What is traditional Chinese culture

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An Overview of Traditional Chinese Culture

The foundation and core of "culture" is philosophy, and each culture is reflected in the specific values, value orientations and ways of thinking of that culture. And each value and way of thinking is reflected in the way of life of each nation. Therefore, some scholars define "culture" as a way of life. Chinese culture can also be said to be a way of life of the Chinese people. "Traditional culture" simply means the culture produced on the basis of agricultural society; therefore, traditional Chinese culture is the culture produced on the basis of Chinese agricultural society.

Today I am going to talk about the following three issues: First, the position and role of traditional Chinese culture in the world civilization. Second, the status of traditional Chinese culture in contemporary times. Third, an overview of the three most important parts that make up traditional Chinese culture - Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

I

Chinese culture has a long history, and was once called by Asperger's "the civilization that emerged from the Axial Age". The so-called "Axial Age" is the period from the 6th century BC to the 2nd century BC, and the pre-Qin Zi school was born in this Axial Age. At the same time, the world has also produced such civilizations as the ancient Greek civilization, the Indian civilization, and the Babylonian civilization, which have all played a significant role in the development of the world. However, the historical fates of these four major civilizations were very different. With the fall of the ancient Roman Empire, the Greek civilization was temporarily annihilated in the land of Europe, and its culture was preserved in the Arab countries. The Babylonian civilization also flourished for a time, but finally died out. Buddhism, the main symbol of Indian civilization, was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in ancient India in the 6th century B.C., but it grew and developed in China. Buddhism was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty, and with the confrontation, conflict, and fusion between Buddhism and the local culture (mainly referring to Confucianism and Taoism), it finally gave rise to the Song and Ming philosophies. After the Chinese civilization arose, it has never ceased in the Chinese land. The pre-Qin Ziology of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Dharma, with the exception of Mohism, which was severed some time after the Han Dynasty, has been exerting far-reaching influences on all aspects of China's politics, education, literature, as well as the nation's deeper psychological structure and way of life.

Two

However, it is regrettable that traditional Chinese culture has been in a state of "childlessness" in the real society. And a culture, a philosophy is to provide people with the most important spiritual food. When a person loses his spiritual home and a place to live, he will become anxious, uncertain and restless. This is a kind of "nowhere state" in which "there is no heaven above, no earth below, no people outside, and no self within"-that is, not knowing the ultimate pursuit and care; not being concerned with reality; treating oneself as a completely independent and insulated individual; and not being able to realize one's own identity. as a completely independent and insulated individual; and the state of losing one's own self and truth-seeking. To be in such a "state of nowhere" is the most frightening thing of all. The Hebrew culture produced many religious and theological ideas due to the fear of God; the Greek culture showed the nature of man through the exploration of nature and the primitive deeds of the world, and then gained freedom; the Chinese culture, especially the Confucian culture, started from the worry about life, which was not based on the worry and concern about the sufferings in life, but on the worry about the "failure to cultivate virtues, failure to teach, and failure to change what is not good". Instead, it is a concern for "not cultivating virtue, not teaching learning, and not changing what is not good". Zhang Hengqu once said: "To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to succeed the great sages of the past, and to open up peace for the ages." The most important of these is "to succeed the great learning for the past saints". Our contemporary intellectuals should have a passionate pursuit and love of culture and morality, and should succeed the great learning of the past saints.

Three

The most important aspects of traditional Chinese culture are Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The first is Confucianism, "If you do not know Confucianism, you cannot enter the world." "Into the world" is "the world", "help the world", highlighting a spirit of doing, reflecting the "reality" It emphasizes the spirit of doing and reflects the characteristics of "reality". Therefore, Confucianism is characterized by "entering the world, doing something, and being realistic". To "enter the world" means to pay attention to life and society, and this is where the greatest characteristic of Chinese philosophy lies. Confucianism is concerned about the process of life, the son said: "How can one know death without knowing life?"; it emphasizes personnel and lightens ghosts and gods, "How can one serve the ghosts without serving the people? Confucianism's spirituality is embodied in the Yi Chuan, "Heaven walks with health, the gentleman is self-improvement; the earth's situation is Kun, the gentleman is virtuous." The level of life is revealed in the words of Mencius, "compassion, shame, resignation, right and wrong".

