Acknowledgements
This book is my first academic monograph published in English. The Chinese version of this book has already been published in the Harvard-Yanching series of SDX Press in 2021. Feng Jinhong, Shu Wei and Zhong Yun, editors of SDX Press, gave me strong support in the process of publication. Professor Zheng Huan presided over the translation of the English version of the book. Professor Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla from Freie Universität Berlin, Su Jin, and Stacy Mosher oversaw the proofreading the book. Zheng Tao, Li Xu, Wu Yingjuan, Zhao Xiya and other doctoral students participated in the proofreading of the English manuscript. Without their joint efforts, the publication of this English version would have been impossible.
The brewing, writing, and dissemination of this book benefited from many institutions. The Law School of Peking University which I work for has given me plenty of freedom to do research across the three disciplines of law, politics and history; Institut d’études avancées de Nantes provides an inspiring environment for the final production of the manuscript. I would like to especially thank Professor Alain Supiot, the leading soul of the Institute, as well as my colleagues Professor Wang Pu and José Emilio Burucua, who discussed with me frequently in Nantes. The Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of Peking University generously awarded me the Xingquan Young Scholar Book Award, which is no less encouraging than another award from Ministry of Education—the Second Prize of the 9th Outstanding Achievement Award of Scientific Research in Colleges and Universities (Humanities and Social Sciences).
Some chapters or segments of this book have been shared and discussed at the following Conferences and seminars in 2019 and have received comments from many scholars: the “China’s Growth in the Perspective of World Political History” seminar held at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Peking University on December 14; the 8th “Legal Order and the China Path” Conference held at Chongqing University on August 25–26; the 2nd “Nomos” Summer School held at the Law School of Peking University from July 8 to 12; the International Conference on “Community with Shared Futures for Mankind: Civilizations of China and Europe and the New Global Legal Order” held at the Law School of Beijing Institute of Technology on June 21–22; the “China and the World in Historical Time and Space” Conference held at the Institute of Global Civilization History, Shanghai International Studies University on May 25; the “Monroe vs. Wilson? The Spatial Struggle between Regional Hegemony and Global Hegemony” symposium held at the Law School of Renmin University of China on May 8, and so on. Among all these events, the most intensive discussion was the seminar on “China’s Growth in the Perspective of World Political History” hosted by Professor Liu Xiaofeng. This is a closed-door meeting, with more than thirty scholars conducting a “joint diagnosis” on an earlier version of the manuscript of this book for more than three hours. I am deeply grateful to the scholars who participated in these conferences and seminars.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Perry Anderson and Carlo Ginzburg for their continuous encouragement over the past two decades. Their guidance has been an invaluable source of inspiration and support throughout my academic journey. In particular, I am deeply indebted to Professor Perry Anderson for his insightful lectures on the “Concert of Great Powers” delivered at Peking University in 2016, which inspired me to delve deeper into the study of international order. Professor Ginzburg’s historical research, especially Cheese and Worms, have always been my exemplar in research methodology, prompting me to carefully distinguish the texture of history and not to easily leap over the gap between the present and the historical scenes. Professor Ginzburg visited Peking University in the fall of 2019, which brought me another methodological baptism. This book benefited from their teachings, but all the errors and imperfections are due to my own negligence and immaturity.
Here, I would also like to thank Wang Hui, Huang Ping, Gan Yang, Wang Shaoguang, Su Li, Feng Xiang, Liang Zhiping, Cui Zhiyuan, Pan Wei, Zhang Xudong, Huang Xingtao, Guo Shuanglin, Jiang Shigong, Anthony Carty, Daniel A. Bell, Wang Xixin, Chen Duanhong, Takahiro Nakajima, Ishii Tsuyoshi, Wu Chongqing, Yang Lihua, Luo Gang, Li Meng, Ding Yun, Han Chao, Li Fangchun, Wang Xianhua, Ou Shujun, Zhang Guangsheng, Jiang Youfu, Bai Gang, He Jianyu, Wei Nanzhi, Yan Yilong, Jia Jinjing, Wang Weijia, Chen Baifeng, Nie Xin, Zhang Taisu, Yin Zhiguang, Tao Qingmei, Zhang Xiang, Liu Zhong, Tian Lei, Xiao Wu, Chang An, Yu Ming, Chen Ruoying, Pan Nini, Liu Zhuo, Liu Cheng, Yan Tian, Chen Yifeng, Zuo Yilu, Tang Jie, Zhang Huiyu, Wang Yang, Chen Qi, Li Guangyi, Li Sheng, Xu Jian, Li Site, Yang Ang, Wei Leijie, Wei Chun, Li Zhen, Wang Weihua, Guo Shaomin, Lei Shaohua, Sun Feiyu, Jiang Hongsheng, Zan Tao, Qu Jun, Wang Qin, Liu Yang, Liu Chenguang, Kong Yuan, Wang Rui, Pan Dan, Zheng Huan, Ge Xiaohui and other scholars and friends for their long-term encouragement, support and inspiration. I would like to thank Shi Zhiqiang and Zhu Xiaoqi for their help in collecting and reading Japanese literature, and thank Xu Bin, Shao Liuyi, Fu Zheng and other friends in our “Ban Du” (which means “crossing the river halfway”) reading group.
I dedicated this little book to my deceased friend Zhang Xiaobo. He once wrote enthusiastic book reviews for my second book Rivalry of Nations: Kang Youwei and the Decay of the Vienna System in the Liberation Daily. At this moment, he has already fallen asleep underground and could not read my words. However, the major changes in the global order he envisioned during his lifetime are accelerating. If he could see all this, I believe he would feel both worried and gratified, just like me.