China's traditional culture refers to the social and cultural system based on individual agricultural economy, with patriarchal clan system as the background and Confucian ethics as the core in the history of China. She is a rich legacy handed down by our ancestors and has long been in the leading position in the world. The way of thinking, values and codes of conduct she contains. On the one hand, she is strongly historical and hereditary; On the other hand, it has vivid reality and variability. She influences China people all the time, providing us with historical and realistic basis for creating a new culture.
This paragraph is a version of nearly 400 words.
In the process of creating splendid Chinese civilization, the Chinese nation has formed a traditional culture with strong vitality after more than 5,000 years of tempering and baptism. Gu, a scholar, believes that "China's thousands of years of civilization development history was formed, accumulated and handed down under the influence of specific natural environment, economic form, political structure and ideology, and it is still a' living' ancient China culture that affects contemporary culture. It exists and continues not only in the form of relevant materialized classic documents and cultural objects, but also in the form of national thinking mode, values, ethics, personality characteristics, aesthetic taste, knowledge structure, code of conduct, fashion and customs. " Excellent traditional culture is the essence of 5,000 years' cultural accumulation of the Chinese nation, which contains philosophical thoughts, scientific spirit and humanistic spirit to promote the social development of China, and also provides rich spiritual resources and cultural details for the growth of every Chinese son and daughter.
Comrade Li Ruihuan profoundly pointed out: "Chinese traditional culture has a long history and is profound, which has played an inestimable role in the formation, reproduction, unity and self-improvement of the Chinese nation in the world, and has also had a far-reaching impact on the progress and development of human civilization. As descendants of the Chinese people, we have the responsibility to protect, organize and inherit this extremely rich and precious cultural heritage left by our ancestors, and create and progress on this basis. "
First, the connotation, characteristics and duality of traditional culture
(A) the connotation and characteristics of traditional culture
1. Connotation of traditional culture
As a big concept, traditional culture is a combination of two small concepts: tradition and culture. The so-called "tradition", interpreted from a cultural perspective, refers to social and historical factors with their own characteristics, such as ideology and morality, customs and habits, literature and art, and institutional norms. In ancient China, the word "culture" in l J originally meant "enlightenment and education", as opposed to military conquest. "I ching. This hexagram ("The History of the Three Kingdoms") says: "Look at humanity and turn it into the world." It can be regarded as the original formulation of culture. However, the meaning of the word "culture" we use today is not consistent with that of ancient times. /kloc-was introduced from the west through Japanese translation at the end of 0/9th century. 187 1 year, British scholar Taylor gave a famous definition of culture in his book Primitive Culture: "The so-called culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morality, law, customs and any other abilities and habits acquired by individuals as members of society. Chinese scholars generally adopt the definition of culture in Ci Hai: "In a broad sense, it refers to the sum of material wealth created by human society in historical practice. In a narrow sense, it refers to social ideology and corresponding institutions and organizations. It should be pointed out that culture, as an ideological thing, is always in the process of change and integration. Therefore, not all cultures that have appeared in history can be called traditional culture. Only those cultures with important value and vitality can be accumulated, preserved and continued, and become the main components of later cultures. We call these cultures of great value and vitality, which can be used as the accumulation, preservation and continuation of traditional culture. Chinese traditional culture refers to a grand and classic cultural system rooted in fertile soil of China, formed and developed in the long-term historical development process, which has a stable form among the Chinese nation and is passed down from generation to generation, affecting the whole social history. In addition to Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, it also includes ancient books and documents such as history, cultural relics, calligraphy, costumes, tombs, medicine, agriculture, astronomy and geography. Traditional culture is the crystallization of history, but it is not only an exhibit in a museum, but something with fresh life. "The way of thinking, values and codes of conduct handed down from generation to generation in traditional culture, on the one hand, has a strong historical and inheritance, on the other hand, it has a strong reality and variability, which constantly influences and restricts people in China today and provides a historical and realistic basis for us to create a new culture. Our traditional culture is the oldest unique culture in the world cultural jungle. It not only promoted the social and historical development of China in the past, but also had a great influence on the cultural development of the whole world. In the process of building Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture, it will certainly play a powerful role in promoting it.
