First, we must adhere to a scientific attitude towards traditional culture.
We know that traditional culture is a spiritual phenomenon accumulated by human beings in practice. It includes social ideals, ethics, legal thoughts, literature and art, language, science and technology, customs, etiquette rules and so on. With the development of society, culture, as a spiritual phenomenon, is restricted by history and class. In class society, deeply influenced by class, many cultural phenomena should serve a certain class.
Zhou Enlai is a great Marxist, but he was deeply influenced by the eastern and western cultures, especially the traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, his understanding, grasp and excavation of China traditional culture are unique.
Zhou Enlai put forward extremely profound thoughts on the relationship between nation and culture. He believes that every nation is hardworking, brave and excellent, and the culture they create has its own national characteristics. Standing on the height of historical materialism, he clearly pointed out: "The common prosperity of all ethnic groups is the fundamental position of our socialism on ethnic policy. It is absolutely wrong to say that this nation is superior and that nation is inferior. ..... We believe that all ethnic groups are excellent, hardworking and intelligent, as long as we give them opportunities for development; All ethnic groups are brave and powerful, as long as they are given the opportunity to exercise. " China is a multi-ethnic country. Our ancestors are hardworking, brave and wise, and our nation can create its own excellent culture. So there is a traditional nationalization problem. Zhou Enlai said: "Since we recognize the existence of all ethnic groups and we are a multi-ethnic country, we must attach importance to the issue of nationalization. ..... For example, the language and culture of a nation should be respected. ..... Since we recognize the nation, we should respect the customs and habits of all ethnic groups. These are nationalizations. " Therefore, the existence and development of a nation is closely related to the creation and prosperity of culture. However, due to historical reasons, the culture of Han nationality is relatively developed, and the cultural development of ethnic minorities is relatively slow. In this case, Zhou Enlai particularly emphasized the need to respect the cultures of ethnic minorities and help them develop their own cultures. So as to "realize the common prosperity of all ethnic groups" (3)
Zhou Enlai believes that the treatment of traditional culture must be guided by dialectical materialism. He said, "Everything develops dialectically in the struggle of contradictions." (4) He inspected the criss-crossing development process of traditional culture in China and knew that its existence and development were extremely complicated. In the development history of five thousand years, it has its brilliant light, but also its dregs that are eclipsed. Its existence and development are the coexistence of radish and weeds, with mixed advantages and disadvantages. These two traditional cultural ideas are infiltrating and instilling the personality of our nation. Therefore, we must treat China tradition under the guidance of materialist dialectics and historical materialism, and go deep into the deeper level of traditional culture for scientific analysis to distinguish its essence and dross. We should not only oppose all-encompassing and eclectic retro-ism, but also oppose indiscriminate and totally negative historical nihilism. Zhou Enlai guided people to treat the traditional culture of the motherland with correct views and scientific methods from two aspects.
Zhou Enlai believes that in dealing with traditional culture, we must distinguish between good and bad. As early as the night before liberation, he clearly pointed out: "The education of new democracy includes two aspects: on the one hand, it opposes the old, on the other hand, it develops the new." This is the culture of opposing imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, and developing a national, scientific and popular culture. ⑤ This is the basic principle and direction he put forward to treat traditional culture. At the same time, he made a concrete analysis of the cultures of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism and treated them differently. Zhou Enlai believes that China's traditional culture is accumulated in the long river of historical development, and is inevitably restricted by the times and classes, so it is inevitably mixed, which requires us to distinguish its authenticity with historical viewpoint and class analysis. He asked people to "be a little dialectical and not get angry when they listen to feudalism and capitalism." That is metaphysics and one-sidedness. " 6. He said, "There are good things in ancient and modern times, at home and abroad. We should learn from them, not exclude them. "7. In feudal society, it is also possible for some enlightened people to do something objectively beneficial to social development in a certain historical period. Zhou Enlai made a historical and dialectical analysis of the Qing Dynasty. He said, "The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty in China. It did a lot of bad things, so it died. However, it has also done several good things: First, it has contacted many brothers in China and determined the territory of China, covering more than 9 million square kilometers. Second, in order to rule for a long time, the Qing dynasty reduced the land tax and let farmers recuperate. Third, Manchu and Chinese were adopted at the same time in the Qing Dynasty, which gradually integrated the two cultures and promoted the development of Chinese culture. " ⑧ He added, "Kangxi was very knowledgeable in astronomy, geography and mathematics." Pet-name ruby From here, we can understand that only by distinguishing the advantages and disadvantages of traditional culture can we compare and choose what to absorb and criticize, and we can have a clear aim.
