Originally published in China Youth Magazine, Issue 8, 2024
The creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture - Liu Weibing
The National Conference on Propaganda, Ideological and Cultural Work held in October 2023 put forward Xi Jinping Cultural Thought for the first time. This is not only a theoretical summary of the practical experience of the construction of the party's leadership culture in the new era, but also constitutes the cultural chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Xi Jinping's cultural thought contains the content of "seven efforts", one of which is to "focus on continuing the Chinese cultural context and promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture". The creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture is the continuation of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and the modern writing of traditional China. It is in this sense that promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is the "civilization reconstruction" of Chinese modernization at the theoretical level of the Chinese nation, the "renewal of ritual music" at the concrete and practical level of the new era, and the "new life of the old state" to construct the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. "Civilization Reconstruction": The cultural transformation and development at the level of abstract theoryThe creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture include the modernization and modernization of cultural thinking, cultural concepts, values, and cultural philosophy. Since modern times, the excellent traditional Chinese culture has been facing the historical mission of modernization, looking for a cultural path from tradition to modernity. This process is a re-criticism, re-interpretation, and re-construction of the cultural thinking, cultural concepts, values, and cultural philosophy of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the way to achieve this transformation and development is precisely the "second combination", that is, the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Marxism was born out of reflection on the modern capitalist society, and in the process of exploring the development goal of seeking emancipation for mankind, it deeply revealed and grasped the law of human social development, included the scientific discovery of historical materialism and the law of surplus value, and was a modern ideological system that included value and science. The combination of the basic tenets of Marxism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture is to re-criticize, reinterpret and reconstruct the excellent traditional Chinese culture with advanced ideas of modernity, so as to form new values, new thinking, new culture, and new ideas that not only meet the needs of the development of modern society, but also provide the wisdom and solutions of the Chinese nation for modern human civilization. This process is manifested in the re-criticism, re-interpretation and re-construction of traditional Chinese thinking by Marxist modernity thinking, and the formation of modern thinking containing Chinese wisdom in the process of integration. Under the critical construction of Marxist thought, the traditional Chinese cultural thinking emphasizes ethics over science, experience over logic, and sensibility over reason, and has produced a modern thinking that attaches importance to science and ethics, logic and experience, and rationality and sensibility, and has a profound and comprehensive dialectical logic. This process is also manifested in the re-criticism, re-interpretation and re-construction of the excellent traditional values of Marxism by the values of modernity, the formation of socialist core values containing China's unique ethics in the process of combination, and the provision of modern value solutions with the common values of all mankind. General Secretary Xi Jinping once pointed out that "Chinese civilization has the spiritual characteristics and development form of stressing benevolence, valuing the people, abiding by integrity, advocating justice, upholding harmony and seeking great harmony", "the world is for the public, the people are the state, the government is based on morality, reform and innovation, meritocracy, the unity of nature and man, self-improvement, virtue, trustworthiness, harmony, kindness and good-neighborliness, etc., are an important embodiment of the cosmology, worldview, social outlook and moral outlook accumulated by the Chinese people in the long-term production and life, and are highly compatible with the values of scientific socialism." On the basis of criticizing the values of capitalist modernity, Marxism has generated modern values such as equality, freedom, and democracy with the nature of the people and science, and in the process of "ethical reconstruction" of traditional Chinese values, it has fully absorbed the modernity factors in traditional Chinese values, generated the socialist core values that are the greatest common divisor of contemporary Chinese values, and condensed and grasped the values of modernity that reflect the common values of mankind, that is, the common values of all mankind. This process is also manifested in the re-criticism, re-interpretation, and re-construction of traditional Chinese philosophy by the Marxist philosophy of modernity, forming a philosophy of modernity with Chinese characteristics. Traditional Chinese philosophy mainly includes five parts: cosmology (Tiandao), life (humanitarianism), knowledge (methodology), self-cultivation, and politics. Among them, cosmology, life, and knowledge are the backbone of Chinese philosophy, which is equivalent to general philosophy. Zhang Dainian pointed out in the Outline of Chinese Philosophy: "Cosmology can be divided into two parts: first, the theory of the root or Taoism, that is, the theory of the ultimate universe. Second, the theory of Dahua, that is, the exploration of the main content of the course of the universe. The theory of life can be divided into four parts: First, the theory of the relationship between heaven and man, that is, the study of the relationship between man and the root and the position of man in the universe. Second, the theory of human nature, that is, the study of human nature. 3. The theory of the ideal of life or the theory of the highest criterion of life, that is, the theory of the basic principles of the ideal life. Fourth, the theory of life problems, that is, the discussion of various issues of life, such as righteousness and profit, merger and independence, loss and gain, movement and stillness, and so on. Epistemology consists of two parts: first, epistemology, that is, theories about the nature, possibility, and criteria of knowledge. 