Interpretation of traditional culture

Traditional culture consists of two concepts: tradition and culture. Let's take a look at these two concepts first.

About tradition

What is tradition? It is not completely wrong to think that the past is tradition, but it is only half right. Tradition not only refers to what existed in the past, but also refers to living in the present past. The so-called "tradition" is composed of the words "transmission" and "unification". The vertical word "biography" refers to the diachronic and continuous nature of time, and refers to those living things that existed in the past and are still working now, and are handed down from generation to generation. Horizontal "unification" has two meanings: one is the expansion of space, and the other is authority. Tradition, as the sum total of thoughts, cultures, institutional norms, customs, religious arts, and even ways of thinking and behavior handed down in history, is everywhere and affects our society and life all the time. According to the generally accepted point of view, tradition is "a social customary force inherited from history, which exists in various fields such as system, ideology, culture and morality." ..... has an invisible control effect on people's social behavior. "(Ci Hai, Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 1989, p. 242) In On Tradition, Edward Hills, an American sociologist, thinks that" anything that has been passed down for more than three generations and is endowed with value and meaning by human beings can be regarded as tradition. "Tradition cannot be chosen. Whether you like it or not, tradition is a historical and realistic existence for each of us

About culture

Culture is also a very vague concept. People in different cultural circles have different understandings of it, that is to say, different people in the same cultural circle have different views. The original meaning of culture first appeared in Zhouyi? In the Biography of Bengua, there are "observing astronomy to observe time changes; Look at humanity and turn it into the world. One is astronomy, and the other is humanities. Because China is a typical agricultural country, to do a good job in agricultural production, it is necessary to understand the astronomical calendar and the changes of time and season. Therefore, Gu said that everyone knows astronomy for more than three generations; The opposite of astronomy is the humanities. Some people say that the word "humanity" is translated from the west, which is wrong. This is the result of not knowing the traditional culture of China. It means that after learning the humanities, you can get rid of barbarism and move towards civilization, so that everyone can understand morality, etiquette and benevolence, and then you can educate the world and make good ideas and systems acceptable to the whole world. This is called humanism, and this is the original meaning of culture in China. In Zhouyi, there has been a concept of human nature, but "Wen" and "Hua" are not connected into one word. The earliest user of "culture" was Liu Xiang at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. Liu Xiang wrote in Shuo Yuan? The concept of "culture" was first used in "Wu Zhi", in which it was said that "sages rule the world, and virtue first, then strength. Where martial arts flourish, they will be punished if they don't accept it and the culture doesn't change. "This is the earliest origin of the word" culture "in China, which is known by the academic circles today. But the culture we understand now is quite different from its original intention. There are hundreds of cultural meanings and definitions, which can be summarized into three types: first, it refers to all the material and spiritual wealth created by human beings in the social and historical process; Second, it refers to all historical sites, laws and regulations, literary classics, beliefs and customs, religious art, etc. Exist in history; Third, it refers to a form of juxtaposition with politics, economy and military. It is in this modern sense that many people point out that culture is a foreign word and an exotic product. When we understand and use the concept of culture, we generally refer to its modern meaning, not its traditional meaning.

On the definition of traditional culture

China traditional culture is a profound system. We can look at and define traditional culture from different angles.

First, for example, we can understand and define traditional culture from the material level (such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and a large number of documents and classics. ), system level (such as various bureaucracies and systems, etc. ) and ideological and cultural level.

Second, we can also understand and define traditional culture from its internal composition:

1. From the time dimension, China's traditional culture has a long history of 5,000 years and is the only uninterrupted culture in the world cultural system;

2. From a spatial perspective, China traditional culture is a culture formed in a relatively stable and closed geographical environment;

3. From the perspective of development, China traditional culture is a culture that constantly absorbs other cultural forms and constantly adjusts and renews itself;

4. From the regional dimension, China traditional culture is composed of Qilu culture, Yanzhao culture, Central Plains culture, Jingchu culture, Wuyue culture, Lingnan culture, Bashu culture, Guanzhong culture and Sanjin culture.

5. From the content, the traditional culture of China is dominated by Confucian culture, supplemented by Taoist culture and Buddhist culture, covering the ideological systems of Legalists, Mohists and famous artists, as well as various cultural forms such as folk beliefs, knowledge and customs.

6. From the main point of view, China traditional culture is an ethical culture that emphasizes ethics, WTO entry and practical rationality;

7. From the social nature, the traditional culture of China is essentially a farming culture based on consanguinity, and it is a natural economic culture with one family as the unit. It can be said that all kinds of ideas, ethics, education, religious ceremonies, literature and art, science and technology, laws and regulations, literary classics, architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, painting art, and even clothing, food, shelter and transportation, customs and habits.

Thirdly, we can also understand and define traditional culture from its characteristics.

1. From the perspective of the relationship between man and nature, China traditional culture is a knowledge of the unity of man and nature;

2. From the perspective of the relationship between people and social groups and people, China traditional culture studies interpersonal harmony;

3. In terms of the relationship between human body and mind (form and spirit), the traditional culture of China is about the balance between body and mind (form and spirit);

4. From the perspective of the relationship between people's moral cultivation and external achievements, China's traditional culture is the study of being sage inside and king outside;

5. Judging from the relationship between people's cognition and practice, China's traditional culture is the unity of knowledge and practice;

6. From the perspective of the relationship between classic original works and ideological system, China traditional culture is a study of classic interpretation.

Therefore, the traditional culture of China is not a single linear system, but a very complex and all-encompassing system. Some can be intuitively said to be good or bad, such as the ancient human sacrifice system, branding system, Chinese New Year system, polygamy, women wrapped their feet, men left long braids and so on. From now on, these are extremely cruel, backward and ignorant contents in traditional culture. Through historical choice, such decadent and backward content has been eliminated by history. Some of us can't generally say that traditional culture is good or bad, superior or inferior, which is the essence and which is the dross, but we should analyze it concretely and look at the problem dialectically in history, and we can't generally answer yes or no. To give a simple example, for example, the agricultural tax that was just abolished this year was implemented from 594 BC in Shandong to 2006, a full 2600 years; After 2600 years, it was finally proved unreasonable and did not conform to the contemporary social reality, and was finally eliminated; Some of them have been modernized and used for reference by modern society, such as the college entrance examination system, which is a replica of the imperial examination system that has prevailed for more than 1000 years since Sui and Tang Dynasties. This system gives people from all walks of life a basic fair competition opportunity. Of course, all of the above are still at the device level, that is, the material level and the system level. The most difficult thing to judge is the level of Tao, that is, the level of thought and the level of concept. Feng Youlan put forward the "abstract inheritance law": that is, the judgment of China traditional culture is divided into concrete meaning and abstract meaning. In a specific sense, most of them are related to feudal thoughts and should be abandoned. In the abstract sense, most of them have nothing to do with feudal thought and should be inherited. For example, loyalty and filial piety, sharing weal and woe, courtesy and honesty, people-oriented, harmony without difference, harmonious well-off, seeking truth from facts and so on. After modern innovation and transformation, these ideas have become an important ideological resource for us to formulate national policies. In short, we should fully and accurately understand and rationally treat traditional culture, and avoid treating our traditional culture as good or bad simply and generally.

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Zizheng academy Chinese culture education

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