03_(75-86) A Contemporary Reflection.pmd


A CONTEMPORARY REFLECTION ON THE CHINESE

TRADITIONAL MODE OF THINKING

He Xirong

Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China

Abstract

In China’s path to modernization since the 19th century, some intel-

lectual traditions have been disappearing, leading to the awkward situation

faced by Chinese people of being “neither Chinese nor Western” or “being

Chinese and Western at the same time”. Zhongdao (中道  the middle road or
the middle course), the mode of Chinese traditional thinking, avoids the Western

dualism and it considers Tian (天  heaven), Di (地  earth) and human beings as
being a whole. In such an approach, human beings are placed in an important

position, because they could change their mode of existence according to

their thoughts to make TianDi (heaven, earth including society) creating a

sense of harmony. A revival of such thinking can be helpful to solve many of

the problems faced by human beings today.

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Prajna Vihara, Volume 13, Number 1-2, January-December, 2012, 75-86 75

 c 2000 by Assumption University Press

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Raising the Question

The development of thinking, the ability to observe and mindful-

ness, are effective means for the development of a society. A specific

mode of thinking develops historically. Therefore, because of their differ-

ent living environments, the ways of practicing and cultural conditions,

the Eastern and Western modes of thinking developed differently. In con-

sequence their ways of knowing and practicing that directed by thinking

are different. However, any judgment about which mode is better cannot

be made, they are just different.

Since China’s defeat in 1840, Western technologies, institutions

and thoughts have been gradually assimilated by the Chinese. Many of

the Chinese intellectual elite, like Gong Zizhen, Liang Qichao, Yan Fu,

Hu Shi, Lin Yutang, Lu Xun, Liang Shuming, Chen Duxiu, and Li Dazhao,

compared the West with China, and have concluded that almost in every

aspect China had fallen behind the west. As a result, such derogatory

terms as ignorance, naivety, backwardness, etc., had become associated

with China.

The May Fourth Movement is the first instance of the intellectual

elite’s thorough rethinking of Chinese traditional culture. They made sys-

temic critique of Chinese traditional politics, economics and culture. The

New Culture Movement, following doctrine of “overthrow Confucian-

ism and learn from the West”, swept across the country. The new efforts

to develop vernacular Chinese, simplification of Chinese characters, the

development of science and the development of democracy, became known

by the masses quickly through the intellectual elite’s advocacy. There is

no doubt that Chinese people were enlightened and Chinese society had

progressed as a result of the above-mentioned movements, but some ex-

treme ideas, like “there’s no need for young man to read Chinese books”

(Lu Xun), “China is backward in everything” (Hu Shi), “abolish Chinese

character” (Qian Xuantong) and “throw Chinese traditional books to toi-

let” (Wu Zhihui), also emerged. The situation was just as Hu Shi’s saying

in The Chinese Renaissance,1 “there’s revolt everywhere and tradition is

thrown away. The authorities and traditional beliefs are lost and cheap

beliefs and new-worship are emerging”. To change the Chinese modes of

thinking and learn Western approaches, Yan Fu translated J.S. Mill’s trea-

76  Prajna Vihara
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tise of logic in Chinese and introduced it to Chinese people. Because

philosophy is the ground of the mode of thinking, so the later scholars

also tried their best to learn Western philosophies. Even until now, the

criticism to Chinese tradition still concentrates on the criticism to Chi-

nese mode of thinking, the representative issues are provided by Bo Yang

and Chu Yu who think that the major reason for China’s backwardness is

the Chinese mode of thinking and that the Chinese must learn the Western

scientific mode of thinking in order to progress. Bo Yang wrote a book

called On Ugly Chinese which claimed that Chinese culture is a “sauce

urn culture”. And Mr. Qian Hong had a lecture on “There must be inno-

vation in the modes of Chinese Thinking”, claiming that we should be

trained in metaphysics. Chu Yu published a book in 2010, called The

Animadvert on Chinese Thinking Mode, he indicated that the reason for

China’s falling behind is due to its traditional mode of thinking, and claimed

that we should learn from the western mode of thinking especially scien-

tific thinking.

However, the mode of thinking of one nation is grounded deeply

in its history, and it cannot be uprooted totally by simple advocacy of

rejection and revolution. Therefore on the way to modernization, we find

that Chinese traditional mode of thinking is in decline but the Western

mode of thinking has not yet taken hold. That means Chinese people fall

into embarrassing situation of being “neither Chinese nor Western” or

“being Chinese and Western at the same time”.

