On Zhang Zhidong's Attitude towards China Traditional Culture

In the process of modernization, how to treat traditional culture is controversial in all post-modern countries. Because China has a long and splendid history and culture, the debate in this respect is more intense. On the eve of the Reform Movement of 1898, Zhang Zhidong published the famous "Persuasion of Learning", which made a very systematic exposition on how to treat traditional culture in the process of learning modern western culture. Today, it seems that there are many insights.

Zhang Zhidong believes that only by taking the road of modernization can China's excellent traditional culture be preserved. At the beginning of the article "Encouraging Learning", it is said that "China is sincere but not strong today". If the law is not changed, it will inevitably become a colony like India, Vietnam and North Korea. By then, China's "holy religion" will rush to the mountains like an Indian brahmin, clinging to the remnants; China people will be like the Black Kunlun in Nanyang, and they will be slaves all their lives, seeking to avoid being blamed, but they will not get it. "Therefore, all China people must be aware of shame, fear, change, necessity (how to reform) and foundation (what traditional things need to be adhered to). He believes that "the five emperors do not follow the music, and the three kings do not attack the ceremony." Whether it is Zheng Jing, Zheng Shi or Zheng Yuan, the system of laws and regulations is unchanged and naturally changes with time. He advocated that when learning western culture, we should have both political and artistic skills, "school, geography, education, taxation, armaments, laws and regulations, persuasion and trade, and western politics;" Computing, painting, mining, medicine, sound, light, chemistry, electricity and western art. "China needs to study hard. After "schools flourish and talents grow" in China, even parliamentary politics can be "discussed". Zhang Zhidong emphasized that it is more urgent and important to learn from the western system in terms of "saving time and counting the country".

Since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, people have realized that China is poor and weak. In this case, the national inferiority complex began to rise. Zhang Zhidong believes that as a China native, he should always love his country and culture. "I don't forget my country when I'm abroad, I don't forget my relatives when I see different thoughts, and I don't forget my holiness when I think skillfully." Schools in western countries should learn classic scriptures to show religion, and primary schools should also learn Latin to show the past, all of which attach importance to history and tradition. Therefore, to learn from the West, China must first "lay a solid foundation" and let people "learn classics first to understand the purpose of China sages and teachers; Textual research on history can help us understand the chaos in China and the customs in Kyushu. I dabble in subsets to understand my academic articles in China. " If we can't do this, we will blindly westernize. "The deeper the western learning, the more serious it is for China." In that case, "I'm afraid the disaster of China is not beyond the four seas, but within Kyushu." Zhang Zhidong gave us such a revelation: traditional culture forged the spirit of a nation. If we abandon the traditional culture, we will inevitably lose the soul of the nation and destroy the culture. Such a nation cannot realize modernization. Because a nation that has lost its rational spirit and abandoned its excellent traditional culture like a broom, how can it realize the essence of modern western culture?

Zhang Zhidong does not think that China's ancient scholarship has no dross. He said that the traditional academic schools in China have their own advantages and disadvantages, and various schools are complicated. Although each school has its own principles, there are also many things that are hard to see in this world. Many people think that if it is applied today, there will be a real disaster, but there are still many valuable things in it. Therefore, if you want to gain wisdom through the academic stream, a hundred schools of thought contend that you have to study at the same time. However, Zhang Zhidong believes that Confucianism is the most valuable among the hundred schools, so we should regard The Analects of Confucius and Mencius as "classic scales" and "the yardstick for reading philosophers". Zhang Zhidong specifically criticized Kang Youwei's theory of "ram", saying: "If the theory of" ram "is close to Confucianism, it is that Confucius wrote" Spring and Autumn Annals ",and rebels and thieves are happy."

Regarding the voluminous ancient books in China, Zhang Zhidong advocated "managing the important books and taking the rest". In the era of Confucius and Mencius, there were not many classics. "If a person can become famous by holding an industry, official studies can be applied." However, "there are so many four books today that you can't finish reading them all your life." Moreover, in today's need for modernization, "it is impossible not to talk about new learning, and it is impossible to talk about old learning." Therefore, based on the principle of "putting practicality first" and according to what he called "both pain and pain", Zhang Zhidong listed a number of basic bibliographies, including Confucian classics, history, philosophers, neo-Confucianism, poetry, politics, geography, mathematics, and primary schools, which Zhang Zhidong considered to be required reading for understanding China's traditional culture. But from today's perspective, the number of books listed by Zhang Zhidong is still too much.

Regarding the relationship between new learning and old learning, Zhang Zhidong thinks: "If you want to stay in middle school to strengthen China, you have to talk about western learning. However, if we don't take middle school as a solid foundation and take advantage of it, the strong will be chaotic and the weak will be slaves, which will be even worse than the ignorance of western scholars. " In other words, middle schools mainly play the role of education. Through middle school, people can receive basic traditional moral education and love their country. It should be said that this statement is not wrong in principle. Zhang Zhidong advocated "learning from the past and being new" in primary and secondary schools and even university education. Four Books and Five Classics, China's history, geography and politics are old learning, while western politics, western art and western history are new learning. Zhang Zhidong believes that learning from the West and taking the road of modernization should change what is inherent in China. "Husband cannot be changed, nor can it be violated; The holy way is not an instrument; Mind is not a craft. " In other words, what cannot be abandoned is the basic morality and spirit of China people.

Due to the influence of traditional culture, advanced age and high status, Zhang Zhidong's thoughts are also somewhat conservative, and there are some misunderstandings about modern western society, such as opposing the equality between father and son, equality between men and women, anarchism in civil rights, and trying to excuse the Qing government. But on the whole, his thought is steady, reformed and embodies a rational voice, many of which are proved by later historical development.