The reality of Confucianism lies in the accurate explanation of the hierarchy of human life. There are two ways for human life to exist: survival and living. The way of survival is the natural material needs of human beings; the way of life is the pursuit of the world of meaning and value. Mencius once said, "How different is man from the animals?" Why were the ancients so worried? Because if a person is not careful, he or she will lose that which makes him or her a human being, and then he or she will be similar to an animal. In fact, each person has two "channels": the right channel controls the way of survival; the left channel controls the way of life. But modern people turn on the right channel all day long, and seldom turn on the left one, and some people don't know that there is a bright side of life until they die.

Another important characteristic of Confucianism is the pursuit of a "harmonious" relationship between human beings, society, and nature. The son said: "The benevolent man loves people". How to love? "Madam, I want to stand up for myself and others, and I want to reach out to others. The ancient Chinese called it the Golden Rule, which includes two meanings: "self-improvement" and "being a good mother", i.e., "to become a man and a woman". "This is the essence of Confucianism. This is the essence of Confucianism. At the same time, Confucianism has also laid down the most basic principle of "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you", that is, "forgiveness", which is "a word that can be practiced", and it was adopted as the basic principle of Confucianism at the World Conference on Religions held in Chicago, United States, in 1992. This is "a word that can be practiced" and was adopted as the golden rule of global ethics at the Conference of World Religions held in Chicago, USA, in 1992. This is because Confucianism's "forgiveness" has its own unique sentiment: "the people are one with the things", "the unity of heaven and mankind", and "the unity of man and nature". "

The Confucian Analects of Confucius emphasizes the importance of the concept of forgiveness.

The Confucianism emphasizes the importance of being strong and capable, and of struggling. But people will encounter setbacks in the process of struggle, and then need wisdom. This wisdom is Taoist culture. As the old saying goes: if you don't know the family, you can't get out of the world. It emphasizes the Taoist spirit of "doing nothing" and embodies the characteristic of "surreality". Taoist thought also lies in the distinctive critical spirit: the criticism of the loss of human nature in the process of social civilization, that is, the "dichotomy of historical development" - civilization has progressed, productivity has increased, but the price is also very heavy. According to Laozi, "The people are hungry because of the amount of food and taxes on them. The people are hard to stop, because their superiors are hard to rule." The "food and taxes" and "to have a behavior - to make rules and regulations" are forceful and chaotic behavior, which is against human nature. Zhuangzi criticized the ruler for "going out on a pilgrimage, having no field left, carrying a sharp sword, being averse to eating and drinking, and having a surplus of goods and possessions; this is the way of doing things, not the way of doing things." A civilized society should be "the way of heaven to make up for deficiencies"; but the reality of humanism is "to make up for deficiencies". This is a great injustice, so the Taoists want to strongly attack.

The Taoists believe that people's lack of freedom is due to "material servitude," "emotional exhaustion," "heart stagnation," and "intentional staining. The Taoists believe that man's lack of freedom lies in the fact that he is "enslaved by material desires", "burdened by emotions", and "contaminated by the will". It is these things that Taoists deplore most.

Taoism's realization of Chinese life and death is also very profound. Human beings are part of nature, coming from nature and going to nature, which is the great realization of nature. Taoists believe that there are three realms of life and death: "rebirth and lightness of death"; "birth and death"; "no birth and no death".

The Taoist "nature" is also very important. Laozi's "nature" does not mean "the sun, moon and stars, the stars follow the whirlwind, yin and yang, wind and rain Bo Shi" nature, but refers to the "heaven into heaven" of the original state, whether it is human or nature is heavenly. The first thing I want to say is, "I'm not going to be able to do this.

