through communal experience and verification to not impact the
natural balance; or harm the age-old cultivation practices inherited across generations. The controversy of
Confucianism in determining the concept of progress and the limitations of nature may shed light on how to
manage agriculture.
Culture and perception towards the artisanship and the knowledge possessed by artisans
Carpentry is the use of woods in erecting constructions or in making objects and the practice of this craft is
done by the carpenters who have good understanding of the work they are doing and probably have
adopted different techniques in the practice over the years. Perception towards artisans and what they do
differs in various societies and eras. During the medieval ages, artisans were in a peculiar category, though
their craft was essential to fulfill the various economic demands, most of them were involved in strenuous
physical work hence placing them below the noble class (Kremer, 2021). Another factor was that the
knowledge of artisans was traditionally concealed, which only contributed mysticism and interest to the
business. When industrialization gains momentum knowledge systems that sustained artisanal trades
collapsed because factory products replaced handmade ones. However, over the past fifty or more years
there has been appreciation of hand made products the world over as evidenced by the social and cultural
values that are now attributed to artistry besides the aesthetic and use values.
The sociologist Richard Sennett (2008) documents how craftsmanship is associated with honor and pride
and is connected to the culture of the tradesman. The complexity of pieces of art that are made by hand
represents ideas and innovation that cannot be matched by machines in an industrial setting. Sennett
remarks that, ―the craftsman represents the special human condition of being engaged,‖ that brings
meaning to work. The sort of learning that artisans achieve through a lot of observation and sensory
acquisition of knowledge is an invaluable treasure of humane culture. Likewise, anthropological research
has illuminated how aspects of craft-specific Native American occupations such as pottery- making link the
people to their past and landscape (Crown & Fish, 1996). That continuity of artisanal traditions is therefore
not without relevance to the concepts of cultural identity and self-determination.
The maker culture and the do it your self movement around the world therefore indicate more awareness of
artisanal knowledge as an enabler (Hatch, 2013). Etsy where artisans can exploit other new markets that
give new meaning to made by hand as being associated with handcrafted art as representing culture,
authenticity, economy of selectiveness. Technology has also produced new spheres of disseminating and
preserving classical craftworks and tales concerning them with a wide audience (Scott, 2021). The
strategies followed by ecomuseum like Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre of Laos and others employs
tool such as multimedia databases, virtual reality exhibits and digitised records to raise awareness about
indigenous traditional arts. These platforms help in cultivating respect and appreciation of the buyers
towards involving artisanal populations, regarding them as carriers of knowledge, history and culture.
Technology and culture changes worked in the past and have not ceased to work even now, which makes
the artisanship concept a versatile one. When automation and factories once offered the incipient threat to
the living art by proscribing the regeneration of artisanal work, one has to admit that we are witnessing DIY
ethics and products that are sustainably produced today and that they require certain peculiar and
individualistic knowledge that artisans all around the world have. Globalization… called for earnest and
consistent creation of artworks, especially for replacement of cultural icons lost to mankind. Enumerated
haptic practices, use of locally sourced material and the customary procedures adopted in artisanal trades
are concrete examples of cultural defiance and indigenous integrity. Here, if we want the indigenous
artisanal communities to survive and become financially stable throughout the years then talent, knowledge
and culture can go from one continent to another continent in order to have understanding and respect for
each other.
Moreover, the maker culture and the DIY movement around the world signal more awareness of artisanal
knowledge as an enabler (Hatch, 2013). As websites like Etsy advertise their products as handcrafted,
artisans can leverage themselves to the new markets that depict possessing handmade goods as
possessing handcrafted assets as proxies for culture, sustainability and the notion of choice. The use of
technology has also generated new domains of sharing and maintaining traditional artisanal skills and
experiences with the broader public (Scott, 2021). For instance, the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre
in Laos and the various ecomuseum strategies apply divergent tools such as multimedia databased and
virtual reality exhibits and digital and Internet archives to focus on indigenous craft. As such these platforms
help in fostering the development of respect and appreciation towards the artisans as knowledge bearers,
history, and cultural heritage.
Consequently, the idea of artisanship is therefore still an evolving one, which can evolve with the
progression of technology and change in culture. Although automation and factories once displaced
artisanal work by threatening its living, its revival in the form of DIY ethics and products that are sustainably
produced show that there is a renewed appreciation for the craft and the distinct knowledge that artisans
around the world possess. Continue and sustainable production more so in this age of globalization is very
crucial as it may lead to loss of more art works. The haptic practices, locally-sourced materials, and
customary procedures that are practiced in the artisanal trades are synonymous with cultural assertion and
sovereignty. If we believe in keeping the indigenous crafting communities going, and economically
empower these groups in this area of the world, then ideas, skills, and traditions can travel from one
continent to another and usher in a new era of cross cultural appreciation.
Military technology change within the context of a Confucian state system
One particular feature that characterized much of the East Asian societies for centuries was the Confucian
state system, and it had quite an ambiguous approach to military technology and its progression. It can be
said that Confucian impact offered the positive emphasis on the harmony rather than on the war and
conflict as it was with Mohists (Kieschnick, 1997). This is because the best example of the Confucian ruler
was supposed to defeat opponents not by force of arms but by wisdom. For example, one of the early
Confucianist maxims says that ‗even the Son of Heaven does not fight‘ as pointed by Ebrey (2009: 47).
Kings still wanted strong armies for purposes of defense as well as for the consolidation of power. The
tension of this relationship was seen in shifting of policies and view towards the military over the years in
the light of Confucianism‘s benevolence for the empire ruling.
During the early han dynasty of the Chinese civilization in Spring and Autumn period, innovations in chariot
warfare as well as the famous Chinese cross bow provided the rulers important edge in the battle (Lewis,
2007). In the following centuries in the course of the Warring States period the increase in the level of the
battles called for additional advancement in military development and such novelties as cavalry and
primitive formations of foot soldiers armed with bronze weapons. The last Warring States period therefore
marked a ―race to produce weapons with more strength, flexibility, and durability‖ to feed the mass armies
of conscripted men (Ebrey, 2009, p 47). Early Confucian thinkers persisted in being hesitant to get a hold of
new military contraption that may further disturb passive internal stability. For example, Mencius used
commerce and agriculture as the key to wealth, thereby agreeing that the ethical understanding is better
than the building of armed forces (Ivanhoe and Van Norden 2005). Sometimes, how virtue was emphasized
by Confucianism prevented a ruler from maximizing on technological developments in the optimum
manner.
Later in Han Dynasty, there is a neoConfucian perspective that only heaven anointed king, that is, the Son
of Heaven, has the right to bear arms and wage wars and nobles and merchants must be disarmed or
denuded of their own army (Lewis, 2007). As such the military power became centralized and restricted in
order to reduce the chance of internal rebellion. However, they also maintained standing armies over the
Great Wall to repel the northern peoples who have adopted cavalry-archery technique from the Xiongnu
(The Cambridge World History (Volume 3), 2009). This need to respond on foreigners‘ threats led to the
following devastating technological advancements in metallurgy, crossbow, and shock cavalry. The
subsequent advancements in the course of the subsequent few centuries were the innovations of
gunpowder weapons, invention of artillery, development of naval vessels, and even taking borrowed
designs of fortifications from the non-Chinese. On the one hand, Confucian ethics semiferal military ends,
but it deals with the new threats overseas sometimes led to the use of technology and development of new
technology. Nevertheless, the early modern period saw that while Confucianism deplored the traditions of
warfare, the Chinese are already possessing sophisticated tools of Combat.
Hence, the main weakness of Confucianism was the rejection of high-tech weapons due to the constant
reliance on warfare against internal threats and external enemies throughout the centuries. On the one
hand, there were idealistic works, which urged the rulers not to rely on the military force, but, on the other
hand, pragmatic approaches to state building with rising competition for resources encouraged episodic
spurts of innovations in the weaponry, fortification, cavalry, and naval power. These technologies were then
tamed in a manner to ensure that orders within the societies exist and so as to curb the influence which the
military has over the societies. This effort for military enhancement symbolizes the double faced
characteristics of the Confucian model of statecraft and bureaucratic structure.
Culture logics in medical knowledge building during the Confucian period
It is important to note that during the Confucian period in China (551-479 BCE), knowledge building in
medical context was culturally bound to the Confucian norms. Confucianism classified authority, structure,
balance and collectivism as better as compared to individualism (Tiwai, 2011). In the following way, the
cultural logics defined the process of medical knowledge construction:
First of all, one could not distinguish the medical theory and practice from spirituality and philosophy
relating to health, sickness, and the human body. The thought of Yin-Yang, which stated that there was two
conflicting forces in the natural environment, was instrumental in perceiving health as the state of
equilibrium of opposites (Kuriyama, 2002). Illness refers to the inability of qi to circulate in the body as a
smooth flow, and its treatment included acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine, massage, exercises
and diet (Sivin, 2010). The medical knowledge, therefore, was involved with cosmography and other beliefs
and views concerning the world. Confucianism with its stress on the social hierarchy and order contributed
to the systematic approach to the body as mirroring the overall cosmic orders (Lloyd & Sivin, 2002). The
Neijing, a compiled body of medical knowledge from this period, classified medical knowledge using the
yin-yang theory into correspondences between the body‘s organs, the seasons, directions, colors, flavours,
and so on (Sivin, 2010). This is still a representation of how cultural logics influenced the process of the
systematization of medical ideas.
Secondly, medical practice with moral health as well as ethical transformation and also with improving
social order. Health was considered to be a product of the practice of virtues, and the overall moderation
and balance in life (Tiwari, 2011). The body politic metaphor compared ruling the self through the self-
discipline of governing a state (Lloyd & Sivin, 2002). It was thus the supreme medical art to guide the
patients towards an ethical, balanced life, not disease (Kuriyama, 2002). Moreover, physicians were also
held accountable for the moral advancement of their patients as well as maintaining the family and societal
order apart from curing the diseases. It affords an account as to a manner in which medical practice was in
harmony with some of the fundamental principles of Confucianism. The other cultural variable, which also
influenced population orientation, was collectivism for the emphasis on the community‘s gains instead of
the individual ones. The Neijing provides correct feeding and living principles related to time and
geographical location (Pettus, 2004). It was believed that it embodied medical thinking that complied with
the intended furtherance of common good.
