There are universal elements in China's traditional culture. At the same time, there are elements of the times in China's traditional culture, so some of them are suitable for ancient times but not for modern times. Stupid loyalty and filial piety are not worth advocating, strict hierarchy is not worth advocating, paying attention to individual obligations and ignoring individual rights is not worth advocating, paying attention to moral norms and ignoring legal management is not worth advocating. But we can't go to the other extreme, just talk about the law without morality, otherwise the law can't be implemented.
I didn't study culture. My concern for culture comes from the enlightenment and guidance of the academic itself and the stimulation given to me by reality. The real stimulus is economic globalization first. During the rapid development of China in the past 28 years, there have been some phenomena in the land of China, that is, foreign cultures have entered the territory of China and surged. From people's curiosity and novelty at the beginning to the discovery that things are not that simple, there are still some things that are not suitable for Chinese territory. Another stimulating factor is the loss of traditional culture in China. Too many China traditions have been lost in people's minds, and foreign cultures are not acclimatized, leading to cultural hunger in society. In this way, internal and external stimuli prompted me to think further: What happened to China's culture?
Some western scholars put forward the theory of "clash of civilizations", represented by Huntington, whose student Francis Fukuyama published a book called "The End of History and the Last Man". They believe that the best civilization in the world is the western Christian civilization, which is incompatible with other civilizations and will inevitably lead to a series of conflicts. The first is the conflict of Islamic culture. However, the conflict with Islamic culture can be solved, and the conflict with China culture is inevitable if it cannot be solved. As a result of the conflict, what should the future of the world be like? They claim that American values, American democracy, freedom and human rights, and various systems designed for this are the most wonderful and complete systems in human history, which can bring happiness to the whole world. The history of mankind must be the history of the whole world moving towards this system. Once this system and civilization are realized, the historical process of mankind will be terminated, so it is said to be "the end of history"; People who have developed to have American values, ethics and outlook on life are the last people on earth. These views give me great stimulation. Throughout the history of mankind for nearly a hundred years, the popular colonialism in the19th century first embodied this cultural theory. The first world war also conforms to this theory; World War II also conforms to this theory; The Kosovo war, the Iraq war and sporadic wars after the end of the cold war have all proved this theory of clash of civilizations, the final conclusion of history and the last man's theory in practice.
1. The only uninterrupted ancient civilization in the world
There are four ancient civilizations in human history: the two rivers, Egypt, India and China. Other civilizations have been interrupted, but only Chinese civilization has not been interrupted, which shows that Chinese culture has its own advantages in continuity.
China's traditional culture is based on agricultural production, and finally it is a culture that has grown up in long-term agricultural production. Our advantage is here; After entering the industrialized society, our limitations are also here. In the farming society, dozens of people and more people have worked hard for two or three years, turning a piece of loess from wasteland into cultivated land. People don't want to roll up their bedding rolls and open up land in other places, so light migration is very important and stable. Planting a few acres of land, one or two people can't do it, I hope the whole family will plant it together; In order to ensure the harvest, water conservancy must be repaired, and it is impossible to repair water one by one. Therefore, the agricultural society also pays attention to wider cooperation. When private ownership came into being and was divided into families, the initial "contract with joint production" appeared and inheritance began to be talked about again. Land should be inherited, farm tools should be inherited, and the technology of agricultural production should also be inherited. Talking about inheritance will bring a culture of respecting ancestors. At the same time, agricultural production also needs to be gradually accumulated. Therefore, people dare not squander freely, try to restrain frugality in life, leave things to children, leave their own spirit to children, and connect the present and the future with spirit.
Christian culture is originally Jewish culture, and Judaism is the religion of nomadic people. At that time, Jews lived by nomadism. Islam is also a religion produced by nomadic society. Compared with the farming society in China, the nomadic society is not as close to nature as the farming society. Nomads live on weeds, without too much observation, research, care and management of grazing areas, and without building canals. Therefore, the observation of nature is not as delicate as that of the farming society, nor is it so deep. Secondly, nomadic society does not talk much about inheritance. How many cattle, sheep or horses a grassland can carry is regular, and how many livestock a couple can graze is constant. When the child grows up, he will be given a batch of cattle and sheep and let him go alone. The so-called inheritance is this time, no production tools, no technology. Third, general grazing is individual grazing, which does not need the close cooperation of one family and another, and there is little mutual assistance in production and life. Finally, nomadic society emphasizes plunder and trade. Because the means of subsistence provided by cattle, sheep, horses and livestock are limited, other necessities, including iron and copper, need to be produced elsewhere.
Our culture was born in a farming society, which emphasizes cooperation, harmony, spiritual communication, astronomy, geography and nature. These are universal and our advantages.
I think we need to understand cultural stratification. First of all, what is most easily perceived and changed is the culture around food, clothing, housing and transportation, that is, our living culture, decoration culture, food culture, cooking culture and so on. The second is the middle layer, that is, a nation's customs, etiquette, religion, art, system, law, etc., which I also call institutional culture. Finally, the bottom layer is a nation's ethics, values and world outlook, which can also be called philosophy and culture. Our China culture has three levels. Today, it seems that the severance of Sumerian culture, Babylonian culture and ancient Egyptian culture is related to its incomplete three layers, and the most fundamental thing is that it has not formed a clear bottom layer known to the whole nation.
Our China culture is most concerned about reality and people. Some scholars believe that we should learn from the west and learn the humanistic spirit of people-oriented in the Renaissance. In fact, the earliest humanistic spirit originated from the Chinese nation. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, from March 1923 to February 12, gave dozens of speeches in Zhongshan Hall of Sun Yat-sen University today, expounding his Three People's Principles. Speaking of civil rights, he said: "I don't agree with advocating equality. China people have always been equal. " What does this mean? In the West and the Middle Ages, that nation was too unequal to put forward equality; And we have always been more equal, any civilian, after hard study and training, can finally become prime minister.