Karl Marx believed that capitalism would succumb under the weight of its own contradictions. ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ runs the risk of meeting the same fate, because its ‘contradictions’ at the beginning of the twenty-first century are as staggering as they are many: A capitalist economy led by a Leninist party; a Socialist state with greater income differences than most capitalist countries; an upcoming power whose defence budget grows at more than 10 percent annually, yet who promotes peace and harmony. Our Western mind is not equipped to make sense of these contrasts: We need a clear-cut explanation. The co-existence of different realities confuses us − all the more so when they reside in one and the same person. The Qian Long Emperor, a refined man of letters and patron of Buddhism, slaughtered nearly one million Dzungars in the middle of the eighteenth century. The no less refined poet, Mao Zedong, was responsible for the deaths of many more victims. And to give a recent example: How can Xi Jinping foster an almost blind reverence for Mao, while still wanting to modernize the country economically? As the Sinologist Orville Schell has said, ‘Modern China is best understood by those capable of embracing contradictions.’

Classical Chinese philosophy is fascinated by duality. Taoism teaches that the existence of opposites is a natural phenomenon: Yin is not worse than yang, but by keeping nature in balance they drive it forward in an eternal rhythm. Opposition to this duality, or wanting to ‘harmonise’ its antipodal character, is useless. The best thing one can do is to surrender to it; that is why, for the followers of Lao Zi, living a virtuous life means the casting aside of civilisation.