Considering the results of the current research it is possible to emphasize that the process of the medical
knowledge formation during the Confucian period was clearly influenced by the societal and cultural norms
and values. With respect to theories of health and illness, moral expectations of a physician, and related
professionalism, culture played a role in shaping what is referred to as the medical model. However this
interconnection went on, centuries of further empiricization and orientations toward outside thoughts shifted
the philosophical foundation on which Chinese medicine was built gradually (Lloyd & Sivin, 2002).
Nevertheless, it was exactly during the formative Confucian period which presented primary paradigms of
thinking which determined medical knowledge and conception of the following generations.
Case study: Yongle Encyclopedia’s division of useful knowledge
Selection and compilation of all the existing works and knowledge in China was one of the most mega
projects worldwide, authorized during the Chinese Ming dynasty by the Yongle Emperor in 1403, the
Yongle Encyclopedia is such project (Wang, 2019). Comprised of a composition of more than 11,000
manuscript volumes it was the great archetypical work of the Chinese encyclopedias in respect of the range
of its subject matters as well as in size (Wilkinson, 2015).
According to Wilkinson (2015), the Yongle Encyclopedia used a classification scheme that divided content
into four broad domains: The Four Forms of things are, Heaven, Earth, Man and Matter. All of them were
subdivided into subdomains. For example, the ―Earth‖ section had subtopics such as geography, minerals,
plants and animals, and human-made structures. The organization of information in this format also
remains a product of the compilers‘ perceptions and the views that they hold on the distinctions existing
between the forms of information. According to Wang (2019), ―The conceptual framework reveals
Confucian cosmology as consisting of intertwined components‖ (p. 77). According to Wilkinson (2015),
some scholars point at limitations of structures in the encyclopedia, for instance, exclusion of popular
literature and most technical books. What Yongle Encyclopedia has given us is not only huge amounts of
ancient Chinese knowledge, but also a method for sorting the information. Today‘s encyclopaedas and
libraries still experience challenges associated with the organisation and integration of knowledge areas
(Hjørland, 2022). In the present times of flow of different types of info objects within the sphere of media
informational space, new attempts at classification endeavor to measure the scale of great compilations
such as Yongle dadian. On the other hand, Hjørland (2022) however observed that many of the IO systems
are yet to evolve compatibility of categories. Therefore, it appears that only more interdiscursive
approaches, which can be oriented rather at connecting than at dividing, may be closer to the traditional
concept of the encyclopedia. The broken divisions of Yongle Encyclopedia explain the fact that the world
needs extensive efforts to categorize knowledge and build logic and relationships between them this may
exist even in the present world, as it was in the middle of the 15th century, China.
Comparative analysis: Comparing the Chinese and the European influences on the innovations
The enhancement in the science and technologies has been done in many societies in the past. China and
Europe in particular have been very instrumental in contributing a very big way in supporting innovation in
different parts of the world. What can be said regarding both of them is that they are innovative to the
extent that they respond to certain challenges; however, there is a great deal of dissimilarity in terms of
further details, as they are imagined relatively separately and stemmed from different hindrances.
The Chinese culture of innovation can be traced back over 1000 years; Some of the earliest inventions
which were more paramount included items like paper, printing, gun powder and the compass (Huff, 2014).
In most of these instances, Chinese innovation was supported by imperial authorities who saw innovation
as tool that helped consolidate their authority and power and also came up with solutions to matters of
practicality in managing a large empire. Bray equally asserted that many areas were systematically
developed through imperial workshops, governmental bureaus of experts and academic societies as noted
by Bray (2007). The scholarly driven advancement was also gotten a boost from the fact that china was
known to have had a strong intellectual study. It is necessary to underline that innovations stemmed from
the knowledge exchange which was conducted along the Silk Road trade routes in Central Asia, Middle
East , and Europe. Despite a legacy of having placed several ancient Chinese innovations into the later
centuries as shaping bent on the course of world history in agriculture, bureaucracy, and military arts; the
ancient China experienced a decline through factors which include political isolationism, degeneration of
the Confucian bureaucracy meritocracy system, and a gradual dichotomy between practicality skills by
artisans and philosophies by scholarly men (Huff, 2014). However, the innovation path in Europe had a
slightly different story to tell. Although Europe adopted some technological creations which started in China
through the trade routes indigenous innovation that evolved in Europe was mostly mechanization – the use
of apparatus to accomplish work instead of manpower or animal muscle power (Landes, 2003). This was
due to capital formation and market expansion that occurred in the last phase of Medieval Ages.
The competitive nature of European countries in business as well as military purposes also fanned the
invention of modern day technologies. That is why some radical inventions appeared in the course of the
reconsideration process: shipping, weaponry, manufacturing equipment, and textile machines. Scientific
Revolution and Enlightenment was the formation of the new attitude to the knowledge and called for the
new concepts and experiments for such people who thought and who wished to implement these ideas and
findings in practice. Development of property rights and patents also encouraged the growth of new ideas
as the inventors could financially benefit from their invention. Although European in origin and competition
developed, they also stimulated knowledge transfer by facilitating cross border diffusion networks. These
European innovations further the development process in the colonies and also affected several global
changes over several centuries in the course of colonialism and trade. Responding to their respective
cultures in different ways Chinese and European civilizations touched the creation of the new advanced
levels of Science and Technology on the world historic level. It is also possible to identify some cross-
cutting variables in which transmission between the regions occurs through the history, such as some ideas
and inventions. But the differences may be most instructive. As Bala (2006) puts it, while China focused on
the central government direction and intellectual consistency, Europe‘s innovations were more contentious
and appeared through both state and private entities in the climate of the contest.
Social Relations And The Dissemination Of Beneficial Information
Social connections among scholars and useful knowledge as well as its legitimation
Social relations among scholars are known for centuries as one of the significant factors in producing and
verifying useful knowledge. According to Ziman (1968), ―Science is a social activity‖ (p. 12). It is within this
context that scholars meet formally as well as informally and where hypotheses are introduced, discussions
initiated, projects set for development, and consensus reached on what can qualitatively and quantitatively
be considered as ‗good‘ knowledge.
For example, 17-18th centuries it was social circles and salons which played the role of promoters and
spreaders of new philosophical and scientific concepts. There were intellectuals like Voltair and Benjamin
Franklin who assembled in Parisian Salons to have discourses, perform physic experiments, and share
new forms or interacting with the corporeal world (Gordon, 2021). These interactions were to develop the
empiricist and the rationalist view of the world, not to mention building friendship for the new scientific
society.
Such tradition of using social relations as the foundation of practical and practical knowledge is being
sustained by peer review process in progress, which enables professionals to showcase their work to other
scholars in a way that the findings will be questioned, discussed and even be improved. This is particularly
true because the of research published in peer reviewed journals because they are forced to go through the
academic scrutiny (Kelly et al., 2014). The critics pointed out that bounded peer groups perpetuate a
premise assumptions and shut out outsiders‘ views (Yankah, 2021); however, they found that the peer
review activity is crucial in how universities and researchers affirm valuable findings in the academic
literature.
The other than peer review, academic conferences, university departments, email listservs, and scholarly
associations are some of the social networks that exist to this day to enable knowledge production and
corroboration. Conferences provide early feedback from experts in a scholar‘s field about research that is
being conducted (Knight & Kaye, 2016). Disciplines assemble faculty and students into a sociopolitical
context in which ideas emerge and findings evolve through common meetings such as colloquia, seminars,
and casual discussions. Mailing list and newsgroups involve a congregation of people who have a common
interest on particular subjects for unending discussion (Aloni & Harrington, 2018). Publishing societies
collect like-minded individuals, fund works, and provide incentives members; they can be seen as
communities of expertise that built and disseminated the latest and most refined knowledge in certain
sectors (Cruz & Cunningham, 2021).
Social forums thus maintain the historically defined function of interactive scholarly communities in
generating socially certified systems of practical knowledge. The content of that knowledge builds up
through the exchange of ideas and constructive criticisms facilitated by the common professional education
and acumen. This indicates that as time goes on, there is accumulation of data and powerful evidence
while on the other side weak and sometimes ridiculous hypotheses are excluded—which justifies
knowledge that has undergone social filterage.
Preservation and transmission of knowledge in cultural logic of artisan guilds
Artifact dissemination and education were basic operations of medieval and early middle intermediate
artisanal fraternities in Europe. As Epstein and Prak (2008: 121) emphasized guilds were the repositories of
higher technical knowledge through the mechanism of ‗secrets‘ for a variety of trades and crafts, together
with the pay apps, apprentices & master craftsmen. It maintained standard and integrity of the guilds and
experience of the new generation through taught learning which was filtered and restricted knowledge.
However, like in the other guild knowledge policies, economic privileges and protectionism were also issues
of concern; the main emphasis was on the preservation of the invaluable acquisition knowledge of artisans.
Education through apprenticeship, through which the next generation was granted the status of insiders,
was the key to guilds‘ knowledge management. Apprentices, aspiring entrants worked under contractual
agreements with masters to have substantial exposure to tools, materials, techniques, and organizational
culture of the shops for 4-9 years (Epstein, 1998). Masters were not allowed to take more than one
apprentice in order to ensure their attention was on proper training in the vernacular skills, judgements, and
‗knacks‘ which could only be imbibed with time. Epstein and Prak (2008, p. 3) describe apprenticeship as a
‗structured process of skill formation and transfer in which observation, imitation, correction and repeated
practice were key components.‘ Apprentices steadily received more work and authority as their learned
lessons were tested in mid and final assessments to attain their journeyman status (De Munck et al., 2007).