There have been many expositions on the differences between

Western modes of thinking and Chinese. For example, the Chinese mode

of thinking emphasizes synthesis, entirety, induction, hint, implication,

ethics, intention, intuition, imagery and circle models, whereas Western

mode of thinking emphasizes analysis, individuality, deduction, exactness,

clarity, recognition, objectivity, logic, demonstration and linearity. Chi-

nese traditional thinking seeks common ground while keeping differences,

but Western traditional thinking distinguishes from common ground. Just

as Ludwig Feuerbach’s assertion, “the easterner sees unity without dif-

ferences, whereas the westerner sees differences without unity”.2

In fact, these specific modes of thinking have been molded in spe-

cific living environments of each nation and function in part to solve exis-

tential problems, so each mode of thinking has its own rationality and is

He Xirong  77



the motivation of formulation of a kind of national character. Neverthe-

less, it is clear that each mode of thinking has its own merits and short-

comings. For instance, Chinese traditional thinking is good at shaping an

integral, systematic and active grasping of the world and of things, and

Chinese medicine, Qigong and Chinese health preserving are rooted in a

valuable form of thinking that emphasizes intuition, the blurring of sharp

distinctions and dialectics. But these aspects of Chinese traditional think-

ing also created the conditions that made it unable to formulate the objec-

tive Western scientific forms of knowledge. We can also see the dual

character of Western thinking in that on one hand it has been the great

impetus of modernization but on the other hand it restricts the integrated

development of the human being.

Because thinking is rooted in living activities, the change of exist-

ence should lead to the change in the mode of thinking. From this per-

spective it would not be rational for one mode of thinking to object to

another, or to abandon one’s own mode of thinking to cater for an unfa-

miliar one. An either-or method should be avoided, because it results in

the thinking of binary oppositions that has been strongly criticized and

abandoned by contemporary philosophies. Therefore what we have to do

instead is to clarify the different aspects of each mode of thinking in order

to grasp the way it occurs and progresses. The ground of this method lies

in that, “man is the producer of his own notions, thoughts... conscious-

ness in any time is the awareness of being, and the being of man is his

actual living process”.3  This is the basic view of historical materialism of

Marxism.

Zhongdao as the Chinese Traditional Mode of Thinking

Thinking of Zhongdao (中道  the middle road) involves the traits of
integrity, blurring of distinctions and dialectics, that constitute the spe-

cific character of Chinese thought compared with Western thought. West-

ern philosophy functions here as “the other” which allows us to deter-

mine the traits of Chinese thought. Binary thinking, making antithesis

between subject and object, phenomenon and substance, reason and per-

ception and so on, is the characteristic of mainstream Western philoso-

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phy, whereas there is no such pattern in Chinese traditional thinking. As

mentioned above, Chinese thinking takes Tian (天 , heaven), Di (

地 

, the

earth) and human beings as a whole and makes “human beings” an impor-

tant concept. The function of Human beings involves an awareness of

existence in an interactive process with their environment including both

nature and society. People should be “the heart of TianDi”. That means,

th world is taken as a life entity, and human beings, as a smaller life entity,

should live properly in it. The proper existentiality is changeable and rela-

tively balanced. Because of changing of environments and emerging of

new demands of people, balance is regularly broken. Therefore the im-

portance of human being lies in the awareness of life, just as Lao-tzu’s

saying, “He who knows others is wise, he who knows himself is enlight-

ened, he who conquers others has physical strength, he who conquers

himself is strong”.4  A real wise and strong man should know himself

better and control himself more than others. The attitude of self aware-

ness should not only be taken by a person but also by a nation.

The purpose of self-awareness is to enhance the ability to live

together and perfect one’s personality. People could change their ways of

living to attain the Dao ( 道 , the way) and see their worlds much clearly.
Such mode of thinking implies great vital energies. The long history of

Chinese surmounting challenges to its survival, the flourishing of “Asian

four little dragons” (Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) in the

1960’s which held Confucian doctrines and the big advance of China in

the last thirty years could all be taken as the examples of the merits of

such thinking, they are continuing to develop.

The meanings of Zhong or ZhongDao is rooted in its etymology.

The first is to be right, proper and impartial. The word “Zhong” (middle)

emerged early in China and represented the central position of a mast in

carapace-bone-script and bronze-script. The ancient connotation is that

the mast must be upright to allow distant people to see a flag. So in this

sense “Zhong” has the meaning of occupying a proper point where one

stand in an unconquered state. The philosophical meaning of “Zhong”,

listening to both sides and choosing the middle course, has originated

from this primitive meaning.

