[Beijing Morning News Ethiopia Seeking Agreement] When Confucianism suffers from modernization

When Confucianism encounters modernization

Guest: Li He (researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Reporter: Zhou Huaizong

Source: Beijing Morning News

Time: October 2013 27th



A few days ago, the second volume of the “Confucian Scholars Series” was published in Beijing. This series consists of seven volumes of contemporary Confucian scholars’ essays, including “The Practical History of Confucian Civilization” and “On the Revival of Chinese Civilization”Ethiopia Sugar is composed of a collection, covering administration, law, society and many other topics that are of concern to contemporary ConfucianismEthiopia Sugar Daddyquestions.

After the publication of the first volume of “Confucian Scholars”, it has attracted widespread attention from scholars and netizens. Blessed mother. In recent years, with the increasing upsurge of traditional civilization, the revival of Confucianism has also become a phenomenon that has attracted widespread attention in contemporary society. Over the past two thousand years, Confucianism has always been one of the most important sectors of Chinese civilization. In the past hundred years, due to the strong participation of modernity, the inheritance of traditional civilization has been broken, and Confucianism has also suffered several impacts. So in a modern society, can Confucianism really be revived? Moreover, as the most important cultural thought in the traditional era, what kind of help will it have to modern society? Ethiopia Sugar Daddy

This is also a question that many civilization scholars are thinking about Ethiopia Sugar. For more than ten years, with the revival of traditional civilization, Confucian scholars have also been exploring how to modernize Confucianism..

Li He, a well-known cultural scholar and researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes: “As a school of thought, Confucianism has undergone many transformations in its two thousand years of history. It is also changing today. As the basic ideology in China’s traditional social and political structure, Confucianism generally maintained an organizational position in the entire traditional society before the Qing DynastyET Escorts. In modern times, after China entered the modernization stage, traditional civilization suffered a break, and Confucianism and culture suffered the same fate. It was not until the 1980s that a new group of people emerged. https://ethiopia-sugar.com/”>Ethiopia Sugar Daddydiscovered and discovered Confucianism, and there are many people with lofty ideals who hope to revive Confucianism. ”

Confucianism changes with the times

Beijing Morning News: Nowadays, Confucian culture is valued by more and more people, and many scholars are working hard to revive Confucianism. Why do we use the word revival?

Li He: When looking at Confucianism today, we can actually look at it from two different angles. Historically, Confucianism, as a school of thought, includes not only original Confucianism such as Confucius and Mencius, but also Han Confucianism, Song and Ming Confucianism, and of course the so-called New Confucianism. Sometimes we call Song and Ming Confucianism New Confucianism, but it is a different concept from modern New Confucianism. If we look at the Confucian school over the past two thousand years, it has been changing with the changes of the times. Confucius talked about benevolence and righteousness, about self-cultivation and governing the country, and advocated politics and life based on ethics. Mencius talked a little more, such as the study of mind and nature, the ideal of a man, etc. By the time of Han Confucianism, except for those who inherited Confucianism in the early Han Dynasty In addition to Confucian students, in response to the design of the political system of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has increasingly become Confucianism with a strong political theory. Representatives such as Dong Zhongshu talked about the internal sage and the external king. The Confucians of the Song and Ming dynasties had their differences again. Under the influence of Buddhist thought, they added more systematic metaphysical arguments to Confucian thought. Of course, the most important thing for Song Confucians was to continue and carry forward the Confucian ideals that declined due to the wars in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. This is what Zhang Zai said “Establish a heart for the world, establish a destiny for the people, inherit the unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations.” On the other hand, in addition to Ethiopia Sugar Daddy as a school of thought that has been inherited for more than two thousand years, Confucianism has always been It is an important construction principle of China’s political structure and an organizing ideology. The political ethics, regulations and systems of the entire society are structured on Confucianism.above.

Beijing Morning News: How did this tradition break?

