The topic I'm going to talk about today is a very common topic-what is China's culture? What is special is that I put the words "China's" in quotation marks, because I mainly discuss what can be regarded as the culture of China.
Why are we discussing this issue?
As we all know, there have been many discussions about China culture since the late Qing Dynasty, from "seeing the world with eyes open" by Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan to "cultural craze" in the May 4th New Culture Movement and 1980s. Why are we discussing this issue today? This is because I have the following special considerations. The first is "telling the truth".
First of all, our past discussions about China culture, or the definition of China culture, are often exaggerated and specious. We have some highly generalized adjectives, but to be honest, you don't know what he is saying after listening, which is not in line with the habit of a historian. Today, I will tell you specifically what is the "China" culture.
Second, I also have my concerns. In recent years, many people are keen to talk about China culture, such as "China culture going out" and "the significance of China culture in the world". However, when many people talk about "China culture", they will first "narrow down the scope". As we all know, China is now a multi-ethnic country. However, some people have reduced China culture to Han culture, then to Han Confucian culture, and then to Confucian culture which he thinks is orthodox and classic, which makes us misunderstand what China culture is.
Thirdly, I am worried that when we talk about "China culture", some people will have an inexplicable sense of cultural superiority. Therefore, under the background of the so-called "rise of China", many people will have an illusion that our China culture is superior to other cultures. In fact, culture is a phenomenon and a feature. There is no high or low culture, and there is no high or low nation. Therefore, we need to know China culture rationally, historically and consciously now, so as to have an attitude of mutual exchange, mutual understanding and equal treatment for all ethnic groups and cultures.
Five typical characteristics of China culture
What I want to make clear today is what is a typical China culture. In other words, that is, the characteristics of China culture, what is obvious in China, not obvious in foreign countries, and what is not in foreign countries in China, so we can call it "China culture". However, I want to make a definition here. The following is mainly about China, the culture of the Han nationality.
It is very important to read, write and think through Chinese characters. You know, except for a few Dongba characters of Naxi nationality in China, all hieroglyphs have basically disappeared in life, and only Chinese characters are still in direct contact with their original hieroglyphs and primitive. Some Chinese characters are pictographic, such as sun, moon, wood, fire, water, hand and knife. This was called "Wen" in ancient China. In Zhang Taiyan's view, this is the most basic Chinese character unit "writing". This is a direct description of what the ancients saw through images. However, if these words are not enough, we should add understanding, that is, add some symbols to some hieroglyphs to mark the meaning. For example, adding a little to the blade is the "blade"; The claws on the tree are "picking"; Cattle are kept in a pen, which is still not enough for "prison" to know, just adding sounds and becoming pictophonetic characters, such as rivers, pines and cypresses. The basic Chinese characters are mainly these three categories. Of course, there are six kinds of six books, but these three categories are the main ones. As you can see, these three categories are based on shape. Therefore, speaking, thinking, reading and writing in Chinese characters will bring many characteristics, and there may be some characteristics that emphasize feelings and associations, but the grammar is relatively simple.
I often give an example. China people have a natural feeling and association with "writing" and "character". The word "person" in ancient times was a person at first glance. If this person's mouth is facing the sky, it is a "brother". Brothers are not brothers, but a celebration of "wishes". A person's mouth is facing the sky, indicating "wish" and "curse" What is a person's mouth facing forward? It's "owe" for yawning. But what if this mouth falls backwards? Since it is "since", it means that you will not eat after eating, so it is "since", that is, it is over. Chinese characters are very interesting, which forms many characteristics of China culture. In a word, the use of Chinese characters has brought the development of calligraphy and the poetic temperament of monosyllabic Chinese characters, such as antithesis and leveling. In ancient China, this pictographic-based writing method of Chinese characters has never been interrupted in history. It has greatly influenced our thinking, reading and writing, and even affected East Asia, forming the so-called "Chinese character cultural circle".
