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tradition had a great impact on the study of Confucianism in the context of
contemporary Confucian revival in China. Many studies today can be seen along
the lines of Mr. Tu’s vision at that time. This is not only because his response was
the earliest, but also because his “challenge-response” approach of retorting to the
challenges of Western culture with regards to Confucianism is in line with the basic
rationale of the study of the history of scholarship and thought in modern and
contemporary China. Mr. Tu felt the urgency of reconstructing Chinese tradition in
the European and American contexts, and his choice of this path had much to do
with his experience and insight as an Overseas Chinese. However, from the
perspective of scholars within China, the restructuring of tradition must go beyond
the basic idea of “challenge-response”; they should not only regard Western
culture as a “challenger” but should really, from the perspective of keeping
Chinese culture predominant, consider which elements of Western culture are
worth learning from, and which of them can be corrected and rectified. As Gan
Yang (甘阳) put it in 1988, “Confucianism is not about how to meet the challenge of
‘Western culture,’ but about how to work together with ‘Western culture’—the
direction of ‘spiritual science’ research—to promote human values.”
The study of Confucianism in the new century once again stands at the
crossroads between ancient and modern times and between China and the West.
The rapid development of China’s economy and the rising standard of living of its
people are supposed to better facilitate the transformation of Chinese culture from
traditional to modern cultural forms. While it is important to recognize the
strengths that exist, it is more urgent to recognize the weaknesses that need
improvement. A genuinely strong person is one who is happy when he or she is told
about a weakness and can then change it; a truly confident nation is one that is
capable of self-reflection and can repair its cultural deficiencies. One’s true cul-
tural self-confidence lies not only in eulogizing and promoting one’s existing
strengths and core beliefs, but also in being able to examine, criticize, and correct
oneself and discover one’s cultural misconduct and psychological failings that go
unnoticed; in the same way, not using the excuse of “it has always been like this” to
avoid treatment and change. In terms of the relationship with one’s own historical
traditions, as far as individuals are concerned, true filial piety (孝) is never just
about “obedience” and obeying everything said by their parents and forefathers,
but about personally preserving the strengths of their parents and forefathers yet
finding their shortcomings and correcting them. In terms of national history, our
relationship with tradition is not just about preserving it, but also about devel-
oping it.