Because the two civilizations and regional culture cover two aspects: institutional culture and conceptual culture ... Based on the complicated reasons such as geographical environment, social structure, economic foundation and ideological conditions, firstly, the farther human beings go, the greater the role of geographical environment. For example, some people think that China civilization is a static civilization and Western civilization is a dynamic civilization; Some people think that Chinese civilization denies independent personality, while western civilization values human dignity. Some people think that Chinese civilization is spiritual civilization and western civilization is material civilization; Wait a minute. Most people already have some kind of predetermined framework in mind. In order to publicize their views, they only chose some examples for my use, which were too superficial, not comprehensive and in-depth, not in line with historical facts, and it was difficult to gain people's understanding. We are not the quintessence of the country, but only say yes; I don't want to scold ugly China people, just speak ill of them. We are not fake foreign devils, worshiping foreign things and flattering foreign countries; I don't want to scold any ugly foreigners, nor do I want to blindly exclude others. Or just cite some superficial phenomena such as poverty, weakness, ignorance and selfishness, or insist that foreigners' legs are too straight to bend down, so they can't bow their heads, and so on. These views can't be said to grasp the essence of the problem.

What are the basic differences between Chinese and western civilizations? Academic circles have had a heated discussion about this. After comparing the opinions of various scholars, we gradually realized clearly that:

1, in the relationship between man and nature: the unity of man and nature and the conquest of nature.

A basic difference between Chinese and western civilizations is that in the relationship between man and nature, Chinese civilization attaches importance to the harmony between man and nature and the unity of man and nature; Western civilization, on the other hand, emphasizes conquering and defeating nature.

As early as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, there was a tradition of advocating strength and seeking knowledge. According to the Bible, God created man in his own image and let them manage everything he created. Bacon put forward the slogan "knowledge is power", arguing that people pursue the purpose of science, not to defeat each other in argument, but to conquer nature in action. Descartes believed that "if we clearly understand the power and function of water, fire, air, planets and all other objects around us, we can use these power and function in all suitable places to make ourselves the masters and occupiers of nature." This idea is of great significance and function to the development of civilization. But Engels has long warned people "not to be too intoxicated with our victory over nature." It is biased to exaggerate the role of spiritual strength and science and technology in the relationship between man and nature, and ignore that conquering and possessing nature may cause natural revenge.

Chinese civilization, represented by the Book of Changes, advocates the harmony between man and nature, saying that "an adult is in harmony with heaven and earth, with the sun and the moon, with the four seasons and with ghosts and gods." Nature does not violate heaven, and the day after tomorrow does not violate heaven. What about people? " After the Han and Song Dynasties, it developed into the theory of "the unity of heaven and man", saying that everything in heaven and earth is one and man is a part of nature. There is a saying called "one thing and two bodies". "there is a difference between heaven and man before Tao", and heaven is heaven, and everything in heaven and earth has its own development law; In people, it is human nature, and benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are the norms. There are universal laws in nature, and people should abide by them. The ideal of life is the harmony between man and nature. This thought affirms the unity of man and nature, although it has its correct side, but it overemphasizes the same law of nature and man, ignoring their own special laws, making feudal morality last forever, making people passive in front of nature and affecting the development of science and technology.

2. In family relations: family-oriented and individual-oriented.

The second manifestation of the basic difference between Chinese and western civilizations is that in family relations, Chinese civilization takes family as the standard and pays attention to individual responsibilities and obligations; Western civilization takes the individual as the standard and pays attention to individual freedom and rights. Generally speaking, the history of human family has gone through several stages in primitive society, such as consanguineous family, patriarchal commune family and monogamous individual family. Commune family is the product of patriarchal society. Actually, it's a big family of generations. In the middle stage, public property and parental rights are very large. The development of family forms varies greatly in different countries.

In the west, after entering the class society, the patriarchal family commune still exists. Although the commune is under the management of a parent, its power is restricted through elections, and the simplicity of the original commune is preserved, so that individual freedom and rights are not suppressed and deprived. Land * * * has possession * * * has cultivation and will not deteriorate. It took several centuries for the Germanic family commune to evolve into the Kyle commune, and the land changed from public ownership to individual cultivation and became permanent possession. Private property appeared earlier in Greece and Rome, and individual families appeared earlier. Monogamy has been practiced since the beginning. After the late Middle Ages, private ownership went deep into the family, and fathers, sons, brothers and even couples all had their own private property. Patriarchy and husband's right are put in a secondary position, which lays the foundation for each member's independence and provides conditions for the emergence and development of individualism. This theory emphasizes individual freedom, rights and independence and has obvious advantages. Families are more democratic and equal, which makes westerners accustomed to living and developing independently on their own, without relying on their parents or families. However, there is also a lack of personal sense of responsibility and obligation to the family, which makes the family relationship in the cold spot of money transaction and prone to family crisis.

