The era we live in today is indeed an era of multiple identities and multiple personalities. You can interpret it from different angles and different sides. For example, you can say that now is an era of vigorously promoting the modernization process and an era of global integration; It can also be said that this is an era of information explosion, an era of excess knowledge, and of course an era full of cultural garbage; It can also be said that this is an era in which form exceeds content; It was an era when the past, present and future were crowded together; Or to put it another way, it can be said that the past, present and future are out of touch with each other; It can also be said that this is an era of digesting words, reading pictures and so on.
So in such a complicated and dazzling era, China's ancient classics are needless to say. Broadly speaking, do we still need to learn? I mean the text reading of words. Is it still valuable now?
The fact is that many people in China no longer like reading. It is said that there are many reasons for not studying. For example, due to the fast pace of modern society, text reading can no longer meet the requirements of the fast pace of the times; It can also be said that because of busy work, I can't spare time to study; Because there are too many temptations, other aspects occupy their spiritual space and are unwilling to spend time on reading. In particular, television has a great influence, and the influence of the visual image of the media far exceeds the charm of text reading. Why come to study?
But what I want to say is that text reading is indispensable. Speaking of modernization, Europe and North America are always much more modern than us, right? What we saw there was a good reading atmosphere. On trains, planes and ships, people are reading quietly everywhere. Their habit is not to gossip, but to read. On the contrary, we only gossip and don't even read casual books. Reading atmosphere is actually a social and cultural atmosphere, and even a reflection of social and moral atmosphere. Because reading not only makes people increase their knowledge, but also makes people calm and reduce impetuousness. And our society today can be said to be full of impetuousness. There are fewer people who do things in a down-to-earth manner, and more people take shortcuts and play tricks. Including universities and research institutions, have also developed a superficial style of study. The humanities have been greatly devalued. In this case, it is particularly important to cultivate the interest in text reading and form a reading atmosphere. If people often like to pursue fashion, then reading should also become a fashion today.
The problem is how to cultivate reading atmosphere. The first is that society should advocate. But what is more important than advocacy is that society should form a general atmosphere of attaching importance to learning and scholars. Advocating reading, if you don't pay attention to scholars, the effect is not great. An important reason why we haven't formed the reading atmosphere for a long time is that the social status of scholars is so low that they are called "smelly Laojiu". Scholars have a high position in the traditional society of China, and scholars, agriculture, industry and commerce rank first among the four people. Due to the radical anti-tradition in the past century, the value of intellectuals has been seriously weakened. Especially today, the status of intellectuals and intellectuals is being directly challenged by two forces: one is the challenge of "official standard" and the other is the challenge of universal commercialization of society. The establishment of universities and scientific research institutions has also set up administrative levels, and the salaries of professors and researchers are actually linked to administration. This is an obvious example of "official standard" challenging scholars' social status. As for the challenge of commercialization of the whole society, it goes without saying. The oppression and oppression of intellectuals by officials and businessmen, the weakness and helplessness of literati can be seen anytime and anywhere. Needless to say, this social and cultural structure is difficult to create a universal reading atmosphere. Therefore, I think that to cultivate the reading atmosphere, the premise is to make the whole society pay attention to the reading atmosphere, so that everyone can cherish culture, attach importance to learning and respect university students. Or to put it another way, the most important thing is that all officials and national instructors should have the habit of reading, know the value of scholars, reward them and be kind to them. If this level is reached, the formation of a general reading atmosphere in the whole society will be just around the corner.
So what kind of books should we read? It is difficult to have the will to study. If you have the will to read, the problem of what books to read will be easier to solve. Simply put, reading is better than not reading, that is, the ancients said that opening books is beneficial. Of course, seriously speaking, choosing what books to read is not without pressure. Practitioners in various professional fields must first read professional books, and so does the so-called "specialization in the industry". As far as the overall social situation is concerned, as far as the cultivation of the social and cultural atmosphere of a country and a nation is concerned, do people in any industry have some books that are similar to each other and need to be read by everyone? Yes, these are typical works belonging to a national cultural system, that is, people often say that they are cultural classics of their own nation. Every country in the world has its own cultural traditions and cultural classics, especially those "civilized countries", and the classic texts are particularly rich. And all cultural classics are the spiritual wealth of human beings, which should be read not only by people of our own nation but also by people of other countries. I mean, if possible, such as mastering relevant language tools, I can read the original directly or read the translation. However, the classic reading I am talking about here focuses on China's own cultural classics and humanities.
We are one of the major "civilized countries" in the world, with early cultural origins and numerous cultural classics. The humanities field includes literature, history, philosophy and so on. There are many examples in various dynasties and historical periods in history. If this idiom is used to describe the richness of China's writing and classics, it will be unparalleled. However, as a general reading rather than a professional research, there are not as many classics that need to be read, should be read and may be read as expected. Philosophy is nothing more than pre-Qin philosophers, but mainly Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Mozi, everything is done wrong and Gongsun. Can be temporarily suspended. Even Meng Zi doesn't have to read it. However, there are two works in the Book of Rites in the Han Dynasty, which we cannot but read: The Doctrine of the Mean and The University. Who wrote these two books? It is said that the author of The Doctrine of the Mean is Confucius' grandson Zisi, and Sima Qian, the author of Historical Records, also said so. The author of "Da Xue" is said to be Zeng Shen, a good student of Confucius, but it is also said that both articles were written by Zi Si. No matter who wrote it, these two works are the most concise and incisive exposition of the basic ideas of Confucianism. Especially in the Song Dynasty, Zhu combined Daxue, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius into four books, and carefully annotated them, which became the most widely circulated Confucian classics in traditional society. Zhu's Notes on Four Books and Chapters has also become a collection of Confucian classics. If you think Zhu's annotations are too troublesome (from the perspective of textual research, his annotations are actually very good, not only annotations, but also his own thoughts), you can also read the four books in vernacular Chinese (without annotations). Even today, reading the vernacular, reading it repeatedly and even reciting some paragraphs are effective ways to read China's classics.
