Plato Goes to China

8 hrs. 51 min.

Language Russian

Author Shadi Bartsch

Narrator Igor Gmyza

Description

How did Greek classics from Plato to Aristotle become material for Chinese ideological models? The book traces the surprising fate of ancient texts in China. Shadi Bartsch’s book “Plato Goes to China” follows the Greek classics’ journey in China—from the 17th century to the present day. The author examines in detail how Greek texts—from Plato and Aristotle to Thucydides—became material for building ideological models, starting with Jesuit translations and ending with contemporary university debates. Special attention is given to a pivotal moment for Chinese history at the end of the 20th century: after the events in Tiananmen Square, the classics stop being perceived as symbols of Western democratic values and are increasingly used in a nationalist key. Aristotle is criticized for the “superstition of democracy”; the Athenian citizen is declared “a slave of the polis”; and Plato unexpectedly turns into an authority whose ideas of the “noble lie” and social hierarchy prove to be in demand. Combining with the Confucian tradition, antiquity acquires new meanings: justice is read through harmony, rationality through ethics.
This book shows how ancient texts are rewritten for the needs of the present, becoming tools of political and cultural projects.
Copyright ?. A. Leonovich, translation, 2024
Design. LLC “AST Publishing House”, 2025