While apprenticeship fostered the development of human capital of a single master, the system of guilds
offered a formal way of accumulating the knowledge of masters generation after generation.transparent;">
Master artisans from prior years created improvements that spread through the guild societies as the
performers changed their apprenticeships over time or moved to other towns (Da Silva Lopes & Duguid,
2010; De Munck et al., 2007).transparent;"> Therefore in the cities where the guilds were dominant such as
Bruges, Cologne or Florence, a significant accumulation and development of the collective craft experience
was attained through the continuous recycling of knowledge in the successive generations of masters
trained in the guild tradition (Epstein & Prak, 2008). This was a stock of collective knowledge that could
easily be transported and institutionalized because of the craft endogamous nature with sons of masters
having better chances of joining a guild and inheriting insider guild knowledge (De Munck et al.,
2007).transparent;"> An idea of secrecy and apprenticeship remained rather firmly entrenched in most of
the guilds of trade even up to the 17th century.
Epstein and Prak (2008) mention that guild knowledge dynamic was gradually transformed by the size of
early modern markets and manufacturing, which broken some inflexibilities in the formation of skills and
knowledge transfer processes. Some trades had their apprentices nearly repudiated or shortened; the
examinations being lessened where guild exclusive rights diminished under increasing state supremacy;
and artisan lore diffused more rapidly among the urban and masters. However, the guild system, as a
culture that established and enhanced systematic standardized technical skills practice by having close
master-apprentice training and evaluation put a lasting influence on vocation training. We can still see their
vestiges in internships, vocational training, and other forms of development of other practical non-conscious
knowledge on the shop floors of today‘s industries and technologies.
Merchant associations and knowledge as something practical
Historically merchant associations have contributed to the economic process by mediating trading
relationships between their members and ensuring compliance with certain business standards. As argued
by McCants, such links are ‗instrumental‘, that is, they served to construct and maintain a formal structure
of trade that ensured that conflict would not erupt in the Medieval Eurasian system (2019, 63). This is
because while these groups set common practices, spread market information, and provided shared
services, they facilitated long-distance trade and the flow of information, including during political crises.
The compiled experience by the merchant networks was paramount in ordering of the material flow and
technologies that were crucial in the development of the economy. Epstein (1991) analyses how in the
context of medieval Europe, a merchants‘ guilds and craft guilds preserved technical know-how as they
transferred such skills from the master craftsmen to the apprentices (p.100). By means of such knowledge
sharing mechanisms, merchants were able to refine and standardize on their production techniques,
enhance the quality of their products and increase the level of technical know-how.
Given the merchant outlook, they are able to experience the broadest trappings of the bodies of practice
associated with zones of the Afro-Eurasian marketplace. Beaujard (2021) has also noted that mobility and
interconnection of merchants in large measure was to create the dynamics for circulating agricultural
practice technologies, finance instruments and many another facet (Beaujard, 491). Since merchants
became the connectors of the technological knowledge and the promoters of the proto-industrialization, it
was crucial that they transcribe the practical knowledge expounded by savants and well-traveled gurus of
the industrial revolution by translating them in the locals‘ parlance. What the economic histories of
merchant associations thus reveal is that posit in knowledge exchange such practical, technical skills and
trades conducive to tangible progress.
A successful merchant guild had cooperation within the guild and, therefore, sought an oligopolistic
structure for maintaining business conditions that benefited all its members, the promotion of the human
capital asset, and the absence of negative conditions in the information that long-distance traders needed
for conducting their business. The exclusionary policies also resulted in confrontation with outside groups
who were barred from access of crucial information sharing forums. Trivellato (2014) observed that
Christian and Jewish and, religious and ethnically, non-Christian minorities were excluded from merchant
confraternities and this association with episodes of persecution in medieval and early modern Europe
(note 3, p. 211). It goes a long way in showing how practical knowledge was associated with social power
in premodern corporations most especially. Consequently, the policymakers have to consider the aspect of
inclusiveness in putting in place the institutional frameworks that would surround business associations.
The function of popular literature in presenting the culture’s approved knowledge
Thus, popular literature, including mainstream fiction, serves to disseminate and promote a culture‘s
paradigm and the officially sanctioned entia per essentiam. To quote Driscoll (2014), popular texts ‗reflect
common sense that reassures readers about reality‘ (p. 56). Popular literature is supportive of the themes,
values, and ideas of a society and can be thought of as ―equipment for living, providing society with
‗models‘ that help people adjust to their culture and times‖ (Brummett & Bowers, 1999, p. 56). Thus,
popular literary works like romance and mystery novels, science fiction stories, and fantastic epics perform
a unifying role—they maintain and circulate the accepted knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions of the
mainstream culture.
For example, in western cultures traditionally in the twentieth and twenty-first century women‘s liberation
and changes in attitudes towards gender in the context of the culture of the proved transformations in the
tracks of populist literature. The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by domestic and romantic
novels for women that depicted homemaking and heterosexual courting as meaningful life pursuits for
women within the culture‘s epistemology of gender at that time (Driscoll, 2014). With changing cultures and
women getting more roles in the middle of the century, the themes of career interests and women options
in work, sexuality and independence were introduced in the popular fictions. For example, one of the most
popular novels of 1963 was The Group by Mary McCarthy, which depicted sexually liberated women and
their career ambitions, which became part of the society‘s officially acceptable experience of women
beyond their home, (Showalter, 2000). Therefore, the popular literature both reflects and assists in
spreading the values as well as the approved knowledge in the course of their evolution.
Other forms of literary works also ensure that the approved cultural knowledge is maintained through
offering audience the narrative conclusion that reflects the society‘s set norms. According to Brummett and
Bowers (1999), ―The way a story ends denotes the correct manner in which a social issue should be
solved‖ (p. 61). Mainstream popular fictions often seem to end in a manner that reaffirms the dominant
ethical standards and perceiving in the main culture. Evil is defeated and good triumphs, and social
disorder is portrayed and resolved in a way that sees traditional culture and knowledge remain triumphant.
These coded narrative paradigms help preserve culture since they end signaling to the audience that
accepting the conventional reality is enough and discourages the generation of more ideas. For instance, a
quintessential Western romance story is one where the heroine is married off following traditional family
and gender roles; a mystery and suspense film has the villain brought to book and order restored using
reason which is in tandem with the law of the land. Thus, through repeatedly endorsing what is traditionally
accepted as truth, the popular literature serves as the ―cultural memory house‖ that preserves the
―preferred meanings‖ defining culture and sameness (Brummett & Bowers, 1999, p.57).
Case study: Jiangnan region’s epistemological culture of knowledge production
Epistemological culture as demonstrated by academic discourse is a significant factor in the determination
of knowledge production. Zhao (2013) defined epistemological culture as ―the overall environment and
context that sustains, fosters and governs knowledge creating processes in a given region‖ (p. 300). The
epistemological culture includes attributes such as beliefs about knowledge, practices regarding the sharing
of knowledge, organizations that support research funding and dissemination, and so forth. It is important to
be aware of epistemological cultures in different regions as this may help to understand how people invent
and discover.
Desirable the epistemological cultures operate; the Jiangnan region of China gives a good example. As one
of the major regions of technical and intellectual growths in imperial and modern China, Jiangnan has
indeed witnessed a long history of such development (Li, 2012). During the Song Dynasty, for example,
more diversified and creative public and private schools emerged in Jiangnan region where Neo-
Confucianism that later became a dominant epistemological paradigm in China began to take root (Elman,
2013). The free critical environment that was promoted supported confederations of scholars to make
advancements in various fields of geomancy, microbiology among others as perceived from the thinking of
Needham. Even today, the Jiangnan area around Shanghai and Nanjing has continued to remain the
premier location of research universities and high-technology industries in China and sustains an
epistemological orientation that embraces observation, rationality, and synoptic view of knowledge (Zhao,
2013). To have a better understanding of the region‘s proved ability to produce knowledge, it is worthy to
look into the history and analyze the shift of epistemological culture in Jiangnan.
One can also infer the weakness or even nuisance of the two dominant epistemological paradigms in
Jiangnan‘s experience. For over eleven hundred years of Chinese imperial history the examination system
that prevailed in the civil service curbed creativity and critical thinking relevant to the Confucian order in
favor of allusions that were considered to be in concordance with the aesthetics of the Empire (Elman,
2014). While, during The Song-Yuan era the academies of the jiangnan provided an opportunity that was
an avenue to the officials who were locked out of the examinations, these academies were entirely based
on private patronage and the dissertation culture never completely displaced the main examination track
(Chaffee, 1995). This is something that defines epistemological cultures as two-faced as they not only open
but equally close possibilities of conceiving and financing. As Mok and Yiu wrote (2016), there is a problem
with overprotection: ‗safeguarding or ‗guardian‘ mechanisms‘, but it is necessary for a principle to be
experimented with, allowed to be radical from below (p. 226).
Comparative analysis: Useful knowledge perception that has been observed from the rural and
urban population
Perceptions as to what constitutes useful knowledge vary between rural and urban dwellers. People in rural
areas are more likely to appreciate skills and knowledge that is useful in the main economic activities or the
most frequently performed tasks (Atkinson, 2021). For instance, rural people may attach higher importance
to agricultural knowledge, mechanical skills, hunting, and gathering, animal farming, and weather
conditions or basic first aid knowledge than those living in cities (Brown & Schafft, 2019). On the other
hand, the people in the cities and large metropolitan areas consider the theoretical, technical, managerial,
artistic, and academic knowledge to be more useful (Li et al., 2023). This professionalism will be well
appreciated within large cities with citizens who are more likely to value computer science, business, arts,
tertiary education; and specialized fields among them being law, medicine, engineering, marketing, or
finance among others.
There could be several reasons for the above said discrepancies in the rural and urban areas as follows. It
shows that rural livelihoods are based more greatly on primary sector economies such as farming, fishing,
and logging, or mining which entail hard work and skills in tangible activities (Kumar & Adil, 2022). The
employment of workers is higher in urban Centers related to manufacturing sectors, service sectors, trades,
knowledge-based, and jobs that demand technical skills and/or thinking analytically. It also entails deeper
and more versatile survival abilities and functionality due to the residing like circumstances,
underdeveloped utilities, and precarious services (Atkinson, 2021). Living in a city provides an opportunity
to have a much more specialized and divided occupation. It means that the rural social networks are more
likely to be conventional and easily predict their focus on maintaining the statuses quo of the society, while
the urban contacts create opportunities for new kind of changes and shifts in culture. SOME of such
differences have been accelerated in the last few decades by urbanization and globalization processes.
