提 要：在明代中后期中国社会与早期西方殖民主义势力的碰撞过程中，东西方文化交流也发生了前所未有的态势。以往人们更多地关注到明代科技成就是如何的吸收西方先进的文明，而很少涉及中国文化也在这一国际碰撞的过程中向西方传播。明代中后期以来中国文化对外传播具有两个层面与两种途径，即由西方传教士及中国上层知识分子翻译介绍到欧洲的以儒家经典为核心的意识形态文化，以及由沿海商民迁移海外所传播过去的一般民众生活方式的基层文化，而由沿海商民迁移海外所传播过去的一般民众生活方式基层文化的传播途径，实际上成了十八世纪以后中华文化向海外传播的主流渠道。

关键词：明代 文化交流 对外传播

Title: Re-envisioning Ming China from the Perspective of Cultural Diffusion

Author:Chen Zhiping, Professor, Department of History, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361005, China.

Abstract:Bythe late Ming peirod, the cultural exchanges between the East and the West reached an unprecedented level. This article argues that since the mid-Ming period, Chinese culture was introduced to the West via two paths. One was that the Western missionaries and Chinese scholars jointly translated Chinese books into European languages. The Second path was made possible by the overseas Chinese merchants and civilians who brought their lifestyle and cultural practices to other lands. The second path became the mainchannel through which Chinese culture spread worldwide since the eighteenth century.

Key words: the Ming Dynasty Cultural Diffusion External Communications