2. Characteristics of traditional culture
There are many forms of traditional culture in China, and the belief with ethics as the core and Confucian ethics as the starting point occupies the central position. China's traditional ethical and political thought not only determines the cultural personality of ancient people in China, but also determines the national characteristics of traditional culture in China. 4 In addition to the general characteristics of ethical and political culture, China traditional culture also has the following characteristics:
(1) Unity of Identity and Diversity
China's traditional culture is endless, forming a cultural tradition with great vitality in the world. In the 6000-year history of human civilization, only China culture has been running continuously on its own track until today. Most other countries have experienced faults, and some even went extinct. China culture has gone through hardships, and has experienced the integration and development of multi-ethnic and multi-regional cultures in the development of thousands of years. China's traditional culture, with Han culture as the main body and Central Plains culture as the core, has gradually integrated other minority cultures and surrounding regional cultures, forming a development trend of combining identity and diversity. It has been deeply integrated into the ideology and code of conduct of all China people, penetrated into all fields of social politics, economy, especially spiritual life, and has become a powerful force that affects social and historical development and dominates people's ideological behavior and daily life. It has an immeasurable and far-reaching influence on the survival and continuation of the nation, has tenacious vitality and generous tolerance, and has a strong assimilation power to foreign cultures.
(2) the unity of nationality and world. Traditional culture has distinctive Chinese characteristics and features, and it is permeated with the wisdom and wisdom of ancient oriental nations. Every country and nation in the world has its own traditional culture. Although it is traditional, it is not static. It is constantly enriched and developed with the mutual learning and absorption of various countries and nations in mutual exchange activities. This kind of development is mutually integrated, which makes us more perfect and has the characteristics of our own country and nation. In the long historical exchanges, the cultures of various countries and nationalities have increasingly developed into a fusion of "harmony but difference" and gradually become a pluralistic and unified global culture. As a great scholar said, the more national things are, the more cosmopolitan and global they are. Without national things, it can't be said to be world-wide and global. Because the world itself is pluralistic, without which there is no value of existence. In the process of its occurrence, development and evolution, China's traditional culture, with a broad mind and broad vision, has integrated the advantages and strengths of China's national culture and foreign culture, gradually enriching and perfecting itself. With the blending of world cultures, it is inevitable that nature will go to the world. For example, the "world outlook" of Confucius in Confucianism and the "view of nature" of Laozi and Zhuangzi in Taoism have been widely spread in the world academic circles.
(3) the unity of inheritance and innovation
China traditional culture emphasizes the value of the previous generation's cultural heritage, and fully publicizes the rationality of the existence and dissemination of tradition itself. Although it has experienced ups and downs and faced challenges many times, it has shown great regenerative ability again and again. In the long and tortuous process of formation, countless descendants have inherited and developed their predecessors, learned from them humbly and enriched them, and surpassed them according to the needs of the times. Such a repeated relay movement has been gradually formed, supplemented, perfected and matured after decades of unremitting hardships and great efforts. Hard-won.
(B) the duality of traditional culture
The Chinese nation has a history of 5,000 years of civilization and created a world-famous culture. Among them, the development and evolution of Confucian culture is the main thread that runs through the ancient culture of China. From the content point of view, the benevolent policy of Confucianism, the quietness of Taoism, the responsibility of legalists, and the reward and punishment constitute the basic elements of the trinity of ancient China culture, which are soaked in national character and psychology. Its basic value system is based on the Confucian system, and it is compatible with the strengths of Taoism, France and Mohism. But it is not a pearl, but a mixture of sand and stone. So we can't completely abandon this heritage, and we can't fully use it. We must get rid of its dross, take its essence, criticize and inherit, bring forth the old and bring forth the new, and create a new socialist modern culture in China. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "In the long-term feudal society of China, splendid ancient culture was created. Cleaning up the development process of ancient culture, eliminating its feudal dross and absorbing its democratic essence are necessary conditions for developing national new culture and improving national self-confidence; But we can't accept everything uncritically. We must distinguish all the decadent things of the ancient feudal ruling class from the excellent people's culture in ancient times, that is, something more or less democratic and revolutionary. We must respect our own history and never cut it off. However, this respect gives history a certain scientific status and respects the development of historical dialectics, instead of praising the past instead of the present, or praising some feudal poison. This passage by Comrade Mao Zedong clearly tells people's attitude towards China's traditional culture. Take the essence and use the macro, criticize and inherit it. So, how to critically inherit?