As Kumar & Adil (2022) and Li et al. (2023) argue, there are some scholars who argued that the actual
reality might not be as cut-and-dried as portrayed where the rural and urban dichotomy of the knowledge
utilisation. Thus, it can be seen that both contexts call for an understanding of the practical work experience
and the theoretical perspective. Communication and transport have over time played an important role in
lightening the gap between the rural and urban population. Another cause of learning is migration from the
rural settings to cities and towns as well as from one region to another. There may have been no significant
difference between the perception of rural and urban participants as to what is consider as helpful
knowledge in the twenty-first century world. Though, it seems that additional qualitative studies are required
in order to obtain more contemporary and intricate perceptions of the rural/urban divide that might help to
eliminate stereotype visions. It is also crucial to point out that with increasing numbers of activities shifting
from the rural to the urban domain, there can occur the change in the definition of useful knowledge.
Inter-Cultural Transfers and Knowledge Management
Factors that make people accept or reject the western scientific knowledge
It is possible to identify several factors that explain why some people and communities accept or reject
such knowledge from western science. These factors include political and economic issues, religiousness,
culture, and attitude or prejudice which one may hold (Aikenhead and Ogawa, 2007). The exploration of the
origin of positive or negative attitudes towards western science knowledge enables improved public
understanding and acceptance of science information.
One of them is that there is an association of western science with some particular political or economic
national agenda that is look down upon local populations or is inapplicable to native cultural system
(Allchin, 2011). For example, some indigenous people‘s organizations have dismissed scientific facts on
climate change impact on the Arctic since accepting them opens the door for mining and oil drilling on their
ancestral territories. This has more often placed conservation science in conflict with public policies, which
require development through construction. Innovation or a new discovery from western science may be
rejected by the local public where it is seen to be used by foreigners or the west.
Religious beliefs also influence perception of western science which has its origins in post-Enlightenment
rationalism (Allchin, 2014). Especially in America, the idea of evolution has been a fight for its recognition
among people who deemed it incoherent with the creation story. Physics and astronomy also bring
opposites in the religious concepts that place man in the center of the universe. In particular while scientific
curricula and policies are perceived to defy religious beliefs, this may provoke audiences into aggrandizing
the latter and rejecting the former.
Public can develop ignorance or even become careless and skeptical if the exceeds them in regard to
western science. Bauer, Allum & Miller (2007) suggested that the methods of laboratory testing or
academic prose are either unknown or off-putting for the majority. In addition, there are some cultures
which may be shielded from higher learning institutions and therefore develop anti-intellectualism which
fosters doubts not only in scientific knowledge but academic knowledge in general. These obstacles may
be offset by enhanced science reporting trying to make research more easily understandable combined
with outreach that can also show that research is useful in the real world.
The influence of political conflict, economical grounds, religious beliefs as well as cultural perceptions can
sometimes negatively affect the acceptance of western science among the populace. Understanding the
origin of either positive or negative attitudes will help the scientific community to be more effective in its
communication and community mobilization efforts to ensure that people are willing to consider facts based
on research. Eradicating ‗fight or flight‘ mentality will require us to engage in subtle consciousness raising
that recognizes differences in such areas of value as policy and faith; and in the more general search for
new forms of presenting science that might reflect its potential to speak more meaningfully to people‘s lives.
The reception of foreign knowledge within the Chinese cultural systems
Foreign knowledge in Chinese cultural systems has had a wave-like process of acceptance and rejection in
history. To quote Fairbank and Goldman (2006), ―when China was strong, foreign ideas could be tolerated
or even sought; when weak, they were excluded‖ (p.104). Intervals of power and optimism facilitated more
receptiveness to outside suggestions and innovations for improving Chinese systems, whereas times of
instability or the threat of it prompted Chinese to shun outside ideas as sources of pollution.
As to the previous periods, Chinese scholars were also actively taking over from the outside world
knowledge, technologies and ideas for the development of indigenous civilization. These comprise of
beliefs and practices of Buddhism which has its origin from India and was brought to China during the Han
Dynasty period. At first it was reacted with disbelief but eventually it became an impart curriculum of
Confucianism and Taoism and some of its concepts integrated into Chinese Culture and Ethics (Ebrey,
2010). The other period of the global city connection was in Tang Dynasty where China was exposing itself
to the international market. It was thus ―serving to have Indian Buddhist texts, Persian and Arabic
astronomical and mathematical books as well as Greek medical and scientific books translated into
Chinese to enhance knowledge‖ (Ebrey, 2010, p. 107). Such attitudes signified the ability of the country to
adopt systems from other countries as an evidence of prowess.
Receptivity altered when the Mongols arrived in the early 13th Century through which they brought along
the Yuan dynasty as represented by Kublai Khan. After that, susceptibility to European imperialism
strengthened perceived threat originating from the rest of the world. This understanding emerged as the
dominant paradigm because Chinese cultural heritage was deemed superior and sufficient, as Ebrey
(2010) observed about early modern contacts between China and the West: The given fact made Chinese
scholars and officials seek small value in understanding the West (Fairbank, pp. 233). It seemed that not
even scholars like Feng Guifen who sought to strengthen China to fend off Western imperialism meant for
China to adopt any part of what they referred to as ‗Western learning‘ in the sense of accepting Western
knowledge such as science while at the same time preserving the very core of China and Chinese culture
while rejecting what the West were preaching as heresies on religion or politics (Spence, 1990). What it
was there was a cycle where the Chinese opened up their doors during the phase of strength and closed
down the foreign contamination when they saw that they were threatened.
China has come out of the economic and political world of the new century and due to this according to
Fairbank and Goldman ‗the Chinese have lifted earlier restrictions on their openness to things foreign‘
(2006, p. 366). More confident outreach can be seen with government-led projects such as the Belt and
Road Initiative. In China, the state places restrictions on the type of cultural imports it considers sensitive
for political reasons while encouraging foreign trade, foreign investments, transfer of technology and
exchange of educational services for further expansion. This kind of openness and exclusion at the same
time seems to indicate that there is still some uncertainty. In Link‘s (2013) view, the Chinese leaders today
need advanced foreign science& technology, markets, capital and resources, but they do not want what
they consider as ‗subversive‘ foreign ideas (p. 206). This might present itself in ways differently with the
switch in receptivity that appears to have oscillated as depicted by history in the period of China‘s revival.
Seaborne information flows and Chinese culture imports
Through the exchange of goods through sailing perhaps one of the most efficient ways of transfers of
ideas, technologies and other features of culture between China on one side and other parts of the world
has been through water transport for centuries now. The trade that was done through the sea was already
established during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) where the partners of China were countries in
East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and even East Africa. Regarding this, it
can be stated that these sea borne information was also useful for the growth of the Chinese civilization.
Chinese imports from abroad were crops, medical herbs, furniture, garments, utensils, weapons and many
more. Majority of these products signified foreign concepts or even tendered symbolic meanings that
changed the lifestyle, attitude, art, and science of Chinese. For instance, Buddhism‘s diffusion from India
starting from the 1st century CE paved way to the rise of new forms of religious practice and beliefs. The
Chinese ceramics, textiles and embellishments also had designs which were copied from Persian and
Arabic products, which were imported through the sea route. In terms of transmission, Chinese culture
received and translated foreign ideas and commodities by ‗indigenizing‘ them to fit China‘s local tastes and
norms through seaborne conduits.
In the same regard, it also had free say over the other regions as much as it did through the sea contacts
as it did in the land. The Chinese brought changes in the material life and aesthetic values of the mainland
and maritime Southeast Asia through the introduction of inventions in agriculture, handicrafts, printing, and
architectures. Habit of writing, pray, the administrative organization, the mode of singing and instruments of
music they played, taboo food they had and even their languages moved from the Chinese cultural core out
to other peripheral societies that had sea transportation. Thus, China was the passive or the active
recipient of the cultural goods delivered via ocean routes that entailed production of syncretic local cultures.
Trading and travelling in the China seas experienced constant fluctuation in the course of over a thousand
years providing the circumstances for interpenetration and syncretism in the area.
Combination of Chinese and foreign medical systems
Integration of Chinese and foreign medical systems is a multifaceted process which may have its
advantages and disadvantages. On one side it could create new therapies and increase the range of
approaches to heal a patient by combining various elements of different healing practices and theories (Liu,
2011). This means that, when we are going to integrate medical systems that have a dramatically different
history, epistemology and theories, we can undermine the very base of both systems (Zhang, 2009). For
example, the need to base the work on a partnership mentality and the willingness to listen from both sides
are the biggest assets when working.
In what way may Chinese medicine and foreign systems be made to integrate for a harmonious synergy?
For example, the Chinese material medica, which contains a variety of herbs that are traditionally used in
Chinese medicine, could be researched from a biochemical perspective in order to determine the functions
and the biochemical effects of these herbs (Liu 2011). They could then be used to inform the appropriate
incorporation of the above practices in consonance with Western standards among others. Moreover,
diagnostic concepts of Chinese medicine such as qi deficiency or liver fire could be linked to biomedical
indicators as Zhang has suggested (2009). In his words as cited in the article, Liu (2011) argues that since
Chinese medicine is an organic whole system it cannot easily be translated into compounds, factors or
even a single factor. Therefore, bridges need to intentionally maintain larger healing narratives. In general,
there are opportunities but they also pose some threats if the process of collaboration is misconceived or
exaggerated.
If there is to be a constructive engagement between Chinese medicine and foreign systems, the process
must maintain scientific credibility whilst recognizing that two fundamentally different ways of knowing can
still be clinically useful (Lao, 2012). It is illogical to expect that ancient healing arts will conform to the
organizational structures of the modern biomedical research while retaining components that have
supported them for millennial. However, when it comes to the safety of the patient, minimal assessment of
safety and efficacy is justifiable so as to safeguard the patient from harm. Therefore, the inductive and
permissive investigation that examines clinical experiences associated with such concepts as qi and
meridian theory could identify the regularity of links without distorting the comprehensive concept of
Chinese medicine (Lao, 2012). To be more specific, the synergy will stem from place of mutual respect and
interest rather than mimicry.
