What is modernization? Modernization is caused by industrialization, with economic modernization as the core, involving a series of historical changes in social and political system, economic form, lifestyle, ideas and so on, which made the whole society get rid of the feudal form in the Middle Ages and become capitalism.

Countries all over the world have different characteristics on the road to modernization. According to Liang Qichao's exposition in the Theory of Transitional Times (190 1), there are four main types:

One is "drift with the flow", that is, experience type, represented by Britain;

The second is "turbulent", that is, passionate, represented by France;

Third, the "ark joint crossing type", that is, the conservative type, represented by Germany, Italy and Switzerland;

The fourth is "crossing the river arm in arm", which is a pioneering type, represented by the United States.

The above-mentioned countries also belong to the primary endogenous type, while Russia, Japan and China belong to the late exogenous type, that is, these countries embarked on the road of modernization and were influenced by external factors to some extent.

190 1 year, Liang Qichao wrote "On the Transitional Era", and he pointed out: "Today's China is also China in the transitional period." Borrowing the expression of "transitional period", the long period from the germination of capitalism in the middle of Ming Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty and even before the founding of the People's Republic of China is also a "transitional period" for China: a transitional period from absolute monarchy with imperial power as the main body to democracy, equality and freedom as the main body, a period in which imperial power entrenched in the eyes of the world gradually collapses and human self-awareness awakens. There are two kinds of China people in the "transitional period": "One is the old man who sticks to the old base area and is the enemy of the transition ... and the other is the young man who is a pioneer in transformation with great fanfare." The expression of "the flow of old people" and "the flow of young people" in the period of social transformation can always lead to countless thoughts and associations. It is their differences and new changes, intersection and collision that make social life colorful; On the other hand, the social scene in the "transitional era" often promotes the diversified development of culture. From the perspective of cultural inheritance, the transitional period not only retains the national elements of culture, but also increases the factors of the times of culture, so that culture has both inheritance and development.