What is the modern significance of Confucian tradition?

One, two important reasons for the modern significance of Confucianism "Cultural consciousness only means that people living in a certain culture have' self-knowledge' of their own culture and understand its origin, formation process, characteristics and development trend, without any meaning of' cultural return', not to' retro', not to advocate' total westernization' or' total otherization'. Self-knowledge is to strengthen the independent ability of cultural transformation and gain an independent position in deciding to adapt to the new environment and cultural choices in the new era. " There are two "modern meanings of Confucianism": First, our Chinese nation is on the eve of great national rejuvenation. At this moment, we must review our history and cultural traditions. Jaspers (1883 ~ 1969) once put forward the concept of "axis age". He believes that around 500 BC, great thinkers appeared in ancient Greece, Israel, India and China almost at the same time, and they all put forward original opinions on the fundamental issues of human concern. There were Socrates and Plato in ancient Greece, Jewish prophets in Israel, Sakyamuni in India, Laozi and Confucius in China, and so on, which formed different cultural traditions. After more than 2,000 years of development, these cultural traditions have become the main spiritual wealth of human civilization, and the different cultures in these areas originally developed independently and did not affect each other at first. "In the axial age, human beings have always lived by what they think and create. Every new leap is to look back on this period and be rekindled by it. This has been the case ever since. The awakening and memory of axial potential, or revival, always provide spiritual motivation. Returning to this starting point is what is happening in China, India and the West. " For example, the Renaissance in Europe turned its attention to ancient Greece, the source of its culture, which made European civilization glow again and had a great impact on the world. Under the impact of Indian Buddhist culture, Neo-Confucianism in China in Song and Ming Dynasties returned to Confucius and Mencius again, which promoted China culture to a new stage. At the beginning of the new millennium, the voice of "new axis era" appeared in the world ideological circle, which requires us to pay more attention to the review and excavation of ancient ideological wisdom and re-examine the source of our cultural development in order to cope with the new situation of diversified development of world culture. Second, in the new century, China has put forward the requirement of building a "harmonious society". Mr Fei Xiaotong once raised the issue of "cultural consciousness". If we want to build a "harmonious society", we must also have our own "cultural" consciousness. What is "cultural consciousness"? Mr. Fei Xiaotong said: "Cultural consciousness only means that people living in a certain culture have' self-knowledge' of their own culture and understand its origin, formation process, characteristics and development trend. It does not mean' cultural return', nor does it advocate' total westernization' or' total otherization'. Self-knowledge is to strengthen the independent ability of cultural transformation and gain an independent position in deciding to adapt to the new environment and cultural choices in the new era. " In this case, to study the history and development prospect of our national culture, we must adapt to the new situation of contemporary world cultural development, that is, the new situation of cultural development with the arrival of the "new axis era". To adapt to the goal of building a "harmonious society" in China, we must have the requirement of cultural consciousness. So in such a new historical period, what problems have the whole human society and our own society encountered? In order to promote the "new axis era" and our "harmonious society" to come at an early date, what problems do we need to solve? Second, some views on the "Sinology craze" China culture benefited from Indian Buddhism, which was carried forward in China and then absorbed by China culture, profoundly affecting Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties. Today, under the situation of globalization, we must comprehensively and systematically absorb and digest the western culture and the cultures of other nationalities, so as to adapt China's academic culture to the requirements of human society and the new development of our nation. Therefore, our culture must be both national and global. Entering the 2 1 century, it can be said that there has been a "fever of Chinese studies" in China. There are various opinions and explanations about this situation. The so-called "national studies" first appeared in Zhou Li. Spring official. Musician: "In charge of Chinese studies and politics, in order to teach small dances to children all over the country." It means that the responsibility of musicians is to manage the affairs of Chinese studies, that is, to teach the music and dance of the country. But now we say "Chinese studies" for the sake of "Western learning". This is because we face the input of "western learning" and have a problem of how to protect and develop our traditional culture. In other words, the development of China culture faces two tasks: one is to protect its own culture and maintain the foundation of its own cultural development; The second is how to treat "western" culture. This has formed a cultural dispute of "Chinese and Western ancient and modern" for more than 100 years. In