The Pursuit and Critique of Modernity: Bergson and Modern Chinese Philosophy

Author: Wu Xianwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: This book primarily selects the radical, conservative, and liberal factions in modern Chinese culture as representatives to discuss how modern China introduced and understood Bergson's philosophy in the context of modernity. It is a work within China that systematically examines the fate of Bergson's philosophy in modern China. The book centers on three key issues—time, science, and freedom—to explore how these three ideological factions applied and transformed Bergson's philosophy to serve their own arguments. At the same time, it transcends the boundaries of pure philosophy, attempting to build a bridge between philosophy and literature. Thus, the book not only examines the thoughts of philosophers like Liang Shuming but also dedicates considerable space to discussing the aesthetic theories of Zong Baihua and Zhu Guangqian.
After the Renaissance, Western Europe had already completed its historical transition from the classical era to modern society, making modernity a central concern for Westerners. Since Western modernity was largely a response to medieval religious theism, it included both the scientific spirit and the humanistic spirit, which, in turn, determined that Western modernity, from its inception, encompassed both enlightenment modernity and aesthetic modernity. However, in later historical developments, enlightenment modernity became the sole content of modernity, leading to materialization and one-sidedness. The emergence of Bergson's philosophy was precisely to address the problems arising from Western modernity.
Modern China shared strong similarities with Renaissance Europe, creating the conditions for Bergson's philosophy to spread and exert influence in China. However, China and the West also differed, as the traditions they carried and the problems they faced were distinct. This led modern Chinese thinkers, in their absorption and utilization of Bergson's philosophy, to often distort it according to their practical purposes, rather than understanding it as it was, thereby using it to construct Chinese modernity. This, in turn, formed the core focus of this study.
The construction of Western modernity was a logical outcome of its historical development, but China was different. To some extent, China's modernity was driven by external pressures from the West, making it an externally oriented modernity. Therefore, the construction of Chinese modernity involved how to handle the relationship between China and the West, as well as between tradition and modernity.
Anti-traditionalists like Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu used Bergson's philosophy to emphasize the characteristics of creative evolution, arguing that Chinese modernity must be fiercely anti-traditional and a imitation of Western modernity. New traditionalists like Liang Shuming, on the other hand, seized on Bergson's critique of Western social reality, insisting that the emergence of life philosophy, represented by Bergson's thought, signaled the revival of traditional Chinese culture. Thus, not only Chinese modernity but also global modernity would inevitably be a modern revival of Chinese tradition.
Moderates attempting to find a middle ground between the two sought to establish a modernity that was both Chinese and Western, neither fully Chinese nor fully Western. Zong Baihua proposed the theory of integration, while Zhu Guangqian advocated the theory of distance. However, beneath their apparent differences lay a common problem: they failed to recognize Bergson's past ontology and believed that modernity had only one form.
Since the scientific spirit was a crucial aspect of modernity, modern China had to correctly address the issue of science to complete its transition from tradition to modernity. Anti-traditionalists argued that Bergson's philosophy was based on science, using it as an example to claim that Chinese modernity must rely on Western scientific spirit to eliminate feudal superstitions. New traditionalists, in contrast, pointed out that one key aspect of Bergson's philosophy was its critique of scientific rationality, emphasizing the importance of intuition—a vital component of traditional Chinese philosophy. Zong Baihua and Zhu Guangqian believed that both rationality and intuition were important due to their different scopes of application, arguing that in constructing Chinese modernity, both must be appropriately incorporated, with Bergson's philosophy serving as an example in this regard.
The ultimate goal of humanistic spirit is human freedom, which is precisely the focus of Bergson's philosophy. This naturally linked modern Chinese thinkers to Bergson's philosophy when they explored the path to achieving freedom. Anti-traditionalists viewed freedom both as a goal and as a means for China to strengthen itself and survive. As a result, individual freedom was largely neglected, leading to a paradoxical divergence from freedom in the pursuit of it. New traditionalists and aesthetes placed greater emphasis on human value, opposing the use of individuals as mere means. They used Bergson's theory of free will to highlight the importance of individual freedom and oppose the suppression of the individual by the collective.
Within these differing interpretations of Bergson's philosophy lay a concern for China's fate and a desire to solve practical problems. However, due to their lack of necessary analysis of the historical context in which Bergson's philosophy emerged and its own nature, they failed to adequately connect Bergson's philosophy with the realities of Chinese society. This led to a disconnect between Bergson's philosophy and Chinese social reality, making it impossible to use Bergson's philosophy to solve China's modernity construction problems. Thus, the decline of Bergson's philosophy in modern China was historically inevitable.
This does not mean that Bergson's philosophy is completely separated from China. Due to the universal and eternal significance of the questions it raises, as well as China's ongoing modernization process, Bergson's philosophy continues to survive in modern China in a very subtle form.