INDIA AND CHINA
IN me 4d CHINAS, Memoirs of a Diplomat, by K. M. Panikkar; Allen and Unwin, English price 12/6. "PHIS agreeably written slice of autobiography serves as_ introduction both to the new India and the new
China. Its character is fairly indicated in the sub-title, It is the journal of a diplomat, and is therefore concerned in the first instance with international affairs, and the daily life of a distinguished visitor to Nanking and Peking. Yet the book gathers weight. Mr. Panikkar is a sensitive scholar with long political experience. His glance is shrewd, his range wide, and he knows the questions which unlock the tongues of peasants. There is rich material, therefore, in this record, discursive, fluent, personal, its author standing squarely in the centre of the stage, but dealing fairly and sympathetically with his varied personnel. It is not soothing reading for those who feel that the West should have yet another chance to order the world according to its dictatorial will. The picture that emerges is that of Europe, weakened and preoccupied, withdrawing or withdrawn from vast areas where its influence was recently all-powerful, and of America, immensely powerful but as yet fundamentally unaware of the new vitality emerging in Asia; forces somewhat cruel and unbalanced, but deeply rooted in ancient civilisations, of a character than can perhaps be distorted, but not crushed, by physical force. Mr. Panikkar’s conclusions are quietly but strikingly suggested in his closing pages; they should be weighed by those who are by geography, if not by taste, planted near the meeting grounds * East and West. ote
Incidentally, the character of Mfr, Panikkar’s book raises another somewhat disturbing question. Those who, with Nehru, have led modern India, and in some senses modern Asia, too, have known the West in its merits as well as in its defects. Their education, their interests and perspective are world-wide. They speak both languages. What of their successors? Will opportunities for understanding die as middle-aged men
grow old?
F. L. W.
Wood
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19560803.2.25.4
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 887, 3 August 1956, Page 13
Word count
Tapeke kupu
336INDIA AND CHINA New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 887, 3 August 1956, Page 13
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in