Greater China cultural circle

Greater China is mainly a humanistic and economic region. Of course, there are two explanations, namely, Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan Province Province and Outer Mongolia. On the humanistic and economic level, it generally refers to Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan Province provinces, as well as countries with a large population of overseas Chinese and a long history of immigration, or countries or regions with great influence on the economy and Chinese culture of overseas Chinese, such as Singapore and Malaysia. In addition, it sometimes includes Chinatown in Thailand, Australia, Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Vietnam and other places, or Chinese-inhabited areas.

Take British culture as an example. /kloc-Before the 6th century, the spread of British culture was initially limited to the British Isles, but with the rise of the British Empire and the expansion of its colonies, it later spread to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, which was the second circle. The third circle is extended to countries independent from British colonies, such as India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore. People from other countries or regions influenced by British culture, especially professionals, are the fourth circle.

In all countries or regions around the world, Britain has set up the British Council to serve people of different races around the world. In addition, there are "* * * and Federalism" organizations with members from five continents, which shows that British culture has a great influence on people all over the world. The development mode of Greater China culture may be similar to that of Britain, with Chinese mainland as the main culture, followed by Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan Province Province. The third circle is the countries influenced by China culture in the past, including economically developed countries in East and Southeast Asia, such as Japan, South Korea, Viet Nam and Thailand.

As one of the world's economic powers, Japan was deeply influenced by China culture in the past and still uses Chinese characters today. The cultures of South Korea and China are also inextricably linked. Although pinyin has been used, Korean names and special proper nouns still need Chinese characters.

Vietnam has also changed its pinyin, but many of its history and culture are still recorded in China's ancient books, and its economy is closely related to China. Thailand's Buddhist culture, golden mean and enterprising spirit are also closely related to China culture. .

As for the greater China economic circle in the fourth circle, it can cover two categories. One category refers to Chinese people living all over the world, especially those living outside Asia. Most of them live in countries with developed culture and economy, such as Latin America, Europe, Oceania, etc. They all belonged to citizens of their countries and were loyal to their countries. Voluntary migration of China people began in the 9th century/kloc-0. Wang Gunwu pointed out: "19th century, civil war and famine pushed many China people abroad;" And some foreign newly industrialized countries are in urgent need of cheap labor, providing poor China people with job opportunities and "pulling" them over. These China people accepted the challenge with perseverance and fearless enterprising spirit. The core problem of overseas Chinese lies in their different reactions to different situations abroad. Especially from the practical experience, many people decide to settle down in their place of residence and never return to China, forming a special overseas Chinese group, which in turn determines their future in their place of residence. " (See Pan Ling's Encyclopedia of Overseas Chinese)

These China people who decided to settle down in their place of residence are called "overseas Chinese" or "diaspora in China" by historians.

Since the 1960s and 1970s, a large number of people in Taiwan Province Province have emigrated overseas. After 1980s, people from Hongkong and Chinese mainland poured into Europe, America and even as far away as the Middle East and Africa. Although politically loyal to the country, blood is thicker than water, but culturally identify with China. In the Encyclopedia of Overseas Chinese, scholar Du Weiming classified this kind of people as members of the global "cultural China". But no matter how they are classified, they are the cornerstone and base camp of the fourth circle of Greater China cultural circle.

The second category of the fourth circle of Greater China Cultural Circle mainly refers to non-Chinese, including those who love or are influenced by Chinese culture, and those who have business and economic contacts with China.

Chinese culture spread from the mainland to the three places on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and then to the third circle, and the fourth circle is gradually developing and forming. Therefore, as the carrier of China culture and economy, the use value of Chinese characters is becoming more and more important.

However, whether it is the Greater China Economic Circle or the Greater China Cultural Circle, the author prefers to use the "Chinese character cultural circle". However, this word should be given a new meaning, that is, countries influenced by Chinese character culture and countries or regions that use Chinese characters can be summarized by Chinese character cultural circles. In other words, the cultural circle of Chinese characters is the "chopsticks cultural circle", including Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan provinces, as well as Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Singaporeans and China people all over the world.