The Cultural Heritage Between Modernity And Renaissance

Zhang Taiyan and Lu Xun are two giants in the realm of thought who had significant impact on Chinese neoteric and modern cultural history. On the basis of learning in a wide range of western theories, Zhang made a glorious end of Chinese traditional thought and culture; at the same time, by an in-depth study of traditional culture, Lu made a great start for modern Chinese literature. Between them, there are not only a virtual mentoring relationship, but also a inheritance relationship in the cultural ideology. Therefore, in the process of transformation of neoteric and modern China, the cultural relationship between them has both prominent symbolic significance and important cultural value. Their thoughts cover politics, history, philosophy, literature and other aspects, furthermore, the thoughts passed down, crossed, even varied and developed in many aspects. Thus, through studying the thoughts of Zhang and Lu, we can make the complex relationships between politics and literature, history and literature, philosophy and literature, culture and literature plain and vivid.Young Zhang Taiyan accepted systemic Chinese classics training, dabbled the knowledge of western politics science, sociology, philosophy, moreover, took advantage of western academic and ideology to transform his own knowledge structure and critical methods. Therefore, Zhang's knowledge, although based on the Chinese classics, is not limited by them. He consciously applied his learning to the needs of the national democratic revolution, not only utilizing the traditional Chinese scriptures, such as "Hua Yi Debate", "Nine times revenge" to provide legitimacy for Chinese Revolutionary Movement, but also put to use the knowledge of the West and Zhuzi to criticize Confucius and Confucianism, which serve as the Chinese orthodox ideology. At the same time, being set in the deep understanding of Chinese politics and culture, Zhang criticized western democracy and relevant philosophy and cultural theories systematically. On a basis of criticism to both eastern and western cultures, Zhang learned the essences of various schools of philosophy in modern and ancient times, in China and elsewhere, and strived to establish his own philosophy. Living in the period when ancient Chinese society was replaced by the modem one, meanwhile China and the West were converging, the thought and academic of Zhang possesses the complexity of a transitional time, which is a broad, complex and even contradictory theoretical system, and is related to the popular nationalism, cultural radicalism and cultural conservatism in the 20^th century in China.Fiery nationalist feelings is the cultural foundation of the resonance in thought between Zhang Taiyan and Lu Xun. As a result of admiring Zhang's revolutionary will and morality, Lu consciously copied and studied Zhang's style of writing, and took Zhang as his teacher when Lu was in Tokyo. Zhang's knowledge and morality influenced young Lu greatly in his aesthetic, spiritual temperament, and cultural ideas. Under the impact of Zhang, Lu circumscribed with those who approve of the theory of " wholesale westernization" and accepted the "Chinese Renaissance" idea. From Zhang's study of Zhuzi, Lu realized that at Chinese non-mainstream cultural traditions, there are some intellectual resources which are able to counterbalance the Confucianism, and these resources can power the national culture regeneration. The article "Breaking the sound of evil" is the symbol that Lu accepted Zhang's "Chinese Renaissance" idea. In this article, Lu changed his tune which drastically criticized traditional culture and was obviously embodied in the articles of "The literary strength of the Devil poets" and "The deflected culture", he began to plead for the rationality of the traditional culture. Therefore, exploring traditional resources became priori status in Lu's ideational sense of culture.Lu Xun worked as a general staff in various sections at the Department of Education after returning from Japan. During this time, Lu completed his transition to a professional writer not only by the vast stores of knowledge, but also for a wealth of life experience accumulated for his literary works. Living in "S Hall", Lu seriously subscribed to and practiced of Zhang's "Chinese Renaissance" proposition, "editing antiquarian works", "reading Buddhist Scriptures", "copying epigraph", he went on a spiritual long journey of exploring national culture. Although this activity has been interfered by his job-seeking and official activities, it has not been suspended. In the process of "Chinese Renaissance", Zhang was considered as a object to be contrasted, reflected, challenged and surpassed by Lu. The proposition of "Chinese Renaissance" raised by Lu was consisted of two aspects: on the one hand, it is a process of deepening and expanding the traditional culture; on the other hand, it is a deviated, questioned, repudiated and surpassed process. Lu's purpose of approving "Chinese Renaissance" is to develop modern civilization from the source of traditional culture. However, from the scenario building of "Death of Nuwa", in the process of "Chinese Renaissance", Lu profoundly realised the historical reasons for the loss of original creativity and the incomplete state of national culture. At the same time, he also realized that "verve of the Han and Tang Dynasties" made great contribution to cultural prosperity in our history. Although Lu gave up his proposition of "Chinese Renaissance" and changed his direction to criticize traditional thought and culture drastically in the twenties of the 20^th century, the proposition of "Chinese Renaissance" left a deep mark in his literary career.