In China, due to the need of collective projects such as water control, the state appeared earlier, the state-owned land system existed for a long time, and private property was weak. Patriarchal clan system family commune has continued from ancient times to modern times, with strong clan power and great parental power. Patriarchal families practice cohabitation system, each member is not independent economically, and must live on the same property of the family. The fate of the family is also the fate of the individual, and it cannot be based on the family. At the same time, due to the lack of democratic management mechanism, the principles of patriarchy, husband's right and regulating family members are necessary, and what three cardinal guides and five permanents, four virtues and eight virtues have been formulated one after another. Family type values family more than individuals, and attaches importance to ethical relations among members, such as filial piety, brotherhood and brotherly love, and husbands and prostitutes follow suit. In fact, its essence is to stipulate the responsibilities and obligations that family members should bear. According to this system, parents control all the property and income of the family. Children, no matter how old they are, cannot be financially independent and must be raised by their parents. Parents have the obligation to support their children, and children have the obligation to support their parents. There are many examples of four generations living under one roof and five generations living under one roof, which are favored by people and passed down as anecdotes. However, the negative impact of this family system is also very serious. Families are hierarchical, economically dependent, interdependent and lacking in competitive spirit. Ancestors have lived together, their vitality is increasing day by day, they are jealous of each other, and contradictions within families are endless.

3. In ethnic relations: Concord and all nations.

The third basic difference between Chinese and western civilizations is manifested in ethnic relations. The tradition of Chinese civilization is to maintain national independence and not to expand to the outside world. The ideal model is to realize the harmony of all ethnic groups through enlightenment. Western civilization pays attention to competition, and many thinkers advocate conquering other nations and ruling the world, which is often adopted and put into action by the ruling rulers.

In the west, Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, defended the Greeks' plundering of slaves, land and wealth, and their constant expansion and aggression, saying that barbarians were born slaves, and Greeks should not be slaves wherever they went. Slave owners are superior to slaves in essence and are born as economic organizers. The stoics in the later period of Greece also put forward the concept of a world country, and everyone naturally belongs to the citizens of a unified world country. This idea was very popular in the Roman Empire, which conquered vast areas along the Mediterranean coast. At that time, people thought that Rome was the center of the world, and the head of the world empire should have unlimited power and have the right to rule the conquered nations. Augustine, a Christian thinker, divided all mankind into voters and non-voters, that is, those who are doomed to be saved and those who are doomed to perish. He advocated taking cruel measures to crack down on sects opposed to orthodox teachings and serve the ambition of church aggression and expansion. With the development of capitalism, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other countries have successively ended their internal feudal separatist regimes and established nation-States, forming the same body with the same language, the same region, the same economic life and the same psychological quality. Capitalist nationalism has played a progressive role in the struggle against theocracy and for national independence. However, it supports the invasion and expansion of backward areas and turns the vast Asia, Africa and Latin America into colonies, which also has its ugly side.

