The Dialectical Relationship between the Continuity and Innovation of Chinese Civilization Literature | Development | Innovation

Author: Zhang Fan

This has strong guiding significance for the study of various aspects of Chinese civilization. Throughout history, Chinese civilization has been surging endlessly, like an inexhaustible river.Here, we will mainly discuss our understanding of the relationship between continuity and innovation in the context of the development history of Chinese literature.

The development history of Chinese literature shows that the inheritance of literary tradition and literary innovation constitute two complementary energies in the development of literature. The inheritance of literary tradition emphasizes the standardization and transmission of classics, and emphasizes the continuation of various themes and aesthetic styles left by literary predecessors; Literary innovation emphasizes bold breakthroughs and even self deprecation. The mature period of literature often involves the coordination and balance between the two. Works lacking classical influence cannot reveal the foundation of history, nor can they form rich dialogues between ancient and modern in their themes and aesthetic forms. Works that reject the spirit of innovation often remain stagnant and stagnant. The famous literary theorist Liu Xie during the Wei and Jin dynasties analyzed the different roles of literary tradition inheritance and literary innovation in literary development in his book "Wen Xin Diao Long", describing the relationship between the two as "versatile". Liu Xie believed that "the name and reason are constant, and the body must be based on the old facts; if there is no way to change, the number must be considered in the new sound." His more general conclusion is: "If there is a change, it will last." "If there is a change, it can last, and if there is a change, it will not be lacking."

Liu Xie also pointed out that "literary changes are influenced by the world." Literature is not innovative for the sake of innovation, but the true driving force of "change" or innovation is to respond to new historical issues. From new themes, new emotional approaches to new aesthetic forms, all of these reflect new historical characteristics. Only by forming a close connection with the history of sports can innovation always obtain a source of vitality. To a large extent, literature is an echo of history, and historical trends determine the direction of literary innovation. However, emphasizing the connection between literature and history cannot deny the significance of literary tradition. No literary innovation can completely soar into the void, starting from scratch and having no connection with literary tradition. On the contrary, only by being familiar with literary traditions can we transform them and surpass them. Even writers who strongly oppose literary traditions gain a backlash from literary traditions.

The rise of the May Fourth New Culture Movement and the emergence of the May Fourth New Literature have caused a severe shock to the relationship between literary tradition inheritance and literary innovation. For a while, the moral concepts, ways of thinking, and aesthetic forms of traditional Chinese culture were challenged, and "democracy" and "science" became new slogans. From the debate between ancient Chinese and vernacular Chinese to the debate between middle school and Western learning, cultural debates have been ongoing since the late Qing Dynasty. The reason why the new culture advocating reform and breakthrough has the upper hand is clearly closely related to the huge transformation of social history. In the past, China was plagued by poverty and weakness, and a large number of ambitious people were extremely worried. They attempted to save the Chinese nation from various aspects, and the criticism of traditional culture was an important aspect that many intellectuals shared. Time has passed, and the criticism of traditional culture by these intellectuals still leaves behind a number of theoretical issues that prompt us to further ponder, such as the contemporary vitality of traditional culture, the exchange and mutual learning between the national characteristics of traditional culture and the cultures of various ethnic groups in the world, the internal driving force of culture, and the extent to which it is independent of economic foundations and forms an active reaction, as well as the significance, value, and mode of action of humanities.

Despite twists and turns and even setbacks, the May Fourth New Culture Movement has been going on for over a century now, and China's contemporary literature and broader cultural construction have made significant progress, achieving remarkable results. The various experiences and lessons of cultural construction are gradually being accumulated and summarized in new theoretical perspectives. Whether it is the growth process of a writer, the development of a literary history, or the achievements of cultural construction on a larger scale in different periods, all kinds of successful experiences demonstrate an important law: adhering to integrity and innovation. Adhering to integrity is the key to not losing direction or making disruptive mistakes, and innovation is the key to grasping and leading the times. Adhering to integrity and innovation is not only the standpoint and method of all work, but also the principle followed in cultural construction. The "righteousness" of cultural construction includes both the guidance of Marxism and the inheritance of excellent traditional Chinese culture.

Different from the historical background of the May 4th New Culture Movement, China in the new era is vigorously promoting Chinese path to modernization. The summary, inheritance, and development of Chinese civilization are being combined with this historical task. Although modernization includes a series of economic and social indicator systems, the attribute of "Chinese style" indicates that many basic elements of Chinese excellent traditional culture will always be included in Chinese path to modernization, from language and culture, philosophy, aesthetic taste to daily sophistication and daily life. More importantly, Chinese path to modernization and Chinese civilization have a lot of contents that come down in one continuous line. Many ideas of the former can be found in the latter. The report of the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that "China's excellent traditional culture has a long history, is broad and profound, and is the crystallization of the wisdom of Chinese civilization, which contains the world as the public, the people as the foundation of the state, the political morality, the reform of the old, the meritocracy, the unity of heaven and man, self-improvement, integrity, good faith, good neighborliness, and so on. It is an important embodiment of the Chinese people's cosmology, world outlook, social outlook, and moral outlook accumulated in the long-term production and life, and has a high degree of compatibility with the scientific socialist values." All this proves the profound historical foundation of Chinese path to modernization.

The pursuit and practice of modernization by a nation is not a utopian fantasy of a few people, but an inevitable result of the comprehensive evolution of economy, society, and culture, carrying the people's yearning for a better life. However, due to the different national conditions of each country, the pursuit of modernization must be combined with the unique local history to form different paths and practical forms. The greater the possibility of compatibility between this path and practical form and the culture of our own nation, the smoother the realization of modernization. It must be acknowledged that from ancient society to modern society, modernization signifies a significant historical turning point. There will be revolutionary changes in the composition of economic development models, social management models, technological levels, and cultural categories. Many unsuitable traditional concepts are gradually becoming outdated, and new social relationships and cultural concepts are being established one after another. The span of this turning point is so vast that it has formed a popular belief that the contradiction and even rupture between modernization and traditional culture are inevitable. However, Chinese path to modernization attaches great importance to the excellent traditional Chinese culture. We need to objectively and historically examine the significance of excellent traditional Chinese culture, not only as the past history of Chinese civilization, but also fully realize the powerful vitality it contains, which can play an important role in today's modernization construction. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that "excellent traditional Chinese culture has been creatively transformed and innovatively developed.". The reason why "transformation" and "development" are possible is because of the continuity of Chinese civilization; The reason why "creativity" and "innovation" are possible is because Chinese civilization inherently embodies the pursuit of innovation. This requires us to have a deeper understanding of the connotation of excellent traditional Chinese culture, actively explore innovative factors within it, and organically integrate it with contemporary society. In this sense, the continuity of Chinese civilization will cross the gap between classical and modern society, and the innovation of Chinese civilization is the basic guarantee of continuity.

These ways of interconnection and interaction are the best illustration of the dialectical relationship between the continuity and innovation of Chinese civilization.

Guangming Daily

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