Humanities and Society -- Cultural Philosophy, Religion, History (Volume 1)

Author: Bao Zonghao, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Humans are the masters of all creation. What makes humans human is their ability to think, "Only through thinking can one grasp the universal power and ultimate purpose of nature, substance, and the world" (Hegel). This kind of thinking about the universe, nature, society, and human beings themselves is the driving force behind the emergence of philosophy, religion, art, ethics, law, and so on. The Book of Changes·Bi says: "Observe the celestial phenomena to understand the changes of time; observe human culture to transform the world." The Chinese term "human culture" originates from this, referring to the various spiritual and cultural aspects of human society. When descendants of Yan and Huang, the ancient Chinese ancestors, revered the Yellow Emperor, the "Ancestor of Human Culture," as their forefather, it demonstrated that the Chinese nation has always held a tradition of valuing human culture. Humans are the subjects of society. The essence of human beings is "the sum of all social relationships." Humans cannot survive without society, and similarly, the development of society cannot be separated from human productive activities and cultural creation. "Observe the celestial phenomena to understand the changes of time; observe human culture to transform the world" shows that ancient Chinese people over two thousand years ago already recognized that to educate and perfect the world (i.e., society), human cultural factors are indispensable. To this day, we might even say: the development of human culture cannot be separated from social practice, and social progress cannot ignore human cultural factors. The purpose of establishing this academic journal and naming it Human Culture and Society is to study the historical tradition of human culture and focus on contemporary social development. This is the preface.