Reporter: In recent years, Chinese studies have become popular. Treatises on Chinese studies are everywhere on the bookshelves, lectures on Chinese studies are given one after another in the society, and Chinese studies programs on TV are endless. Why has Chinese studies become so popular?
Lou Yulie: The craze for Chinese studies is not new to recent years. Since the last century, there has been a craze for Chinese studies every twenty or thirty years. At the beginning of the last century, the New Culture Movement advocated total Westernization, and Chinese studies societies emerged in various places. Ten professors from the former Central University also issued the "Declaration of China-Based Cultural Construction" to fight against Western culture. In the 1960s, although there was no craze for Chinese studies in the mainland, New Confucianism emerged in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, cultural discussions were launched in China. At the same time, Peking University established the Institute of Traditional Culture, and the People's Daily published a long article "Chinese Studies Fever Quietly Rise in Yanyuan." Therefore, the craze for Chinese studies and the craze for Western culture are relative.
Zhang Lei: It cannot be denied that the reason why Chinese studies are so popular nowadays is because the Chinese people lack faith to a certain extent. I think people are trying to find a kind of spiritual sustenance from Chinese studies.
Reporter: Nowadays, some lectures on Chinese studies seem to be all-encompassing, including Feng Shui and divination. Are all traditional things Chinese studies? The concept of Chinese studies seems to need to be clarified.
Lou Yulie: Simply put, Chinese studies are the culture of the country. People with different cultural backgrounds have greatly different interpretations of Chinese studies: Zhang Taiyan believes that Chinese studies are mainly knowledge based on traditional culture, such as writing, phonology, and exegesis; Liang Qichao believes that Chinese studies is the history of traditional Chinese academics; Hu Shi said, Chinese studies are Chinese studies... Different understandings of Chinese studies have different emphasis, but no matter what, Chinese studies are excellent traditional culture.