A Contemporary Reflection on the Chinese Traditional Mode of Thinking

Authors

  • He Xirong

Keywords:

Contemporary Reflection, Chinese Traditional, Zhongdao, heaven, earth

Abstract

In China’s path to modernization since the 19th century, some intellectual traditions have been disappearing, leading to the awkward situation faced by Chinese people of being “neither Chinese nor Western” or “being Chinese and Western at the same time”. Zhongdao ( the middle road or the middle course), the mode of Chinese traditional thinking, avoids the Western dualism and it considers Tian ( heaven), Di ( earth) and human beings as being a whole. In such an approach, human beings are placed in an important position, because they could change their mode of existence according to their thoughts to make TianDi (heaven, earth including society) creating a sense of harmony. A revival of such thinking can be helpful to solve many of the problems faced by human beings today.

Author Biography

He Xirong

Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China

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