CHAPTER IV

THE CULTURAL TRADITION OF CHINA AND MODERNIZATION

JIANG BINGHAI

            Recently, many countries throughout the world have taken modernization as a goal and are working unceasingly to raise its level. Early in the period of the May 4th (1919) movement people used the term "modernization" in their discussion of cultures East and West. In July 1933, the Sheng Bao Monthly in Shanghai published a special issue on "The Modernization of China" showing that the Chinese peoples looked forward to the realization of modernization. However, at that time this was impossible because China was a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society. Real modernization of a country requires that the whole nation be awakened and that the traditional culture be fully carried forward. Otherwise, modernization imposed by the force of foreign power could only be semi-colonial and semi-feudal, not a modernization in the scientific sense.

            The founding of the new China in 1949 opened wide the opportunity for China to realize socialist modernization. In the last 40 years by constant effort the Chinese people have made great progress in founding an independent industrial and national econo-mic system with its multiple dimensions.

TRADITIONAL CULTURE AND MODERNIZATION

            As China is a country with a population of well over one billion people the Chinese government is practicing a policy of reform and opening in order to boost the realization of socialist modernization. There are two opposing points of view on how to realize moderni-zation in China. One holds that it is necessary to start from the actual condition of Chinese society, carrying forward our own na-tional cultural tradition; by maintaining a policy of self-reliance, this would make China a socialist modern country with its own cha-racter. The other holds that China can realize modernization only if it thoroughly abandons its traditional culture for Westernization; some maintain even that in this contemporary era of reforming and opening it is necessary to break completely with the traditional ideas in which they see not truth but fallacy: traditional culture is seen not only as worthless but as suffocating and the roots of the country’s backwardness. Therefore, to understand the relation be-tween the traditional culture of China and modernization is a pro-blem of great significance.

Chinese Traditional Culture

            A traditional culture is the crystallization of the material and spiritual wealth created by a nation through social practice over a long period of time. It represents the spirit of the nation and is the source for the re-creation of any newer and higher civilization. Hence, modernization cannot abandon traditional culture, for it is rather a development on the ground of traditional culture. (In con-trast, modernization is characterized by modern scientific cul-ture and spiritual civilization.) People can modernize their country only by carrying on their own nation’s cultural tradition, not by sheer fabrication. Each country has its own particular cultural tradition, and a foreign culture can be put to real use only when combined with this. Rejecting one’s own traditional culture will never bring results, for that cuts off one’s roots.

            History develops according its own rule which can be changed not by man’s will. Only by operating in accord with that objective rule can there be correct and valid social practice. Engles stressed: "History is all what we have" (Collected Works of Marx and Engles, vol. 1, p. 650). History is so important because it re-presents the developmental procedure of things; it is a mirror from which we can draw lessons and strength. To deny traditional cul-ture would be to deny history and the national spirit so that we could see nothing and would be sure to fail in practice.

            Its traditional culture and spirit is important for a country because that which is most dreadful is not poverty, but the loss of spiritual support; this is the more lamentable and dangerous. A drop in the spirit allows for the re-emergence of ugly social pheno-mena which long since had been wiped out. Here, the main cause is being influenced by fallacious ideas of value and losing one’s fine traditional national culture.

            The traditional culture of the Chinese people, formulated over a long period of social practice, represents the national spirit of China. Its persistence in actual life reflects the conviction that all depends on human efforts, that man will triumph over nature and realize a happy life all by himself: Don’t hope to find your fortunate on the other shore. According to an ancient Chinese saying: "Hea-ven operates strongly and the gentleman should try his best con-stantly" (Zhou Yi). This positive philosophy of life drives the Chinese people to fight against all kinds of social diseases and na-tural disasters, to blame god and man, but to submit to the will of Heaven. The unity between their ideal and actuality is realized through their own practice. This spirit of independence and reliance on one’s own efforts is essential for us today in order to realize modernization. Only a nation which firmly grasps its fate in its own hands can have the confidence and strength to create a new and happy life.

            Chinese traditional culture highly emphasized the beauty of personality and self-cultivation; it looks down upon greedy desires and self-interest. With regard to the beauty of personality, Mencius said: "To be full of good in one’s mind is so-called beauty"; this means integrating one’s moral principle, the cultivation of know-ledge and aesthetic emotion and expanding this in all aspects of human behavior and style. Based on this principle, Mencius formu-lated more fully the moral standard: "Neither riches nor honors can corrupt him, neither poverty nor lowly condition can make him swerve from principle, neither threats nor force can bend him" (Mencius, "Teng-weng gong", Part 2.). This traditional virtue is very precious as it is essential for being a man.