China has been a unified multi-ethnic country since Qin and Han Dynasties. How to deal with ethnic relations has always been a major political issue. The basic theory of Chinese civilization in dealing with ethnic relations was first found in Yaodian and Gong Yu in Shangshu. Yao Dian said: "To be honest and virtuous, nine families are in harmony, and the people are in harmony." The general idea is: use people with both ability and political integrity to make the internal (nine generations) of all ethnic groups United and harmonious; People of all ethnic groups unite and live in harmony, and commend the good deeds of officials; Officials handle their affairs well, and strive to make all ethnic groups cooperate peacefully, feeling like a family. Gong Yu divided the "world" into "five clothes" according to the distance from the city, and adopted different governance methods. Five hundred miles outside the king's city is the "temple house", which is the territory of the son of heaven and pays tribute to food; Five hundred miles outside the temple house is the "Houfu", which is an area that guards the son of heaven and provides garrison labor; Five hundred miles away from Houfu is the "Sui House", which is the area where the emperor was educated. He should be educated, familiar with the military and defend the emperor. Serving 500 miles away is "serving", which is an area where people are obeyed through covenants. It only requires maintaining the usual religion and reducing services; Serving 500 miles away, that is, in a wild land, is a "wild suit", where people have no settlement and can only be governed by customs. This mechanical division is obviously utopian, but the spirit of adopting different ways and policies to deal with it according to different regions and different nationalities is really valuable. Xia, Shang and Zhou rulers implemented the enfeoffment system. On the one hand, they established strongholds all over the country through enfeoffment of their children. On the one hand, through the titles of tribal leaders and Yuanzhou, they were placed under their own control, so that Huaxia and Barbarians gradually assimilated and merged into one after hundreds of years of common life. After the Qin and Han Dynasties unified the whole country, a large number of Han population was formed. Since then, despite frequent regime changes in past dynasties, the pattern with the Han nationality as the main body has never changed. Because of its high level of economic and cultural development, the Han nationality often occupies an important position in political life. Therefore, it is inevitable that there are some ideas among literati that "Zhong Hua despises foreigners", but the "difference between Chinese and foreigners" is mainly based on cultural standards rather than resorting to racial categories. As long as it is integrated with China culture in terms of language, production and lifestyle, cultural psychology, etc. , RongDi barbarians will be regarded as descendants of the Chinese people. In many dynasties in history, the national policy of "adapting to local customs" and "exchanging summer for foreigners" was conducive to the assimilation and integration of all ethnic groups, which enabled the Han nationality to maintain close relations with other ethnic groups in history and gradually integrate into the most populous nation in the world today. Han people cherish their independence and cultural traditions, and basically adopt a defensive policy when harassing and invading other ethnic groups. The construction of the Great Wall is an obvious manifestation of this policy. A few rulers are keen on expanding their territory and are often condemned by public opinion. Du Fu said: "If you shoot the horse first, you can catch the thief first, and the killing is limited. Countries have their own borders, and dirt can control aggression. How can you kill a few more? " Therefore, the rulers of past dynasties treated the intrusion of ethnic minorities mainly with loyalty and opposition, and adopted the policy of appeasement, appeasement and mutual accommodation, which was manifested in lenient and friendly exchanges. Even if the leaders of ethnic minorities mastered the central or local political power in a certain period, under the influence of advanced Han culture, they had to promote "Sinicization" and accept the traditional policies of "adapting to customs" and "reconciling all ethnic groups". On the whole, Emperor Taizong's "love for China ethnic minorities" did not change their mode of production, social system and customs, but adopted the form of making the leaders of all ethnic groups the viceroy and secretariat, allowing them to continue to rule. In the Ming Dynasty, the policy of "protecting the summer from the inside, helping the four foreigners from the outside, treating them equally, and living in a salty place" was implemented, and the method of "local officials and Han officials participating in the governance" was adopted in minority areas. By the time Sun Yat-sen established the Republic of China, he advocated "harmony among the five ethnic groups", salt and reform. All these show that Chinese civilization has a fine tradition of loving peace and equality among all ethnic groups when dealing with ethnic relations.

4. In ideology and religious belief: inclusiveness and exclusiveness.

The fourth manifestation of the basic difference between Chinese and western civilizations is that in terms of religious beliefs, Chinese civilization is indifferent to religious concepts, eclectic and believes in polytheism; Western civilization has a strong religious concept, and I am the only one who believes in monotheism. Religion is the product of people's longing for some transcendental power as their destiny support and spiritual destination when they feel unable to control their own destiny in the face of natural society and life. This mysterious force has absolute authority, dominates nature and society, and determines people's fate and blessings, so it has awe and worship. Every nation has its own national gods that it fears and worships.

