China-Europe history of mutual learning can be guide for future

The relationship between China and Europe stretches back to antiquity, but it was not until the Age of Exploration that genuine, in-depth exchanges of thought and culture began.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, China and Europe engaged in profound dialogue in philosophy, institutions and the arts, forming a cultural interaction characterized by “equality and mutual learning”. Two civilizations, though separated by thousands of miles, came to know and enrich each other, producing a splendid blossoming of civilization that has become one of humanity’s most precious cultural heritages in the early stages of globalization.

It was Europeans who first initiated what was known as the “Transmission of Chinese Learning to the West”. They wrote reports and translated a large number of Chinese classics, launching the systematic introduction of China to Europe. This process had a revolutionary impact on Europe’s intellectual community. According to incomplete statistics, during this 200-year period, about 1,500 works on China were published in the West, covering a wide range of subjects, including geography, history, language, philosophy, politics and natural sciences. The content evolved from curiosity-driven descriptions of exotic customs into systematic explorations of the very core of Chinese civilization.

Meanwhile, more than a thousand Chinese classics were translated into Western languages. Of these, the most far-reaching for Europe was the translation of the Confucian canon, the Four Books and the Five Classics. In 1687, Philippe Couplet and others published the monumental Latin volume Confucius Sinarum Philosophus (Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese) in Paris, which, for the first time, systematically introduced to Europe Confucius’s life, thought and nearly all the core Confucian classics, including full translations of The Great Learning (Da Xue), The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhong Yong), and The Analects (Lun Yu), along with Zhu Xi’s commentaries. This opened a gateway for the European intellectual community to an entirely new world of philosophy and became a main source of Chinese wisdom for Enlightenment thinkers.

As European scholars observed, the contacts between China and Europe in this period were built on political and cultural equality, with China holding a cultural advantage. This unique mode of exchange allowed Chinese civilization to be presented to the West in its entirety and exerted a substantive influence on Europe’s social and intellectual history.

From the 16th to 18th centuries, profound intellectual dialogue took place between China and Europe. China did not assume a posture of superiority in “exporting” civilizational thought unilaterally; rather, it was largely a process of Europe absorbing wisdom from China. Chinese philosophy, especially Confucianism, had a significant impact on the European Enlightenment. Voltaire was one of the most representative thinkers in this regard. He extolled Confucius’s “rationality” and “morality”, and regarded Confucius’s maxim, “Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire”, as a universal moral principle. He hailed China as a “Kingdom of Rationality” and used it as a mirror to critique Europe’s feudal religious system. Voltaire’s ideas not only influenced the Enlightenment but also provided key intellectual resources for the French Revolution.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the German philosopher, likewise drew wisdom from classical Chinese philosophy. He believed that China and Europe represented two great peaks of human civilization, and that mutual learning between them would elevate humanity to new heights.

China’s imperial examination system (Keju) was seen by Europeans as a paragon of “equality of opportunity”. François Quesnay, a leading figure of the French Physiocrats, praised it as “the most perfect system of bureaucratic selection known to the world”, arguing that merit-based selection was a far more advanced mechanism than Europe’s then-prevailing hereditary aristocracy. Historical research confirms that Britain’s civil service examination system was inspired by China’s Keju. Thus, the imperial examination exerted a substantive influence on the formation of modern civil service systems. This borrowing at the institutional level demonstrates that by the 16th–18th centuries, Europe’s reception of Chinese culture had penetrated deeply into the political and administrative domain.

During the 16th–18th centuries, China also exerted widespread influence in European social and cultural spheres. Porcelain, silk and lacquerware became luxury goods among Europe’s aristocracy. Chinese aesthetics profoundly shaped European tastes and art. The Chinese Pagoda in Kew Gardens in Britain and the Chinese Tea House in Sanssouci Palace in Germany stand as material testimonies of the European nobility’s admiration for Chinese culture. Chinese tea culture not only transformed Europeans’ daily lives but also gave rise to new social rituals, such as English afternoon tea. These subtle yet profound influences shaped Europeans’ perceptions and sentiments toward the East.

During this same period, the transmission of Western knowledge into China was also considerable. Hundreds of Western works on science and technology were translated into Chinese. Western science, technology, academic thought, music and painting entered China, fostering development in science and the arts. European scientific knowledge was introduced systematically into China. It opened the door for academic dialogue between China and the West. The most representative achievement was the translation of Euclid’s Elements (Ji He Yuan Ben) by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi, which filled the axiomatic and deductive reasoning gap in China’s traditional mathematics.

Western astronomy contributed to the compilation of more precise Chinese calendars. Western surveying and cartography gave rise to maps such as the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (Complete Map of the World), which introduced a global geographical vision. Western anatomy also entered China during this period through translations such as Taixi Renshen Shuogai (An Outline of Western Human Anatomy). Principles of perspective and chiaroscuro from Western painting entered the Chinese court, while European architectural styles influenced the construction of imperial gardens during the Qing dynasty and unique experimental landscapes in the history of Sino-Western architecture, enriching China’s artistic repertoire.

Although the influence of Western learning on China was relatively modest — valued primarily for its practical applications without reshaping the core of traditional thought — and its dissemination was confined to the court and certain cultural elites, the interaction between China and Europe in the “dissemination of Chinese learning to the West” and the “introduction of Western learning to the East” contributed to the expansion of their respective cognitive systems and the upgrading of their civilizations.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, China and Europe, with an attitude of equality and openness, engaged in mutual learning and jointly advanced human civilization. Together, they wrote a splendid chapter in human history, characterized by coexistence and beauty in diversity. This history tells us that civilizations flourish through diversity, thrive through exchanges and progress through mutual learning. This is an objective law of history. All civilizational achievements are the common heritage of humanity. Civilizational differences should not be the source of global conflict, but rather the driving force of human advancement.

Today, the world is undergoing profound changes on a scale unseen in a century. While remarkable achievements have been made in science, technology and the economy, geopolitical conflicts occur frequently, unilateralism is on the rise and deglobalization is intensifying. Suspicion, division and confrontation cast long shadows. This is closely tied to the entrenched notions of “civilizational superiority” and “clash of civilizations” held by certain countries.

As an ancient Chinese saying goes: “The beauty of harmony lies in the blending of differences”. Advancing human civilization through exchanges and mutual learning has irreplaceable value, especially for the contemporary era. Only through equality and mutual learning can the radiant flowers of civilization fully bloom.

Promoting exchanges and integration among civilizations, learning from one another, coexisting in harmony, and achieving mutual success are the correct paths for the development of world civilizations.

The author is a commentator on international affairs.

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