            Now, however, some advocate that: "The key to anti-tradi-tionalism is to smash the old national personality thoroughly in order to recreate anew a modern national personality. The founding of this modern personality is the liberation of the perceptual life of the individual." This point of view rejects all traditional moral prin-ciples and the traditional personality as feudal dross entirely out of date. This is absurd, for as the development of the human world has the character of inheritance, we can not cut off the present from the past. That is, present moral principles are not fabricated, but are developed upon the inheritance of good traditional moral principles. The realization of a lofty personality is a concrete representation of the ideal of truth, good and beauty in a person determined by par-ticular historical conditions and social practice. Therefore, "the founding of a modern personality" cannot be by a "liberation of perceptual life", but by social practice. To put it bluntly, the so-called "modern personality" is nothing but putting the individual above all -- taking the individual as the centre of all things. It cannot but direct the individual into a dangerous path of opposition to society. Since the individual cannot in the end renounce the world, neither can "the liberation of the individual’s perceptual life" leave the social process. Therefore, were we to abandon the national personality we could not expect a new modern personality; it would be nothing but fantastic talk and fabrication.

            In any case, a man must have some spirit, which comes from his sense of mission and responsibility to his nation and human society. The modern personality requires a broader vision and the relation of one’s happiness and fortune to that of the nation and all mankind. If a person puts his own interests above all, injures others for the sake of his own advantage, seeks his own private gain at public expense, and intends nothing but profit then one cannot talk of personality, to say nothing of doing what he ought to contribute to the society. Albert Einstein said rightly:" The social value of a person consists first of all in how much his sentiment, thought and behavior promote the benefit of mankind" (collected Translations in Memory of Einstein).

            To pursue the truth one must dare to sacrifice, be concerned about the condition of life before others, and enjoy comfort after others; these are essential elements in the Chinese cultural tra-dition. The Chinese traditional culture despises the villain who cares for nothing except saving his or her own skin, and seeks only one’s own ease and comfort. Regarding truth and value and the relation between the individual and the state, the ancient Chinese philosophers eulogized the spirit: "Dare to lay down one’s life for a justice cause", "The principle (Tao) is so important that if one knows it in the morning, it is no pity for him to die in the evening." Confucius said: "Great wealth and high social position based upon injustice are for me like floating clouds." The progress of human society accompanies man’s pursuit of truth. To search and persist in truth requires the spirit of hard work before others and the enjoyment of comfort after others, sacrificing one’s own wealth, rank and even life.

            It is this spirit that has long inspired our nation’s growth de-spite fighting and civil war. Modern civilization requires that people bear in mind the need of the whole world and act in all matters according to the truth, for the current world has become a global community. The peoples of the world, whether or not they are aware of it, depend on each other; what the people do in some particular area may influence the people in other areas. Hence, only by constantly raising the people’s understanding of this and consciously fighting together for truth and justice, can the world’s civilization and prosperity safely develop.

History of Geographic Environment

            The formulation of the Chinese cultural tradition is closely linked with its particular historical and geographic environment. As vanguard in the Modern Revolution of China, Li Dazhao said: "Our Yangzhi River and Yellow River may represent our national spirit. They go forward vastly and mightily with the momentum of a land-slide" ( "A Hard Fortune of the Country and The Mighty People"). This environment shapes the particular cultural tradition and character of our people. Therefore, although the Chinese nation has met countless difficulties and hardships in its development, eventually it overcame them with an unyielding spirit. Each twist and turn in this development further awakened the whole nation and moved it forward with even greater courage. Mao Tse-tung once said to his guards when crossing the Yellow River: "You may despise everything but the Yellow River: to despise the Yellow River is to despise our nation." Today, some in China take every chance to depreciate the Yellow River Culture, considering it the opposite to modernization. This point of view is either a national nihilism or a typical metaphysics, for the Yellow River Culture is the origin of the Chinese culture.

            The particular mode of production, the style of living and the way of thinking of a country could be only the continuation of the national traditional culture. Hence, one cannot talk about actual affairs without the tradition. One who advocates rejecting all traditional culture and realizing "Westernization exclusively" seems to be for a "revolution" realizing modernization ahead of schedule. However, this is nothing but a facade, for one who looks down upon his own nation’s cultural tradition as worthless would never love his motherland and work hard for its prosperity.