2. Methodology, that is, theories about the way of seeking the truth, sayings and arguments. These three parts determine the six characteristics of Chinese philosophy: first, the unity of knowledge and action, Chinese philosophy is essentially the unity of knowledge and action; Second, one day man, that is, the unity of heaven and man; Third, with the truth and goodness, the truth is the supreme good, and the truth is the goodness; Fourth, emphasis on life rather than knowledge, ideological theory is based on life practice, focusing on the exploration of the reality of life and the study of life standards; Fifth, emphasizing understanding rather than argumentation, and not paying attention to logical argumentation, but believing that the integration of experience and practice is true proof; Sixth, it is neither dependent on science nor religion. On the basis of abandoning German classical philosophy and reflecting on modern capitalist society, Marxist philosophy pays attention to the scientific laws of the development of human society and the people's subject through the transformation of the logic of alienation, production and capital. As a result, the combination of Marxist philosophy and traditional Chinese philosophy has changed the philosophical foundation of Chinese culture and constructed a new type of cultural philosophy, which is manifested in the replacement of the cosmology of objective idealism with historical materialism, the clarification of the people's historical subjectivity, the generation theory of practical labor, and the grasp of the ethical concept of law, and then the formation of a new type of philosophy that conforms to the development of modern society and points to the emancipation of mankind. As a result, Chinese culture is no longer based on an abstract theory of human nature, nor does it abstractly explore the relationship between man and the ultimate, but is placed in the process of historical and social evolution, which is grasped from both an existential perspective and a generativistic dimension. In short, at the theoretical level, the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture have combined the basic principles of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, constructed new thinking, generated new values, formed new philosophy, and then shaped the new culture, and realized the civilization reconstruction at the level of abstract theory. Therefore, to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture, in addition to promoting the modernization of cultural thinking, values and cultural philosophies, it is also necessary to promote the advancement of cultural forms, cultural works and cultural contents. Starting from the materialist view of history, when discussing ideology and culture, Marx not only discussed social consciousness at the level of abstract theory, but also emphasized the form of consciousness at the concrete level. "Moral, religious, metaphysical, and other ideologies, as well as the forms of consciousness that correspond to them, no longer retain the appearance of independence." General Secretary Xi Jinping has also pointed out the abstract and concrete laws of culture in ideological work: "In order for a value to really play a role, it must be integrated into social life, so that people can perceive and comprehend it in practice." Coincidentally, Jameson once bluntly said: "It is not to find ideological things in people's opinions or fallacies, worldviews or ideological systems, but to find them in the other process." This process refers to the comprehensive and systematic reorganization of daily life at all levels (human body and senses, mental state, time, space, work process and leisure time) of rationalization, commodification, instrumentalization, etc., which are completely quasi-normative procedures. "Žižek makes three divisions of ideology, which involves the concept of ideological materiality." Ideology in its objective form, namely: the materiality of ideology, the ideological state apparatus. Althusser "emphasized that ideology is essentially a material construction of the subject", which is a thorough materialization of ideological theory. Yu Wujin also argues: "It is obviously naïve for mechanical materialists to oppose ideology as something purely spiritual to something material. It is true that ideology is spiritual in content, but it has to be material in form. Therefore, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture should not only stop at the level of abstract theory, but also go deep into the concrete practice level to carry out a new "ritual and music renewal" of Chinese civilization. Historically, with every leap in productivity and the change of dynasties, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture have often been achieved through the concrete practice of "making rituals and making music". From the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty's ritual and music, to the establishment of the feudal system of the Qin Dynasty, and the regulations of each dynasty on people's daily behavior, clothing, food, housing and transportation, all of them profoundly reflect that the transformation and development of China's excellent traditional culture is deeply dependent on people's concrete practice, which is manifested in specific cultural forms, cultural contents, and cultural works. The modernization process that began in modern times began with the reform of traditional Chinese etiquette, which really touched and promoted the transformation and development of China's excellent traditional culture. The values of equality are promoted through the abolition of unequal prostrations, and the values of democracy are practiced through the practice of democratic politics. The modern changes in people's living habits and traditional customs, as well as the influx of new technologies such as movies, telegraphs, and telephones, have profoundly changed the production and lifestyle of modern China, and thus promoted the modern transformation and development of modern Chinese culture at the cultural level. For example, in addition to theoretically criticizing traditional culture, the May Fourth Movement was more important to promote changes in cultural customs, language, and writing, so as to promote the development of new culture. We can also clearly see that the creative transformation and innovative development of contemporary Chinese excellent traditional culture are gradually reflected with the improvement of the political system and the national tide, national manchu fever, cultural and tourism integration, cultural heritage protection, and the emergence of a large number of traditional cultural works. For example, since the new era, the ceremonial system of big parties and big countries has been gradually established and improved, and the national honor and etiquette system, including the meritorious honor and commendation system, has become an important