Case study: Xu Guangqi’s ability to adopt the Western methods while still maintaining cultural
integrity
Often intercultural relations raise a number of questions about ones own self and about what is right and
wrong. When one culture imitates the other, there is a probability that the former will be dominated by the
latter in terms of their methods and technologies (Smith, 2020). This means that cultural appropriation does
not necessarily mean the complete loss of a certain cultural orientation. If efforts are made with tact, then
techniques can be modified and implemented to enhance cultural rather than overstimulating identity.
The process presented by some of the Chinese history is how integration of practices poses a challenge.
Hu Shi is one such scholar-official who was an active participant in the May Fourth Movement after which
he was offered a position in the Chinese Ministry of Education where he continued his scholarly work lets
understand about it how no scholar-official of the Late Ming and Early Qing such as Xu Guangqi was left
with an option except to assimilate knowledge of the Scientific Revolution of the Western missionaries
without having to question the Confucian civilization (Chan, 202 According to Chan (2022), Xu believed that
if Chinese people followed Western learning to the hilt, these intellectuals would know well how to serve the
emperor. Chinese man known as Xu learnt astronomy, mathematics and agriculture from a jesuit priest
called Matteo Ricci for the improvement in Chinese calendric science and farming techniques (Smith,
2020). But, as noted earlier, even when utilising these approaches, Xu did not change his Confucian
orientation and loyalties (Chan, 2022). His culture however was rooted in the fact that he had to learn in
order to occupy a better status in the society of China.
Thus, it is crucial to pay attention to the context and the purpose: if the outside practices and technologies
are utilized preserving the culture, they should be allowed. Assimilation /Borrowing: This occurs when a
method is borrowed without respecting the cultural setting it belongs to, and hence can easily be
incorporated into another culture as Xu did. However, this requires an intentional filtering process guided by
the question: In this respect, do these methods build upon or erode that which is most fundamental to our
culture? In other words, the Confucian societal objectives were by no means threatened by astronomy but
would be facilitated by it for Xu. As Smith (2020) put it, ‗he consciously tried to reconcile Western learning
with the Chinese cultural values he was passionate about‖ (p. 92). This filtering and adaptation made it
possible to borrow culture from other societies while at the same time not compromise on their own culture.
There seems to be hardly any culture today that has not been in some way influenced by another culture
given the global interactions that characterise current world order. The world is getting global as well, so
intercultural learning becomes inevitable, but recognizing cultural presuppositions that might be present in
the adopted practice or software is also possible. It is possible to evaluate methods, adjust them, and apply
them in such a manner that cultural validity doesn‘t disappear but rather increases. The example of Xu
Guangqi and other scholar-officials as shown above are still useful to the person living in an integrated
world.
Comparative analysis: Chinese and Japanese perception of Foreign knowledge
The society of China has had a different perception than the society of Japan regarding the integration of
foreign knowledge and products in the society in the past. This is actually not true as China was rather
open for the next 2000 years, as they welcomed Buddhism from India in the 1st century CE (Li, 2023).
Some of Chinese scholars accepted the Indian Buddhist books and some even travelled to India to have
more knowledge of Buddhism. On the other hand, Japan was rather isolated longer, and even though
Chinese and Buddhism were introduced in the 6th CE by Prince Shōtoku, the process was much earlier
than in Korea (Henshall, 2012). Yet both countries later adopted more isolationist, Sinocentric outlooks that
persisted in some fashion until the nineteenth century.
China proved to be quite receptive to imports of ideas and religions for more than thousand years. The
compassionate religion of Buddhism arrived in China at some time in the first century through the Silk Road
(Li, 2023) and was able to gain imperial sponsorship which put it in a position to grow and transform
Chinese civilization. It was during Tang Dynasty also that the Chinese intellectuals get to know more about
the cultures and ideas of the Inner Asian steppe people, as suggested by authors fairbank and Goldman in
2006. As for the western knowledge, although Chinese civilization can brag about itself to be the great
achievement of mankind, Chinese scholar-officials didn‘t wish to cut off the contact with such kind of beliefs
and knowledge but only picked up what they think suitable and reliable for enhancing the Chinese
civilization as what Fairbank and Goldman pointed out to be the positive input of western knowledge to the
Chinese civilization and thus affirm that confidence and tolerance of the Tang intellectuals. The newcomers
that settled down in the region in the 13th century the Mongols also brought Persian and Islamic traditions
with them. Therefore, through the service of time, Chinese culture endogenous and organic only a part of
foreign cultures.
Japan for example did not embrace it as eagerly as Europe initially, but later on it became popular even
more. Chinese culture and Buddism were first introduced in the 6th century CE when Prince Shōtoku
opened Japan to outside world after hundreds of years of isolation on the Japanese archipelago (Henshall,
2012). But as Henshall explains, these foreign influences were not embraced but rather strictly regulated:
―Chinese culture was regarded as something that needed to be tapped but exercised vigilance over‖ and on
the other hand, the Buddhism remained confined to the aristocracy for several centuries (p. 48). However,
only in the 8th century as the imperial state extended the control over Japan, Buddhism was accepted that
was incorporated into the process of state formation to assist in taming the country‘s countryside (Henshall,
2012). The reception was very cautious and slow in Japan and unlike the Chinese, they weren‘t as
confident and flexible as well.
Nevertheless, by the 17th century, China and Japan had become much more restrictive in their outlook as
they embraced Neo-Confucianism that excluded all forms of foreign contact and placed the China at the
center of the world. The Ming first adopted most of the expansive Tang-Song era policies but later
regressed to even more biased views which portrayed foreign societies as barbaric (Fairbank & Goldman,
2006). The isolation of Japan was achieved under the systematic national seclusion policy of Sakoku
imposed by the Tokugawa Shogunate for more than two hundred years, thus the introduction of western
ideas was only made in the 1850‘s (Henshall 2012). Surprisingly, only China‘s losses in the Opium Wars
made the country and Japan cease their isolationist policies and integrate some aspects of Western
knowledge and technologies.
It can be said that Chinese and Japanese receptions to foreign cultures have been rather unpredictable,
switching between completely open and completely closed with periods in between. But the identification of
these continuities and changes unveils attitudes associated with cultural hegemony that all contributed to
the manner in which foreign knowledge was assimilated. We must understand this complicated historical
relationship to realize modern tries of these countries to find a balance between patriotism and willingness
to accept globalization.
Changing Cultural Paradigms in the Emergence of Early-Qing Knowledge System
The evidential scholarship as the new cultural approach to knowledge
The evidential scholarship is one of the methodologies of studying and building knowledge that indicates
that research should be grounded in the concepts of fact rather than guesswork or opinion (Harris, 2021).
As stated by Harris in 2021 ―in the context of the post-truth and fake news as well as the so-called truth in
the era of ‗alternative facts‘ scholars from various fields are only beginning to recognize the contribution of
the actual data regarding the results and arguments made‖ [1, p. 18]. This cultural change for demanding
proof supports the claims charts a shift in general concerns about the presence of misleading or even false
information in public and an appetite for grounding that might make such falsehoods visible.
In many fields of study the scholars is using even stricter methods in order to come up with results which
can be accredited and which can be repeated. For instance political scientists are now applying big data
analysis as well as randomized control trials while researching on voting pattern and impacts of policies
(Angrist & Pischke, 2010). Clinical scientists have previously used outcome data on trials to ascertain
treatment and are now integrating more general data on patients and developing more detailed analytical
tools (Collins, & Tabak, 2014). Fields where research-based information is not usually expected, like
philosophy and cultural studies, for example, now have great emphasis on developing logical reasoning
inculcate more than abstract thinking (Kelly, 2014). As the methods of work and data organization move
toward progressiveness, the movement to evidence should be supported.
On one hand it provides some opportunities as well as is somewhat unavoidable in a number of respects,
on the other, it poses certain threats and challenges. The former has to do with a better availability and
utilization of superior techniques while the latter allowed the academics to produce nearer and more
accurate knowledge, as pointed out by Angrist and Pischke (2010). In the context of big data, the handling
could reveal properties not previously seen and new methods propose the improvement of the analysis.
However, as pointed out by Collins and Tabak (2014) there were some issues that were evident when it
came to big data integration and interpretation. These are the other concerns; privacy, sharing of
information and where funds will be sourced. Critics post that an oversimplification on such values
understates possible aspects because some constituents are abstract and cannot be measured such as
feelings or past encounters. For the moment, let us recall the standing debate on the stance of qualitative
evidence as outlined by Kelly (2014).
The evidential scholarship movement is one of the samples of the increased cultural expectation of depth
and demonstrableness in the few exigent movement of fake news. This is particularly adequate given
current calls for policies to be justified on the data instead of values or politics. However integration of
various forms of evidences and handling new stocks of information will pose a methodological challenge for
scholars. To enable continued investment in developing good evidential practices and some reflection on
what constitutes sound and ethical evidence, sustained investment is going to be necessary. This cultural
shift in knowledge creation therefore may open up great opportunities if carried out diligently by careful,
reflexive scholars.
The cultural underpinnings for the emergence of statecraft as a field of study
The historiography of statecraft as a distinctive field of learning can therefore be traced to a set of
fundamental cultural shifts which occurred in Europe during the 17 th – early 19th centuries. When European
countries were strengthening their control and increasing the size of their territories, there were attempts to
systematically analyze the methods of governing (Scott, 2022). The 18th century enlightenment ideas of
rationality, science, reason, and theories on human society also spurred scholarly analysis of the state
mechanism, bureaucracy, diplomacy and intricate relations between rulers and the ruled (Berridge, 2015).
The concept of statecraft found in modernity can be traced to some of the enlightened authors like Locke
who wrote on the authorities and the individuals (Scott, 2022). Then the later scholars like Hegel and Karl
Marx expounded the post-modern theories on the relation of the ideological basis of state power, and its
linkages with the economic systems. As Berridge noted (2015, p. 464), it is important to notice that, with the
rising attention towards the improvement of the scientific objectives in the study of government and
diplomacy, the statecraft has emerged. From this cultural impulse there originated the first systematic
works which concern themselves with the relations of states and diplomacy of the nineteenth century by
such writers as Clausewitz and Nicolson.
