Critical-Decolonial Perspective on the Construction of China and the Legacy of Fúxī

Kawanna Alano Soares, Antonio Carlos Wolkmer

University of Extremo Sul Catarinense

The research aims to investigate the construction of the Modern Chinese State from a critical-decolonial perspective, highlighting the cultural and symbolic influence of the myth of Fúxī and the Eight Trigrams – the latter symbolizing a worldview centered on harmony and self-organization, values that contributed to the social and political structuring of China, shaping a model that sought to resist coloniality and preserve cultural autonomy. The analysis aims to understand how China incorporated aspects of its traditional worldview, reflecting a resilient identity and a system of values that guided the country in its rise as a global power. The research method used was qualitative and critical-decolonial, with deductive method, historical and documentary analysis. And it revealed that, unlike the Western model of modernization that imposes a break with traditions in favor of the adoption of exogenous institutional structures, the Chinese integrated tradition and modernity. In this sense, these are not just cultural symbols of the past, but structuring pillars of contemporary governance.

Article link: https://www.asianinstituteofresearch.org/JSParchives/critical-decolonial-perspective-on-the-construction-of-china-and-the-legacy-of-fúxī