First of all, culture is the crystallization of wisdom accumulated by our ancestors, but it also contains many different levels. So far, the most important thing to identify these cultures is to measure what specific positive effects these cultures have brought to our spirit and society. On the other hand, if these cultures have brought some negative effects to people, or are not suitable for the development of this society, then this is dross culture.
For example, some well-known fairy tales, such as Kuafu chasing the sun, the goddess mending the sky, Jingwei filling the sea and so on. To convey a fearless spirit of hard work and courage against nature. It contains some folk stories that can bring positive energy to people, inspire people and act on people's spirit, which is also a kind of positive energy needed in the process of social development. For this part of culture, it is what we call the essence.
At the same time, some dross culture is what we often call feudal thought, superstition of ghosts and gods, praying to God and worshiping Buddha, and so on. The reason why these thoughts are regarded as dross culture is mainly because they can't carry forward a kind of values needed by society as a stereotype and seal people's thoughts in an illusory status quo. Moreover, this spirit will play a certain restrictive role in the development of society, and it is unrealistic to believe in something illusory. What our society needs is a status quo of cultivating people's various moral ethics, values and methodologies based on science.
In short, whether the so-called culture is the essence or the dross needs to be measured by the current situation of social development. On the one hand, the specific meanings contained in a certain culture can promote people's spiritual thoughts to a certain extent. Then it can be said that this culture is the essence worthy of people's admiration. On the other hand, if a certain culture has a step that hinders the current social development, and even poisons people's hearts, then it can be judged that this culture is dross.