The second feature is "the family, clan, country and Confucianism produced in this social structure", which is very influential. When I am in class, especially foreign students, I have to ask a question, that is, what should Jia Baoyu call Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and Shi Xiangyun? Foreigners are always confused. They said sister, I said, it's not that simple. Cousin in Chinese, but it's still not that simple. Strictly speaking, Lin Daiyu is Jia Baoyu's cousin in menstruation, Xue Baochai is Jia Baoyu's cousin in menstruation, and Shi Xiangyun is his cousin after two generations. Why is the title of China so complicated? This is because China's family, clan and clan are integrated. In order to have order, it is necessary to clearly define the relationship between distance and distance, which involves China's ethical principles and hierarchical order. To put it simply, there are actually two principles here. One is "different inside and outside". Parents and husband and wife are divided into inside and outside, that is to say, female relatives and male relatives are different in rank. For example, uncle, uncle, that is your father's party, with the same surname; But, uncle and aunt, it was a mother's party with different surnames. So, grandparents are outside and grandparents are inside. In ancient China, it was clearly divided. The second principle is "top-down order". Must be clear, equal from top to bottom, clear division of labor, can not be chaotic. These two principles are most obvious in the funeral system. What clothes a person wears at this person's funeral after his death, on the one hand, shows how close you are to the deceased, on the other hand, connects a big family, an expanded family and a bigger family through mourning. And China's family, family, family * * * with the same body, is the country. In the west, neither country nor country means "home", but China has "country" and "home country", because in China's conceptual world, the country is enlarged and the home is reduced. Orderly up and down, there are other ethics inside and outside, and it is also very strict at the national level. Confucianism was born on this basis.
Thirdly, an important feature of Han culture in China is the belief world of "three religions in one". Song Xiaozong, Emperor Yongle and Yong Zhengdi said almost the same thing, that is, "Confucianism governs the world, Buddhism governs the mind, and Taoism governs the body". In other words, Confucianism is in charge of social governance, Buddhism is in charge of spiritual cultivation, and Taoism is in charge of physical cultivation. The three religions seem to be quite harmonious. In fact, historically, this truth is very simple. In China, Buddhism and Taoism are not absolute and sacred, so it is difficult to see the arguments between religions, and there are few wars between religions. This is the characteristic of China.
The fourth feature is China's most interesting Yin-Yang and Five Elements. Forget yin and yang. There are two principles in the five elements. One is alternate, golden water, aquatic wood, wood fire, fire soil, native gold, which is alternate reincarnation; Jin Kemu, Mu, Tu Keshui, Shui, Huo, this is the rotation of Xiang Ke. The second principle is that the five elements can connect everything in series, for example, the five elements can be matched with the five elements, southeast, northwest and middle; Can be matched with five colors, blue, white, red, black and yellow; Can be matched with five tones, and the upper horn of the palace is feathered; It can also be served with five flavors, sweet and sour, spicy and salty, and so on. Connecting everything into a big network is the knowledge base for our ancestors to know everything in the universe. Now that we have studied science, we have doubts about it, but in ancient times, it was the most critical basis for us to know the world, and on this basis, we produced a whole set of knowledge and technology.
Fifth, China's world outlook. In our modern words, China's ancient world outlook is very different from that of other countries and nations. In ancient China, there was a place where the universe was imagined as a circle, that is, the sky was as round as a cover and the earth as round as chess. That is, the sky is round, like a hat and like a chessboard. Where is the center of the sky? The ancients imagined that in the North Pole. The ancients watched celestial phenomena at night. In the illusion, the sky is turning, but the earth is not. Therefore, "Heaven turns left". When you face north, the sky turns left, and you will feel that there is a place that will never move. This is the North Pole, which is what we are talking about now. Where did the ancients think the center of the earth was? Luoyang is the center of the earth. This is because when this concept was formed, it was probably the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, when Wang was in Luoyang. Luoyang is the most remarkable, especially, on the day of summer solstice, "there is no shadow under the sun." Therefore, ancient China people took Luoyang as the center. Imagine zooming in and out. This is the shape of the earth, so there is a saying of "nine clothes" or "five clothes". Every 500 Li, 500 Li on each side, is 1000 Li, "five clothes" is 5000 Li, and the earth is so square. However, it is very important to form an idea from here, that is, the more people in the center, the higher the level of civilization, and the more people on the edge, the lower the level of civilization. This is the concept of "Hua Yi" formed by Nan Man, Bei Di, Dong Yi and Rong. China believes that China people are civilized people, and the people around them are barbarians, and barbarians should be educated by civilized people, thus forming a set of "world concept". This imagination and concept gradually developed, which not only became a cultural concept in ethnology and geography, but also formed a political system, namely "tributary system".
