Traditional Chinese Confucianism

As a representative of China's traditional culture, Confucianism has considerable positive significance for China's modernization, such as its ideal personality's revelation to the construction of the modern personality, and the positive effects of the "unity of heaven and man" idea and universalism on ecological protection. Digging deeper into and interpreting the spiritual resources embedded in Confucianism to adapt to and promote modernization, so as to enable it to play a role in the establishment of a modern political and social order, is not only related to the survival and development of Confucianism itself, but also to the smooth progress of China's social restructuring. China's traditional cultural system is centered on Confucianism, whose theories start from cultivating one's moral character at the individual level and expand to the level of the family, ruling the country and pacifying the world, becoming an all-encompassing whole. It is not just a philosophy or a religion, but a complete system of thought for arranging order on earth, and through the establishment of political, economic, social and educational systems over thousands of years, it has penetrated into every corner of the daily lives of the people, forming an "institutionalized" way of life.

Since the 20th century, against the backdrop of national crisis and internal and external difficulties, modernization has been difficult, and Confucianism, as the central representative of traditional culture, has been questioned and criticized again and again, and has fallen into an unprecedented predicament. Not only is this the case in China, some Western scholars, such as Weber, in his book "Confucianism and Taoism", have also asserted that the Confucian ethic is a major obstacle to modernization. However, with the development of modernization to date, especially the rapid economic development in East Asia since the 1960s and 1970s, which has attracted worldwide attention, the modern value and significance of Confucianism has been increasingly recognized and appreciated. As predicted in the declaration of the Paris gathering of the world's Nobel Prize winners, if mankind is to survive in the 21st century, we must look for wisdom from Confucius, who lived 2,500 years ago.

Whether one is a follower of Neo-Confucianism or not, there is no need to argue one point: the "establishment" of Confucianism has completely failed, and is no longer able to provide Chinese society with a more stable and comprehensive political and social order, and it seems unlikely that it will ever regain its dominant position, which is a *** understanding of the prospects of Confucianism in the modernization wave. This is a *** knowledge and foundation for analyzing the prospects of Confucianism in the wave of modernization. However, even this Confucianism, which has become a "wandering soul", with its vast depth and 2,000 years of heritage, has played an important role in modernization by drawing on its essence and applying it in a macro way. In the final analysis, modernization is the modernization of human beings, so the construction of the modern personality of individuals in society is in an important position.

For a long time, although Confucianism's discussion and emphasis on the ideal personality of the sages has played a significant and profound role in shaping the spirit of the nation, it has often been criticized as the antithesis of the construction of the modern personality because it was formed and applied to the hierarchical society of patriarchal dictatorship. In this regard, Confucianism does have its limitations, but there is no lack of essential meanings that are worth exploring. Although Confucianism's definition of ideal personality on the moral level is biased, its emphasis on the spirituality and ideality of human beings makes it of immutable value in the transformation of modern society. As cells of society, individuals have sensual needs, but in terms of the fundamental attribute of human beings, sociality, the spirituality and ideality of human beings are even more important, and they are the standards and symbols of human beings. Confucianism takes the sage as the highest goal of personal self-realization, and the ideal personality of the sage is untouchable, unattainable and unrealistic, but it does not lose its significance. The setting of this ideal personality exists as a never-ending goal for the individual and the whole human race, and its combination with reality enables the individual to get closer and closer in the pursuit of continuous improvement of his or her own qualities, and to transcend the finite and narrow shell and enter the infinite spiritual realm, and thus becomes the goal of the individual's lifelong efforts, and the impetus for his or her continuous positive advancement and self-improvement.

In the current rapid transformation of society, with the loss of original beliefs, life has lost its depth and height, and life lacks a sense of gravity, so that only hedonism can fill up the deep well of the meaning of life, and ideals are precisely the help that enables human beings to transcend the quagmire of such shallow hedonism. In addition, the Confucian ideal personality, which emphasizes absolute adherence to moral obligations, the love of difference as the basis for good deeds, and the spirit of harmony and joy, is an indispensable cornerstone for the construction of the modern personality. The democratization of politics is an important aspect of modernization, but Confucianism has always been regarded as incapable of coexisting with democracy, and has therefore been most criticized.

It is true that Confucian political thought, although it includes the concepts of "people-oriented" and "people-valuing," is based on the position of the rulers to work out solutions for the ruled, in stark contrast to modern democracy, which strives for rights from the bottom up, but this does not mean that Confucianism is an indispensable part of China's efforts to realize democratization. But this does not mean that Confucianism is an insurmountable obstacle to China's democratization. However, this does not mean that Confucianism is an insurmountable obstacle to China's democratization. The value of democracy lies in the fact that "non-contention" can be achieved by "contention", and "publicity" can be achieved by "individual privacy". However, the formation of such "non-contention" and "impartiality" is forced by the situation of mutual restriction, not from "moral self-consciousness, so that one feels unstable from time to time" (Xu Fuguan, "The Construction of Confucian Political Thought and Its Transformation"), and the Confucian ideas of virtue and etiquette can precisely be elevated to the level of moral self-consciousness, and only in this way can democratic politics have a stronger foundation. Moreover, a democratic system "is not a system of moral consciousness", but a democratic system "is not a system of moral consciousness". Furthermore, as a democratic system "cannot be implemented by law alone", it also needs a "leadership class" (the problem only lies in the manner in which this class is created and how it functions), and the quality and qualities of the leadership class is also an important issue in a modern democratic society. The ideal personality of the "gentleman" and the related idea of "cultivating one's moral character" preached by Confucianism can contribute to the establishment and functioning of order in the public sphere through achievements in the private sphere, as the American humanist thinker Pieter B?rbitt argues. As the American humanist thinker Bibbidt argued, the "teachings of Confucius" can create the "human character" most needed by democratic leaders, which is an important guarantee for a democratic society (Democracy and Leadership).