The mainstream of Chinese cultural tradition had formed itself in

the process of conflict and fusion of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhist

He Xirong  79



beliefs, and the thinking of ZhongDao has become the common way. In

the Book of Changes Confucius indicates that to position oneself in

“Zhong” is proper, that means avoiding extremes and at the same time

not doing one thing and neglecting another. For instance, when emperor

Yao abdicated the throne to emperor Shun, he told him “Yun Zhi Jue

Zhong” (

允执厥中 

, keep to the centre), and emperor Shun also told em-

peror Yu “Yun Zhi Jue Zhong” (

允执厥中 

, keep to the centre) when he was

demised. In the orthodox passing, from emperor Yu to Tang, to Wenwang,

to Wuwang, to Zhougong, to Confucius and to Mencius, the instruction

“keep to the centre” was passed on too, so this saying had been taken as

the essence of Chinese cultural tradition. Confucius held the point that all

things had their own extent and that in excessive and chaotic situations

harmony was the middle course. He said, “Since I cannot get men pursu-

ing the due medium, to whom I might communicate my instructions, I

must find the ardent and the cautiously-decided. The ardent will advance

and lay hold of truth; the cautiously-decided will keep themselves from

what is wrong”.5  Excessiveness and chaos, the extreme tendencies of

things, or wrong tendencies, are objected to by Confucius. For instance,

one’s conducting oneself is neither reaching for what is beyond one’s

grasp nor having no ambition at all. Much strict or loose administration

should be rejected. In the book Confucius’s Precepts to his Family, he

said that “tampering force with mercy is the harmony way of administra-

tion”. Later Mencius inherited Confucian saying, he said, “A great artifi-

cer does not, for the sake of a stupid workman, alter or do away with the

marking line. Yi did not, for the sake of a stupid archer, change his rule

for drawing the bow. The superior man draws the bow, but does not

discharge the arrow. The whole thing seems to leap before the learner.

Such is his standing exactly in the middle of the right path. Those who are

able, follow him”.6  ZhongDao, right in that, there is a requirement for

people’s searching and practicing. People can conform to the middle

course, but the middle course can never conform to the actions of people.

In Taoism, Lao-tzu also said, “Much talk will of course come to a

dead end. It is better to keep the center (Zhong)”.7  Tao is the central

notion in Lao-tzu’s thinking, but Zhong is the way of grasping Tao. The

meaning of Zhong is grasping unchanging thing in changing things in

order to deal with different matters. An important methodological prin-

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ciple of thinking of ZhongDao is avoiding extremes and one-sidedness,

so in Lao-tzu’s thinking there are many discourses on “things turn into

their opposites when they reach the extreme”. Chuang Tzu also applied

thinking of ZhongDao to solve life issues. He said that in the humanness

and handling of affairs one should “grasp one to deal with many” and

“take the middle course to attain harmony”. Then he took the story of

dismembering an ox as skillfully as a butcher as an example to explain

“Pursue a middle course as your principle”. That means ZhongDao is the

way of preserving one’s life. In the view of Buddhism, ZhongDao is the

highest truth avoiding extremes. At the same time it is the standard of

behaviors, the only way of emancipation through cultivating.

Chinese Buddhism also regarded ZhongDao, to have avoided the

extremes of operating as an ultimate goal on one hand and as a rule of

conduct on the other. The Middle School (The Madhyamika, created by

Nagarjuna) opposes extremes, which eventually influenced Chinese

thought.

The three schools, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, are the

main streams of Chinese traditional culture, and all follow the way of

ZhongDao. This had prepared the philosophic foundations of the Chinese

mode of thinking.

As a consequence of the above, the difference between thinking

of ZhongDao (the Middle Road) and thinking of dualistic opposition can

be clarified. The former emphasizes harmony of multi-elements and avoid-

ing extremes. ZhongDao and the similar thinking of ZhongYong (中庸 , the
mean) and ZhongHe (中和 , neutralization) together constitute the core of
Chinese traditional thinking. They also have become the rich sources of

Chinese wisdom and deeply influenced the attitudes of lives of Chinese

people. This kind of thinking provides a much broader horizon for dis-

coveries. That means proper adjustment and right ways become possible.

