Sinocentrism

Intellectual activity during the Edo period can be broadly classified into three categories: [...] (2) Japanese learning (kokugaku), which arose in mid-Tokugawa times as a reaction to the sinocentrism that then prevailed in scholarly circles; [...]

[page 81] While Berry is certainly correct in identifying "sinocentrism," which he would rather term "race-centrism," in post-1949 Chinese film, what he sees as "raceization" (or "sinification" as used elsewhere by Paul Clark) is, I would contend, a politically motivated and manipulated process of cultural production. [...] [page 95] To return to Chris Berry's theory of "race," one realizes that he has made an overstatement in treating recent Chinese films as a radical challenge not only to "sinocentrism" but perhaps also "the very assumption of a fundamental duality separating the Han Chinese and the foreign."

The so-called ancient Chinese patriotism that has been repeatedly discussed by many people was only sinocentrism (huaxia zhongxing zhuyi).

Finally, besides projecting a diminutive view of Taiwan as a regional entity, sinocentrism was overtly dismissive in its attitudes towards the native population. For instance, pejoratives like nuhua (becoming slaves), referring to Taiwanese people's colonial experience, appeared frequently in official documents.

The early tenet of sinocentrism was that the superiority of Zhongguo, the Central State, in wen (culture and civilization) would inevitably dominate the mere military violence (wu) of the Inner Asian tribes.