VOX POPULI: Ancient China was more open to foreigners than Trump's U.S.

Asahi Shimbun

27-05-2025

Taiwanese-Japanese author Chin Shunshin (1924-2015) once made an interesting observation about the "Shiji" ('Records of the Grand Historian') and the "Book of Han," two of China's famous classic historical texts.
Both works contain ample references to many ethnic groups, including how their customs differed—such as that some bore tattoos or kept their hair closely cropped, while others did not.
But curiously, according to Chin, no mention is made at all about their physical appearances, including facial features. Why?
'Perhaps the authors felt they could not write about such attributes, even if they wanted to,' Chin surmised, with his characteristic open-mindedness and thorough understanding of Chinese history.
He went on to elaborate that the founders of the Chinese civilization were themselves an aggregation of highly diversified ethnic origins, hailing from many tribes and looking conspicuously different from one another—in short, theirs was a multiracial nation.
And that, according to Chin, must have made it difficult or awkward for them to describe their physical differences among themselves.
Flourishing in the Yellow River basin, they disdained outsiders as 'barbarians.'
According to Sinocentrism, ethnicity is not the factor that differentiates the Chinese from the rest of humanity. Chin stated in his book 'Jukyo Sanzen-nen' ('Three Thousand Years of Confucianism'): 'Their pride lay in their civilization, not in their lineage.'
Abe no Nakamaro (698-770) was a Japanese student who was sent to Tang Dynasty China as an envoy. But he remained in China, where the authorities appointed him to a high office despite his 'despicable' origin.
This decision bespoke openness, diversity and flexibility on the part of the Tang Dynasty, and I imagine such qualities contributed much to pre-modern China's prosperity.
I suppose my readers now see where I am going with this column.
It's about the present-day United States—specifically, Donald Trump's decision to kick foreign students out of Harvard University.
This leaves me speechless. He obviously wants to dry up the source of America's strength with his own hands.
Feeling the deterioration of this superpower, my thoughts turn to Japan, too.
How open are we now? How diverse?
—The Asahi Shimbun, May 25
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.