In historiography, practitioners of literature and history pay attention to the "first four histories", namely, Historical Records, Hanshu and The History of the Three Kingdoms. Generally, just reading historical records. Historical Records is not only a historical work, but also a literary work, with well-written characters and beautiful words. If you are familiar with historical records, you can easily understand the history, culture, people and system of China, and you can really get one-tenth of the results. If the space is too large, you can choose biographies and biographies to read. In literature, the Book of Songs and Songs of the South should be read. Chu Ci can be selected from Qu Yuan's Li Sao. In addition, Tao Yuanming in the Jin Dynasty, Du Fu and Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty, Su Dongpo, Huang Tingjian, Li Qingzhao and Lu You in the Song Dynasty, Guan Hanqing and Wang Shifu in the Yuan Dynasty, Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty, The Water Margin of the Three Kingdoms and A Dream of Red Mansions in the Qing Dynasty, etc. , are endless books. In addition, Lun Heng, written by Wang Chong in Han Dynasty, is a very special book, which will open your mind and will not be bound by tradition. There are also works by great writers and historians in the 20th century since the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, many of which are also classics, such as works by Yan Fu, Zhang Taiyan, Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei, Wang Guowei, Chen Yinque and Ma Yifu. It will be a pity if you don't read them. The works of academic masters in the 20th century are actually a bridge to China's ancient classics, and perhaps a shortcut to the south.
However, according to the traditional point of view, the so-called classics of China mainly refer to the study of six arts, namely, poetry, calligraphy, ceremony, Yi, Yue and Chunqiu. "Six Arts" are six courses taught by Confucius. Confucius wrote a book before, but the Six Arts edited by Confucius was later called the Six Classics. Since Jing Yue has not been circulated, it has become the five classics, namely, The Book of Songs, Shangshu, Zhou Li, Zhouyi and Chunqiu. The Five Classics is the source of China's scholarship and China's culture. Ma Yifu believes that "Six Arts" can control all academic activities. The Analects of Confucius is the only book that records Confucius' words and deeds. Although it was later compiled into a book by his disciples, it should be a true record. The Analects of Confucius is an educational book implied in the Six Classics. Zhu's Selected Notes on Four Books is a classic of the Six Classics. Therefore, people often say that the Five Classics and Four Books have become the basic classics that people who can read in traditional China society must read.
Therefore, during the May 4th Movement, there was a debate between "respecting Confucius and reading classics" and opposing "respecting Confucius and reading classics". As the most representative philosopher in ancient China, Confucius was a great thinker and educator, and his academic status was beyond doubt. However, since the Han Dynasty, Confucius has become the official philosophy of the rulers of past dynasties, and the hats on his head have piled higher and higher. There are countless titles such as "King of Literary Works" and "Master of Dacheng", and his personality and theory are inevitably deified, supplemented and even distorted. It is understandable that the predecessors of the May 4th Movement hated the traditional feudal system and strongly criticized the traditional culture for the sake of the country's prosperity. But today, the social system has undergone fundamental changes, and we can no longer adopt the radical attitude of the predecessors of the May 4th Movement towards Confucius and Confucianism. It is not necessary to "respect Confucius", but proper "reading classics" is indeed necessary for inheriting national cultural traditions. It is not worthwhile to fundamentally deny Confucian classics. You don't have to read all the five classics and four books, you can read them selectively. For example, you can choose some chapters in The Analects of Confucius, such as learning, governance, establishing people, Yan Yuan, Luz and Wei Linggong, which are especially suitable for reading today.
As for today, why should we read these classics of China? I think it is mainly for the needs of cultural heritage. If you don't want to completely abandon your national cultural tradition, then reading typical texts representing your cultural tradition is a necessary way to inherit the tradition. It means more than that. As far as personal cultivation is concerned, reading classic texts is a process of cultural assimilation for readers and can change people's temperament. People who are more influenced by traditional cultural resources and those who are less influenced have completely different temperament and demeanor. Zhu once said that one of the purposes of reading is to change people's temperament. Reading ancient books and associating with ancient sages and sages are the embodiment of a person's noble spiritual realm, which can remind people not to fall into vulgarity. Sometimes when you praise a person's well-written article, you will marvel that it is an ancient prose, which is a very high return. The ancients, ancient sages and ancient books are all synonymous with the accumulation of traditional culture. Too much contact will inevitably make a person's temperament change subtly. Many people's temperament has changed, and the social atmosphere of an era will also change. Therefore, reading the cultural classics of this nation can change one's temperament; For society, it can change the atmosphere.
Of course, modern society is a multicultural society, and one can't just accept a single culture. In the past century, it is an indisputable fact that the powerful western culture has influenced the East and China. We don't have to exclude this influence. Only when we accept different cultures, we should sort out the main body of our own culture, manage our own cultural spirit, and integrate China culture with western culture, which means the birth of a new culture. There are still many people who equate modernization with "westernization" and think that their cultural traditions cannot be linked to modernity. This is an outdated view and should not be allowed to become our cultural orientation. In our ongoing modernization process, there is also a task to improve the cultural quality of the whole nation. I can definitely say that to accomplish this task, we must create a reading atmosphere for the whole nation, first of all, reading the enduring cultural classics of our nation.