The Changing Self: A Study On Chinese Modern Self-concept

To understand the current concept of self,it is possible that its independence,individuality and other characteristics as well as its real-life reflections,such as the guarantee of freedom,equal rights,and diversified ways of individual development,need to be traced back to the origin of its value.The self-concept of Chinese modernity to be examined in this thesis,that is,the change of self-concept that occurred with the transformation of Chinese society after 1840,is the historical prerequisite for the possibility of contemporary self-concept.The reform of the modern self-concept as a whole manifests itself as a rebellion against the pre-modern self-concept.The self-ideal turns from a saint who is rooted in the pure moral embodiment of the destiny to a civilian-oriented independent and free personality.At the same time,with the premise of the common recognition of modern values and order,such as science and democracy,the overall characteristics of the modern self-concept are presented as the pursuit of the unity of virtue,intelligence,personality,and rights that are compatible with modernization requirements.Therefore,relative to premodernism,modern self-concept not only reflects the consciousness of self-liberation,but also greatly expands the range of subjectivity of ancient self,the simplification of the ancient Confucian moral self and the negative meaning of Taoist individual self.All overcome.The Chinese liberals and the modern New-Confucians in this article not only demonstrate the unanimous pursuit of modern self-value as above,but also show differences in value ordering in self-concept due to different understandings of Chinese and Western cultures and China's modernization path..In his criticism of the state of enslavement of the ancient self,liberals emphasized the independence and freedom of the modern self and the priority of personality development.Its definition of "group" is also aimed at individual self-realization.The modern New-Confucian,as a cultural conservative,has also given affirmation of "use" to the subjects of personality,intellectuality,and rights as a positive response to modern civilization.However,they are trying to rebuild the traditional moral self and ethical society,and believe that this is a transcendence for modern Western individualistic self and the rule of law.The self-concept of the two school of thought naturally also has internal differences or different orientations.As a pioneer of Chinese liberalism,Liang Qichao's concept of "self" has the duality of "little self" and "great self" and fully reflects the tension between them.Hu Shi was the most influential liberal in the "May4th" era.He clearly put forward the idea of "sound individualism" and emphasized the significance of the democratic system and the scientific way of thinking for cultivating free and independent personality.The modern new-Confucian pioneer Xiong Shili and Liang Shuming have different emphasis on the reconstruction of moral self and ethical self.Xiong Shili uses the ontological position of the "heart" and the priority of the virtue as the premise to establish a modern subject with unity of virtue,knowledge and personality.Liang Shuming used "rationality" or "selfless emotions" as the basis for rebuilding ethical self.He advocated that modern ethicalself and reconstruction of society should focus on the individual self and the "mutual attention to each other" on the basis of carrying forward the traditional rational spirit.The establishment of a relationship has exceeded the confrontation between the Western personal standard and the social standard.The contemporary philosopher Mr.Feng Qi's “Wisdom Theory” aims at understanding the world,understanding oneself,and achieving free personality.He made a conceptual refinement of "self," and examined the ancient "adult way" with philosophical categories such as heaven,religion,and selfishness,and then examined the evolution of self-concept in modern times.In his reflection and summarization of modern self-concept,he also gave birth to a new construction of self ideals and a new exploration of self-realization approaches.In fact,the development of the concept of "self" that has only generally awakened in modern China has not been fully developed.However,the process of constructing modern self-concept has always reflected the dual tendency of learning and transcending(or reflecting)the western "self-experience".The contemporary self-concept that is in constant transformation and construction should be the inheritance and transcendence of modern heritage.This process itself also proves the historical position,positive significance,and room for further development of modern self-concept.