            In fact, western culture too can be distinguished into two parts: one worthy, the other worthless such as the value of money which is criticized even in the West. Hence the introduction of Western culture into China, can have good effect only if it is analyzed with discrimination. History shows us that a successful country in transition can never regret its national cultural tradition and worship with blind faith things that are foreign. It must carry out the transformation on the basis of the traditional culture of its own nation. A good example is the Japanese way of modernization. Though a very backward country before the Meiji Restoration, it did not abandon its traditional culture, but transformed it, on the one hand, and introduced foreign scientific culture, on the other. Especially after the second World War, it devoted major efforts to developing scientific education. While stressing the rational ad-ministration of enterprises, it took man as central. In involving the culture of enterprises, the staff was taught to follow the common ideas regarding morality, ideas and values. This led to a high level of creativity and spiritual cohesion among the Japanese people which enabled the country to recover rapidly from the war damage. Having modernized its national economy early in the 70’s, it surpassed Britain, France and West Germany to become one of the most powerful economic countries in the world.

            Thus, the relation between traditional culture and moderni-zation is not one of opposites, but of dialectical unity. This entails that, on the one hand, modernization cannot abandon traditional culture and, on the other hand, that the traditional culture can keep its vitality only through developing new practices. Although tra-ditional culture, as an accumulation of wisdom and historical ex-perience, has its particular implications, it is not static or un-changeable but develops along with social practice. Any old tradition which has lost its vitality and value falls into disuse; this fact is not subject to man’s will.

World Culture

            National traditional cultures and world civilization interact with each other. The civilization of the world does not result simply from one country or nation, but is created by people all over the world. Due to the different conditions of various countries, each country makes its distinctive contribution to the world’s civilization. The difference here is in whether a country’s civilization will be more or less, not in whether a country does or does not have a contribution for the world. As an essential element of the human world, no country is an isolated being; its being and development cannot but influence, as well as be influenced by, other countries in one way or another. Four Chinese inventions: gun powder, the compass, paper and printing, have made great contributions to the world. The fact that Chinese culture is now very popular in the West shows that this ancient traditional culture still has its function in the world. Similarly, China has learned many things from foreign countries which have promoted the development of the Chinese civilization. Indian Buddhism was introduced to China from the time of the Han and Tang Dynasties. In the thirteenth century the Italian, Marco Polo, brought some elements of European culture into China, and returned with many elements of Chinese culture. Over two thousands years ago the Chinese learned the use of coal for fire, but it was not until the thirteenth century that Europeans learned about it through Marco Polo. Of course, he also criticized fiercely binding the feet of the woman and feudal superstitions in China.

            Since modern times, the introduction of many scientific and other elements of Western culture to China has had a positive role in promoting the development and renewal of Chinese traditional culture. All this shows that the national traditional culture and the world civilization interact and are influenced by each other. From this point of view, we can say also that what is of the nation is also of the world. Only if each country develops its particularities fully in order to contribute its share to the world can the development of the world civilization be assured. On the contrary, a country could not improve its future by indiscriminately imitating and copying the experience of other countries at the cost of its own particularities. Hence, the attitude of a country toward modernization is deter-mined by understanding the current world and its tendency as well as its own cultural tradition. It could have no future without at-tending to the development of the current world and its particu-larities rather than closing the country to international interchange, giving in to parochial arrogance and sticking to conventions. It has hope only if it directs its development and promotes its process of modernization by effectively combining its own traditional culture with world civilization in an organic unity.

TENSION AND REQUIREMENTS OF MODERNIZATION

Tensions

            The traditional culture is like a storehouse which contains both what is essential and dross: we can neither adopt national nihilism rejecting our whole traditional culture, nor take everything as being of the quintessence of Chinese culture and worship it blindly. What is important for a new development of traditional culture is to use scientific methods in carrying it forward critically, to select the essence and discard the dross; we must either follow the traditional culture, or dare and be good at breaking through it. Note that breaking through and abandoning traditional culture are distinguished from each other in principle: to break through is to sublate, while to abandon is to deny it subjectively and individually. The latter violates the rules of development, whereas the need to break through the traditional culture consists in traditional culture being itself a contradictory unity with both positive and inert aspects. This inertia can be seen in three contradictions.