Li He: After modern times, especially in the 19th century, with the strong intervention of Eastern modernity, Confucianism and culture have naturally been severely impacted many times. I think there are two things that are right and wrong. Chang Ethiopia Escort is important: The first time was the “overthrow of the Confucian shop” after the “May Fourth Movement”, which had a great impact on the reputation of Confucianism. But I think the more important one was the abolition of the imperial examination in 1905. The abolition of the imperial examinations and the rise of foreign schools resulted in the loss of Confucian classics as a carrier for preservation and inheritance and as a “baton” for the elite. This is the most important institutional reason for the rupture of Confucianism. The same goes for these potted flowers, and the same goes for the big black rocks. By the 1980s, a group of people began to re-engage with the work of Confucianism. On the one hand, they were doing new research from a new perspective, and on the other hand, they were re-establishing Confucianism in the new world. There were many people with lofty ideals among them. Not only did he hope to save Confucianism, but he also wanted to revive Confucianism.

Moral decline, integrity crisis, behavioral irregularities, lack of belief… Many of the problems that arise in today’s society are related to the lack of spiritual design in the entire society. , this is also a question that many Confucian scholars are trying to explore. Can revitalizing Confucianism save all this? Whether ancient methods can solve the problems of modern people, after all, is “there is nothing new under the sun” or “when things are different, be preparedEthiopians EscortChange”? This is something that many people are debating.

Li He: “Confucianism and modernity are not in conflict, but similarly, the basic principles of traditional society and modern society are not the same. Confucianism, as a spiritual construct of modern people, It is okay to need a reason or even to be the main reason, but it does not It is not possible to fully rely on it to build a well-ordered modern society because the basic principles are inconsistent.”

The shortcomings after the break

Beijing Morning News: What does the idea of ​​“reviving Confucianism” mean?Ethiopia Sugar Daddy?

Li He: We understand that in modern times, especially after the “May Fourth Movement”, Chinese society has rapidly entered the transformation of modernity, but thisEthiopia Sugar This transformation is very dramatic and very fragmented. The values ​​and concepts in the entire society are undergoing drastic changes.changes. This drastic level is even reflected in the changes in written characters. This not only refers to the problem of traditional Chinese characters becoming simplified characters, but also refers to the tendency of Chinese characters to become east-west along with this process – and we understand that the east-west transformation is originally the pinyin script. The main feature is that because Chinese characters are ideographic characters, the text structure contains rich images in the form of imagesEthiopia Sugaroriginal civilization information, so it is a rare “super-Eastern and Western text” in the world, but with the modern ET Escorts With the emergence of simplified characters one after another, it has basically become “block-like Pinyin characters”. Looking around the world, such drastic changes may be the most unique among ancient nations with imperial traditions, such as France. Although the French Revolution was very violent, France’s civilization was not broken, let alone Britain. Said, the hometown of reformism. And in civilized countries, after experiencing the rupture of civilization and starting to move away from reaction, the sense of shortcomings caused by the ruptureET Escorts is very Strong.

Beijing Morning News: Is the idea of ​​”reviving Confucianism” also related to various problems that arise in modern society?

Li He: Yes, this is another reason. The crisis of belief, the crisis of civilization, or the crisis of civilization based on the crisis of belief, feels too great today. It is obvious that all fields are experiencing the pain of corruption. Officials are not like officials, universities are not like universities, and research institutions are not like research institutions. Everything is led by “adults” and profit-seeking thoughts and behaviors. Popular on New Year’s Eve. Under this circumstance, people deeply feel that China is in urgent need of “top-level design” in terms of spiritual civilization. If we go back to Confucianism and look at the things expressed in Confucianism, such as the debate between justice and benefit, etc., we will feel that we are particularly lacking and in need.

Diagnosis of modernity

Beijing Morning News: So can Confucianism really save these problems?

Li He: When it comes to “Chinese civilization”, people often think of traditional civilization. “Revival of traditional civilization” on the one hand means to restore the continuity of traditional civilization; on the other hand, it is also because many people believe that Confucianism can be a good remedy for the modern spiritual crisis. The “teaching of adulthood” that Xunzi said is no longer there. No one pays attention to what kind of person a person wants to become.

