Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new ideas, new views and new assertions in the construction of culture in the new era, which constitute the cultural chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and form Xi Jinping Cultural Thought. Xi Jinping Cultural Thought clarifies the importance of culture to a country and a nation, and points out that cultural self-confidence is a more basic, broader and deeper self-confidence, and the most basic, deepest and most lasting force in the development of a country and a nation. Without a high degree of cultural self-confidence and cultural prosperity, there will be no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Based on a deep understanding of the importance of culture, Xi Jinping Cultural Thought has systematically expounded the tasks and routes of cultural construction in the new era at different levels such as cultural theory and cultural work. Among them, promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is an important part of Xi Jinping's cultural thought.
Xi Jinping Cultural Thought spoke highly of the value and significance of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, pointing out that the excellent traditional Chinese culture is the crystallization and essence of the wisdom of the Chinese civilization, the root and soul of the Chinese nation, the foundation for us to gain a firm foothold in the turmoil of world culture, and the foundation for the inheritance and development of our country and nation. Therefore, promoting the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics and building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation are inseparable from the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Xi Jinping's cultural thought has made a clear definition of the meaning of "two creations". Creative transformation is to transform the connotations and outdated expressions that still have reference value in accordance with the characteristics and requirements of the times, to give them new connotations of the times and modern forms of expression, and to activate their vitality; innovative development is to supplement, expand, and improve the connotations of the excellent traditional Chinese culture in accordance with the new progress and progress of the times, and to enhance its influence and appeal. Obviously, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is not to blindly stick to the old ways and copy traditions, but to treat traditional culture with distinction and inherit it with respect and abandonment. This also means that the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture contains an indispensable logical premise, that is, the understanding and grasp of traditional culture. The inheritance and development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture requires us to clearly explain the historical origin, development context and basic trend of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and requires us to clearly explain its unique creation, value concept and distinctive characteristics. Only by having a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the history of Chinese civilization can we more effectively promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture.
Why is the understanding of the history of Chinese civilization of fundamental significance in the inheritance and development of culture? The answer to this question needs to be deeply explored in light of the continuity and innovation of Chinese civilization. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that there are many important elements of China's excellent traditional culture, which together shape the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization. The Chinese civilization is characterized by outstanding continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness and peace. The continuity is manifested in the continuous development of Chinese civilization from ancient times to the present, while innovation means that the continuity of civilization is not stagnant, let alone rigid, but a process of historical progress supported by innovation. The continuity and innovation of Chinese civilization provide important enlightenment for us to understand the significance of historical tradition to the construction of modern civilization.
Continuity of civilization with innovation and historical awareness
The outstanding continuity and innovation of Chinese civilization are deeply rooted in China's long historical traditions. Those philosophers who had deep thinking about the development of civilization also noticed the continuity and innovation of Chinese civilization and regarded it as the key to connecting the past and the present and even the future.
Confucius, who lived in the late Spring and Autumn Period, was one of the most important thinkers in ancient China, and he expounded his views on related issues in a Q&A with his disciples. Disciple Zhang asked Confucius, can he know the situation after the 10th century? Obviously, this is a question based on the present and facing the future, and it is a reflection on the trend of the development of civilization. Confucius gave an affirmative answer to this. Moreover, not only can we know it in the tenth generation, but also in the next hundred generations. The reason why Confucius was able to grasp the current and future development trends was precisely based on his understanding of historical traditions. Confucius guided Zizhang to review the evolution of the rites of the three generations. Yin Li is to Xia, Zhou Li is Yin, there is not only a side of cause, but also a side of profit and loss. Cause is the meaning of following and inheriting, which reflects the continuity of civilization. Loss and gain refer to the removal of outdated parts and the addition of new content that meets the needs of the times, which is the embodiment of the innovative nature of civilization. Confucius's grasp of the present and even the future is based on the continuity and innovation that has emerged in the process of historical development.
Sima Qian, a famous historian in ancient China, wrote 130 articles of "Historical Records", which recorded the long history from the era of the Five Emperors to the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In the creation of his own "Historical Records", Sima Qian specifically pointed out that the fundamental intention of such a combing of the history of civilization he did was to pass through the changes of the past and the present. The changes between the past and the present mean that Sima Qian is well aware that the thousands of years of civilization and tradition he is facing are constantly innovating. At the same time, the innovation of civilization always contains a thread that can be penetrated, that is, the continuity of civilization. Sima Qian's emphasis on the connection between the past and the present is to grasp the present and future of civilization based on the insight into history and its continuity and innovation.
The continuity and innovation of civilization are not two characteristics presented in isolation. In the process of civilization evolution, continuity and innovation often go hand in hand and occur simultaneously. The continuity and innovation of civilization together shape the trend and trajectory of civilization development. The innovation of civilization is based on the continuous inheritance of civilization, and the continuity of civilization is contained in the complex innovation of civilization. Therefore, in order to grasp the present and future of civilization, it is necessary to have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the continuity and innovation that has emerged in the history of civilization. This is also the basic logic of Confucius's "ten generations can be known" and Sima Qian's "changes through the past and the present".
The continuity and innovation of civilization reveal the internal structure of civilization
Exploring further into the continuity and innovation of civilization, we will find that the continuity and innovation of civilization reveal the internal structure of civilization.
