ABSTRACT
An additional intellectual resource from the Chinese, and broader Asian, context—Buddhism—can further clarify Chinese understandings of relationality and self-restraint. This is exemplified through an examination of China’s quest to good governance under strict government control, whilst also insisting on a non-interventionist policy regarding other state’s failinggovernance. Neo-Confucian thought in modern Chinese history, and the Xi Jinping leadership in the 21st century, have adopted the Buddhist wisdom that only the transcendent mind can avoid reductionism in materialism, and that the transcendent mind can only be achieved internally. This, in part, resonates curiously with the Chinese notion that meaningful intervention can happen through domestic struggle. Such a view that paints the state of nature as being characterized by suffering and of transcendence as occurring in cycles speaks to relational theory that values patience and long-termism over immediate, short-term responses. However, the Buddhist state of nature is so different from the Lockean and Hobbesian states of nature that the Buddhist input incurs criticism of being irresponsible for human rights protection or committing power politics.
