Borrowing Ancient Thought to Build Contemporary Strategy: Reflections on Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power

　　Abstract: Yan Xuetong’s new book Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power borrows from pre Qin thinkers and Pre Qin classics on the political relations between states to enrich and develop contemporary international relations theory, and on the basis of this provides support for China’s peaceful rise. This has functioned to promote the spread of ancient Chinese political thinking on relations between states internationally. The author would first like to offer strong support for Yan’s application of ancient Chinese political thinking to China’s new strategy for its rise and its peaceful economic development; to the theory of realism in international relations, and to theories of ethics and international security; Second, the author offers a critical analysis of three controversial parts of the book on the competition between the “Traditionalist School of Thought” and the “Chinese School of Thought”, the level of analysis and on international norms; finally, the author anticipate that research on ancient Chinese thinkers on the relations between states will gradually evolve to become more systematic in the future.

　　Author: Yu Li is a Professor in the School of Public Administration of Zhengzhou University