The Road Back to Culture

Name: The Road Back to Culture
ISBN: 9787220136955

甘阳Sichuan People's Publishing House · ChinaAug 2026

3.8

Word count: 349K words
Chapters: 38
ISBN: 9787220136955

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Summary

This collection by the renowned scholar Gan Yang brings together his essays from 1984 to 2019. It is divided into three parts: Traditional China, Beyond Western Culture, and Return to the "Civilization-State." The contents focus mainly on three areas: commentaries on Western philosophy, reviews of Western sociological works, and general education. The author argues that the scale of the horizon China can open up in the twenty-first century will depend largely on whether Chinese people consciously place the "modern state" within the living source of China's long-standing "historical civilization." The Chinese nation is the only cultural nation in today's world capable of striving for cultural independence under Western domination and the only nation capable of fully attaining self-respect. A non-Western nation entirely overshadowed by the West has no dignity; therefore, being Chinese is a matter of great pride. This book offers important intellectual resources and theoretical support for strengthening confidence in culture and in the path ahead.

Editor's review

This collection gathers Gan Yang's essays from 1984 to 2019 into three sections—"Traditional China," "Beyond Western Culture," and "Returning to the 'Civilization-State'"—spanning commentary on Western philosophy, reviews of Western sociological works, and general education. Its value lies not in offering easy conclusions but in returning the "modern state" to the living source of "historical civilization," asking how large a horizon China can open in the twenty-first century. The author's core concern is cultural independence and self-respect: a non-Western people wholly overshadowed by the West can scarcely speak of dignity, and the Chinese nation is discussed within this frame. For readers concerned with general education, the history of Western thought, and cultural identity, the book offers a provocative intellectual thread rather than a systematic textbook. Read the three sections as mutually echoing layers—tradition, the West, and the civilization-state—not as isolated essays.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers in literature, history, philosophy, and sociology concerned with cultural identity and comparative civilizations
Teachers and researchers engaged in general education and university humanities teaching
Readers who want to understand the arc of Gan Yang's thought and read his essays over the years
Advanced students interested in commentary on Western philosophy and sociological works

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic introductory textbook to study chapter by chapter
Casual readers expecting light essays or short op-ed-style pieces
Readers concerned only with concrete policy proposals and unwilling to enter intellectual-history debate

Reading tips

Read Part Three, "Returning to the 'Civilization-State,'" first to grasp the book's central problematic, then revisit the groundwork laid in the first two parts.
Read the Western philosophy commentary alongside the sociological reviews, noting how the author shifts the angle of questioning.
After each part, write down a doubt or an extension of your own to avoid passive reception.
The general-education essays can be pulled out separately and discussed against current curricular practice.

About the publisher

Sichuan People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1952

Sichuan People's Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher whose list spans social fiction, art, foreign literature, finance and biography; the 358 titles in the database show a catalogue balancing classics with general reading. Representative books include Lu Xun's A Madman's Diary, Feng Zikai's Paintings for the Protection of Life, works associated with Li Shutong, and foreign-literature translations such as André Gide's Strait Is the Gate and Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and The Dancing Girl: Classic Works of Yasunari Kawabata. In finance there is Security Analysis, and in biography the New Biography of Su Dongpo. Authors represented include Lu Xun, Feng Zikai, Li Shutong, Li Yumin, Zhu Zuci and Ye Zongmin. The publishing profile emphasizes literary classics alongside art books, and uses thematic series such as the "banned books" collection to address intellectual and scientific themes. Public information is limited, so this introduction focuses on the directions reflected in the database.

版权信息
文化是否仍是制约资本主义的力量（代自序）
上编文化中国与乡土中国
卡西尔的文化哲学
从“理性的批判”到“文化的批判”
古今中西之争
儒学与现代
《中国当代文化意识》前言
文化中国与乡土中国
费孝通《江村经济》再认识
“社会与思想丛书”两年
十年来的中国知识场域
访谈：80年代的现代性批判与90年代转型
中编西方文化左派与全球文化
超越西方文化左派
细读《文化与社会》
拉长时间对抗“空间化”
华人大学理念九十年
大学人文传承与中国学术独立
北大的文明定位与自我背叛
访谈：“我宁愿改革速度慢一点”
下编返回“文明—国家”的中途
从“民族—国家”走向“文明—国家”
社会主义、保守主义、自由主义
新时代的“通三统”
重新阅读西方
从第一次思想解放到第二次思想解放
启蒙与迷信，或，“反启蒙”在中国的缺席
“文化：中国与世界”新论缘起
大学之道与文明自觉
从富强走向文雅
博雅教育
博雅教育与经典
清华大学新雅书院开学典礼致辞
古典西学在中国
古典学与古典教育
“古典与文明”丛书总序
访谈：古典学和中国学术共同体

FAQ

Is this a systematic monograph or an essay collection?

It is a collection of essays written between 1984 and 2019, grouped into three parts: Traditional China, Beyond Western Culture, and Returning to the "Civilization-State." The pieces stand somewhat independently, but the three parts echo one another in their central problematic; read it as an intellectual thread rather than a continuous textbook.

Can I read this without knowing Western philosophy?

Yes, but some essays reviewing Western philosophy and sociological works require background. Start with Part Three and the general-education sections, then gradually move into the first two parts; when encountering unfamiliar works, grasp the author's line of questioning first rather than insisting on matching every sentence to the original.

How prominent is the discussion of general education?

General education is one of the book's three main contents, alongside commentary on Western philosophy and reviews of Western sociological works. It is not an incidental topic but part of the author's cultural concern. For educators, this section can be read against the intellectual discussion in the first two parts.

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About the author

甘阳 Author

Gan Yang is a contemporary Chinese author and editor about whom limited public information is available. The five works collected here span essays, history, classics, literary appreciation, and cultural commentary. His writing and editing move between past and present: there are personal essays such as the revised edition of Jiang Cuo Jiu Cuo, general history for ordinary readers in Eight Lectures on Chinese History, and cultural reflections in The Road Home of Culture. He also engages with Confucianism and intellectual history, as shown by studies of Dong Zhongshu's Chunqiu scholarship and the construction of the Confucian orthodoxy lineage in the Tang and Song dynasties. Gan Yang's work combines scholarly concern with readability, bridging academic discussion and general reading for those interested in Chinese cultural traditions and intellectual questions.