Tradition and Modernization

【现代化作为外在形式，就像酒瓶，装的是一壶醇香的传统之酒】

Nowadays, if you intend to purchase a house, the most expensive housing in Beijing is not a country villa but a quadrangle, a form of traditional architecture. This unmistakably indicates that the most valuable thing in the most modern metropolis of China is nothing but tradition.

Although things shouldn’t always be measured in terms of commercial values, commercial pricing in a mature market can often be an accurate index of the intrinsic values of the things that surround us. In the light of this principle, we can uncover many complicated but interesting relationships between tradition and modernization.

The National Grand Theatre and the National Olympic Stadium are definitely among the largest investment projects in China in recent years. Designed by international architects, they present architectural styles that are simply modern and even futuristic. But it would be a grave mistake to assume they are simply for the sake of being modernistic. Inside the pearl-shaped structure, the National Grand Theatre accommodates a musical hall, an opera house, and a theatre where only classical performing arts are to be staged. One can never expect a rock’n’roll concert there.

The same applies to the National Olympic Stadium. Nicknamed Bird’s Nest, the Stadium is the venue for the largest international event in human history—the 2008 Beijing Olympiad. Yet, Olympiad itself is an ancient Greek term and the Bird’s Nest, with all its cutting-edge facilities, has only functioned to keep alive an ancient athletic tradition.

Tradition and modernization are two sides of the same coin. The colossal investments in the construction of the National Grand Theatre and the National Olympic Stadium testify to the efforts of modern people to preserve tradition by sparing no expenses. The buildings’ modern forms just serve to answer to man’s desperate inner need to remain connected with the past.

                        题目：传统与现代化

        如今，如果你打算在北京购置住宅，最昂贵的住宅并不是一处乡村别墅，而是一家四合院，一种传统的民居建筑。这清晰无误地表明，在中国最现代的大都市，最有价值之物便是传统。

        尽管事物不应总以商业价值来衡量，但在一个成熟的市场，商业定价往往能精准地反映出我们周围事物的内在价值。据此原理，我们可以在传统与现代化之间揭示出诸多复杂但却有意思的关系。

        中国国家大剧院与国家体育场无疑是中国近年来投资数额最为庞大的两个项目。作为国际建筑师的设计手笔，它们呈现出的建筑风格极具现代气息，甚至带有未来主义色彩。但是，如果人们以为它仅是为了满足具有现代色彩这一目的的话，那就大错特错。在其珍珠状的结构里，国家大剧院内设一音乐厅，一歌剧院，一戏剧院；这里，仅能上演古典表演艺术曲目。谁都别想在那儿有幸欣赏一场摇滚音乐会。

        相同的情形也适用于中国国家体育场。这个常被称为“鸟巢”的体育场，是举办人类历史上最大国际事件—2008年北京奥运会—的主会场。然而，奥林匹亚本身便是一个古希腊的名称；而鸟巢，以其全部的现代先进设施，所发挥的作用仅是为了使一项古老的体育传统保持经久不衰。

        传统与现代化实乃同一硬币的两个侧面。中国举全国之力耗资建造国家大剧院和国家体育场，例证了现代的人类是如何在不计成本地竭力保护传统遗产。这些建筑物的现代形式仅仅是为了响应人类要与历史传统一脉相承的那迫切无比的内心需求。