The cultural differences between the East and the West are a matter of life and death.
Hong Kong is a good example of the integration of two cultures, but whether it can continue to develop depends on finding the power to inspire innovation among Hong Kong people.
Author: GUDORDI | 2023-03-15
Hong Kong people have never had any ideological baggage. (Shutterstock)
Continuing from the above: “Hong Kong is an ongoing cultural melting pot experiment”
“Urgent necessity is often
the source of motivation for innovation.” “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
─ Plato
The author has repeatedly reiterated that exploring Hong Kong’s future direction, such as continuing to develop an international financial center and a cultural exchange center, cannot be separated from cultural factors. Hong Kong’s cultural genes are a fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. Especially in today’s global political landscape, we need to understand the history of these two cultures before we can get out of the new situation. The author can hope to use this article to summarize this series of articles.
Reflecting on the roots of Chinese culture
The author pointed out earlier that Chinese culture is like a “Titanic” that hit a glacier during the May Fourth Movement more than a hundred years ago and is even in danger of sinking. This crisis stems from two aspects. First, Western culture is very powerful and has its own advantages; second, Chinese people have insufficient confidence and understanding of their own culture.
The author believes that the roots of Chinese culture are Fuxi, the “Book of Changes” and the “Tao Te Ching”. I believe that no one will question the status of these classics, but how much connotation is related to the Chinese culture that people talk about today? Confucianism has been popular in China for more than 2,000 years and is undoubtedly an important strand of Chinese culture, but can it fully represent the long history of Chinese culture? Ever since Dong Zhongshu in the Han Dynasty proposed “deposing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone,” Confucianism has been inextricably linked to royal rule, and it is doubtful how closely it has anything to do with the ideas advocated by Confucius. All these issues are worthy of our deep thought.
Western culture is both a challenge and an opportunity
On the other hand, is Western culture a cultural threat and challenge of “either you die or I live”? It is worth noting that the Chinese nation has been able to absorb and integrate foreign cultures over the past thousands of years. Take Buddhism as an example. It originated from India, but China helped India preserve Buddhism and integrated it into its own culture, making Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism the three pillars of Chinese culture. Instead of seeing Western culture as a challenge, why not see it as an opportunity for Chinese culture to renew? These are some profound questions that have not yet been fully answered.
Hong Kong is a good example of the integration of two cultures, but whether it can continue to develop depends on finding the power to inspire innovation among Hong Kong people. As mentioned above, Hong Kong has always viewed Chinese and Western cultures with a pragmatic attitude, without any ideological baggage. It chooses and chooses different cultural characteristics purely based on the actual environment and needs, which is enough to build up a very tenacious and determined reform spirit in Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s heart. China’s belief proposed “taking the West as an example and Hong Kong as a model”, even though “overthrowing the Manchus” was such a foolish dream at the time.
The author believes that the quote from Plato at the beginning of the article is deeply insightful.
“Hong Kong’s Legendary Future” Series 26
Contact the author: Gudordi@proton.me