The second character of ZhongDao is Yi (

义 

, righteousness). That

means proper and reasonable: at a proper time one takes a proper method

to attain the best result. When Confucius talked about how to become a

gentleman, he said, “When the person in authority is beneficent without

great expenditure; when he lays tasks on the people without their repin-

ing; when he pursues what he desires without being covetous; when he

maintains a dignified ease without being proud; when he is majestic with-

He Xirong  81



out being fierce”,8 “being expressive of enjoyment without being licen-

tious, and of grief without being hurtfully excessive”9 and “The superior

man is dignified, but does not wrangle. He is sociable, but not a parti-

san”.10 These are not only standards for conducting the behaviour of

people, but also standards for the administration of a country.

To grasp the essence of this proper method one should also pay

attention to ShiZhong (

时中 

, taking a proper time) and Quanbian (

权变 

,

acting according to circumstances). “ShiZhong” means taking the way of

Zhong at the right time. The notion of time was introduced to the concept

by Confucius. In his opinion, there is no abstract Zhong, that presence

and historicity are important characters of Zhong. That means following

the way of Zhong should be flexible and one should take actions that suit

concrete circumstances. “Quanbian” (权变 ) is changing, but not without
principle. That means grasping the right way in concrete changing cir-

cumstances. “ShinZhong” and “Quanbian” include judgments of value

and the art of administration in the following ways: following compre-

hensive assessments, advancing with the times, seizing opportunities. and

finding something new in what is old. In Mencius’ view, ZhongDao’s

concrete application is solving the problem of what is the relation be-

tween principle (Jing) and change (Quan). Changing should come from

principle. But persisting in principle and neglecting concrete circumstances,

changing becomes impossible and the real Zhong cannot be accessible. In

his book, Mencius relates the story of the “saving the sister-in-law falling

into the water” and “Shun (an emperor) saves his guilty father” as ex-

amples to interpret the problem concerning the relation between principle

and changing. Also we can take Confucius’ Ren (Humane) as an exemple.

There are many statements in Analects about Ren, but there is no single

statement that could be taken as the definition of Ren. Many people con-

sult Confucius concerning Ren. Their questions have been born in a dif-

ferent context. So Confucius’s responding is special and indicative. To

generalize the definition of Ren cannot be the right way. Such intentions

could also be found in Daoism and Buddhism. Therefore, the essence of

ZhongGuan is not only practical but also concrete.

The third character of ZhongDao (the Middle Road) is the unity

of oppositeness and interdependency. The Book of Changes said, “The

Yin (阴 ) and the Yang (阳 ) make up the Dao”. That means all things in

82  Prajna Vihara
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world are pairing, involving a transformation between Yin and Yang and

coexisting in harmony. In the Book of Changes we read “Looking up, he

observes the pattern of the Tian (

天 

, heaven?; looking down, he examines

the order of Di. (地 , the earth)”, “changing according TianDi to follow
the way of TianDi”. The meaning of ZhongDao, as acting according to

TianDi, described here. Confucius also said, “Am I indeed possessed of

knowledge? I am not knowing. But if a mean person, who appears quite

empty, ask anything of me, I set it forth from one end to the other, and

exhaust it”.11  This is the description of Confucius’ searching of ZhongDao.

The saying in The Doctrine of the Mean: “so raise it to its greatest height

and brilliancy, so as to pursue the course of the Mean”12, has the same

meaning.

All things can be motivations including contradictions. These con-

tradictions are unities of oppositeness and are involved in a process of

balance. Once the balance is disturbed, things would go to extremes. There-

fore to keep things proper, man has to follow the right way (ZhongDao).

Confucius said that, “Where the solid qualities are in excess of accom-

plishments, we have rust; where the accomplishments are in excess of the

solid qualities, we have the manners of a clerk. When the accomplish-

ments and solid qualities are equally blended, we then have the complete

man”.13 He also said, “While respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof

from them, may be called wisdom”.14  Saying in a modern language is

keeping two sides and abounding in one side.

Therefore, another trait of ZhongDao, and Chinese traditional

mode of thinking, is the notion of Du (

度 

, degree) consideration, mea-

sure). People who think in this way change their existential modes prop-

erly according to the concrete circumstances to maintain situations of

peace and harmony.

The Contemporary Significance of Thinking Mode of ZhongDao

There have been many controversies on how tradition should be

considered, but it is clear that without the ground of tradition innovation

cannot be made. It seems to me that the advocacies of revolution in thinking

and reform of mode of thinking represent the deep reflections on the

He Xirong  83



limitations of traditional thinking and the worries that it might hamper

integrated development. Actually, “the integrated development of people”

should be advocated directly. Because the mode of thinking is still a kind

of abstracting, and the integrated development of people should include

all kinds of activities of innovation.