Zhou Enlai believes that we must adhere to the dialectical method of sublation in dealing with traditional culture. He pointed out: "the development of history is always better than that of ancient times, but there are always some good things worth inheriting in ancient times." Therefore, Chairman Mao wants us to inherit the excellent cultural heritage, critically absorb all the beneficial things in it, and' get rid of its dross and take its essence'. " Attending here clearly tells us that we should be brave enough to criticize the dross of feudal capitalism in traditional culture, otherwise it will poison the people. He reminded us on many occasions that China is a very complicated society, and feudalism and capitalism are eroding people all the time. He said: "In this society, the customary forces of the old feudal capitalism can easily influence you, pollute you and corrode you." 1 1 Therefore, we should be brave enough to eliminate the dross of feudal capitalist culture; Second, we must be good at inheritance. Zhou Enlai believes that in the traditional culture of China, not everything is good, and not everything is bad. Good is to be inherited, because "the development of any thought is not rootless." 12 "Mao Zedong Thought developed from Marxism-Leninism, and Marxism-Leninism is the foundation of Mao Zedong Thought." 13 This gives us a valuable enlightenment: the new socialist culture is developed on the basis of inheriting the essence of traditional culture. As long as it is excellent and beneficial to the people, it should be boldly inherited. It can be said that without correct inheritance, there will be no creation and no development.
Zhou Enlai also believes that the purpose of criticizing and inheriting traditional culture is to make the past serve the present. He said: "Now, of course, we must first study the practical problems and reflect the new situation, but we must also study the past. New things have developed on the old basis. In the past, many useful historical materials were kept in local government records and county records. It is also very valuable to collect typical deeds of the old society. For example, the situation of representative figures, families and families in the past 100 years is worth studying to see how they came into being, developed and declined. " 14 He also said: "People praise our ancient culture, including rich historical records, not only official history, but also unofficial history and notes. Chinese has played a great role in this respect. We must contribute our historical heritage. " Zhou Enlai's charge 15 put forward a historical responsibility for our generation. Not only can we not forget the splendid cultural heritage created by the people of the motherland, for example, our ancestors created an all-encompassing "encyclopedia" of astronomy, geography, nature and humanities, but they also pursued the lofty ideal of "worrying about the world first, and enjoying the world afterwards" and the nobleness that the poor can't be moved, the rich can't be lewd and the powerful can't be bent. In addition, we should redevelop this rich cultural treasure house for future generations to follow forever.
Of course, the study of traditional culture should not be based on the past, but should tap its essence and integrate it into the real soil in order to develop into something brand-new in the times; We should criticize the negative things in traditional culture and absorb their beneficial factors, so as to serve the construction of socialism with China characteristics and make the past serve the present. This is an important viewpoint of Zhou Enlai, that is, "creation" is a necessary condition to explore traditional culture.
Second, explore traditional culture comprehensively and accurately.
Zhou Enlai not only expounded the need to adhere to the scientific attitude towards China's traditional culture, but also pointed out that it is necessary to explore it comprehensively and accurately, so that China's rich cultural heritage can be inherited and carried forward.
First of all, Zhou Enlai called for the classification of traditional culture. In other words, when excavating traditional culture, we should distinguish between primary and secondary, and focus on it under the principle of critical inheritance. When expounding this issue, Zhou Enlai divided the traditional culture into three categories, or three levels, and analyzed their different positions and functions in history.
One is the culture accumulated by working people in practice. Zhou Enlai thinks this kind is the richest, most popular and most valuable, and we should pay attention to it. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai pointed out in his speech at the study meeting of university teachers in Beijing and Tianjin: "There are some precious traditions in the history of our country, the most basic of which is the revolutionary tradition. For example, slaves oppose slave owners, farmers oppose feudal owners, and our nation resists foreign aggression. These revolutionary traditions are very valuable. We should carry forward the fine tradition in this respect. " 16 in addition, many virtues cultivated by working people in practice are also very important and worth digging and inheriting. For example, Zhou Enlai pointed out, "Our nation has a long history, not only for nearly a hundred years, but also for thousands of years since the historical records. The working people have been constantly struggling and formed a fine tradition of hard struggle and fear of sacrifice. We should inherit this tradition and carry it forward in socialist construction. " Especially in the last hundred years, the working people bravely resisted imperialist aggression and feudal rule, and created an epic culture, which can inspire our confidence and courage in building socialist modernization. There is no reason why we should not carry it forward.