The advancement of state craft to the present day and the process by which it became an independent
professional subject of its own owe its further outlines and growth with the twentieth century. Scholars such
as Morgenthau made it possible to study diplomacy and the decision-making process of states through the
First World War while the evolution of the post-war totalitarian states fostered the study of propaganda and
soft powers such as the Scandal (Scott, 2022). To that were others like, decolonization, Cold War among
others which led to a rise in the formation and analysis of foreign policy, intelligence and security affairs. At
the close of the twentieth century statecraft has reached a stage where it is an academic discipline that is
taught at post graduate level or higher and is interfaced with many other fields such as political science and
international relation. The contemporary curricula of statesmanship are as diverse as the traditional ones,
that is, diplomacy and history as well as such branches as economic statecraft, culture and technology in
state management.
The change of useful knowledge in context of early-Qing cultural context
During the early Qing dynasty in China, there were oriented changes in people‘s perception of knowledge
and learning. According to Elman, the Manchus who initiated the Qing connected Han writings to rebellion
and aimed at controlling the generation of new civil-service degree recipients. It is still evident that during
the early Qing state supported knowledges which might help to consolidate Manchu rule and provide
statecraft capabilities. This shift was more absorbed from the belief that ―technology can be better realized
into state power than can moral philosophy and literature‖ (Zhang, 2012 37). The change was also
associated with the Chinese tradition went deeper and seemed to be older in terms of the State‘s
governance and efficiency.
The drive for mathematical and technical learning under the Qing dynasty, according to the text, can be
partly attributed to attitudes brought in by the Jesuit missionaries. According to Jami (2012), the technical
experts that the early Jesuits such as Matteo Ricci, who arrived in China in the late 16th century, attracted
a lot of attention (p. 88). Chinese state bureaucrats realized that Western learning had something to
offering economic science, mathematics, astronomy, and geography. When the early Qing wanted to bring
practical knowledge to the foreground, they adopted this tradition and incorporated into it into the state
agenda. Since 1712, the Qing rulers encouraged the process of compilation of books on such subjects as
agriculture, medicine, mathematics, etc. Qianlong emperor paid special attention to scholars, who collected
information required for official accounts. However, early Qing sentiments also banned areas that were
perceived to be politically sensitive unlike Jesuit impact as well as the Chinese affinity for utilitarianism.
Sponsorship was limited only to the technical state craft works and denied for moral, literati and
philosophical works by the literati (Zhang, 2012, p. 37). This discrimination revealed the regime‘s enmity to
the Chinese literary culture that fostered the dissents.
The dissemination of technical knowledge in this manner could therefore also be said to reflect both
Chinese and Manchu traditions. Promotion of sponsorship of other types of practical knowledge that could
improve the reach of governance was built on traditional Chinese notions of what rulers should do. De Bary
(1991) pointed out that, for the Chinese, ‗arranging the world‘ had been defined for a long time as the
standard of the rule of virtue (p. 21). Practical treatises in geography, administration, and other policy
concerns were in line with this tradition of political order and balance. The motivations were also connected
with the efforts of Manchus to tighten their positions and to go further away from the ideological heritage of
the Ming dynasty. Therefore by stressing technical competency than the literary and philosophic, the Qing
aimed to change the qualification criteria that qualified an official and a devoted subject (Elman, 2005 p.
731). This policy has caused knowledgeable elites to turn their attention away from the realm of Chinese
high culture which the Manchu considered rebellious. It thus represented certain primary Chinese
conceptions of how the state had to be governed and Manchu attempts to restrain and degrass the Han
cadres.
The promotion of technical and administrative knowledge in the early Qing reflected deeper transformations
in the cultural outlook. These changes revealed that it was state power that defined moral virtue in useful
knowledge inherited from Jesuit and Chinese traditions alongside the Manchu political dominance. It was a
revolution but at the same time, it was continuity of prior Chinese views of learning and ruling. It showed the
yields of the Han Chinese and the Manchus to the new paradigms of the literati guidance and the imperial
multiethnic rule within the terms of the imperial Qing regimen.
Development of hybrid knowledge systems in changing culture
The concept of mixed knowledge systems refers to intensity of culture and the knowledge systems being
produced at the multicultural postmodern global society. Today‘s world is more interconnected than ever
before and people employ various epistemology in order to understand existence. The first large-scale
hybrid knowledge systems emerged in the context of European imperialism, when modern science and
technology came into contact with indigenous and other local knowledge traditions.
For example, European settlers in Africa or Asia adopted native learning paradigms to enable them
understand the local ecosystem, farming practices, indigenous medicine and much more on the other hand,
they brought in European ways of learning. Such colonial hybridity was frequently oppressive and violent in
the manner in which it endorsed the Western ways of knowing. It also Introduced new synthesizing systems
which where half way between the two such as Ayurveda which was a fusion between Indian and Europe‘s
medical systems. But in the postcolonial era, people tend to move forward rapidly by way of migration,
media-communication technology, travelling and international business. Partially, postmodern sciences are
more tolerant of other theories, for example, the rise of traditional Chinese medicine, or acknowledgement
of ethnobotanical statistics in pharmacology. Popular culture means the world successful popular culture
and this includes for example, musical flirtation, foods, religious beliefs, among others.
As it appears from the examples of hybrid knowledge systems and their epistemological implications as
discussed herein, it has its opportunities and risks creatively. Therefore, this implies that where there is
hybridity, then there will be emerging so many new ideas and concepts that would help society for the
simple reason that it just creates new theories and approaches of the world. Due to this very fact that the
concept of hybridity involves taking elements from different cultural contexts their integration presupposes
intercultural sensitivity and cross-cultural transfers. However, the power in the hands of the few Western
countries and tries to disseminate these models globally. Critics have made claims that, hybrid systems
could actually domesticize and commodify subjugated knowledge yet without the proper credit being given
where it is supposed to be given. A further disadvantageous impact of the global cultural imperialism is the
stripping of the local culture generation to generation. Namely, hybrid knowledge systems require the
openness to new ideas, which implies an acceptance of plural knowledge, equal as well as moral treatment
of all the sources of knowledge. As to the future, new, even more complex media platforms, including
Internet and social nets, will much more exponentially strengthen the epistemological relation and
intersection all across the world. It means understanding how to translate between cultures and arriving at
a new architecture of organizations that can monitor the conditions of advantage of the worldly common of
knowledge while at the same time threatening it.
Comparative analysis: Cultural logics of knowledge: Early-Qing vs. late-Ming
A shift in politics of China from Ming to Qing delineated new policies towards the knowledge or learning.
According to Elman (2005), ―By the sixteenth century, scholasticism had emerged in the Ming dynasty as
text-bound, structurally isolated from new information and theories, and centered on the search for moral
clichés and symbols in classics‖ (p.745). As the Ming dynasty entered its final decades, there was a
growing formalization and even petrification of knowledge, and numerous scholars concentrated on reading
and explaining selected chapters of the Confucian canon through particular moralizing perspectives that did
not allow for a wider, more rigorous, or more creative approach to scholarship.
However, the early Qing period witnessed purposeful introduction of different cultural rationalities that were
more positivistic, utilitarian and interfactual in orientation (Elman, 2005). An attempt was made to break free
from the mold of Confucianism scholarship as defined by the Imperial Academy and Civil Service Exams.
For instance, the emperors of the Qing dynasty supported the evidential research (kaozheng) that required
an ―elaborate compilation, classification and analysis of the data collected through empirical studies‖ (De
Weerdt, 2007, p. 812). This included scholars of various origins who collected historical facts, conducted
surveys and experiments, gained experience and created new tools, translated books of the Western world
and others. The aim of it was to introduce more practical realistic understanding alongside with the lofty
Confucian ethical and metaphysical positions.
The comparison of the late Ming and early Qing knowledge systems highlights the swings between the rigid
and the open in the scholastic cultures. To quote Elman (2005) again, in the late Ming, there was
―metaphysical learning dominance of culture‖ while in the early Qing there were ―new opportunities for
scholars to embark on studies that were far removed from philological formalism.‖ This extreme however
provoked its own backlash and in the later part of the Qing dynasty, the evidential research movement was
superseded by literary, historical and philosophical studies that offered a more liberal interpretation of the
empirical tenets (De Weerdt, 2007). This tension is evidenced by a comparison between the late Ming
moral scholasticism and the early Qing empirical studies.
Cultural Logics of Ming-Qing and Their Implication for Knowledge Development
Contribution to the development of Chinese approaches to useful knowledge in the long term
Over 3,000 years ago, during the Zhou dynasty, it was realized that ―knowledge has its uses‖ (Feng, 1943,
p. 5). This has created a culture that is present up to today, education one needs to be given value in the
society. There was a category of scholars during the Han dynasty that was esteemed for their studiousness
across multiple disciplines including astronomy, geography, divination, agriculture, medicine among others
that were beneficial to the government and the populace at large Needham and Wang (1956). Their
syncretic and empirical approach to learning reflects an early Chinese concern for ‗this-worldly‘ knowledge
The formalization of the Imperial examination system in the Sui dynasty channeled learning in statecraft
and governance-related issues that had practical uses (Elman, 2013).
During the economic reform post 1978 in modern China, the government renewed focus on making
education and research and development important for economic growth. Such programs like the 863
Program focused on innovations and technologies that were deemed relevant to industries that China
wanted to position itself in the global market (Cao, 2004). This desire to obtain usable value from investing
in higher learning persists to the present day – the research innovation capacity and commercialization
outcomes are measures used for Chinese universities and researchers (Rhoads et al., 2014). It is possible
to see this drive for useful and applicable knowledge as the modern continuation of a traditional Chinese
philosophical predisposition towards knowledge that has a positive social function and promotes material
welfare. Chinese people have always reoriented their academic environment according to the changes in
the definition of useful knowledge throughout different historical periods, which proves the existence of a
strong cultural belief in the ability of education to satisfy human needs.
The influences of Ming-Qing cultural logics for later innovations
The Ming-Qing period in China: 14th- early twentieth century was the time of significant cultural and
intellectual changes that would affect different spheres of Chinese society in the following centuries. At this
period the system of examinations for the official posts become rather tightened and was the only chance
to become a bureaucrat and to receive a rather high social status. Its meritocratic, scholarship based
mechanism of admission into the ruling class would have impact on later innovators and reformers.
