A window into the essence of traditional culture - After reading Wang Mengxin's book "Chinese Culture: Characteristics and Vitality"

Author: Bu Jian (Researcher, QingShi Revision and Research Center, Ministry of Culture and Tourism)

The first time I read Mr. Wang Meng's interpretation of ancient classics and then the recognition of Chinese culture was 30 years ago. At that time, he was fascinated by "Dream of the Red Chamber", opened a research column in "Reading", and launched "Revelation of the Red Chamber" in Sanlian. At the request of Nie Zhenning, he also made a commentary book for Lijiang Publishing House, which made the red academic circles sigh. I still remember Mr. Feng Qiyong's admiration and admiration, and instructed me to go to the door as an editor in the "Dream of the Red Chamber Journal". From this, I walked into the small courtyard of the north street facing the inner north and first met the academic feelings of the writer Wang Meng.

Chinese Culture: Characteristics and Vitality

Wang Mengmeng People's Publishing House

Slightly like the state when he created the novel, Wang Meng is also physically and mentally unified in his studies, with a careful reading of the Yuan classics, to absorb authoritative and the latest research results, but also to obtain true knowledge and correct understanding. Obsession, it seems inappropriate to describe a philosopher and a wise man, but he will really be intoxicated, will search for a certain word or allusion, and will be proud of getting a new solution. Later, Wang Meng studied Li Shangyin's poems, studied "On", "Meng", "Lao", "Zhuang", and studied "Xunzi" and "Liezi", all of which had a period of obsession and a share of experience. In the past 30 years, his interest in ancient classics has never diminished, from point to point, from point to surface, entering one topic after another with a strong attitude, writing his own understanding with a pleasant mood, and achieving remarkable achievements. It is on the basis of long-term accumulation and after a large number of in-depth case studies that Mr. Wang Meng began to make overall thinking and comments on Chinese culture. The People's Publishing House's newly published "Chinese Culture: Characteristics and Vitality", focusing on Wang Meng's special speeches in 2020, can also be regarded as his latest achievements.

On the road of carrying forward the excellent traditional culture and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Wang Meng is a solid and prudent practitioner. His new book chooses to focus on the problem and construct a unique theoretical framework.

In the first article, "Several Problems of Traditional Chinese Culture", the author points out "pan-moral theory", "pan-philosophical theory" and "pan-relativity", and the so-called pan is intended to be extensive and attached importance to, not to be general. He said: "Pan-moral theory is to attach importance to morality, to believe that morality is fundamental, especially to moralize politics, to moralize people, and to moralize learning. This is indeed a characteristic of Chinese culture. The book cites examples of dynastic succession, arguing that "it was in this chaos and change that Confucius of Confucianism sought to propose a reasonable moral code that would allow a rule and constraint between father and son, husband and wife, and monarchs." Wang Meng also quoted Mencius's theory of sexual goodness, explaining the humanistic connotations and limitations of "etiquette", "ethics" and "love and righteousness", all of which are wonderful. Taking the etymological structure of Chinese characters as an example, the author proposes a pan-philosophical theory of Chinese culture, "Since ancient times, China has paid attention to the relationship and commonality of all things, and paid attention to the structure and logic of glyphs." As for the theory of pan-relativity, it quotes the "foolishness" of the Analects, the "Inner Saint and Outer King" of Zhuangzi, and the passage of Qin Keqing in "Dream of the Red Chamber" that "the prosperity will decline, the water will overflow, the moon will be lost, and the ascent will fall heavily", turning hardships into agility. All of these are the problems and problems that we often encounter when reading the classics, and most of them are incomprehensible or misunderstood by the world, and once they are interpreted, they will make people suddenly enlightened.

The second part, "The Unique Political-Cultural Concept of Traditional Chinese Culture", is discussed from eight aspects, such as the world is just, the country is governed by virtue, and the way of moderation, and is based on the essence of the value of the times.  The essence of the essence means that Wang Meng is not superstitious about the ancients, which is completely different from the blind worship of some "Guoshi scholars". For example, he talks about the practical significance of ruling the country with virtue first, and then says: "If we think that we can use the Three Character Sutra and the Disciple Rules today to govern the country and the world, it is a dream." That's not the 'Chinese Dream', it's a silly dream, a feudal dream, an old dream. And after a series of statements, at the end of the whole text, he once again emphasizes: "We have such an idealized, cultured, and deeply rooted set of governing concepts, and we cannot easily break these concepts." But we want to supplement it, to give supplements to the law, the rule of law, to judicial supervision, to the rules, to competition. This is a Wang-Meng-style expression, witty and interesting between the lines.

Wang Meng also tried to look at traditional culture from different angles, and in his speech entitled "Chinese Culture: Characteristics and Vitality", he extracted "enthusiasm, this shore and the applicability of the world", jokingly referring to it as the "minimalist version". The author's research also has a distinct shore character. In this minimalist version, he not only analyzed the characteristics of Chinese culture such as advocating learning, self-improvement, and basing on reality, but also elaborated on the "three shang" and "three ways" that he once talked about. At the end, Mr. Wang Meng turned his head and linked to the ongoing anti-epidemic struggle, saying: "Chinese experience in living a hard life is indeed very rich, but we have not lost hope for a better life in the face of hard days, so our struggle is indeed famous in the world. "It was really plain and inspiring to read.

I like to record the "dialogues" and interviews in this book, and I like to read the past and current events mentioned by Mr. Wang Meng, as well as the true disposition that is everywhere. The writer He Xiangyang said that "your personal youth and the youth of the republic are in the same frequency resonance", deeply touching Wang Meng, he said: "If our generation is lucky, it is that our lives, our age and the history of this country have resonated." Only by understanding Wang Meng's early ups and downs can we understand the pure love that these words are full of. A few years ago, Mr. Wang Meng published "Cultural Self-Confidence in the Restoration of the Old State", which is majestic and can be called a majestic text. In this interview, he also said that "true cultural self-confidence rejects empty words, exaggerations, clever words, and formalism; true cultural self-confidence has the ability and determination to resist vulgarization, shallowness, cajoling, one-sidedness, and narrowness." This is also from the dialectical thinking of Chinese culture, out of the way of a gentleman.

"Two songs of the tree, one in the throat, one in the nose", is about a musical wizard of the Tang Dynasty singers, and qi Tiansheng's "Stone Order" at the end of the Qing Dynasty also praised the magic of Cao Xueqin's writing. Wang Meng is also such a genius, a writer and a scholar in one, "left to the left, gentleman is appropriate; right to right, gentleman has", and old and strong, dry all day, reading and thinking and writing. Hats off to Wang Meng! Looking back for his warmth, for his persistence and transparency, but also for his true and unstained feelings of home and country...

Guangming Daily (2021-08-26, 15th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily