How to treat China traditional culture rationally and objectively?

First of all, do some folk observation on the origin and evolution of China traditional culture.

China's traditional culture has a long history. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend, which was its heyday. However, the good times did not last long. After the reunification of Qin Shihuang, China embarked on the road of autocracy and totalitarianism, and academic freedom gradually declined after the Qin Dynasty "burned books to bury Confucianism". In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, after listening to Dong Zhongshu's words, Confucius and Mencius became the mainstream of China's traditional culture. Its core theory is "three cardinal guides and five permanents", in which "the monarch is the minister's guide" is a main line. During the Song and Ming Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism, represented by Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao and Zhu, appeared, which advocated the so-called "keeping justice and eliminating human desires". The justice of "protecting righteousness" is granted by the imperial power, and the imperial power system is eternal; And "eliminating human desire" means eliminating that all people are created equal, and democracy, freedom and human rights are internal needs. This is farther than Dong Zhongshu. What is gradually moving towards justice is the pragmatism of "writing to carry Tao", the essence of which is cultural autocracy. In today's words, literature and even all ideologies should serve politics, that is, serve the rulers! The essence of this culture, which takes the interests of emperors as its core interests, is imperial culture. Whether my opinion is one-sided or not can be discussed and debated, but one fact must be faced squarely, that is, in the process of regime change, when the new generation rose, it almost criticized Confucianism, overthrew the three publics and five permanents, and refused to recognize the divine right of the imperial power, otherwise it could not arouse the people. Once the latecomers win the political power, almost without exception, they will once again sacrifice the banner of the Three Cardinals and the Five Permanent Principles, with a clear purpose, that is, to ask the people to admit that they are also endowed by the imperial power. China has been in this cycle for thousands of years, and it has not changed today. To say that this is all thanks to China's traditional culture, it may simplify complex problems, and it should be said that it has played an important role.

From this perspective, China's traditional culture is not completely useless. How did the Chinese nation last for thousands of years? Shouldn't it have been extinct long ago? Isn't this national nihilism? It should be said that this backchat is very reasonable. It reminds us not to simplify observation and think straight, especially when it comes to the ethnic extension of our ancestors for thousands of years, their living environment, political ecology, state of mind, and even moral integrity and value judgment. Many major issues must be treated with caution! How can we be fair and just, respect the positive value of traditional culture, and fear its positive role in maintaining the experience of our Chinese nation for thousands of years? We can also criticize its conservative occlusion, especially its inseparable relationship with the imperial system for thousands of years, and give realistic analysis and criticism, so that it can get rid of the decadent and reactionary imperial culture, integrate with the world's advanced civilization as soon as possible, and quickly realize national modernization. We have a long way to go, and we should not take it lightly.

The author tries to talk about another origin of China's traditional culture, namely, the feudal patriarchal clan system with a long history and deep roots, and the farming civilization that lasted for thousands of years. If China's traditional culture is closely related to Confucianism and imperial system, and it is an entanglement from temple to temple, then Confucianism has a deeper connection with the grassroots far away from rivers and lakes, or Confucianism is inextricably linked with China's farming civilization and patriarchal clan system. Perhaps this is the fundamental reason why Confucianism has continued for thousands of years and still has strong vitality and is still seriously concerned.