My impressions
My impressions of The Spirit of the Chinese People
This is the first time I read such a long English passage——The Spirit of the Chinese People,which was written by Gu hongming who was the first person who learned Chinese and western knowledge in the late Qing dynasty and the early republic of China. After reading this book, I got a lot of feelings.
This book analyzed the spirit of the Chinese people and promoted the value of Chinese traditional culture by comparing and discussing. In that period, the spirit of the Chinese people had been depressed by the advanced Western civilization and worthless, which was trumpery. The author, Gu hongming, could not stand this situation. So, he searched and thought what the special thing in our civilization. He wanted to find something valuable, something that can inspire people. Finally, he got it and expressed in his articles. As it was written in the book, the characteristics of Chinese and Chinese civilization are deep, broad, simple and delicacy. Comparing the Chinese with the Americans, the British, the Germans and the French, Gu hongming said only the Chinese have all these four outstanding spiritual characteristics. He also said the first spirit of the Chinese people is gentle. Gentlemen are not weak in nature, nor are they vulnerable to submission. They are not tough, harsh, rude or violent.
As the book was published, it aroused great sensation in Western countries. Gu hongming succeeded in defending the dignity of the Chinese people. What he said not only worked in that period, but also have some meanings today. Nowadays, being crazy about foreign things and obsequious to foreigners still exists. These people have an obsession with foreign things and despise the things of our country. As a Chinese, it is fundamental to support our own culture and spirit instead of dislike it. How can we develop the country if we do like that? As a result, we should stop pursuing Western civilization and return to look at our own civilization. We have so many things that Western civilization do not have, such as our unique history, languages, people, especially, spirit. Without the spirit, our civilization cannot survive for such a long time. As Gu hongming said, “We are an ageless nation, a nation with the secret of eternal youth.” We ought to reject following blindly, too. Nowadays, national values, ethical concepts and various national habits are gradually emerging with the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges, which inevitably bring about the Cultural conflict of the society. It is of great importance to treat these foreign cultures correctly.
After reading this book, I have a new understanding of the cultural and the spirit of our country. The immortality of the national spirit requires the greater efforts of our generation.
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