The Following Reprint is an Article from the Bauhinia Magazine of Hong Kong, Vol 122, No. 12, 2000. It was the first time the Prof. Gosline introduced his theory concerning organic globalization and socialization of civilization.
Joseph Needham and His Student Sheldon Gosline
English Summary
Back in 1987, Prof. Joseph Needham ran an ad for a student to take a room in his home in Cambridge, England, shortly after his wife died. Dr. Needham was a world famous researcher of Chinese History and Sciences. Prof. Gosline was that student who moved in to share many ideas about ancient cultures and societies.
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Dr. Needham had the habit of dressing in traditional Chinese clothing. He and his student, Sheldon Gosline, shared the concept of merging with the traditional culture of the society being studied. Prior to this time, Sheldon Gosline was mostly interested in Egypt, but due to Dr. Needham became increasingly interested in China and other Asian societies. Each morning the two would breakfast together, Needham in Chinese clothing and Gosline in traditional Egyptian clothing, and share concepts about the origins of ancient civilizations. The major question for discussion was this: 500 years ago, China was the most advanced country in the world in nearly every field while at the same time Europe was behind, so why did China fall behind?
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The leaders of classic Chinese culture formed the core of that societies moral and ethical codes. Meanwhile, Europe does not have such a long history that directly effects the modern descendents. However as economics and technology increased, the Chinese government closely controlled the Chinese people, so that they were not free to think independently. This intense control stifled development, according to the thinking of Prof. Needham.
Prof. Gosline was studying for a PhD at the time. While in principle, he was inspired by Needham's model for understanding ancient China, he saw that it did not fully explain the counter balances of socialization and globalization. Gosline developed a new theoretical approach following a paradigm of a jigsaw puzzle. In this model, each cultural aspect of a society can be viewed as a puzzle piece. One way that China rapidly developed relates to a series of wars and internal dynastic struggles. Warfare provided a time of creative technological advances and developed a sense of unified social structure. The chaos of war also provided a time when individuals could rise in position. However, warfare depleated resources and manpower, so it needed to be limited and controlled. It was a time when the fabric of society was broken, as when a jigsaw puzzle is completely broken apart, but it could not remain broken for too long.
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In contrast periods of peaceful unity led to a cooperative sense with foreign neighbors and allowed for new ideas to link together easily within the old fabric of society. This is much like the process of putting a puzzle together. However, once the puzzle was completely together, society became stagnant once again. That, Gosline concludes, is the reason that China, after long periods of peaceful unification, became stagnant, and fell behind other areas, such as Europe, where warfare was ongoing up until this last century. Some Chinese leaders, such as the late Chairman Mao, realized the need for intense internal struggle to break apart the puzzle completely, so it could be put back together again in a fresh new way.
Prof. Gosline has also compared individual civilizations to biological organisms, which mutate and become increasingly complex and specialized with age. A young society is simple and resilient. It can mutate into many different directions adapting to new situations. Usually an older society is more adapted to a specific situation, and cannot change as quickly, and thus can perish if the situation changes rapidly. According to Gosline, the United States is just like a simple single cell organism, which explains its interest in innovation, change, and technology. When compared to Rome (2000 years ago), Greece (2500 years ago), China (3500 years ago), India (4000 years ago), and Egypt (5000 years ago), those societies became locked into one paradigm, and all but China failed. Ancient Rome, Greece, India, and Egypt have all collapsed, because they were over-specialized. Only China has survived. How? Gosline has revised Needhams's basic question to be, "Why has China survived?"
Part of the answer he sees comes from the jigsaw puzzle paradigm. Controlled periodic episodes of imposed chaos through internal strife and warfare allowed for the puzzle pieces to come unlocked. When reassembled, new pieces filled in, arrangements were shifted and creativity reinvigorated. This ability to dismantle and rebuild without destroying is China's legacy. We should all take note as they do so again. Historia est vitae magistra - History is the tutor of life.
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