As noted, the Schools of X and Y are the philosophical and religious Schools which emerged the Ming-Qing
period (Author, year). Such exchanged ideas included the unity of knowledge; the blend between the
natural world and that of man; and the transformation of the self as a method of changing the external
environment (Author, year). It was such a concept which would frame the cultural premises and logics of
many Chinese intellects in the subsequent eras. For instance, when the Chinese reformers wanted to
introduce western scientific and technological values into China so as to reform the Chinese society in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Chinese reformers would tap into these philosophical currents of
the Ming-Qing era.
Chinese arts and literature in the Ming-Qing period received extraordinary development of which the novel
became one of the most marked branches of literature. As it is with other historical fiction books such as
the [Title], through satire and historical telling of a story the work seeks to raise issues on morality, identity
and relationship (Author, year). These cultural works were involved in the process of conventional
construction of Chinese literary style and topic which in some ways evolved in the late Ming and Qing
dynasties. For instance, the 20th century Chinese science fiction would adopt the aspects of science and
technology that where from the west while integrating the storytelling norms, moral aspects and symbols
from the previous imperial novels.
Socio-cultural changes of the Ming-Qing era established proto-Culturalism approaches and processes to
ensuing transformations of Chinese innovation of politics, ethics, and art during other successive eras of
change. The biographies of the above-mentioned reformers prove in particular how Ming-Qing strands of
thought continued and impacted the weft and the warp of Chinese innovation even centuries thereafter.
Continuity in modern Chinese knowledge systems of culture
Chinese culture and knowledge are complex structures which evolved during several thousands of years.
Despite such dynamic political and social changes throughout the current century, there are some of the
major aspects linking Chinese culture, thought, medicine, art and science to the present time. These
continuity reflects the reality that several of the key Chinese knowledge structures have substantial cultural
appropriateness. According to Leung (2013), in spite of China‘s swift modernization, indigenous culture has
been maintained to an incredibly high degree: ‗The Chinese have done a very good job in maintaining the
indigenous content intact‘ (p. 125) more so than other non- Western societies.
The following factors explain this continuity: In the first place, traditional Chinese knowledge systems
emphasize cosmology, humanity, and personality in reference to the natural world and its forces. The first
two concerns are linked to daily human life and experience which are still relevant in today‘s world as noted
by Unschuld 2003. This is in line with Dong and Yuan (2010) who said that the theory and practice of
Chinese medicine does not appear to be stale; rather, it is vibrant and has room for continuing
interpretation‖ p. 1054. Secondly, Chinese philosophy and cosmology do not like to give prearranged
structures and substantial existences but prefer relational wholes and ongoing creative activities. While the
rationalistic tradition of philosophy that believes in absolute truth is largely foreign to the Chinese, Chen
(2006) opined that the Chinese are comfortable with multiple perspectives constituting the reality as
intertwined and in constant interaction. This pluralistic orientation may have assisted traditional Chinese
systems in terms of sustaining their intellectual viability in the face of technological as well as
epistemological erasure.
The Chinese knowledge systems have therefore changed and developed to meet the current challenges
and requirements. According to Zhang (2007), ―Many western medical theories and technologies are
adopted in Chinese medicine today…However, it has not totally westernized.‖ The Chinese government
encourages the borrowing of aspects of the tradition that are deemed useful for the progressive change
and strength of China, and the rejection of feudal elements perceived as remnants of the past (Hsu &
Højer, 2016). Daoism also follows the same tendency as it tends to focus on themes of contemporary
isolation and ecological disaster (Zhang & Pas, 2014). Hence, whereas the ontological and methodological
foundations of, for example, medicine or Daoism have been preserved as sufficiently consistent, changes
and progressions at the level of phenomena represent the source of rejuvenation and relevance.
Given the fact of China‘s vast and turbulent transformations in the not-so-distant past, the perdurance of
many Chinese knowledge systems around the established cultural values and worldviews might be
regarded as a noteworthy phenomenon. Specific kinds of expressions change with time; nonetheless,
some absolute world-views, human-centered, and innate philosophies continue to hold a strong appeal for
purpose and direction, regardless of the spirit of positivism. However, as the Chinese knowledge systems
evolve, there are concerns over the threat posed between losing one‘s cultural root and becoming
irrelevant. It goes on being played out in China today regarding how much of the traditional ethic modern
systems can and should retain to serve the epistemological needs of the contemporary world.
International reconsideration of Chinese input to enlightening information
The Chinese have for long under contributed to enlightening information such as the Confucianism and the
art. Thus, in the recent past few decades, researchers and world leaders have started admiring the great
philosophical and cultural value of China. China has the proud right dating back to over 5000 years, or even
more, as far as civilization and advancement of human race is concerned. The ancient China was much
more productive during this period and produced great personalities in the fields of ethics, statecraft, music,
poetry, science, and technology. Alternative, Confucius used his beliefs which comprise of benevolence,
righteousness, reciprocity and filialism which are some of the most highly valued beliefs even to date. All
encompassing, many centuries worth of Chinese philosophy and administration stemmed from his
Analects. The other notable inventions that came from China in the early ages include paper, print, gun
powder, and compass all of which distorted communication and discovery in the world. Chinese literature,
poetry, calligraphy, music, and art reflected a cultured person and still can make people cry or at least feel
something through the use of metaphors that depicted the world with its possibilities and, at the same time,
with hardships.
Over the recent decades, however, there has been a growing shift towards recognition of the great
contribution that has been offered to civilization by China. Higher internationalisation of scholarships and
exchange programs in China shows more appreciation of the profound Chinese philosophy, values and
appreciation of beauty. The Wold Expos and events, such as Olympics 2008 Beijing Olympics, provided
opportunities to present 5,000 years of art heritage in Chinese performances of both traditional and
contemporary arts. Confucius‘s and other Chinese philosophers‘ works are read across the world as part of
the curriculum together with basic ethical works of Aristotle, Kant or Mill. As China continues to establish
itself as a power house of the 21st century in terms of economy and politics, cultural perspective has
broadened. All moral values, inventions and creations which born in China carry out the highest ideas of
mankind. More and more interchange between cultures plus more opportunity to absorb China‘s living
philosophical heritages can only be beneficial to the international community. This is a new renaissance of
what is to come from the combination of China‘s old enlightenments and new enlightenment.
Critical debate: The cultural aspects in the ‘Needham Question’
The Needham Question relates to the question that the scientist Joseph Needham asked as to why China,
which had come up with such ideas as the use of gunpowder and paper, did not progress to modern
science and technology as did Europe (Bala, 2006). In the midst of these aspects, culture and cultural
factors that surround the progress of china in the scientific field has become an issue of research.
Some critics have suggested that Confucianism and Chinese bureaucracy traditions and values which
discouraged intellectual debate and experimentation, which are prerequisites for the emergence of modern
science. For instance, it has been said that Confucianism‘s accent on harmony, order, and clearly
delineated social roles and rank suppressed the questioning of the status quo and authorities while
questioning that is needed for creating new sciences (Zhang, 2016). Some point out that Chinese
centralized examination system focused on civil servants steeping on the classics and not creativity in
scientific thinking (Wong, 2011). Other cultural beliefs and practices such as the ‗adequate satisfaction‘
orientation are also said to play down material innovations (Feng, 2013). While, some argue that such
cultural explanations are full of hindsight bias and too reductionist in their view of culture as a set of beliefs.
They also urge for the incorporation of political and economic aspects in the process (Vogel, 2013).
It cannot be concluded that cultural factors do play a role, but the dynamics that take place in Chinese
science could have more than one root cause. This is in agreement with Bray (1996) who opined that
science is not something simple which can occur in isolation, but rather it is a process comprising social,
and institutional contexts. The political stability and economic development are also important in providing
the resources for experimentations and application of technologies. Instead of seeing the matter as the
clash of cultural prejudice and rational, progressive scientific thought, considering science as an activity of
people embedded in socio-cultural context, but at the same time influenced by its conditions, might be more
helpful. Yet, more cross-cultural and interdisciplinary analysis, which would eventually reveal the chains of
influence, is possible. However, regardless of the actual origins which could be versatile, the Needham
Question is still a good starting point of the analysis of the features of the Chinese approach to the
philosophy of science in both historical and modern contexts.
Comparative analysis: Ming-Qing vs .modern Chinese cultural logics of knowledge
The cultural differences are many if one is to consider the concept of knowledge in the Ming-Qing dynasties
of China and the contemporary China. In the Ming-Qing period the concept of knowledge was linked with
the concept of moral transformation and arranged in accordance with the pattern used in classical sources
(Author, Year). Knowledge attainment as a model of reception of material from the outside environment for
the purpose of incorporating it into one‘s character as a moral compass, as opposed to knowledge
production in the form of readers generating their own information or questioning the existing order of
things (Author, Year). Some of the western values that the Chinese culture in the contemporary society
embraces includes the belief that knowledge is empirical, specialist and has been democratised. However,
imperial Chinese ideas remain in paradigms which link professionalism and moral righteousness.
The Ming-Qing imperial bureaucratic system was based on the Neo-Confucianism that institutionalized the
acquisition of knowledge, as a moral practice. Students and the future bureaucrats received their literacy
and professional education imitating the Confucian texts and values. This treated the external knowledge
as behavioral norms by which the internal character is trained in accordance to cultural norms of being
polite, being truthful, and respecting parents (Author, Year). Education was not a part of virtue – rather, one
became virtuous if one spent all of one‘s time studying the canonical works in order to pursue wisdom
throughout the course of one‘s lifetime. Since this knowledge was intended to maintain order and rank,
challenging an expert or written knowledge was considered immoral.
