From the concept of “Tianxia” to “Tianxiaism” and the theory of the “Tianxia system”: ideas of the ideal world in political-philosophical treatises of Chinese thinkers

The article discusses various conceptual concerns in understanding the concept of “Tianxia” in the context of China’s development both in its history and modernity. As examples, it analyzes the teachings of the most famous representatives of “Tianxiaism” of the new period that began after the Opium War and lasted until the Xinhai Revolution, among them Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. The study also highlights the “Tianxia system” theory put out by Zhao Tingyang. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that Chinese thinkers attempted to reflect on the construction of an ideal world through the historical and philosophical concept of “great unity”, and the theories they developed were themselves responses and answers to the unprecedented crises faced by China in different periods of its history. It is emphasized that their teachings contained utopian views based on the traditional Confucian social order, political institution and ideology rather than applicable practice-oriented recommendations.