In the west, there are many ancient religions with national characteristics, such as ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, ancient India, ancient Persia, ancient Judaism, ancient Greek and Roman religions, etc. Most of these religions died with the demise of their ancient countries. With the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges in various regions of the world, people's ideological understanding of nature and self has deepened. On the basis of national religions, world religions have emerged that transcend the limitations of national races and break through the definition of national regions, among which Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are the most typical ones. Buddhism originated in ancient India from the 6th century BC to the 5th century BC, and was founded by Sakyamuni, aiming at opposing Brahmanism. In the 3rd century BC, it was regarded as the national religion by Ashoka of the Peacock Dynasty, and it began to spread to Asian countries, and in some places it reached the degree of integration of politics and religion. From the19th century, it was introduced to European and American countries, which really caused its worldwide influence. Christianity came into being in the Roman Empire in the 1 th century, and then spread to the whole empire, and became the state religion of the empire at the end of the 4th century. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity conquered the whole medieval Europe, and the church controlled the governments of many countries. Later, with the rise of modern capitalism in Europe and its overseas colonial expansion activities, it was introduced to Africa, America and Asia and became the most influential religion in the world. Islam was born in the Arabian Peninsula in the early 7th century, spread to Europe, Asia and Africa in the early 8th century, and then spread from the Arab world to Persian, Pakistani, Indian, China and other Asian and African countries. Many countries regard it as the state religion. And gradually introduced to European and American countries. Buddhism worships Sakyamuni, Christianity worships God, and Islam worships God. They all belong to monotheism and have a strong sectarian consciousness. They are not only incompatible with other religions, but also have deep contradictions within the same religion because of different factions. The religious fanaticism that broke out from time to time sometimes reached an uncontrollable level, and even intensified into a life-and-death religious war that lasted for many years. The jihad launched by Islam and the Christian Crusade are both famous and influential in world history. Western religious organizations are well organized, religious sites are splendid, religious ceremonies are grand, and religious rules are strict. Believers' religious consciousness is very strong and permeates every corner of daily life. In real life, many Christians have improved their scientific thinking. Although they no longer believe in a superman's God, they still unconsciously regard religious activities as a part of their lives, and their influence is obvious.

In China, the primitive religious activities in ancient society were characterized by offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, but "worshipping God as if he were there" was not particularly grand; "Away from ghosts and gods", the religious concept is very indifferent. Confucianism has long occupied a dominant position in social life and people's ideological activities, but it has never established a strict organization and become a religion in a strict sense. During the Warring States period, there was a fairy road in the coastal area of Yanqi, which was "selling both form and spirit and treating ghosts and gods as things"; In the Western Han Dynasty, the immortal technique was entrusted to the Yellow Emperor, and the Taoist way of self-cultivation was entrusted to Laozi. In the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, organized Taoism began to take shape, belonging to a religion born and bred in China. Later, it merged with other religious factions, forming a complex and diverse situation. Different from monotheism popular in the west, Taoism belongs to polytheism. The gods worshipped mainly include natural gods, such as Lei Gong and Fengbo. Heroic gods: such as Guan Di and Betty Wong; Patrons: such as door gods, kitchen gods, city gods, land, Mazu, etc. ; And industry gods, functional gods, functional gods, such as drug king, god of wealth, plague god, silkworm god and so on. Chinese civilization is tolerant of religion, so long as it abides by the law, it is allowed to spread. Buddhism was introduced from India through the western regions in the 1 century. In the process of China, it has gradually developed into a Buddhist sect with China characteristics, which integrates Confucianism and Taoism. Christianity was introduced as Nestorianism in the 7th century. Islam was introduced in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and gradually took root among the Hui, Uygur and other ethnic minorities. Judaism was introduced around the Tang Dynasty. Jews who came to China once formed their own communities in Kaifeng and other places, and were later assimilated in the long historical development. Religious activities in China civilization generally exist in three forms. One is all-inclusive. Not only Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism coexist and merge, but other foreign religions can also spread widely. Secondly, folk culture is combined with village religious activities such as offering sacrifices to heaven and entertaining gods. Third, the religious activities of secular kings, independent of all religions, appeared in the form of suburban worship, temple worship and Zen ceremony. Compared with traditional Confucianism, any religion can spread freely, but it has not reached the height of monopoly, has not controlled secular regime for a long time, and has not appeared uncontrollable religious fanaticism, so there has not been a Western-style religious war.

5. In the way of thinking: harmonious unity and separate confrontation.

The fifth manifestation of the basic difference between Chinese and western civilizations is that in the way of thinking, Chinese civilization pursues harmony and unity, while western civilization pays attention to separation and confrontation. In the west, Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, affirmed the regularity of the changes of all things, pointing out that there are contradictions, opposites and transformations in the universe, and unity comes from struggle. He said: "War is the father and king of all things. It makes some people become gods, some people become people, some people become slaves, and some people become free people. " He also said: "War is universal, justice is struggle, and everything is produced through struggle and inevitability." At the same time, he also advocates harmony, which is a combination of mutually exclusive things. He paid special attention to confrontation and struggle, which made him the founder of dialectics. This traditional western way of thinking was still clear until Hegel. "Abstract self-identity is not vitality, and positive things themselves are negative." He emphasized the role of contradictory struggle in promoting the development of things. In modern western civilization, metaphysical thinking mode occupies a dominant position. Represented by Bacon and Locke, he transplanted the method of natural science into philosophy, opposed dialectics with metaphysics, and thought that everything, like itself, could not be itself or anything else. This abstract view of identity, thinking in incompatible opposites and using it to grasp the results of the world, is bound to be a mechanical and metaphysical world outlook. Of course, it only sees separation and confrontation, which is inconsistent with the reality of dialectical unity of opposites.

