Century with Chinese characteristics...

By David Gosset

The Quattrocento refers to the 15th century Italian Renaissance; ershi yi shiji - 21st century in Mandarin - can be used as a reference to the current Chinese renaissance and the way it is changing our world.

Arguably the most significant process of our time, China’s renaissance is composed of three interrelated elements: economic reemergence, socio-political transformation and intellectual reinterpretation of the Chinese tradition.

After last month’s 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, and before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, not one single day goes by without news, debates and comments on China; confronting such a profusion, one risks taking short-term variations or t... [read more]