According to the thinking of ZhongDao, the deviation mentioned

above should be adjusted through transformation of thinking of the people,

both Eastern and Western. The reason of this transformation lies in the

fact that the deviation of people’s thinking has occurred and the circum-

stances have changed. The two facts are now actualities. On one hand,

the deviation of thinking of Chinese people from early modern times has

created a situation of “neither Chinese nor Western”. On the other hand,

it is essential that the existence of science is decisive today and the mean-

ing of human lives has been enriched in an unprecedented way.  Facing

this reality the relevant existential conditions of life and thought cannot

be ignored. In Chinese traditional thinking, the lack of scientific thinking

has led to the advocacy of science in May Forth period. The tremendous

development of science and technology in China, the emergence of many

excellent scientists, and the acceptance of science and technology as a

primary productive force, has occurred as a result. But because of the

inertia of traditional thinking, the scientific thinking must be consciously

promoted. Therefore, the thinking of ZhongDao could play an important

role here. But we should also be conscious of the fact that scientific thinking

is not the only effective thinking. So the intuitive and organic characters

of Chinese traditional thinking should also be utilized fully. This is neces-

sary for the requirements of concrete variable lives. The harm of scientism,

the consequences of the extreme unbalanced development of scientific

thinking, should be rejected.

At the same time, the competitive spirit, the spirit of justice, the

spirit of legal contract and the spirit of equality, which accompany market

economy, are insufficient in Chinese traditional thinking. People must es-

tablish these ways of thinking through learning and adapting. In fact, the

process of China’s opening and reforming is also the process of a chang-

ing thinking. For example, the great discussion on truth in 1980s and the

disputations concerning universality and generality in recent years are

examples of such a process. The Chinese people’s predilection for ac-

84  Prajna Vihara
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commodation also demonstrates this.

Western notions connected to globalization provide us a contrast-

ing reference system. Through these contrasts an awareness of the weak-

nesses in our thinking becomes possible. Michel Foucault deems moder-

nity as “an attitude”, which relates to a kind of thinking and a kind of

acting. Such kind of mode could also be understood as the spirit of an

actual historical time. It is very clear that the modernization of thinking

could be the most important factor of modernity. Therefore we have to

adapt our thinking to meeting the requirements of modern society. But

this should be on the ground of tradition. This applies only to the Chi-

nese, but also for Westerners, this is an urgent task.

Every nation is facing the challenge of transforming their respec-

tive modes of thinking within globalization. Radical changes in people’s

ways of living have taken place in the development of science and tech-

nology, especially the development of information technology. At the same

time, the transformation in modes of thinking has also occurred, in which

the Multi-dimensional interaction and the open innovation are the main

tendencies. That means people should search for the balance between

integrating and analyzing, logic and intuition. Therefore in the background

of this comparison of Chinese and Western modes of thinking, is the rec-

ognition of the importance of reconsidering of the merits and deficiencies

of both Chinese and Western thought, and the creation of a new active

wisdom to solve problems.

Today our discussions on the value of Asian culture could be very

significant. The domination of Western culture in recent centuries should

be overcome. In fact, even in the West, many people of insight have be-

gan reflecting their own culture and finding new sources for reflection

from the East. In order to remain one nation’s own identity without as-

similation of Western culture, people should understand their own cul-

tural heritage. If so, the effective communications between different na-

tions and contributions to world harmony could become possible.

He Xirong  85



Endnotes

1Hu Shi, “The Chinese Renaissance”, Selected writings on Hu Shi, Yuanliu

Publishing House, Taiwan, 1986, volume24, P179.
2Ludwig Feuerbach,Hagel critique of philosophy, Selected writings on

Feuerbach, The Commercial Press1984, Vol.1, P.45.
3Karl Marx. Friedrich Engels. The German Ideology, People’s Publishing

House 1961, P.19.
4The Lao Tzu. Chapter 33. cf. Wing-Tsit Chan. A Source Book in Chinese

Philosophy.
5Analects. 13.21. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.
6The Works of Mencius. 13.41. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four

Books.

7The Lao Tzu. Chapter 5. cf. Wing-Tsit Chan. A Source Book in Chinese

Philosophy.
8Analects. 20.2. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.
9Analects. 3.20. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.
10Analects. 15.22. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.
11Analects. 9.8. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.
12The Doctrine of the Mean. Chapter 27. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-

English Four Books.
13Analects. 6.18. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.
14Analects. 6.22. cf. James Legge. The Chinese-English Four Books.

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