Chinese Concepts (CC, English and Chinese editions). The series has been published by Global Century Press from 2014. Although Chinese economic development has attracted world attention and the diverse nature of both China and the Chinese has been universally acknowledged, China’s achievement in the social sciences occupies an insignificant position in the human knowledge system. Over the past century, Chinese scholars have made extraordinary efforts in introducing the theories and methods of Western sociology into the study of Chinese society. In the last 30 years, Chinese social scientists, in their studies of Chinese society, have managed to either extract concepts from Chinese cultural resources such as ‘bao’ (reciprocation), ‘mianzi’ (face) and ‘guanxi’ (reciprocity or deferential relationship), or replenish the existing concepts with Chinese elements such as reciprocity or social exchange.
Just as the Chinese economy has developed from merely manufacturing to a mix of solid production and R & D development, social study in China should also shift its focus from the mere import of Western thoughts to the export and contribution to the world of some of the Chinese achievements in social studies. Our proposal is to edit a series entitled ‘Social Science Keywords’ from a Chinese Perspective. It will cover a wide range of topics including sociology, anthropology, politics, law, economics, economic history, management, social policies, international relations, gender studies, etc. The purpose of the series is to rewrite keywords of social science disciplines in order to renew outdated concepts in relevant textbooks in the West. By offering a uniquely Chinese perspective about the study of social sciences, the editors hope that their work can stimulate genuine global dialogue between cultures and thus add value to the world knowledge system. For more details see the General Prefaces of this series.