Personal View

I have to say that Mr. Gu's English proficiency is really amazing. The depth, breadth and logic of his exposition are unprecedented. No one can compare his exposition of Oriental culture, especially Confucius'theory. And I think the most exquisite part of the book should be the middle part of the book, that is, the comparison of Eastern and Western cultures, involving religion, language, spiritual life, manifestations, moral principles and beliefs, and so on. At the same time, the differences between Eastern and Western cultures and the advantages of both sides are elaborated: Why is there no religion in China? Why can Confucius'doctrine replace religion for thousands of years and even be favored by rulers of all dynasties and become a national religion? Why do Chinese people still abide by moral principles without Western traditional religions and God's supervision? All these problems are summarized by Mr. Gu: the Chinese people's spiritual life, or the Chinese spirit, is the Confucian doctrine which has penetrated into the hearts of the people under the perfection of generations of Chinese people and thus formed the concept or moral principles. Thus, without any Supreme will, the Chinese people can still tighten the moral bottom line and live a unique spiritual life. However, in all-round and multi-angle comparison and slightly obscure in-depth discussion, the great spirit of China is highlighted. Although there are some obvious royalist ideas and traditional Confucian scholar's remarks in the book, the limitations of its class attribute do not hide the defects. Its analysis of the spiritual core of the Chinese people and its in-depth understanding of Western culture are far beyond contemporaries. Considering the background of the times, the whole of China was unstable and turbulent, Mr. Gu could still calm down to study the causes and forms of cultural evolution, and still showed a confidence in Chinese traditional culture after analysis and comparison, which is rare in real numbers.