Beijing Morning News: Revival of Confucianism and this diagnosisEthiopia SugarIs there a direct connection?

Li He: This diagnosis also includes a view that in today’s society there is a decline in moral character, a lack of spiritual construction, a crisis of faith, and people’s behavior is completely out of standard, etc. Etc., all of this is the result of the influence of modernity. So with such a diagnosis, people naturally think that it is better to use ancient methods for treatment, believing that Confucianism can solve problems at the level of morality and belief, and can even solve the cause of these problems, that is, the shortcomings of modernity. Therefore, based on these conditions, we have to revive traditional civilization and revive Confucianism. In other words, it is not only necessary to continue learning, but also to cure diseases, and also to make up for the shortcomings of modernity.

What is missing from modernity?

Beijing Morning News: Is this diagnosis accurate?

Li He: Officials are not like officials, businessmen are not like businessmen, teachers are not like teachers, and students are not like students. Can this really be caused by the so-called foreign modernity? What about the disadvantages? It’s hard to say. Because we understand that the most developed countries in the world today are the countries with the most developed principles of modernity construction. They still do what they want and do not have as many problems as we do. The whole problem probably lies in the fact that we have adopted the social construction principles that separate modernity in a relatively abnormal way, which has led to the current situation.

Beijing Morning News: For example?

Li He: For us, in the modernization process of decades and nearly a century, ET EscortsThere are several issues that need special attention. First of all, basicEthiopians EscortThe rule of law has never been established, and we have not yet achieved a perfect rule of law. In this context, the market economy has come to us and has become a market without trust and a market that lacks standards. Secondly, modern society attaches great importance to the role of education, treating it as the most important place for humanistic education and the most important place for children to copy traditions, learn to think, and train in criticismEthiopians Escort But these are exactly what our education lacks most. Our education has always served politics and the low-end market economy that turns people into things. The most it can provide A good product is to turn children into white-collar workers. There are many other aspects ET Escorts that have similar problems. CanIt can be said that our modern construction of modern society and country is still far from perfect in many aspects. The basic rule of law is far from perfect, the judiciary is not independent, academics are not independent, political operations and moral education are not separated, and the bottom society lacks sufficient autonomy, etc. . Under such circumstances, our market economy and society will inevitably see the phenomenon of profit-driven everything, the big force but the small force, the phenomenon of taking one bite at a time, and the phenomenon of political power taking over everything. Therefore, our problem has nothing to do with the shortcomings of modernity, but rather that the basic design of modernity has not been completed.

Is Confucianism the right medicine?

Ethiopia Sugar DaddyBeijing Morning News: So what issues does Confucian thought and knowledge have for us? Can this help?

Li He: Confucianism can solve our problems and cure our social diseases, or it may be said that it is a disease of society. It is difficult to say whether Confucianism is symptomatic. But I think people still need to seriously study today why we abolished the imperial examination in the first place and why there was such a violent “Ethiopians EscortMay 4th Movement” Is it because the society built by Confucianism has no power in the game with modern society? Could it be because Confucianism itself lacks the ability to nurture modernity?

Beijing Morning News: Do you think it is possible to realize the revival of Confucianism?