Its essence mainly includes:
(1) Make vigorous progress and strive for self-improvement.
The enterprising spirit of vigorous self-improvement has always occupied a dominant position in China's cultural tradition. "Yi Zhuan" Day: "Heaven is strong, the gentleman strives for self-improvement", "The terrain is Kun, and the gentleman carries things with morality. It means that the virtue of "heaven" lies in unhealthy, people should imitate, be vigorous and enterprising; The virtue of "land" is to nurture, tolerate and nurture all things, and people should imitate it, be inclusive and learn from others. Confucius advocated the life pursuit of "forgetting food when angry, forgetting sorrow when happy", and Mencius advocated the "manly" spirit of "wealth can't be lewd, poverty can't be moved, and powerful people can't bend". Qu Yuan wrote angrily in The Fisherman: "I am alone in the world, and I am alone in the world. "It is inspired by this spirit that the people of China tirelessly pursue the truth, resist foreign aggression to the death, and forge a national character of advancing despite difficulties, hard work and self-reliance. Enterprising attitude towards life, working hard and striving for self-improvement on the road to success. All these show the strong will and extraordinary tolerance of the Chinese nation, which is aggressive and endless.
(2) the harmony between man and nature, people-oriented
The so-called god mainly refers to the vast nature, and the relationship between man and nature mainly refers to the relationship between man and nature. The idea of harmony between man and nature holds that man is a part of nature and one of the indispensable elements of natural system. There are universal laws in nature, and people should abide by them. The moral principles of human society are consistent with the laws of nature; The highest ideal of life should be the unity of heaven and man. The idea of "harmony between man and nature" has given us a lot of enlightenment. China's traditional culture pays attention to the unity of heaven and man, but between heaven and earth, man is the center, that is, people are the center. For example, Confucius' thoughts such as "silence is strange, powerful, chaotic and spiritual" and "how can you get along with ghosts if you can't get along with others" have great influence. Although he can't deny the existence of ghosts and gods, he takes a skeptical attitude towards them, that is, leave it alone; And put people in reality first and pay attention to people's lives. six
(3) Self-cultivation and interpersonal coordination
Confucian culture is an ethical culture, which advocates "putting morality first" and emphasizes the life ideal of "benevolence is the most important, filial piety is the most important, and loyalty and respect are the most beautiful". In the eyes of ancient thinkers, heaven is a moral heaven, and man is a moral man. Even the grass and trees are born of the Tao and have the character of virtue. _7 Under this kind of moral radiation, we advocate "the benevolent loves others" and "harmony is precious", and pay attention to the harmonious interpersonal relationship of "old and old, young and young, young and young".
(4) the collective standard, the world is public.
Western culture advocates individual standard, while China traditional culture takes family as the center, collectivity as the standard, and pays attention to four "aristocratic groups". When individuals, parts, collectives and the whole conflict, they advocate sacrificing the former and protecting the latter. This is the so-called "the world is public". Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world, and patriotism is everyone's unshirkable responsibility. So there was Fan Zhongyan's "Worry about the world first, and enjoy the world later." "Wen Tianxiang sang at the last moment of his life:" Since ancient times, no one has died in life, so keep the heart of Dan and shine on history. "The dross of China's traditional culture is mainly manifested in: (1) retro and conservative. (2) Negative inaction. (3) Confucian orthodoxy.
(4) Value righteousness over profit.
(5) emphasize the road and light the weapon.
In a word, we must pay attention to the dialectical analysis and critical inheritance of China traditional culture. However, the ultimate goal of critical inheritance is development and innovation. That is to say, on the basis of critically inheriting China's traditional culture, we should absorb valuable foreign cultures and create a new socialist culture of modern China that combines tradition with modernity, nationality with the world, and is national, scientific and popular.