A Study On Hu Qiuyuan's Modernization Thoughts

In the modern history of Chinese thought, Hu Qiuyuan is an important confucian who advocate liberal nationalism can not be ignored. In the twentieth century Chinese modern thoughts, he both accepts the western modern value and keeps Chinese moral position. Based on the philosophical anthropology, he compare the same period of China and western to debate with the westernisers about the difference of characteristics and value of Chinese and western culture. He argues the modern value including science, democracy and freedom, is not unique to the western culture, and has been a rich tradition in Chinese culture which is not has the modern development. Hu Qiuyuan discusses the science, democracy system and spirit of freedom to inquire the difficulties of Chinese modernization and the reason of revival of Chinese culture.In the purpose of study the modernization thought of Hu Qiuyuan, the paper has five chapters, and has the research methods of diachronic comprehension and structural analysis. Taking1949as demarcation, the first chapter and the second chapter have the research of history of Hu Qiuyuan's modernization thought, and investigate his constant theme. Based on the history study, the later three chapters have the structural analysis of Hu Qiuyuan's modernization thought.First, we analysis two debates of modernization to understand the modernization thought of Hu Qiuyuan. In1933, Chinese thinkers discuss the economic modernization, and have not got an accordant conclusion, but the word of modernization seems to be widely used. To response the discussion, Hu Qiuyuan argues that industrial capitalism should be implement in china, so he accept the modernization as a means to strengthen the country. Presently, a heated controversy between the cultural departmentalists and westernizationists was evoked, Hu Qiuyuan feels sympathy for departmentalists, and is absolutely opposed to westernizationists. He proposes a cultural ideal of Chinese cultural modernizatioin, and try to separate modernization from westernization, but admit that modern western culture is the future of Chinese culture.In the second half of the twentieth century, Hu Qiuyuan's modernization thought is reflected in two debates. First, in1960's debate of Chinese and western culture, he rejected the westernizationists, interpreted tradition, propose a theory of transcend, and criticize Yin Haiguang's individual liberalism. Second, at the end of the60's, the modernization theory which is produced in the United States became popular in East Asia, so there is a mainstream of modernization thought which is against the nationalism. Hu Qiuyuan claims that the industrialization should have a nationalism position, so he opposes the anti-nationalism. He criticizes Fairbanks's conceptions of china, and reinterprets the starting point of modern history to prove that the Chinese traditional society is not isolated with modernity. He opposes the theory of anti-nationalism, and suggests that nationalism is modern power. He said that Chinese modernization is not to make china as American; the purpose of Chinese modernization is to create a new culture on the foundation of Chinese traditional culture.In structural analysis, firstly, the papers discuss Hu Qiuyuan's reflection of science. He determines the nature of science to oppose the scientism cult of science, and reconstruct valuation based on teleology to against with nihilism. So, he analysis that the reason of the backward of Chinese science is traditional autocratic politics, and Confucianism, as the most reasonable teleology, is not only an assistance for modernization, but also a value principle.In the next place, Hu Qiuyuan reflects on democratic system. He abstracts the general meaning of democracy form western history, and concludes that there is have the seeds of democracy in Chinese traditional culture. The reason of the slow development of democracy is not about of feudalism, but "closed door policy" and "eight spirits". He analysis that china struggles to realize democracy, and point out that the external cause is aggression, the internal cause is the decline of traditional culture, so that cause the lack of the democratic conditions, such as material conditions, manpower and mental conditions. The democratic road is to enrich three conditions.In the end, he reflects the freedom. There is three changes about his understanding of freedom, finally, he take freedom as the realization of nature. He suggests that the root of morbid of modernization is the decline of freedom in Chinese culture and western culture. So, he critic the incompleteness of western liberalism, and the hinder that autocracy set for Chinese freedom, and rejects the behavior that western liberalism is instead of Chinese freedom in modern china. He proposes the road of transcending the defects of modernization is in creating radical liberalism.Hu Qiuyuan's modernization thoughts has its limitation of the age, but it is more important that the thought is a kind of cultural criticism, that is, he consistently affirm and critic the reality by the cultural ideal. This critical spirit is important to our time, especially for the phenomenon that most people still deem modernization is our future, when the cost of modernization is being laid bare.