"Buddhism" is characterized by "emptiness", that is, not real, false. Siddhartha Gautama put forward the idea of "cause and effect" - that everything in the world is composed of many causes and conditions. The term "cause and effect" refers to the internal causes and external conditions, which are called causes. Everything in the world is composed of many intertwined causes, and without causes and conditions there is no independent existence. This is why Buddhism has derived the three great edicts: the impermanence of all forms, the non-self of all dharmas, and the silence of nirvana. The conditions of constitution are always changing, so all forms are impermanent. "All dharmas have no self" means that there is no insulated entity. All things in the world, including God and gods, are created by other conditions; they are created by karma. But people don't understand this, so they have a lot of worries.

The most common troubles are eight: birth, old age, sickness, death, love and separation, hatred and resentment, seeking and not being able to seek and not being able to take. This is not to say that Buddhism is negative and pessimistic, but the Buddha's intention is to "bring happiness through suffering". How can we "attain happiness through suffering"? Buddhism has put forward many laws, such as the Three Studies, the Five Precepts, and the Six Degrees. The "Three Studies" are: precepts, meditation, and wisdom. The "precepts" of Buddhism are prescriptions for the most common faults in life. There are three major problems in life: first, it is easy to do wrong. Therefore, Buddhism has formulated many precepts, such as the Five Precepts - not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to drink alcohol, not to speak delusionally - which are of universal ethical significance. The second problem is that the human mind is scattered and cannot concentrate, so Buddhism proposes "meditation". The third problem in life is that people are "nameless", so Buddhism proposes "wisdom of prajna". The "wisdom of prajna" is the "wisdom of non-differentiation," such as the non-dual dharma, equality, and patience. "The Six Degrees refer to the Ten Precepts, Meditation, Prajna, Giving, Forbearance, and Refinement. The "giving" of Buddhism is not "giving of goods" but "giving of the law" - the unconditional spreading of truths and ideas to others without merit. It is "Dharma Giving" - the unconditional dissemination of truths and ideas without merit, so that everyone can recognize their own nature; and the highest of all is "Do-nothing Giving" - giving you courage. "Forbearance is the endurance of shame. "Refinement" is specialization and progress. Here you can see that Buddhism wants people to go to a higher level.

The so-called "Buddha" is the transcendent, undifferentiated and complete existence of human nature. How do you become a Buddha? "The Buddha is not in a distant land or on the other side of the shore, but in your heart, outside your heart. The Buddha is not in a distant land or on the other side of the world, but in your heart.

The three cultures of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have had a significant impact on the lives of the Chinese people in their own ways, and their ultimate goal is to seek the most essential existence that is consistent with human nature. The ultimate goal is to seek the most essential existence in accordance with human nature, and those who live according to this culture are meaningful and valuable beings.

Finally, I will end my talk with a Buddhist phrase - "the situation arises from the mind". The "realm" is the external realm, which is transformed by the human mind, intention, and subjectivity. This subjectivity is closely linked to the subject, an existence of meaning and value; this world of meaning and value is created and manifested by the human heart. If a person is right, then this world of value and meaning is also right. But in the same situation, in the same condition, people with different qualifications and different state of mind recognize it completely differently. As Confucius said: "A gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness, while a villain is a metaphor for profit". It is clear that the "state of mind" is very important, so we must succeed the past sage, improve the spiritual state, sublimation of the level of life.

Traditional Chinese culture contains three kinds of peace thoughts

Cai Degui wrote in the Academic Weekly that China has a civilization history of more than 6,000 years, and the Chinese culture of peace has a long history. British philosopher Russell long ago pointed out, "(The Chinese) desire to dominate others is obviously much weaker than that of the white man, and if there is a nation in the world that is 'so proud that it refuses to go to war,' then that nation is China. The Chinese are naturally tolerant and friendly, treating others with courtesy and expecting it in return." Not coincidentally, in response to the question of where the people of Europe would find a new moral force to replace militarism, the modern Chinese celebrity Koo Hung-ming said, "I believe that the people of Europe will find it in China - in Chinese civilization. Since the time of Confucius 2,500 years ago, we Chinese have not had militarism of the kind we see in Europe today. In China, war is an accident, but in Europe, it is a necessity." The article argues that traditional Chinese culture has rich resources for a culture of peace. Three major schools of peace theory arose in Chinese history: the peace theory of order - Confucianism, the peace theory of action - Mohism, and the peace theory of taking the law of nature - Taoism. Their ideas became the mainstream of Chinese thought and culture, and have continued to perpetuate China's culture of peace.

