A Study of the Breaking of Original Meaning, Inter-lingual Transfer, and Fluid Conversion of the “Studies of Traditional Chinese Culture”

Cai Xianjin

The term “studies of traditional Chinese culture” (guoxue) had experienced an inter-lingual transfer of being introduced into Japan from China, then returning China from Japan, and the breaking of its original meaning as well as fluid conversion since ancient times. The history of this concept has been interweaving with diachronism and synchronicity, as well as the history of language and event. Before the late Qing Dynasty, the term had been referred to the educational institution and system of imperial China. The Japanese began using the term to define the inherent traditional academics of Japan during the Edo period. In modern times, the concept “guoxue” was mainly used in three ways: the original Chinese ideology, culture, and academic system before encountering the shock of Western culture; a concept short for traditional culture; and the academic system targeted at traditional Chinese culture during modern times. In the context of globalization, the new period studies of traditional Chinese culture relocate within multiple cultures, which manifest the characteristics of being open, expectable, and futuristic, as well as integrate inheritance and creation.