part of the national governance system, transforming and developing the governance practice of "law-etiquette-morality" in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and promoting the idea of "law and security in the world, etiquette and etiquette, and virtue in the hearts of the people" of the excellent traditional Chinese culture; Since the new era, the combination of high-quality domestic products and excellent traditional Chinese culture has led the new trend of consumption of "national tide fever", and the excellent traditional Chinese culture has been transformed into high-quality cultural products and cultural works, which have been disseminated and developed in the process of people's consumption; Since the new era, the integration of culture and tourism has empowered high-quality development, integrated the excellent traditional Chinese culture into the tourism industry, reshaped the new tourism mode, let people feel the excellent traditional Chinese culture in their leisure, and promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese culture in the process of tourism development. In short, since the new era, we have grasped the important grasp of concreteness, grasped the "two creations" from the production mode and lifestyle, and truly grasped the law of "double creation". It can be said that since the new era, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is no longer an abstract concept and slogan, but a vivid practice of production and life, and a daily habit of people, constituting the "renewal of ritual music" in the new era. "The old state has a new life": the goal of cultural transformation and developmentThe goal of promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is to achieve a new cultural mission in the new era, that is, to promote cultural prosperity, build a cultural power, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. The "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party's Centennial Struggle" defines Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as follows: "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is contemporary Chinese Marxism, Marxism in the 21st century, and the essence of Chinese culture and Chinese spirit, realizing a new leap in the sinicization of Marxism. This assertion highlights the important civilization significance of continuing the Chinese cultural context and promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture since the new era. In the process of modernization that began in modern times, at the level of cultural development, it has been facing the "dispute between ancient and modern China and the West", and even due to the gap in productive forces, China, which was still stuck in the agrarian civilization at that time, was facing the cultural development situation of the East being subordinate to the West. This kind of controversy between ancient and modern China and the West, when cultural development was still in the spontaneous stage, manifested itself in the struggle of "total Westernization" and cultural conservatism. In fact, this controversy also exposed the lack of self-confidence, self-improvement, and self-consciousness in the development of culture at that time. Therefore, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture actually cover three layers: cultural consciousness, cultural self-confidence, and cultural self-improvement. Cultural consciousness is the cultural awakening of the Chinese nation and China, clarifying the autonomy of cultural subjects and culture, and grasping the law and direction of cultural development. In this sense, the cultural goal of the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is manifested on the basis of cultural consciousness. It can be said that only with cultural consciousness can culture be created. Cultural self-confidence is to eliminate cultural inferiority in the cultural mentality, dispel the pathological psychology of admiring the foreign and flattering, cut off the erroneous cognition of ancient China, modern and Western, objectively and comprehensively grasp the national, unique and modern factors of China's excellent traditional culture, and highly identify with the vitality, value and creativity of culture itself. Cultural self-confidence shows the recognition of cultural identity and the self-identification of cultural people. It is precisely because of cultural self-confidence that we can have a fair grasp of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and truly eliminate the chaff and retain the essence. This is not only a full affirmation of its own cultural value, but also a recognition of cultural development, and the most basic, deepest and most lasting force in the development of a country and a nation. Cultural self-improvement is to confirm the self-confidence of cultural mentality and clarify the autonomy of cultural subjects on the basis of grasping the laws of cultural consciousness and goal guidance, so as to highlight the productivity and advanced nature of Chinese excellent culture, and enhance the creativity, influence and competitiveness of Chinese excellent traditional culture. Therefore, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture is not a purposeless transformation, let alone a development that stands still, but a transformation and development with the goal of cultural prosperity and cultural power. Under the premise of cultural consciousness, cultural self-confidence and cultural self-improvement, the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture have the possibility of constructing a new modern civilization of the Chinese nation. It is precisely because of this that the modern socialist country after modernization still has Chinese characteristics, and the new form of human civilization it constructs is still the modern civilization of the Chinese nation, which is the key to the excellent traditional Chinese culture as the root and soul of the Chinese nation. While learning and inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture, the young people of the new era have endowed the excellent traditional Chinese culture with youthful vitality and innovative genes. Therefore, to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture in the new era, it is necessary to give full play to the strength of the youth group, activate the youthful vitality of China's excellent traditional culture in the process of promoting "civilization reconstruction", endow the youth power of China's excellent traditional culture in the practice of "renewal of etiquette and music", and realize the youth reconstruction of China's excellent traditional culture in the process of "old state and new life".
(The author is a lecturer at the Institute of Marxism, Fudan University)
Producer: Pi Jun Final Review: Chen Min Reviewer: Liu Xiao Liu Bowen Editor: Zhu Yufang