The other is the systematic and theoretical cultural theory of thinkers in past dynasties. Zhou Enlai thinks that we should pay enough attention to this culture and absorb it critically. This traditional culture in China was conceived and matured in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, a hundred schools of thought contended, and various ideas were formed, including cosmology, behavior, values, ways of thinking, and people's emotional attitudes. All these have played an important role in the development of China culture, especially Confucianism, which has a wider and deeper influence and has been passed down to this day. Zhou Enlai emphasized that this kind of culture should be absorbed critically, rather than totally negated or isolated from history. 1957, when he spoke at the mass meeting in Hangzhou, he said: "During the May 4th Movement, it was entirely appropriate to overthrow Kongjiadian, and Kongjiadian was going to be overthrown. But now we should evaluate Confucius comprehensively and affirm some good things about him. " 18 This is a very insightful idea. It is true that Confucius has good things. For example, although his outlook on life is idealistic, there are also reasonable factors for his "benevolence". His educational thoughts and the doctrine of the mean contain many positive things. How can these positive things be easily denied?
Of course, Confucianism represented by Confucius is very complicated, and we are sure, not all. Because Confucianism was used by feudal rulers in the past dynasties in the process of development, to promote loyalty to the monarch, to spread "destiny" and to hold what Confucius denied as treasure, this part should be denied. As Zhou Enlai pointed out, we should affirm some advantages of Confucius. However, it is worth noting that today's neo-Confucianism does not "split into two" Confucius' thoughts, but also regards them as the essence, and even says that Confucianism is the guiding ideology of 2 1 century; 2 1 century What is the "prosperous Confucianism" century? This is not right. No matter what the subjective intentions of these neo-Confucianists are, at least they lack a scientific attitude towards China's traditional culture and deviate from the dialectics of "one divides into two".
The other is the culture left by some enlightened feudal rulers in a specific historical period. Zhou Enlai believes that we should not totally deny this culture, but also absorb some beneficial factors. Zhou Enlai said: "In a certain historical period, such as the feudal era, we should also affirm what is progressive and beneficial to the broad masses of the people. Even in the feudal dynasty, there were some progressive things, and some emperors did something to promote the development of history. We can't take a non-historical view and erase them all. " 19 for example, reformism should also be analyzed. It depends on when reformism was advocated at the height of the revolution in order to reconcile class contradictions and obstruct the revolution and must be opposed; The Reform Movement of 1898 was reformism, but it was beneficial to China and the bourgeois enlightenment at that time. We can't deny it.
Secondly, Zhou Enlai put forward specific principles of excavating traditional culture. As far as ideology and morality are concerned, China is an ancient and brave nation. The Chinese nation has two advantages: courage and hard work. "This is what we should inherit and carry forward; In the field of literature and art, it is put forward that "it is necessary to have people's character and stand with the broad masses of the people for sympathy." "We move out of history things deviate from the reality? It depends on the content of the work "21; In historiography, it is put forward that "exposing the old things and letting future generations know the old roots will not cut off history." ..... we should contribute our historical heritage. "He also pointed out that" the historical materials before the founding of New China are worth collecting. "In science and technology, put forward" in knowledge, against those harmful things; "We still welcome the technology that is beneficial to the people and the knowledge that is beneficial to the people, and we still have to learn." He asserted that "knowledge is power"
Zhou Enlai has made creative efforts for the modernization of China's traditional culture. He not only asked all business departments to pay attention to this work, but also personally led and guided the excavation of the essence of ancient culture, so as to achieve innovation, unity of content and form, innovation and making the past serve the present. In his own scientific thoughts, such as philosophy, ethics, literature and art, history, etc., China's excellent ancient cultural traditions are also clearly reflected.
Third, strive to cultivate talents who inherit traditional culture and create a new socialist culture.
