Tradition, Dialogue And Reconstmction

Since the Opium War, the Chinese nation was facing the crisis of genocide, and"where is the direction of China" had become the theme of the times, therefore theChinese embarked on exploring the way of modernization in order to rescue andstrengthen the country. The first generation of modern Neo-confucianists,such as LiangShuming and Xiong Shili,were stepping forward with strong national esteem to defendConfucianism,mainly from the angle of defending Confucianism and traditional cultureto publicize the revival and development of Confucianism. They rejected the “totalWesternization”faction for their denial of the value system of Confucianism andChinese culture.They argued strenuously for the reasonableness of this value systemand its need for Chinese society. But in the process of demonstration,they overestimatedthe status of Confucianism,so it’s no more than a sense of superiority the eastern culture.After the founding of New China in1949,the positions of modern Neo-Confucianiststransferred to Hong Kong and Taiwan. The second generation of modernNeo-Confucianists such as Fang Dongmei, Tang Junyi, Mu Zongsan, Xu Fuguan, withthe mentality of vagrants, overcame many difficulties, and actively explored the way outfor Chinese culture. In the situation of the attack of the foreign culture, theypromoted the revival and development of Confucianism by searching how to makeChinese culture adapt to the times and absorbing Western culture to make Chineseculture modernized, for which they spent tens of years of effort to build their hugesystem of thought, and concluded that it was necessary to change from " the Saintinward” to “the King outside", and to develop science and democracy, to achievethe national idealof saving China.The third generation of the modern Neo-Confucianists,who take the responsibility of exploring and carrying forward the Confucian spirit,inherit the ideology purport of the first and second generation of themodern Neo-Confucianists in general. They continue to carry forward Confucianismand advance with the times to break through the previous ideological perspective to acertain extent. To research Confucianism in consideration of the tendency of the worlddevelopment is to emphasize the important premise of the global "dialogue ofCivilizations".On the background of criticism and reflection on the various crisiscaused by the western modern industrial society, they explore the revival anddevelopment of Confucianism in the mutual agitating thoughts of "globalconsciousness" and" Root-seeking", and find the contemporary significance of Confucian tradition.It is the global crisis the western culture brings promots theproduction of the concept of common development in multicultural world. It alsoprovides an unprecedented opportunity for Confucianism to get back to the internationalarena. Traditional culture’s reflection and criticism on modernity, and Confucianism’sadjustment in the contemporary society finally make Confucianism be able to provideideological guidance in the process of solving the modernity problem. It is in thisbackground, with the situation that China’s comprehensive national power andinternational position rise ceaselessly, and driven by the "Chinese culture heat" allover the world, that the Confucius Institutes overseas emerge. Confucius Institute cannot only spread Chinese culture to the world, but also make the culture itself adevelopment. This is conducive to enhancing the national cultural soft power andmaking the people all over the world more directly contact with Chinese culture so as tobetter understand Chinese culture.