Overview of the Essence and Dross of Traditional Chinese Culture

The essence and dross of traditional Chinese culture is a very large subject. Before discussing them, it is necessary to make some agreements about the connotations of the terms used. The definition of "culture" for the purpose of this article is the way of life and the pleasure of existence of human beings that transcends that of animals. "Traditional culture" refers to the ways and pleasures of human existence that have existed and occurred in the history of civilization and history and are remembered today, as well as those that are still being used or have evolved today. The terms "China" and "culture" in "traditional Chinese culture" refer not only to the China of today's national geographic map, but also to the China of history (with changes in the map), as well as to other regions and other peoples influenced by Chinese culture. The term "China" and "culture" refers not only to the China of today's national geographic map, but also to historical China (the map has changed), as well as to other regions and peoples influenced by Chinese culture; it also refers to the cultures of the regions and peoples concerned prior to the emergence of China and the formation of the Chinese nation.

Essence and dross are conceptual phrases that exist in contrast to each other, with a gray area or neutral zone between them. The judgment of the essence and the dregs is based on both subjective intention and objective criteria, and there is often a spatial and temporal overlap between the two, which will inevitably lead to ambiguity in the judgment of the essence and the dregs.

In view of this, when discussing the essence and dregs of traditional Chinese culture, the author suggests to cut into the theme from many aspects as follows:

1. The right of judgment. In terms of time, it involves the right to judgment of the previous generation, the right to judgment of the present generation, and the right to judgment of the future generation. Spatially, it involves the right of the government (official) to judge, the right of the people (civil) to judge, the right of scholars to judge, and the right of the parties to judge. Here, the absence of the final right to judge is acceptable.

2. The basis of judgment. Different people may have different bases for judging whether a certain culture or cultural phenomenon is the essence or dregs or gray-neutral. The author suggests the use of the basis include, first, this culture is favorable to the survival and development of the parties concerned? Second, does this culture bring pleasure to the person's survival? Third, does this culture lead to degradation or sublimation of the person's mind? Fourth, does this culture harm the survival and pleasure of other people?

3. Diversity of cultural effects. Culture not only exists as a function sought by the user, but also has a wide range of effects on the user and others. These effects can be both good and bad; or they can become good or bad. The problem here is that the ability to recognize and appreciate a certain culture, as well as the mindset to cope with it, can lead to different effects. At the same time, changes in the person's state of being can lead to different judgments of the same culture. If people are generally better educated and better cultured, then they can be more tolerant of different cultural forms, and they may also absorb more of the beneficial aspects of a certain culture.

4. Cultural patterns are in fact closely related to the conditions and ways of life. People in the water-scarce areas of northern China, and people in the watery areas of southern China, their cultural manifestations in hygiene practices can be said to be mainly a matter of objective conditions rather than differences in human nature. It is necessary to emphasize here that information carriers have a powerful effect on cultural forms, and that the Chinese square Chinese characters contributed both to the over-arching formation of the Chinese monolithic state (in contrast to Europe) and to the cultural forms of poetry, couplets, word puzzles, and so on, which are unique to Chinese culture.

5. Any traditional culture is the survival mark or imprint of the people and the nation. From this point of view, any traditional culture has its historical value, and we today can judge it, but we should not easily reject it wholesale or ridicule it superficially, but we should seal up its memory or choose the components that are useful for today to inherit and develop. For example, the author once said that Peking Opera was "the sound of the dead country", the reason was that the officials and nobles of the Qing Dynasty at that time were intoxicated with it, consumed a lot of time, and lost their interest and opportunity to study, learn and learn from the emerging science and technology and innovative social management in the West, thus failing miserably in the invasion of the Western powers; obviously, this is from the perspective of the social function of culture and art. Obviously, this is a judgment from the perspective of the social function of culture and art, not from the comprehensive perspective of history. From today's point of view, Peking Opera has actually become a rich heritage of traditional Chinese culture.

