On the Foundation of Fine Traditional Chinese Culture for Chinese Modernization

In his speech at the meeting on Cultural Inheritance and Development, Xi Jinping pointed out that “Chinese modernization invigorates Chinese civilization with modern power, while Chinese civilization supports Chinese modernization with cultural sustenance”. This provides important inspiration for us to think about the internal logic between Chinese modernization and Chinese civilization, including the fine traditional Chinese culture. Chinese modernization is deeply rooted in the fine traditional Chinese culture, and its overall goal is not only in line with the highest political concept of “Tian Xia Da Zhi” (running the country well) in the traditional culture, but also in unity with the social ideals that have been accumulated for thousands of years in the traditional society. Chinese modernization can be traced back to the extremely rich and profound ideological origins in the fine traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, to study China’s unique path to modernization from the perspective of the foundation of fine traditional Chinese culture, the most important thing to do is to interpret its main content or the oldest ideological origins. Specifically, the concept of national governance of “Bao He Tai He” (maintaining supreme harmony), and “Rong Min Fu Zhong” (being inclusive and making people prosper) in traditional Chinese philosophy has given rise to the social picture of “Da Dao Zhi Xing Ye” (following the great way), which, along with the cultural downward movement for thousands of years, has shaped people’s common feeling of expecting a “Tai Ping Sheng Shi” (peaceful and prosperous world) in traditional farming societies. The political aspirations of the scholarly class and the simple ideals of the common people are “closely connected”, which provides the basic norms for the Chinese people in their pursuit of national development, and also becomes the deepest Chinese culture foundation for Chinese modernization.