Tradition and Modernization

【彻底支持传统而反对现代化】

The Mid-Autumn Festival became a public holiday only in recent years, amid the increased modernization drive of China. If one attributes the establishment of this holiday simply to Chinese people’s collective nostalgic impulse, it would be a serious misconception. Its creation produces important implications that shed light on what is going on in our modernization process.

Modernization has long been coveted as a revolutionary process that promises people a brand-new world and brand-new lifestyles. However, this reckless drive for the new has plunged people into an unprecedented state of rootlessness. In the high-rise modern buildings, our neighbors are virtual strangers with whom we only maintain a nodding acquaintance. Totally engrossed in pursuing our own personal successes in big cities, we seldom have time to be with our families. Intoxicated with the virtual reality on the Internet, many people experience serious barriers in real-world interpersonal communication. While we may pride ourselves on the physical achievements of modernization, we find ourselves trapped in growing loneliness and alienation.

Since ancient times, Chinese people have found comfort in lifestyles emphasizing simplicity and harmony. Close touch among family members and congenial affinity with nature offered them perfect bliss even without the material satisfactions of modern people. Hence, traditional values can be a salvation of the increasingly desiccated soul of modern people. In our hustle-bustle of modern urban life, we need to halt for a moment, to have family reunions, to contemplate on the bright full moon in the starry night sky, and to enjoy the human warmth of our friends and colleagues.

Modernization has not been all positive. The evils (maladies) it has created need to be addressed and frequently the solutions are to be sought from the past. In this sense, the preservation and transmission of tradition is not something sentimental, but a pressing necessity.

                        题目：传统与现代化

        中秋节成为一个公共节假日，这只是近几年的事，伴随着中国现代化进程紧锣密鼓的推进。如果人们将这一节假日的设立归结于中国人的集体怀旧情结的话，这将是一种严重的误解。它的设立给我们所带来的某些重要意蕴，有助于我们理解中国的现代化进程正发生着什么。

        长期以来，人们对现代化一直翘首以待，将其当作一个革命性的过程，承诺会创造一个全新的世界，带来全新的生活方式。然而，这种对全新事物的不顾一切的追求，已将人们置于一种史无前例的“无根”状态。居住在高楼大厦里，邻里之间已几近路人，彼此间仅维持一种点头之交。由于全身心扑在大城市里追求我们自己的个人成功，我们与家乡父老团聚的时光所剩无几。醉心于互联网上的虚拟世界，许多人在现实世界中的人际交流面临重大障碍。我们尽可以为我们现代化所取得的物质成就欢欣鼓舞，但我们却发现自己已被困在日甚一日的孤独与异化之中。

        自古以来，中国人一直在那些强调简朴与和谐的生活方式中获得慰藉。与家人的亲密联系，与自然界的和谐共融，使人们心满意足，别无他求，虽然全无现代人的那些物质满足。因此，传统价值观完全可以作为现代人日益贫瘠的灵魂世界的拯救之道。在现代都市生活的忙碌与喧嚣中，我们需要稍加歇息，去与家人团聚，去对着繁星满天的夜空中那明亮的满月放飞我们的遐想，去享受来自朋友和同事们的人间温馨。

        现代化并非完美无缺。它所产生的弊病亟需纠正，而在很多情况下，解决之道要到传统中去寻觅。从这层意义上说，对传统的保护及传承绝非人类多愁善感而使然，而是一种迫在眉睫的必要。