Reading "From Tradition to Modernity" will give you a new view on the transition from tradition to modernity.

Tradition is a continuous factor in the development of past dynasties, something that still exists from generation to generation, a continuum in the inheritance of social life, and a mutation chain with the same foundation.

Modernization should include economic industrialization, political democratization, secularization of spiritual life, popularization of education, specialization of social organization structure and function, universal personal achievement and free movement of social members. The essence of modernization is that it is a new social structure that combines universal public interests with special personal interests. The former maintains social fairness and stability, while the latter maintains social efficiency and vitality.

Looking at the understanding distance of traditional culture since the social transformation in China, although there were some extremes during the period, people's understanding of traditional culture is getting deeper and deeper on the whole. After the late Qing Dynasty, China society began to brew and transform, and orthodox Confucianism was opposed to Confucian revisionism. After the disintegration of feudal monarchy, China's social transformation entered a period of overall anomie, and the theory of complementarity between China and the West was opposed to the theory of partial westernization. During the period of strong political integration in China's social transformation, China's ontology opposed the theory of total westernization; Today, people's understanding of tradition has developed in a more objective and comprehensive direction.

Tradition contains the general human experience and model condensed by people in the process of dealing with the relationship between man and nature, man and society and self-improvement. It is a long-term accumulation of history and a stable psychological structure deeply hidden in people's behavior.

These are long-term and effective things for people to cope with nature, communicate with others and keep themselves. This is the eternity of tradition. At the same time, in the process of dealing with the relationship between man and nature, man and society and man's self-improvement, tradition also contains various special contents and ways. When they encounter new environment and new problems, they will inevitably go beyond the traditional rules and deviate from the traditional standards, and use this traditional variant to meet the needs of the new generation and achieve the new goals they set. In this way, the tradition has a new accumulation and development, which is the complexity caused by the times and duality of the tradition, and people are required to be cautious about the tradition.

Tradition is an immortal national spirit, which regulates people's way of thinking, affects customs and aesthetic tastes, stipulates the value orientation and embodies people's ultimate concern.

It is in this tradition that we find the combination of tradition and modernity. Therefore, what we need to do is to make a detailed analysis of the traditional content. See what can be used, what needs reform, and what can be used in reform. This process is not black and white, black and white, but more a gray process of this and that. Only through this gray baptism can we move from tradition to modernization.

In fact, only under the background of modernization, exploring the value of traditional wisdom is a reasonable frame of reference for tradition and modernity. Similarly, no modernization effort can be carried out on the basis of completely abandoning tradition. Therefore, it is necessary to have a full understanding of China tradition, and then it is possible to find a unique road to modernization in China. This is actually an interactive relationship and the basic starting point for discussing the relationship between tradition and modernity.