In China, the way of thinking in observing and dealing with things has always had dialectical traditional characteristics, which places great emphasis on unity, harmony and moderation. Laozi: "Everything is born one", "Everything is born two, two, three, three". One is the root of all things. Neijing said: "When it is divided into two, it is called heaven and earth". Everything is always contradictory and divided into two; But out of a unified * * * body, two into one. Unity and difference of opposites are the core of dialectics. Two (opposition) is the internal content of one (unity), and one is the original basis of two. People's way of thinking must conform to the law of this thing itself, that is to say, we must grasp contradictions and differences as the internal content of unity, and at the same time, we must grasp unity and harmony as the original basis of contradictions and differences in order to explore the essence of things. It is very important and necessary to seek unity and harmony. I ching-yun said, "When the dry yuan is great, everything will unify the sky." Zhu explained that Gan Yuan "has always been consistent with Tiande, so it is called unifying the sky." Without reunification, there is no question. The unity and harmony of different factors can make things develop and grow. "Mandarin": "Harmony". Yue Ji: "Harmony without difference." Huai Nanzi: "Tian Qi is greater than peace. Harmony between yin and yang, everything is born day and night. " True Dream: "Harmony can be great, joy can last for a long time, and the nature of heaven and earth is only long." That's what I said. So, how can we achieve the harmony and unity of contradictions and differences? This requires a neutral and moderate approach. "The Book of Rites" said: "There are joys and sorrows, and there are joys and sorrows; All the hair is in the middle section, called and. If you are in the middle, you are the biggest in the world; He who is harmonious is the great way in the world. Neutral, the status of Heaven is awkward, and everything breeds. " Confucius advocated the method of "grasping both ends and serving the people" without going to extremes. Praise "the golden mean is also a virtue, what is it?" Cheng Er in Song Dynasty thought: "Impartiality means being in the middle, and it is not easy to be mediocre. The middle way is the right way on earth; Mediocrity is the theorem of this world. " Only by observing things and dealing with problems in this way of thinking, with a fair attitude, being generous and moderate, and not intensifying contradictions, can we achieve the ideal effect.

It is the difference of thinking mode that makes China civilization and western civilization always show two tendencies when dealing with issues such as man and nature, family, nationality and religion. For example, China civilization emphasizes unity and harmony, while western civilization emphasizes confrontation and struggle.

China's traditional civilization holds that "man is the spirit of all things", and among the "three talents" in heaven and earth, man is in the central position. Whether Confucianism and Legalism value man over nature, or Taoism and Mohism value heaven over man, in the final analysis, heaven listens to people and it is the projection of human nature. Food is the most important thing for the people, which is the most realistic, and human nature is the most important. Chunqiu Zi said, "The sky is far away and people are near". Confucius seldom talks about heaven. He said that "scholars take Tao as their purpose", that is, they are committed to humanity. The Book of Changes holds that "human nature is more evil than enough" and emphasizes "the way to cultivate people". Humanism should first solve the problem of food and clothing, but also maintain social order and carry out ideological education. Mencius said: "People who have attained the Tao eat to keep out the cold, live in seclusion and don't teach, and are close to animals." It is not enough to just focus on the problems in life. Wang Fuzhi put forward that "Heaven should govern people". Dai Zhen believes that "human nature, human relations and daily life are all the same." We should pay full attention to it. Attaching importance to personnel will inevitably belittle religion, and attaching importance to reality will inevitably belittle the afterlife.

In the long process of historical evolution, western civilization has roughly experienced several major stages, such as the ancient oriental countries, classical Greece and Rome, medieval Europe and modern western countries. Different from the endless historical tradition of Chinese civilization for thousands of years, the center of foreign civilization seems to have been shifting frequently, each leading for hundreds of years. Of course, there are also consistent things, mostly advocating human personality, praising scientific rationality, yearning for democracy and the legal system, and affirming material interests. Therefore, its basic spirit can be roughly summarized as: individualism, utilitarianism, scientific rationality and democracy and legal system.