How to understand the decline of China culture due to the impact of western industrial civilization?

Since the16th century, Kelpolo, Matteo Ricci and some western missionaries and businessmen have successively sent a lot of information about China to the world, which made the world know more about this strange and mysterious eastern power. Later, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Weber, Needham, Russell, Liang Qichao, Bai Yang and Yu all discussed and compared China people and China culture with westerners and western cultures.

"Looking around the world, it is the land of kings and princes ..." People in the Book of Songs thought that China was the center of the world, and there were savages around China, just as the ancients thought that the earth was the center of the universe. From the Tang Dynasty in the heyday of feudal society to the prosperous time of Kanggan in the last feudal period, China has always taken a condescending attitude towards foreign exchanges and looked down on the world. There are not only 48 stone statues of foreign envoys serving as grave keepers in Ganling, but also western missionaries such as Matteo Ricci, Tang Ruowang and Lang Shining who served as court painters, architects and foreign language teachers in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Even during the Cultural Revolution, the people of China were still obsessed with it, and two-thirds of the people living in dire straits in the world needed liberation.

Since the Opium War, the myth of invulnerability has been shattered because of the infiltration of western guns into China. Since then, the superiority of the Chinese nation has been covered by humiliation, arrogance has turned into inferiority, and pride has turned into hatred. China has also adopted a foreign policy of closing the door, self-locking and self-locking. Now industrialization, informationization and globalization have penetrated into every corner of the world, and the earth is getting smaller and smaller. No matter how strong the city wall is, no matter how dense the fence is, it can't resist the pervasive external influence. In the 1980s, China finally opened its doors to the world. At the same time, the people of China gradually got rid of the mentality of being a weak country, kept a low profile and did not cooperate, actively participated in world affairs with an equal attitude, fulfilled their rights and obligations to the world, and integrated into the world as a responsible member of the international community.

Including science, technology, art, morality, ethics, philosophy, religion and education, culture has a decisive influence on human society beyond race, region and climate. According to different religions, the world is divided into four major civilizations, namely, Christian civilization, Islamic civilization, Indian civilization and Far East civilization.

Among the few thousand years of human civilization, Sumerian culture, ancient Egyptian culture, Mayan culture, Inca culture of American Indians, and the culture in the wild period of Europe only left mysterious historical sites in deserts and jungles. Pyramids, statues with human faces and animal hearts, or incomprehensible cuneiform and hieroglyphics, these once brilliant human civilizations have either disappeared or disappeared.

When we talk about the civilization in the Far East, that is, Chinese civilization, we cannot but mention Confucius and Confucianism. To be exact, Confucianism successfully maintained the feudal rule for two thousand years, created the political and social order in China, and dominated the main theme of Chinese civilization.

In the history of China civilization, Confucius is far from the only one. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend. It has produced many schools, including great thinkers like Laozi, Mozi and Zhuangzi. During the long period of ancient feudal society, a large number of writers, thinkers, strategists and politicians appeared, which had an impact on the history of China. The Chinese nation has not only produced many outstanding figures. China's compass, gunpowder, movable type printing and papermaking were the four great inventions that were ahead of the world at that time. In addition, China's astronomy is also very developed, and it is proud of its voyage. Zheng He went to Nanyang earlier than Columbus in Spain, and archaeological discoveries recorded that he had been to America earlier. If the people of China are descendants of Cain, they have not participated in the historical process of descendants of Seth or Noah. The yellow people scattered in East Asia had a splendid culture and a glorious history before moving from the Bering Strait to the American continent.

China's contribution to the world is not commensurate with its long culture and huge population. While western science has made great progress, the strength of economy and science and technology is constantly expanding, and China is no longer confined by Confucianism and isolated from world inventions. This vast country with a history of 5,000 years of civilization obviously lags behind the world at that time. It was precisely because of China's deep-rooted orthodoxy at that time that intellectuals attributed this backward fact to backward technology, while the differences in cultural traditions, ways of thinking, religious beliefs and political systems were kept secret. After the May 4th Movement, some neo-Confucianists at home and abroad have been committed to the transformation and reconstruction of China culture based on Confucianism.

No culture is perfect, and no culture can be great but tolerant. The national system of freedom principle can guarantee the peace of all cultures. "I don't agree with you, but I firmly defend your right to speak." Whether it is coexistence or integration, whether it is substitution or extinction, most people hope that human beings can be tolerant and tolerant regardless of race and belief, and the conflict between different cultures is no longer non-violent smoke and bloodshed. China participated in the globalization process relatively late. "China culture is the only one among several ancient cultures that has not been destroyed. It is the only civilization in the last 5,000 years without large-scale dating and extinction, but it was defeated in the cultural conflict of the twentieth century. "

Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, believed that there were three conditions for the emergence of science and philosophy: the first was "surprise". It should be said that among the people of China, who are famous for their hard work and wisdom, there are many people with the spirit of exploration. They have created splendid culture and added luster to the world. But their "consternation" is incomplete and full of pragmatism.

One of the differences between science and technology is that it is not only a practical knowledge-seeking activity. Peng, a western scientist, said: "A scientist studies nature not because it is useful, but because he is interested in nature. He is interested in nature because it is beautiful. If nature is not beautiful, it is not worth knowing. If nature is not worth knowing, it is not worth living. Of course, I won't talk about the beauty of touching the senses, the beauty of nature and the beauty of phenomena here. I don't underestimate these beautiful women, far from it, but they have nothing to do with science. I mean deeper beauty, which comes from the harmonious order of all parts and can be mastered by pure wisdom. The beauty of reason itself is enough, not so much for the bright future of mankind, but for understanding reason itself before scientists invest in long and hard work. " I interpret poincare's words like this. Scientists are moved by the rationality and perfection of nature. They study it to find and verify the meaning of life. If it is only for practical purposes, they will never devote themselves to this hard work from generation to generation.