In the process of compiling the "Historical Records", Sima Qian conducted a comprehensive combing and research of historical facts. However, Sima Qian is very clear that "collecting the world's lost news and examining its actions" is only a basic work, and more importantly, through the content of these actions, we can understand the rules and principles that determine the success or failure of the world. External behavior is always in flux, but the "principle of success or failure" is continuous. The grasp of rules and principles is the key to connecting the changes of the past and the present. Sima Qian's elaboration of his own work actually reveals for us the structure of the factual and moral aspects contained in the continuation and transformation of civilization.
Of course, this is only a very rough distinction. Every aspect of Chinese civilization has rich connotations. The exploration of the content of different levels of civilization can have many perspectives or clues to observe and sort out. Here we still borrow the topic discussed by Confucius and Zizhang in the previous quotation as an example. In the dialogue between Confucius and Zizhang, although Confucius emphasized the follow-up and profit and loss of the gift of the three generations, he did not clearly say what was followed and what profit and loss were made between the three generations. However, in the tradition of Confucian classical interpretation, it is generally believed that the three generations follow the "three outlines and five constants", and the profit and loss changes are the "three unifications of literature and quality". The so-called "three unifications of cultural quality" refers to the pursuit and characteristics of the three generations of Zhengshuo calendar and ritual design in terms of external form, or gorgeous or simple. These are only the external factual aspects of civilization, which are constantly changing. The so-called "Three Principles and Five Constants" include the ethical relationships between husband and wife, father and son, monarch and minister, as well as the moral requirements of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trustworthiness regulated by the etiquette system. These cover the most basic ethical rules of ancient societies. In the view of the ancients, no matter how the external form of human life changes, this underlying ethical rule has always maintained a stable continuity. In the midst of changing forms, insight into the immutable ethical rules can accurately grasp the current and future trends of civilization.
In ancient society, Confucianism understood the continuity of civilization with the "three outlines and five constants" and the innovation of civilization with the "three unifications of culture and quality", which undoubtedly had its historical limitations. With the end of ancient society, from the perspective of modern civilization, we can easily see that the changes between ancient and modern times are far more than the changes in the "three unifications of culture and quality", and the "three outlines and five constants", which are considered to be constant, also contain some contents that are not suitable for modern civilization.
The understanding of the continuity and innovation of civilization has been deepened and expanded
The development of the times and the opportunities and challenges we are facing require us to study the Chinese civilization and its continuity and innovation in a more in-depth and comprehensive way in the construction of modern civilization. Although the Chinese civilization has accumulated rich and colorful elements in the external forms such as utensils and behaviors, it is more important to support and guide the fundamental principles of the continuous development of civilization. The more profound changes we are, the more we need to explore and understand these deep rules accumulated by civilization through complex changes. But this is not something that will be easy to achieve, and the task faces significant difficulties. The deep-seated rules and external forms of civilization are hidden and revealed, abstract and concrete. Fundamentally speaking, the external form of civilization is the manifestation of deep rules, but in the stage of rapid development of civilization, there are often different degrees of separation and dislocation between the two. There are some traditional external forms that we are still following but have lost their original spiritual connotations, while some traditional external forms have disappeared or changed, but their spiritual connotations are still having some influence in new forms. This is undoubtedly a difficulty in understanding the history of Chinese civilization and its current situation, which we need to overcome and deal with under the guidance of theory.
As the only great civilization in the world that has continued to develop in the form of a state, the Chinese civilization must have accumulated a deep understanding of people and the living world. Xi Jinping Cultural Thought has revealed this for us, pointing out that in the long-term evolution of Chinese civilization, it has formed a unique value system, cultural connotation and spiritual quality of Chinese people looking at the world, society and life. The report to the 20 th CPC National Congress summed up the cosmology, the world, society, and morality accumulated by the Chinese people over a long period of production and life into ten basic concepts: the world is for the public, the people are the foundation of the state, the government is based on virtue, reform is old and new, meritocracy, unity between nature and man, unremitting self-improvement, virtue, trustworthiness, harmony, and good-neighborliness. At the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, General Secretary Xi Jinping also made a more detailed elaboration on the crystallization of the wisdom of Chinese civilization: the social ideal of the world for the public and the world for the harmony, the governance idea of the people for the state and the government with morality, the great unification tradition of coherence and pluralism in Kyushu, the feelings of the family and the country that are responsible for the prosperity and prosperity of the country, the spiritual pursuit of virtue and virtue, the economic ethics of enriching the people and benefiting the people, taking into account justice and benefit, the ecological concept of the unity of nature and man, and the ecological concept of the harmony of all things, the philosophical idea of seeking truth from facts and the unity of knowledge and action. The way of thinking of keeping the middle and achieving harmony, and the way of communication that stresses trust, cultivation, kindness, and good-neighborliness, have jointly shaped the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization. These ideological contents are the deep-seated rules that determine the operation of civilization, and have always had an internal impact on the development of Chinese civilization.
Of course, the understanding of the history and current situation of civilization is only the basis for inheriting and developing excellent traditional culture. Based on a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of traditional culture, we can more effectively promote the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional culture. In the face of the deep rules contained in the excellent traditional culture that can encompass the core values of socialism, how to create an influential and appealing external form for it also depends on superb wisdom. The creation of external forms is a process of giving meaning to the material world based on internal rules. This work requires both a thorough understanding of the rules of civilization and a full grasp of the vastly rich and rapidly changing elements of material culture, which are appropriately used and organized. Only through this process can the most basic cultural genes of the Chinese nation adapt to contemporary China, harmonize with modern society, and integrate with real culture, and can they radiate lasting vitality in new forms and forms in the new era. This is also an inevitable requirement for the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
(Author: Gu Chaoyi, Researcher, Center for Etiquette Studies, Peking University)
(Source: China Social Science News)