从自强到自省:近代中国历史的文化取向——聚焦于“经世文编”演进脉络的一个思考

From Self‐improvement to Self‐examination:The Cultural Orientation of Modern Chinese History——A Thinking Focusing on the Evolution of“Collected Essays on Statecraft”

鸦片战争之后,从洋务新政到戊戌新政乃至革命重建,在“师夷”的历史惯性中一路求变,形成了中国历史选择的路向,绘就了近代中国文化发展取向的基线。道咸以及同光之后“经世文编”、续编、三编、四编以至新编踵起接续,从一个“切面”具体而真切地标示了文化演进的趋向。民国之后,直至五四新文化运动,中国人的思想和文化选择为之一变,与当初求西学以自强的诉求相反,开始诉诸于文化自省,以建设本位文化为取向。由《民国经世文编》呈现出的这一文化取向的变动,着实代表着一代文化人的自觉与反省。这一历史方位既是“五四新文化”运动的前提,也是30年代之际“中国本位文化建设”论争高潮的基石。

After the Opium War,from the Westernization Movement to the Reform Movement of 1898 and even the reconstruction after the Revolution of 1911,they sought change all the way in the historical inertia of“learning from foreigners,”forming the direction of China’s historical choice and drawing the baseline of the development orientation of modern Chinese culture.After Daoxian and Tongguang period,“Collected Essays on Statecraft”and its“Continuation,”“Three Editions,”“Four Editions”and“New Editions”con⁃tinued to show the trend of cultural evolution from a specific and true perspective.After the Republic of China,until the May Fourth New Culture Movement,the Chinese people’s thinking and cultural choices changed.Contrary to the original pursuit of seeking Western learning for self⁃improvement,they began to resort to cultural self⁃examination and take the construction of Chinese native culture as the orientation.This change of cultural orientation presented by the“Collected Essays on Statecraft of Republic of China”really represents the self⁃consciousness and introspection of a generation of cultural people.This historical position is not only the premise of the“May Fourth New Culture”movement,but also the cornerstone of the climax of the“construction of Chinese native culture”debate in the 1930s.