ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book suggests the need for dialogues beyond those reflected in the two cultural spheres: European and Chinese civilizations. It presents a tale of difference, connection, contradiction, and, ultimately, humaneness, whether it is found in social institutions or in resistance to them. The book shows that an interactive juxtapositioning of one cultural sphere with another illuminates the historical pathways produced by different social relations, as well as the assets and liabilities of various patterns of social evolution. It explains that a dialogue across boundaries—in this case between European and Chinese civilizations—is both imaginable and valuable for thinking about some of the possibilities of human society.