To explore the traditional culture of China, firstly, talents are needed; Second, we need to create. Carrying forward excellent traditional culture and creating brand-new socialist culture is the core of Zhou Enlai's traditional cultural modernization thought. More than once, he put forward the idea of tapping the essence of ancient culture to serve today's socialism.
For the modernization of traditional culture, Zhou Enlai emphasized the importance of cultivating talents. Because it is a serious scientific research to explore the traditional culture of China and make it serve the socialist modernization. To engage in scientific research, it is impossible to complete this arduous task without a strong scientific research team.
1950 On June 8th, Zhou Enlai pointed out at the National Conference on Higher Education: "China has existed for thousands of years, and its population has grown to 475 million, which shows that our nation has mastered the laws of some objective things in the past, so it is scientific. The problem is that we have not explored and studied it well. " Now, learning and exploring this theory, like all socialist construction, is the need of talents. Zhou Enlai pointed out, "Our country is so big and our construction has developed so fast, and it will develop even faster in the future. Therefore, we must expand the ranks of intellectuals, especially senior intellectuals, faster to meet the urgent needs of socialist construction. " Of course, his views also include training specialized technicians to explore traditional culture.
At the same time, Zhou Enlai also put forward specific opinions and measures on cultivating talents to explore traditional culture. First, we should respect and give full play to the opinions and functions of old experts. Zhou Enlai thinks that old experts "all have certain knowledge and experience. In the past, the work in this area was not well organized and failed to exert their strength. " Therefore, he pointed out that it is necessary to take care of old experts in all aspects, do a good job in organization, give full play to the strength of various "princes" and "leave knowledge and experience to future generations." Second, it is pointed out that it is necessary to train the younger generation. Because old experts "will always have fewer days in the future than young and middle-aged people." In order to make young and middle-aged people stand out as soon as possible, he suggested that old experts "can't write, but can take their disciples to write something." Zhou Enlai said these words in 1959. Under his call, "taking apprentices" has become a common practice in the cultural and scientific circles, and "learning from teachers" has become a fresh experience in cultivating new forces. A group of young professionals have grown rapidly, including exploring a new generation of traditional culture.
Zhou Enlai also stressed that talents who explore traditional culture should be creative. He said: "In scientific research, we should implement the policy of' a hundred schools of thought contend', encourage academic free discussion, and give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of researchers." 3 1 Obviously, talents who explore traditional culture must have high quality and cannot do without socialist enthusiasm and creativity. Excavating traditional culture is a very serious scientific research. If we study for the sake of research and can't make the past serve the present, then the modernization of traditional culture is impossible and meaningless. Therefore, Zhou Enlai clearly pointed out: "If we don't combine the knowledge in books with practice, this knowledge will be dead and useless." He believes that learning ancient things is meaningless and can't serve the reality. Exploring traditional culture "is all for today's creation." 33 is to modernize traditional culture and serve socialism. The ballet Knife Meeting is a historical theme of China, which is expressed in the form of ballet. This is creation. "Bow Dance" does not have the ballet movement of "women stepping on men", which is also in line with the national conditions. He particularly emphasized that when exploring traditional culture, we can integrate foreign good things, but mainly explore our own things. He said: "I advocate knowing something about our nation first. In the process of excavation, we should pay attention to the integration of ancient and modern things into the background of creation. "You can't ignore history and national conditions, otherwise it is not creation, but shoddy. This is an important creative principle.
Third, Zhou Enlai has high hopes for exploring traditional culture. He said: "We should further create the splendid culture of our nation in the form of our nation according to the characteristics of our national culture." He repeatedly stressed that the Chinese nation is a great nation with a history of 5,000 years. Our ancestors created a splendid culture, and we should explore and inherit it. "Let it be carried forward, especially in a communist society." He confidently predicted that "the cultural wealth of the Chinese nation will occupy a very important position in the future communist family." He said earnestly, "China people account for almost a quarter of the world's population. If such a big country can't contribute to the world culturally, … then we are sorry for the people of the world and our ancestors. Therefore, we must create and develop. " 38
Zhou Enlai's theory on the modernization of China's traditional culture is very rich and profound. Studying and grasping his theory and creative practice seriously is of great theoretical and practical significance for inheriting and carrying forward the splendid culture of the motherland, carrying forward the great spirit of the Chinese nation and building socialist spiritual civilization.