If these five aspects are combined together, it constitutes a very obvious culture belonging to China and Han nationality. But it needs to be emphasized again that modern China is a five-way hybrid, and even the Han nationality itself is a five-way hybrid. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, in fact, foreigners came in constantly, and the Han nationality was gradually absorbed, integrated and mixed by other nationalities.
I have been saying that China culture is multicultural, not a single culture. If you don't have this idea, you may become blind cultural arrogance.
Different cultural transformations in the past
Historically, China has always been "changing within the tradition", and the mainstream culture has always been adjusted within the traditional system of Chinese culture. This is because in ancient China, no culture, whether Buddhism, Sanyi religion, or Islam and Catholicism in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, could challenge and change this Han and China culture. Therefore, changes are adjustments, adaptations, reforms and changes within the tradition. However, in the late Qing Dynasty, China had to "change out of tradition" and transcend tradition, and its culture was facing a crisis.
From 1895 to 19 19, this is the most important period of China's ideological and cultural transformation. During this period, you will see many changes, for example, the emperor became a great president, the Manchu empire became a five-nation republic, and the traditional empire had to become a modern country; Abolish the imperial examination and set up schools; Open parliament and establish political parties; Cut off the braid and put on a dress; Stop bowing and shake hands; Women's liberation and gender equality; Get rid of superstition and advocate science; Untie the bondage and get out of the family. The so-called "three cardinal guides and five permanent members" in the past have changed, and they have become very thorough and powerful. Facing the western and eastern powers, the people of China are in an anxious and nervous state of mind. It is hard to see the self-confidence and stability of the past, and elegance, generosity and calmness are becoming more and more out of date.
Accordingly, the five aspects of China Han culture that we just talked about have also changed.
Although most people in China still use Chinese characters, great changes have taken place in modern Chinese. First, the May 4th New Culture Movement advocated vernacular Chinese. It is undoubtedly very correct to advocate vernacular Chinese, because it is the need to popularize the literacy rate and improve the national cultural level. However, there is also the problem that the old and new cultures are broken. The written language of the former, that is, classical Chinese, represents elegance, courtesy and dignity, as well as education and culture. Now it's gone. When the previous spoken language became written language, elegant characters and common sayings lost their equal ranking, and at the same time, elegance and vulgarity were no longer different. I don't know if you feel this way now. Now that the vernacular has become the mainstream, there is no longer an elegant way to write letters. With the popularity of computers and the Internet, the style of language and culture has disappeared. For example, students write to me without signing, and finally say "Hehe". Elegant and popular. Secondly, modern Chinese is mixed with too many modern or western neologisms. After these words came in, the world we perceived through language changed. Thirdly, especially after 1950s, China advocated simplified characters, which widened the distance between characters and original images. Although simplified characters are easy to learn, they are more and more like abstract symbols without the original "shape". In the traditional culture of China, problems arise from thinking, writing and expressing images.
Second, families, clans, countries and Confucianism also have problems. Although some traditional families and family organizations are still maintained in modern China, especially in rural areas, China people still attach great importance to family, affection and obedience to superiors. However, urbanization, small families and population mobility have changed the structural relationship between family, society and country. In the past, the intimate and interdependent neighborhood, township party and family relations have gradually disappeared in the process of modernization. Therefore, Confucian family ethics and state theory gradually lost their original social foundation.