6. The culture of disadvantaged or special groups, as well as the culture of minorities and individuals. The cultural behaviors of these people should be judged by standards different from those of popular and mainstream culture. For example, the strange, eccentric and idiosyncratic behavior of certain groups of people or certain people, among which may be induced by special physiological, pathological and psychological factors, may also be a kind of over-the-top social behavior.

7, careful use of "feudal superstition" label. "Superstition" refers to the person's belief in a non-existent things, this behavior is widespread in ancient and modern times, not unique to feudal society. Moreover, what many people call "feudal superstitions" today do not always have negative social functions and effects. For example, the custom of worshipping Zaowang in Chinese folklore contains the benign social function of "punishing evil and promoting good". Another example is the Taoist practice of "eliminating the five poisons", which also contains the connotation of popularization of science, and assumes the function of popularizing the knowledge of common poisonous animals (toads, snakes, scorpions, spiders and centipedes) among the public.

8. The judgment of essence and dross is contemporary and realistic. The essence of culture that the ancients relished may not be so essential today, or even become dross. For the cultures of different countries and ethnic groups, there are often realistic political factors, national feelings and economic interests in their judgment. In this case, "purely academic" cultural judgment may be stupid or nerdy.

Based on the above thoughts, the author believes that there are a lot of essence in traditional Chinese culture, including the desire for endless life, the interpretation of the joy of existence, the responsibility for the society, the affinity for nature, the pursuit of friendship, the attachment to the family, the upholding of morality, the integration of the nation, the sublimation of the soul, the search for the understanding of the unknown world, the use of information and cultural means, and respect for wisdom and knowledge, etc. The author also believes that there are a lot of cultural values in traditional Chinese culture. respect for wisdom and knowledge, and so on.

At the same time, from today's point of view, there are many dregs or anachronistic elements in traditional Chinese culture. In the author's opinion, the more prominent dross is the culture of slavery. The essence of the slave culture is personal attachment, which is the sacrifice of the development and promotion of individuality in exchange for survival. The culture of slavery exists in the national management system as well as in social organizations, schools and families. In front of superiors, subordinates are often left without dignity; in front of teachers, students are often left without their own opinions; in front of parents, children are often left without a voice.

The social cost of the culture of servility is mainly the authoritarian way of social management and the shrinking or even wearing out of the spirit of national innovation. This is because another way of saying the culture of slavery is actually the culture of power, which is a culture that pays no attention to the rule of law, does not respect human rights, and is also a culture of injustice. In this case, the intelligence of most members of society is suppressed, and at the same time the lasting vitality of the nation as a whole is suppressed.

In fact, discussing the essence and dregs of traditional Chinese culture in the abstract or in a purely academic way does not have much meaning or value. For today's Chinese, what we really need is not to judge which traditional cultures are the essence or which are the dregs, but to explore which traditional cultures have become obsolete or anachronistic. For the anachronistic traditional cultures, the important thing is not to criticize them, but to seal them up (keep them but not use them) or to transform them. The transformation of traditional culture includes the transformation of mentality and the transformation of practice; the so-called transformation of mentality means lowering the degree of faith in the culture and its value identity; the so-called transformation of practice means transforming its anachronistic components and adding new cultural components. For example, the Dragon Dance, which was a ritual for seeking rain in the past, has evolved into a recreational activity today. Another example is that the cultural concept of having more children and more happiness has been replaced by the cultural concept of eugenics. If we want to rule the country by virtue, then we should first reform and abandon the anachronistic traditional culture.

At the same time, a country and a nation should not only inherit the good traditional culture, but also continuously create a new culture. The new culture created by the Chinese people is the continuation of the traditional Chinese culture, because the Chinese people have the nutrients and ingredients of the traditional Chinese culture in their blood and in their hearts.