            The first is the contradiction between history and present reality. A traditional culture is not formed in a day, but over a long historical period. As it is by the experience and wisdom provided by traditional culture that we can make constant progress in the re-formation of the objective and subjective world, without tradi-tional culture there would have been no history. On the other hand, no successful tradition can be out of touch with, or avoid some com-bination with, present reality. But, since reality changes and develops continuously, while tradition is an accumulation of history, no tradition can wholly accord with the reality. Some of its aspects which are out of date may even hinder or do great damage to the development of reality. Further, coherence between tradition and reality is relative and conditional, for tradition is a general concept while reality is a concrete and vivid process. This requires that people must neither stress tradition or not make it a dogma in practice. Only thus, can tradition serve in a process of change.

            The second is the contradiction between existence and idea. As an ideology traditional culture reflects social existence. But once formed it is relatively independent and does not change imme-diately along with social existence. In some aspects it functions more or less, obviously or dimly, over a long period for it is a strong spiritual power. Existing in the psychic structure of human and social culture, it cannot change easily. Thus, it has been 40 years since the founding of the new China in whose constitution it has been put down in writing that women have the same social position and equal rights as men. But, in people’s minds, especially in rural areas, the feudal idea of regarding men as superior to women still exists. Thus, if a wife gives birth to a boy her parents-in-law and husband will be very pleased, and her position in the family will rise high. On the contrary, if she gives birth to a girl the whole family will be displeased and will not be satisfied until she produces a boy. This traditional idea is against modern civilization and harmful to the modernization and development of China whose main difficulty is the heavy burden of too great a population on the economy, preventing the level of material and spiritual life from advancing greatly in a short time.

            The third is the contradiction between understanding and sentiment. Generally speaking, understanding looks forward and adopts new things more easily, while sentiment is apt to yearn for the past. Understanding is rational knowledge of things expressed by concepts which master things in their unity. Sentiment is a subjective experience of concrete things and apt to incline to the past. As we know, people usually show their feelings when they have some practical interests. Of course, as a sort of human wis-dom sentiment is essentially a unity of reason and perception which cannot be separated from each other. Traditional inertia expresses itself in the habits of individual feelings which have a broad social foundation and constitutes a certain psychic attitude. Therefore it is difficult to ask people to overcome their inertia in a short time; in order to become conscious of it sometimes they must be taught in practice again and again. Here, various kinds of stimulating educa-tional methods must be used. Only in raising their spiritual quality can people come to love all things valuable.

            In short, traditional culture can keep its vitality only through verification in practice. It will court self-destruction if it is against modernization. Furthermore, as modernization deepens more and more, we must continually reconsider traditional culture through practice. Only thus can we effectively promote modernization and constantly improve traditional culture.

Requirement

            Modernization is a great systematic social project. For China this includes mainly three tasks:

            Firstly, the construction of material civilization is an essential condition and foundation for the construction of spiritual civilization. We cannot even talk about the other aspects of modernization without raising material production and the progress of science and technology. Hence, the fundamental task of modernization is to make a great effort to develop the forces of production.

            Secondly, the construction of spiritual civilization must in-clude both developing education, science and culture, and streng-thening the construction of theory and morality. The modernization of society cannot take place apart from the modernization of human beings, for the realization of all constructive processes depends upon them.

            Thirdly, reformation of structures or the system of organi-zation is essential, for only by reforming unreasonable structures can a system operate well, bring into play all the positive factors and creativity and promote the development of productive forces. Recently, China has been at a turning point of deepening reform-ation; it has been a period of social reformation from the old system to a new one. During this time, conflict and struggle between the new system of organization and the old one, the traditional culture and modernization, the old idea and the new idea is unavoidable. The key to resolving these contradictions and conflicts consists in the correct policy measures and direction, boosting the develop-ment of productive forces and persisting in the construction of both civilizations, material and spiritual.

            Construction of these civilizations and organizational reform promote one another. Without the construction of material civiliza-tion and development of the economy the construction of spiritual civilization would be a mere formality, reformation of the organiza-tional system could not be carried out, and we would lose direction so that none of the three could advance. Several years ago, in con-structing material civilization, China neglected spiritual civilization. This resulted in many problems in social life which harmed the development of modernization. This experience teaches us once again that we must persist in the principle of constructing both civilizations. Reality, too, tells us that when the spiritual world is backward, even should production be developed and the material life elevated, human spiritual life still will be poor and void resulting in a waste of wealth.