Timespace, Social Space, and the Question of Chinese Culture Arif Dirlik I take up in what follows the general theme of the dimensions of diversity in Chinese society; more specifically, how to analyze difference in that society located in the southeastern corner of the Eurasian continent, which long has spilled over the boundaries suggested by that location. I find it difficult to think of the dimensions of Chinese diversity before I can settle in my mind questions pertaining to diversity, culture, and, above all, China. What I undertake here is a reflection on the relationship between these terms. The difference that is the most relevant here is cultural difference. Over the last two decades, global transformations have set in motion both cultures and how we conceive them. They have given rise to novel cultural configurations, endowed with new meanings long-standing cultural forma- tions, and forced upon our consciousness recognition of previously ignored boundary 2 35:1 (2008) DOI 10.1215/01903659-2007-023 © 2006 Reprinted by permission of Monumenta Serica Institute. This article originally appeared in Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies LIV (2006): 417–33.