Introduction

This introductory chapter has three parts. First, I explore the aporetic experiences to consider the uniqueness of the Chinese “wind” and “body” system of reason and knowledge on a cross-cultural landscape. I borrow Jacques Derrida’s interpretation of “aporia” as a paralyzing yet fascinating experience to describe my cross-cultural encounters with the present and historical Chinese “wind” and “body” language–discourses in relation to education and beyond as the starting points of my entire research journey. Second, I clarify how I mobilize the Chinese “wind” and “body” as “paradigm examples” in Agamben’s sense to historicize China’s language, the educational body, and the teacher–student difference. This historicization is to cut into the broader issues of knowledge/reason, education, and curriculum in present China. Finally, I end this chapter with a projected structure of the book.