The second condition for science is "leisure". China is rich in natural products and superior in natural conditions. Over the years, many leisure classes have emerged. However, too much of their leisure time is spent in intrigue between people, in the pride and sadness of advancing and retreating, so they have no time to pay attention to and study nature.

The third is "freedom", which China has lacked since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's line of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" is not only the unity of politics and religion, but also often cruel in thought, such as the burning of books by Qin Shihuang, the literary inquisition in the Qing Dynasty and the Cultural Revolution in recent years.

The most fundamental thing in culture is religion, which is a profound and vivid source of different civilizations. Everyone's outlook on life and values are inseparable from his outlook on the universe and the world.

The rise of Greece and Buddhism was almost the same historical period as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China at that time. While Greek philosophers are arguing about the origin of the universe, China's philosophy is also in a period of debate. But Confucianism, which eventually became the mainstream ideology of China, gained the upper hand. Confucius is a man who is keen on official career, but his political ambition has not been realized. However, he created a set of ideological system about how to maintain social stability and moral norms, which was used by kings of past dynasties.

However, China's philosophy lacks attention to the eternal human civilization, the cosmic order and the ultimate value of human beings. Their attitude towards heaven is cautious and mysterious. Ni believes that "if you don't know life, how can you know death" and "if you can't get along with people, how can you get along with ghosts"? Ambiguous attitude such as "away from ghosts and gods", this kind of world outlook lacks rigorous logical thinking mode and the spirit of breaking the casserole and asking questions from the beginning. Of course, Confucianism can't answer questions about life. Confucianism belongs to the world and is realistic. Pantheism popular in China. Without the loyalty of monotheism, its values and outlook on life are pragmatic and utilitarian, and its reverence for heaven is largely limited to the purpose of praying for itself and this life.

In ancient China, the concept of "harmony between man and nature" blurred the relationship between man and nature. The gentleman is the son of heaven, which is based on the belief in people and will inevitably lead to the confusion of belief. This created the word "loyalty" between ministers and kings, sons and fathers, servants and lords. China literati's attachment and loyalty to rulers and yearning for official career and career are stronger than any other nation in the world.

But you can not love the people, you can be unjust, you can listen to rumors, you can kill innocent people, you can waste money, then this "loyalty" of the people representing the sky will be trampled on again and again, you will be loyal to a "bad king", and you will tell my ministers not to die. This is a tragedy and stupid loyalty. It is also a narrow sense rather than justice to hurt the "righteousness" of others indiscriminately for the sake of a friend. "Nationalism" that tramples on the interests of one nation for the sake of another is narrow nationalism.

After cutting the stock and frying the soup, he threw himself into the river angrily because he had no choice but to serve his country. Zhuge Liang devoted himself to his death, Yue Fei was loyal to the nationalism of serving his country, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei became sworn friends in Taoyuan, and the outlaw of Liangshan in Shui Bo was righteous. These touching stories shine with the excellent character of the Chinese nation. Both the moral standard "loyalty and filial piety" advocated by the ruling class and the folk rebellion against tradition can not be separated from the traditional "loyalty and righteousness".

Loyalty to kings and superiors, filial piety to elders and kindness to friends are all remunerative behaviors, which are the ethical principles of China. The reality of China's ethics can't satisfy people's questioning about life. Buddhism has a profound understanding of life. After Buddhism was introduced into China, people advocated doing good similar to the way of loving in the West. Similarly, this kind of behavior does not seek worldly rewards. The difference is that Buddhism believes in the reincarnation of life, while Christianity believes in eternal life.

In the process of modernization, China has been troubled by the contradiction between tradition and modernity. Loyalty and Righteousness became a sad historical song. People are no longer attached to this spiritual home, and tradition has lost its way. After the May 4th Movement, although China people abandoned the complicated Confucian ethics, the most shining qualities of the Chinese nation, such as loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, were also lost. However, the cultural psychology in their bones and the values of China people are hard to change. Western cultures in foreign countries, China people, and even old overseas Chinese who have lived in foreign countries for most of their lives. They have deep China cultural genes in their blood, and the unchangeable China thinking still dominates people's behavior and way of thinking.

As an ideological theory, Confucian culture still has many advantages. For example, the principle of "don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you", the educational equality thought of "teach without distinction", the spirit of seeking truth from facts of "those who know what they don't know are also those who know", and the democratic thought of "putting the people first, the monarch and the minister second, the country second". The progressive significance of the May 4th Movement lies in opposing the unique cultural monopoly of Confucianism and its mental shackles that stifle and stifle other cultures, so it is an obstacle to historical development. The May 4th Movement in China in the early 20th century was similar to the Renaissance in Europe in the 7th century. They all flaunt individuality and yearn for freedom and equality under the banner of anti-unification.

However, before western missionaries entered China in the17th century, there was hardly any powerful foreign culture except Buddhism in China. Buddhist civilization is the first culture to be integrated with Confucian civilization, and it is a combination of folk needs and political needs.

Undeniably, the modern world benefits from modern science originating from western culture. The advantages of western culture should come from two aspects: one is the Greek way of thinking and rational scientific methods, and the other is the wisdom of the Hebrews, which is the wisdom of the apocalypse. No nation has obtained so much apocalyptic information as the Hebrew nation, which has run through the whole human history for so long, so clear and definite, and has been continuously confirmed by science, archaeology and reality. If human society does not stand at this height to observe life, study the universe and solve complex world problems, even if all traditional cultures add "surprise" and "freedom". Probably can only wander on the road of finding faith forever.

Excerpted from Where I Come from —— The Absence of China Culture