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Macau Periodical Index (澳門期刊論文索引)
- Author
- Xia, Guang
- Title
- Defining national culture: the case of contemporary China
- Journal Name
- 中西文化研究(停刊)
- Pub. Info
- Jun. 2010, 總第17期, 第1期, pp. 192-207
- Keyword
- National culture；National economy；National politics；Contemporary China；The post-Confucian values
- Abstract
- Abstract : The present essay is an attempt to conceptualize the national culture of the nation-state and, based on this conceptualization, to explore the nature of the national culture of contemporary China. Its main arguments are as follows: The national culture of the nation-state is defined not by traditional cultures or their surviving elements, but by its relation to the national economy and the national politics of the nation-state. Some elements of traditional cultures can survive in the modern world, because they are conducive to or compatible with the progress of modernity. These elements, when integrated into the national culture of the nation-state, can be instrumental to its formation, but the national culture of the nation-state cannot be attributed or reduced to traditional cultures or their surviving elements. The national culture of a nation-state is defined by the nation-state itself, or it is conditioned primarily by its national economy and national politics. To be more specific, the national culture of the nation-state must accommodate its development toward industrialization (and now informatization) in the economic sphere, and it must endorse the principle of ‘People’s Soversignty ’in the political sphere (however it is understood and practiced). Therefore, the national culture of contemporary China as a nation-state is to be read in the context of its ongoing economic and political transformations. The surviving elements of Chinese traditions (the Confucian tradition in particular) are relevant to the national culture of contemporary China, not because of how traditional or unique they are, but because of their affinity with increasingly globalized modernity. Paragraph Headings： 1. Introduction 2. National culture: a conceptual clarification 3. The national culture of contemporary China 4. Conclusion: globalization toward a cosmopolitan world