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to the alienation between Confucianism and the imperial court, there was a tendency for Confucianism to be based on a folkloric perspective, and the value of the individual was affirmed to a certain extent (e.g., Li Weizhen's idea that "to be private is to be public", etc.), and then in the late Qing Dynasty, there was a tendency for Confucianism to be based on a folkloric perspective. In the late Qing Dynasty, it was the Confucianists who went even farther to promote Western values such as "democracy" and "civil rights" and who were the first to publicize these values in China. Therefore, if Confucianism is removed and properly discarded, it can be one of the ideological resources for democratic values

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In the process of building modernized democratic politics, attention should be paid to transferring the subject of politics from the illusion of the ruler to the people, and replacing it with the stage of "individual self-consciousness", in which case the democratic politics can be given a higher basis by the resurrection of the spirit of Confucianism, and Confucianism itself can be completed as a truly objective construction by the establishment of democratic politics. and Confucianism itself can complete its truly objective construction through the establishment of democratic politics. Confucianism's humanistic, "loving-kindness" spirit and the concept of community have an important and positive role to play in the construction of modernization. The rapid development of science and technology and the economy since industrialization has undoubtedly greatly enhanced the power of human beings, but the antagonism between science and technology and human nature has at the same time become a fundamental problem of society, and human beings have been "objectified" and their values have been expressed in the form of material values. For example, according to Habermas, instrumental science and technology became an end in itself, and human beings' secondary "instrumental behaviors" were rationalized, while the primary "communicative behaviors" were not rationalized, resulting in a lack of mutual understanding and trust between subjects. At the same time, the one-sided development of individualism has the effect of promoting the individual's subjectivity and creativity, but it also makes each individual self-centered, taking his or her own interests and values as the basis and standard of behavior, and treating the society and other people as means, which makes it difficult for social life to be harmonious and coordinated. In the face of such dilemmas of modernization, it is important to advocate and promote the Confucian ethical spirit of people-centeredness, which puts "loving people" and "benefiting people" in the first place, affirming oneself by affirming others, and transforming the "big self" into the "small self". "This will be conducive to reducing the harm of alienation in the process of modernization. Confucianism's idea of "the unity of heaven and mankind" and universalism have positive effects on ecological conservation in the process of modernization. The increasing ability of human beings to conquer nature and the resulting "anthropocentrism" have caused damage to nature and even threatened the survival of human beings. Discussions on the relationship between heaven and human beings began as early as in primitive Confucianism, where the ethical spirit of Confucianism holds that human beings are of the highest value, and that "the nature of heaven and earth is precious to human beings" (Xiaojing), but this does not define human beings in terms of narrow egocentricity or anthropocentricity, but rather emphasizes that human beings' self-realization can only be accomplished through a certain network of relationships, and that it is important to maintain a sense of respect for heaven and for nature. Instead, it emphasizes that human self-realization can only be accomplished in a certain network of relationships, and that a sense of reverence and intimacy should be maintained towards heaven and nature. In Yi Chuan (The Book of Changes), the idea of the harmony of heaven and man, in which heaven does not defy man and man does not defy heaven, is put forward to emphasize the unity of all things and the unity of man and nature, and Zhang Zai even puts forward the idea of the "unity of heaven and man" directly to place man and nature on the same footing in a relationship of solidarity and solidarity. This idea of the unity of man and nature has been criticized as an obstacle to modern science and technology because of its blurring of the boundaries between the subject and the object. However, in the face of the excessive encroachment of mankind on nature, the reintroduction of this idea is of great significance for the formation of a reasonable view of nature, the concept of heaven and man and the rectification of the relationship between human beings and nature. In addition, the principles of Confucianism, such as "moral education comes first", love, loyalty and forgiveness, and self-restraint, have a normative and promotional role to play in the stability of society and the healthy development of the market economy.

All in all, Confucianism, as the center of national culture for thousands of years, has been subjected to fierce criticism and has lost its dominant position and even its right to exist in a certain sense, but some of its ideological connotations and values, which are adapted to and promoted by modernization, have received more and more attention. Therefore, under the guidance of the principle of seeking truth from facts, actively drawing on its reasonable ideological content, vigorously promoting the nation's outstanding cultural traditions, and dealing with the relationship between tradition and modernity are the inevitable needs of the modernization of China's society, as well as the "new life" of Confucianism. It is also the hope for the "new life" of Confucianism.