The Zhongguo Trademark in Modern East Asia

Thinking about the fall of the Tang (618‒907) and the horrors of the Five Dynasties period (907‒960), Confucian thinkers of the Song (960‒1279) noted the socio-cultural resilience of Han peoples during the drawn out horrific Five Dynasties period1 and reflected on the significance of “Zhongguo” ― in effect changing it from a purely geo-political term to an appellation infused with the Confucian Dao 道 (Way) of an intellectualcultural-ethical tradition. They effected this change by recasting the Dao as a Daotong 道統 (succession of the Way) that set conditions on the sort of politico-socio-familial conditions that would constitute a Zhongguo 中國 worthy of the name.2 In working out their new notion of the Confucian Daotong 道統, i.e., philosophy, practices, virtues, rites, arts, etc., Song Confucians were thinking of educated Han peoples who would cultivate the Confucian Dao ― whether or not they still dwelt in the nostalgia laden “Central Plains” of Chinese civilization.3 At the same time, the resulting new Confucian Dao was general enough that other peoples could master and apply it even if they weren’t Han peoples themselves. Hence, the Mongols could be Sinicized by mastering the