Based on Ku Hongming’s “The Sprite of the Chinese People” to Explore the Formation of Cultural Self-Confidence from Cultural Conservatism

Abstract

Conservatism, as a cultural trend, was accompanied by the process of modernizations. Its basic feature is that it attempts to critique the overextension of instrumental rationality in modernization and the resulting social problems such as human alienation and moral loss. Its humanist tendencies and reflections on the modernization movement have their own unique cultural value. As a kind of critical and constructive thinking, Ku Hongming’s cultural conservatism can participate in historical dialogue. In the new era, how should we view modernization and Chinese culture, how to maintain our national identity in the midst of the cultural storm of globalization, how to correctly treat Chinese traditional culture in the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and how to promote the formation of cultural self-confidence, Ku Hongming’s cultural perspectives have somehow given us deep thought and inspiration to some extent. The Spirit of the Chinese People is one of Ku’s major works, and its contents are a direct reflection of Ku’s thinking. Reading and Studying on this book will help us to understand his true thoughts and appreciate his cultural confidence and independent personality.