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Li He: Confucian thought and knowledge can indeed benefit China People’s spiritual life provides an important spiritual resource, and I would also like to see more people make more attempts to practice Confucian thought and etiquette. But for now, whether Confucianism can truly revive depends on whether it can widely enter the education and enlightenment system of our nation. Without this institutional guarantee, the revival of Confucianism can only be the behavior of certain groups. . In addition, if Confucianism is to be revived, its thinking should be able to respond to and supplement the logic of modernity, and even correct the shortcomings of modernity’s logic. I don’t understand this now. Ethiopians Sugardaddy For example, Confucianism teaches the practice of Qi Zhiping, that is, taking personal self-cultivation as a condition for governing the country and bringing peace to the world. This is a typical “ethical and political philosophy” “Concept, its argument is that “good people are the prerequisite for a good society”, the so-called “ruling the country with virtue”, “everyoneET EscortsAll can be Yao and Shun” is what it means. However, the design of modern society often questions or even denies such logic. Liang Qichao once lamented, “If you cultivate your body and bring your family together, you may not be able to govern your country; if you do not cultivate your body and your family is not harmonious, you may not be able to govern your country.” The previous sentence was a lament for the current situation of China at that time. Many ministers in the Manchu Dynasty were erudite and Confucian, such as Zeng Guofan. When we read his diaries and family letters, we can find that he was a typical example of self-cultivation. But in the Qing Dynasty, “I want to stay with you, but I want to stay by my side and serve the lady for the rest of my life.” Cai Xiu wiped the tears on his face, pursed his lips and smiled bitterly, and said, “I have no relatives in this world, how is the separation situation?” ? Everyone knows it. The last sentence is based on the situation in Eastern countries. It is assumed that individuals are “evil in nature”, which is the so-called “rogue assumption”. This is what thinkers and social system designers there are thinking about. One question: “Ethiopians Sugardaddy How can a group of flawed individuals form a well-ordered society? “It is this kind of thinking that makes them pay close attention to the rule of law and the constraints on humanity imposed by system design based on the rule of law. From this perspective, the Confucian knowledge system of “Xiu Qi Zhiping” assumes that “good people are the conditions for a good society. “There is a problem in social construction. The basic principles of modern society are different. Good people are good people, and good society is Ethiopia SugarGood society, these are two different things. Personal moral life in the private sphere is different from governance in the public sphere.

What can Confucianism do? /p>

Beijing Morning News: Does this mean that Confucianism should be used to solve the current society? Her tears made Pei Yi freeze, and his whole body suddenly Ethiopia Sugar Daddy was stunned and at a loss.

Li He: If a society does not consider some basic design concepts of modern society, , such as the rule of law, academic independence, etc. Without these things, if we only talk about personal moral construction, and only talk about everyone should be like Yao and Shun, it is likely to lead to the opposite side of morality-hypocrisy. It is said that a society that talks about morality every day in the mainstream media is less likely to become a society of true and evil morality, but will easily become a hypocritical society. Therefore, whether Confucianism can cope with the problems of modern society? How it should be applied should be a question that people today are thinking about. It is possible to cultivate personal cultivation and cultivate personal energy, but to build a well-ordered modern society, traditional ConfucianismHome can’t be enough. We have tested this many times in the past two thousand years.

Beijing Morning News: Does this mean that Confucianism has no use in modern times? What can Confucians do?

Li He: It is not useless. The quality of any viable ideological tradition depends on its ability of creative interpretation and transformation. As long as it sheds new light on the problems of modernity, it is of interest. In fact, many scholars are doing this work today. For example, Harvard University professor Tu Weiming has devoted his life to bringing Confucianism into the world of foreign languages ​​and reviving Confucianism. He enjoys a high reputation domestically. His approach is to criticize Enlightenment thought. We understand that many universal values ​​have been established since the Enlightenment, such as sensibility, rule of law, rightsEthiopia Sugar, freedom from restraint, etc. Du Weiming proposed that rationality is important, but it must be supplemented by emotions; the rule of law is important, but it must be matched by etiquette; individual rights are important, but there must be checks and balances; individual independence and independenceEthiopians EscortIt is very important, but it must be compensated by the awareness of putting yourself in the shoes of others. Du Weiming believes that this second sequence of values ​​is also “universal,” and Confucianism can make its most important contribution to the world in these aspects. It would be better if it had both. In fact, many Confucian values ​​have gained high recognition around the world, especially the Golden Rule, “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you”, which is a very important value. Therefore, as Du Weiming said, it is possible for Confucianism to become a necessary reason, or even the main reason, for the spiritual construction of today’s society.

Editor in charge: Li Sichao