This essay addresses the question of China’s civilizational crisis. This crisis began in the mid-nineteenth century with China’s defeat at the hands of the British in the Opium War, and has continued down to the present day, despite China’s recent reemergence as a great power. Xu argues that China has mastered the technical aspects of modernity, what he calls its “wealth and power” dimension, which has fueled China’s spectacular economic progress over the past few decades. The challenge that remains to be faced, however, is cultural: China still cannot decide whether to fully embrace globalization and the universal values of modernity, or instead to attempt to fashion a uniquely Chinese culture based on China’s ancient civilization. In complex arguments involving both Western and Chinese intellectual histories, Xu argues that this is in fact a false choice. To become a truly great power, China must adopt universal values, adopting these values to China’s needs and adding China’s wisdom to the existing content of universal values. Attempts to craft a “uniquely Chinese civilization” for the 21st century are counter-productive and bound to fail.