The third is to believe in the world. Since the late Qing Dynasty, under the impact of western democratic thoughts, Confucianism has gradually been unable to bear the heavy responsibility of political ideology, while Buddhism and Taoism have also been bound by "breaking superstition" under the impact of western scientific thoughts, gradually withdrawing from the real world of spirit, knowledge and belief, and becoming more and more secular, institutionalized and touristic. Therefore, the traditional belief world has also fallen into crisis.
The fourth is the yin-yang and five elements, which are increasingly difficult to maintain under the impact of science. It is not yet possible to fully explain everything in the world. Traditional Chinese medicine, geomantic omen, food supplement and other fields still retain the theory of yin and yang and five elements. In the whole modern knowledge system, it has reached a very marginal place.
Fifth, "from the world to all ethnic groups", the basic concept of the world has changed. After the late Qing Dynasty, the westward movement not only destroyed China's world concept and tribute system, but also redefined the relationship between China and other countries in the world. The world outlook, world outlook, tribute or canonization system in ancient tradition are completely unrealistic.
The above changes show that China culture, especially China culture of Han nationality, has been in an era that needs to be re-recognized, re-understood and re-updated.
What is the difference between "culture" and "civilization"
Today, I have repeatedly stressed that there is no difference between different cultures, only the degree of civilization is different. On the basis of such an understanding, we may be able to alleviate long-term anxiety and tension. Here I would like to quote a German scholar, iria. In his book The Process of Civilization, he proposed that "culture" and "civilization" can be defined and distinguished, that is, "culture" is something that shows the differences between nations, and it always shows the self and characteristics of a nation. Therefore, it has no distinction between high and low. And "civilization" is something that gradually narrows the differences between different ethnic groups and shows the universal behavior and achievements of human beings. In other words, it is "culture" that makes all ethnic groups different, and it is "civilization" that brings all ethnic groups closer and closer.
Then, iria pointed out that "culture" is a kind of personality and spiritual temperament that can be obtained by listening, and "civilization" is often something you need to learn, so it is always associated with words such as "educated", "knowledgeable" and "regular". This is like saying that we often play ball, which is no problem, but I'm sorry, once you go to the basketball court, you can't kick it with your feet, and you can't hold it with your hands when you go to the football field (except the goalkeeper). Many people should have rules when playing together. Although "culture" allows you to express your own characteristics at will, "civilization" gives you some restrictions and rules. If we understand "civilization" and "culture" in this way, we don't have to be afraid of globalization and modern order, and we don't have to worry that our culture will be eroded. The problem is how to protect our unique culture and tradition in the universal civilization and rules.
Then, I must also explain that the "culture" of each nation is often stubborn, and it shows a resistance to heterogeneous "civilization". There is no doubt that civilization is constantly eroding culture, and we admit this, because "civilization" is often advancing, and it always shows the tendency of colonization and expansion. In other words, "culture" is related to tradition, which is special, while "civilization" is related to the future, which is universal. How to coordinate the two?
Today, we will talk about the characteristics of China culture of the Han nationality. Therefore, what we need to consider is how to preserve special cultures under a universal civilization rule and understand the historical rationality of these cultures in the modern civilization era. For example, while accepting and praising science, can we have some sympathy and historical understanding of Yin-Yang and Five Elements? For another example, when we accept universal laws and systems, can we have a little historical understanding of the traditional ethical standards of China's family, clan and country? For another example, when we accept a new civilization, can we also have some warmth for traditional religions? Similarly, can we not only accept the principle of equality among countries, but also have a little understanding of China people's historical habits of understanding the world? Personally, I study history. I have always believed that both culture and civilization should be viewed from a historical perspective. We admit that history is immutable. We should look back at the culture and the future civilization, and have sympathy for both.