Abstract

Owing to the invitation I received to take part in the 2008 ACIA Workshop, I have the opportunity to familiarize myself with information about “creative commons.” I feel this is a worthwhile project to promote. It is apparent that my invitation stemmed directly from my previous research work on the Chinese conceptions of “gong” (the Chinese notion closest to the Western idea of “public”) and related issues. Therefore, the contribution I may make to this workshop can be nothing but an exploration of the cultural implications of “creative commons” in a Chinese context. This is what this essay attempts to do. But it is not an easy task, essentially because it is hard to gauge the relationship between historically-rooted cultural tendencies and a product of the internet age.

“Gong” is not a single idea; it is rather a complex of ideas with a history of almost three thousand years. Two fundamental meanings of “Gong” are “government” and “general” or “universal” with the implication of equality. A less prominent meaning of “gong,” which is quite late in origins, is “common” or “shared”. I shall venture to explore the cultural implications of “creative commons” with these three meanings of “gong” as the starting point. I also hope to express opinions about how the project of “creative commons” should be articulated in Taiwan on the basis of this investigation. If necessary, my essay will also bring in other notions in traditional Chinese social thought.

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