today's globalization, we must get rid of the dispute of "Chinese and Western ancient and modern" and master the knowledge of "Chinese and Western ancient and modern" in order to realize the prosperity of different cultures. Academics and cultural circles have various views on Sinology, especially Confucianism. Let me briefly introduce: Some scholars put forward the viewpoint of "rebuilding Confucianism in China". They believe that "Confucianism must be fully revived to meet the all-round challenges of western civilization" and that "reviving Confucianism is an urgent task to revive Chinese culture and rebuild Chinese civilization". Therefore, it advocates establishing Confucianism as the state religion and realizing the so-called "integration of politics and religion" in China since ancient times. This view is criticized from two aspects: first, it is considered that "saving the country by Confucianism" is a violation of the concept of "equality". Establish "Confucianism" as "state religion" and "attempt to ideologize Confucianism". Another criticism holds that "the imaginary essence of saving the world by Confucianism is the self-exaggeration of moral function" and that "pursuing kingly politics with the metaphysics of heaven's destiny can only fall into the trap of feudal autocracy". There are also some scholars who fully affirm "Confucianism" from the perspective of maintaining and promoting Confucianism. For example, modern neo-Confucianists believe that the inner sage can develop an "outer Wang Zhidao" suitable for modern democratic politics, and the Confucian "mind" can develop an epistemological system. Some people think that the "three cardinal guides and five permanent members" still have its value. Not long ago, some scholars discussed the rationality of "the son conceals the father and the father reveals the son". On the issue of "cultural China", Mr. Du Weiming put forward this idea, which is of great significance for China culture to go global. Of course, there are still some scholars who believe that Confucianism was rejected during the May 4th Movement, and it is undoubtedly a retrogression of history to hold it to the highest position today. I also have my own views on Confucianism. Right? It is open to question, but it is just the opinion of many families. I have several fundamental views on academic culture: First, the ideological culture in any history is not absolutely correct, and it often contains internal contradictions, so is Confucianism. Therefore, "Confucianism" inevitably has historical limitations in some aspects and cannot adapt to the requirements of modern social life. Even its essence is often given a modern explanation. Second, although the ideology and culture are constantly developing, the philosophical questions put forward by ancient philosophers and their philosophical thinking are not all worse than today, and some problems may be eternal. For example, the question of "the relationship between man and nature" discussed in China's philosophy is still one of the topics discussed in our modern China philosophy. Thirdly, Russell said: "The communication between different civilizations has been proved many times in the past, which is a milestone in the development of human civilization." If any culture wants to develop continuously in the long river of history, it must constantly absorb the cultures of other nationalities and develop in time through mutual communication, especially in today's era of globalization. From the history of our country, the introduction of Indian Buddhism proves this point. China culture benefited from Indian Buddhism, developed in China, and was absorbed by China culture, which deeply influenced Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties. Today, under the situation of globalization, we must comprehensively and systematically absorb and digest the western culture and the cultures of other nationalities, so as to adapt China's academic culture to the requirements of human society and the new development of our nation. Therefore, our culture must be both national and global. Fourth, any national culture must be rooted in the soil of its own national culture if it wants to have cultural subjectivity. Only by fully understanding, protecting and carrying forward our national culture can we adapt to the requirements of rational and healthy development of our national society and deeply absorb other national cultures. A person who has no ability to adhere to the cultural autonomy of his own nation will also have no ability to absorb the cultures of other nations to enrich and develop his own culture, and will either be eliminated or completely assimilated. Based on the above point of view, I think to analyze Confucianism, we might as well look at it from different angles. Can "Confucianism" be viewed from three angles: Confucianism with political unity, Confucianism with orthodox views and Confucianism with academic unity? Confucianism has been combined with China politics for a long time. Undoubtedly, it played an important role in feudal totalitarianism. Confucian orthodoxy refers to any systematic and historically inherited school of academic culture. The development and influence of its academic culture must have its traditions, such as the West and China. In the history of China, there are three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, each with its own traditions. Confucian "unified learning" refers to its academic tradition and its academic philosophy. Perhaps in this respect, Confucianism has more positive value and can provide more meaningful ideological resources for human society.