Culture Matters in China-India Relations: Interaction, Perception and Tradition examines the role and influence of culture in the political, economic, and other fields of bilateral relations between China and India and analyzes the interaction between the two ancient civilizations in different areas such as culture, education, economy, and diplomacy. The comparative analysis of the cultural traditions of the two countries explores the deep-seated reasons for which the two countries recognize each other.  This book analyses government documents, historical files, academic works, media reports, and corporate information from China and India. The author conducted fieldwork in Beijing, Shanghai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Rajgir, and other places.

The first part is an analysis of cultural interaction, including in Buddhism, education, and people-to-people exchanges, mutual perceptions and policies of cultural exchanges between China and India. It concludes that the two countries mainly focus on historical and traditional exchange projects, resulting in an insufficient understanding of each other’ cultural mainstreams. The second part explicitly includes the influence and comparison of the mainstream conventional culture, the current situation, and the issues of China-India relations. This book finally evaluates the impact of culture on China-India interactions and the hindrance of cultural differences in the interaction between the two countries.

Zhang Yang: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow supported by the National Museum of China and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,  Beijing, the People’s Republic of China. He holds M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from the Centre for Fast Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a Master`s from the Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi. He has studied in Langfang Normal University, Capital Normal University and National Taiwan University. His research interests are cultural studies, IR theory and world history with a focus on China-India relations.  His research has appeared in edited books and journals including One Belt and One Road: China`s Global Outreach (Pentagon Press, 2017) and China and the BRICS: Setting Up a Different Kitchen (Pentagon Press, 2017). He is part of The Juxtapose Project, Oxford (A multi-disciplinary international annual forum on China-India comparative studies). 

Email: zhangyang0086@qq.com, zhangyang0086@yahoo.com.