On the other hand, modern Chinese culture has intensified a trend that emerged under the influence of the
twentieth-century Westernization in perceiving knowledge as worldly, scientific, and the process of
enlightening (Author, Year). Hence, active, specialist research that creates new theories, technologies, and
frameworks for reading Chinese society are more culturally preferable than stable, positive knowledge
derived from textuality. University scholars and scientists are seen as important knowledge creators that
are propelling forward innovation and the international competitiveness that is based on globalized
specialist knowledge. There also seems to be several orientations that grew out of China‘s long history that
could still affect the technocratic outlook of power, where citing scientific expertise is justified for
technocratic elites to rightfully control the functioning of a nation. China also still deals with looking for ways
to silence dissident academics who do not fit the regime‘s narrative or the conservative Confucianism and
Taoism principles that developed from imperial China.
Conclusion
The major findings: Useful knowledge is considered to be developed with the help of cultural
logics’ intervention
Thus, it can be stated that useful knowledge is facilitated with the help of interferences of cultural logics. It
is in this sense that, as D‘Andrade (1995) points out, cultural models establish the connection between the
external ecology and the internal psyche by defining the ways in which people construe, categorise, and
navigate their worlds. These models include the mental representations which are the patterns that exist
within the framework of the conceptual system of culture community. They allow an objectification of
experiences in such a way that relays with culture, thus allowing for action, perceiving and even expecting.
Cultural models identify the cause of an occurrence and appropriate and inappropriate behavior under
certain conditions (Quinn, 2005). Strauss (1992) further explains that they describe what is possible, usual,
and appropriate in a given culture. Cultural logics means reasoning tools that a culture offers in order for
understanding a situation, explaining it and making conclusions. These logics are the cultural models which
are used for interpreting meaning of circumstances or actions. They allow an individual, to make relevant
inferences about the specific environment they find their selves in.
Different types of Rationality exist and form a part of cultural Rationalities, which are used in the generation
of knowledge. As D‘Andrade outlined, they are responsible for defining ―typical patterns of understanding
reality, making conclusions concerning what has occurred and what will occur, as well as appraising
actions and events.‖ Knowledge is therefore constituted culturally. This is so because it is socially
constructed in terms of perceptions of reality, meaning and significance of knowledge. Shores goes further
and accurately observe that ―Every culture is logical in its way; there are good and sound cultural grounds
why people reason as they do‖ (Shore, 1996, p. 46). Thus, useful knowledge is a system of relations that
are shaped culturally rather than facts and ideas that are systematized absolutely and generally.
The generation of useful knowledge depends on the cultural logics that regulate processes of thinking and
define what information is pertinent in a given worldview. Such underlying logics define what is considered
as knowledge by people, how information is interpreted, and what is deduced from events. In other words,
useful knowledge is processed by the conceptual models that provide order and significance within a
cultural context. Neither does it emerge from a mere encounter with reality and the consequent formation of
a social imaginary, but it hinges upon the formed culture.
Theoretical and practical implications: Exploring cultural factors impacting on knowledge
management
Knowledge management (KM) has emerged as a critical area of interest in organizations to facilitate the
use of organizational knowledge and expertise to gain competitive advantage. As noted by Rai (2011),
―culture is a significant factor in influencing what is considered as valuable knowledge and what is not as
well as which knowledge is worthy to be managed‖ (p. 45). KM initiatives may encounter cultural barriers in
an organization, which are quite taxing and influential in the success of the program. It is important to be
aware of these cultural influences from the theoretical perspective as well as from more practical point of
view.
In theory Hofstede‘s cultural dimensions provide a very good framework for analyzing which facets of
national and organizational culture may influence KM. For instance, MT is considered to be moderate at
firms with low power distance while, at firms with high power distance, the MT is likely to have problems in
sharing knowledge between different hierarchical levels (Michailova & Hutchings, 2006). The authors also
state that there can be no knowledge sharing that involves employees in cultures having high uncertainty
avoidance so they may be threatened by their job security or maybe reluctance to go against the norm
(Ardichvili et al. , 2006). The understanding of these cultural dimensions offers insight on best and worst
practices of KM that proceed from cultural bias. It also permits the making of between cultural comparisons.
It is important in order to do so for theoretical models to be able to capture cultural differences in attitudes
towards knowledge and KM.
It is only when the effects of culture can be examined it is possible to learn how to implement KM
organizational interventions in such a manner that they work best in given cultural environments. Hislop
(2013) underlines that ―organization culture and subcultures must align with the specific KM programs‖
(Hislop, 2013:256). This may mean that KM needs to be specific to the country or region for MNCs, and not
involve a ‗one size fits all‘ global solution. It is possible to identify cultural factors in advance through tools
such as cultural audit questionnaires, and then, develop and promote KM initiatives based on those
findings (Yao et al., 2007). This can put to closure cultural differences that may surround issues like team
work, rewards, hierarchy, and communication amongst others. Applying theoretical cultural knowledge
enhances KM in real organizations. Convenient knowledge management draws on theoretical cultural
knowledge.
Limitations of the study: Some of the issues that come with the analysis of historical cultural logics
It would be rather interesting to look at the Cultural Logics of the past and it seems that this is a very good,
unique method of historical analysis that would help shed a light on the past societies; however, this
method is not without some shortcomings. It must be noted that this paper is confined by the availability of
historical transcripts and other related records and so there may be some untrue or incomplete account of
the culture and the social practices that existed during that time. Moreover, using today‘s lens and biases, it
is easy to misunderstand some aspects of past cultures, or to project our own values and assumptions
upon societies that are rather alien to today‘s way of thinking.
The last mentioned shortcoming is half of the further big weakness: history often when they provide data
only some aspects are disclosed. Prior generations literacy was very low and so the statistics are only
representative of the literate few, the royalty. Ones, numbers, lenses, extras — the multitudes — they are
silenced and their oppressors do not see their faces; their stories are dismissed or omitted. For most
documents that have been able to stand the test of time, culture is normally addressed when it comes to
political or legal systems or matters to do with religion, rather than the other general overtones of culture
that may be more helpful in informing the informant cultural rationales. On the same note it can equally be
argued that there are facets of the society of that era that which are normal and mundane in the society can
go completely undocumented. This distorts or conceals the modern observation of it. Therefore even if
other sources are present, they have to carry some agendas which states that they have been empowered
to depict belief systems and social norms faithfully. This way, the records do not enable the histories to
present the complete, fair and objective view of the cultural presuppositions and rationality of the history
period.
With regard to these types of method, there are also risks related to the concept which might be called de-
contextualization – the action of extracting some idea, behavior, value or certain social pattern, and
analyzing it separately from the history of its development. These processes, structures, or attitudes looked
irrational or regressive from the vantage point of modernity had profound meanings and uses possible by
available and possible technologies, social relations, systems of beliefs, and conditions. For example, if
such culture and ethics make women appear inferior and deserving of ill treatment to the modern thinker,
one should not discount the fact that these was actually the best strategy that could have developed from
considerations involving limitations in the physical environment, biology, power and resources in a
particular society. These make it possible to develop presentist biases, whereby the additional conditions,
challenges, and priorities that may be unique to a culture‘s environment and history are not viewed if only
the present period is considered. This may cause oversimplified or even erroneous perceptions of the
logics which form the essence of relations, values and actions in a certain given society during a certain
period of time. Ahistoricism is therefore a direction postcolonial analysis should avoid at all costs since it is
a direction that leads to over-interpretation or what could be termed as dehistoricisation of knowledge by
the postcolonial analyst.
Future research directions: Continuity and change in Chinese innovation: Cultural perspectives
Technology has been one of the driving forces of the China‘s economic growth and development in the
recent past. Since China is rightly poised to assume the position of a world innovation destination within the
shortest possible time, it is imperative that the present paper analyzes continuous as well as dynamic
cultural factors defining innovation in China. Another possible line of research might be with regards to the
ideas of both the traditional Chinese culture and the indigenous Chinese philosophical thoughts which may
be relevant to the modern western notion of innovation.
Ancient Chinese values like Confucianism‘s ‗zhong yong‘ (the average) and Daoism‘s idea of balance
between man and nature are still brought up in the Chinese culture. Hypothesizing how these traditional
values blend and cross over with those that have a direct bearing and bearing on the advancement of
technology may help decipher the disparate paths of innovation that China is charting. Potential research
questions could inquire in what ways and to what extent Chinese Confucianism and Daoist values as
essential cultural motives are present in today‘s Chinese digital payments, and sustainable city
advancements. It is possible that interesting patterns will be observed if one surveys innovative and
compares the gathered data of patents based on cultural concepts that have been mentioned.
Another important subject of investigation is the ability of globalized technology to alter the cultural self as
subject in Chinese culture. If China is moving higher up the value chain and getting involved into global
innovation systems then both the national and the cultural discourses also transforms. Younger generation
of inventors and entrepreneurs are more exposed to the western education and business models at a
tender age. The understanding how these dynamics affect their innovative thinking process, either when
synthesizing Eastern and Western epistemologies, or when reconstructing Chinese frames, might open
new horizons for understanding culture in relation to innovation. Academics may recruit subjects, conduct
interviews, field ethnographies, and/or discourse analysis of the hybrid of Chinese historical features and
Ten‘s and/or postcolonial/Southern nationalist and/or globalization influenced more recent specialties like
artificial intelligence or space science.
Last but not the least, comparative study of the regional and ethnic diversities within the context of Chinese
cultures may reveal interesting differences. As notions of innovation are not similar to that of Silicon Valley
and Detroit, the Chinese innovation may also vary in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen or areas inhabited by
Chinese ethnic minorities. It could endeavor to explore continuities and changes across both mainstream
Han Chinese culture, as well as other non-Han Chinese cultures including Uyghur, Tibetan or Mongolian
could also bring out other possibilities that are obscured. The external forces, which include the global
forces, require that the Chinese regions and ethnic groups adopt new technologies, and researchers can
employ the contrast of innovation cultures, research values and creativity patterns using qualitative,
quantity and computational analysis over time. It is through such analysis one may be able to identify ways
of enhancing pluralism, equity and sustainability in the formulation of Innovation policy in China.
In addition to the historical approach and the modern changes, the suppression of nationalism and
globalization and the comparison of the Chinese subcultures will be also able to offer more insight into
other transformations of the Chinese innovation between the two cultural perspectives through time. Such
cultural research questions never run out for China and the world as China and innovation which occur not
only in an enduring process but also in a process of change adaptive continuously and sustainably.
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