Similarly, the word "culture" has different meanings on different occasions. "China has 5,000 years of ancient culture" refers to the sum of all the material and intangible wealth created by the Chinese nation in the whole historical process. "He is really literate" refers to a person's outstanding cultural taste because of his rich knowledge. "Economy and culture become one of the main trends of wealth" refers to the market economy environment.
There is a saying in the Book of Changes: "Observing astronomy changes with time; It is probably the beginning of China people's discussion of "culture". In the concept of China people at this time, the meaning of culture is to govern the world by understanding various phenomena of human society and using education and influence. In the Han Dynasty, the word "culture" appeared formally, and its meaning was different from what people usually understand now. Liu Xiang said in the article "Talking about Gardens and Commanding Soldiers": "All weapons are used. Shu Xi, a scholar in A Jin, also said that "culture is internal and martial arts is external", which refers to a concept opposite to the national military means, that is, the national cultural and educational governance means. Confucius, a university scholar in the Tang Dynasty, made an incisive explanation of the word "culture" in Zhouyi, and thought that "when a sage views humanity, poetry, calligraphy, ceremony and music are also called". This actually means that "culture" mainly refers to things belonging to the superstructure, such as literary etiquette, customs and habits. The ancients' characterization of culture has always influenced the Qing Dynasty since the Han and Tang Dynasties. Therefore, Gu, a university expert in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, said in the Record of the Day that "as for one's own country and the world, it is not literary talent to make it sound, sound and appearance", that is, people's own behavior and various systems of the country belong to "culture"
Westerners discuss "culture" later than China, but it is more extensive and scientific than China's ancient literature. In 1690 Antoine Ferret's Dictionary of Everything, the culture in western languages is defined as "the cultivation and improvement measures taken by human beings to make the land fertile and plant trees and plants", and there is a note that "cultivating the land is everything that human beings are engaged in". At this time, the concept of "culture" in westerners is only used to compare some talents and abilities of human beings and is a form of vocabulary to express human activities. However, the word "culture" became a complete expression system, that is, terminology, until about the middle of19th century. After that, culture and civilization are often regarded as two sides of the same thing. Scholars discuss cultural phenomena and their historical development from the perspectives of anthropology and sociology. There are many explanations about "what is culture", among which there are three more influential views: the first is the mode theory, which holds that culture is a way of life of a certain nation and it is not inherited. This includes people's hobbies, customs and habits, and emphasizes cultural inheritance. For example, ruth benedict, a famous American cultural anthropologist, defined "culture" as "culture is a way of thinking and action through the activities of a certain nation, a way to distinguish this nation from any other nation". The second is the process theory, which holds that it is the process of human learning and manufacturing tools, especially the process of manufacturing stereotyped tools, which includes the continuous evolution of human intelligence and creativity and emphasizes the evolution of culture. The third is the compound theory. In other words, culture is a synthesis of knowledge, belief, art, music, customs, law and other abilities acquired as members of society, emphasizing the melting and casting of culture. For example, the great anthropologist edward tylor said in his book Primitive Culture: "Culture is an all-encompassing complex created by human beings in their own historical experience."
Marxist theorists have made a new interpretation of culture, which is divided into broad sense and narrow sense. In the Dictionary of Philosophy edited by Rosenthal Eugene, culture is regarded as "the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth created by human beings in the process of social and historical practice", that is, the so-called "broad sense culture", while the opposite "narrow sense culture" refers to spiritual culture, that is, social ideology and corresponding laws and regulations.
1952, American culturists kroeber and Kluckhohn published a critical survey of culture, concepts and definitions, which ranged from 187 1 to 195 1 to 160. This behavior pattern is realized and transmitted through symbols; Culture represents the remarkable achievements of human groups, including their embodiment in man-made goods; The core part of culture is traditional ideas (that is, the acquisition and choice of history), especially the value they bring; On the one hand, cultural system can be regarded as the product of activities, on the other hand, it is the decisive factor of further activities. "This comprehensive definition of culture is basically recognized by modern academic circles in the East and the West, and has a wide influence.
All the above definitions are defined by scholars from their own academic standpoint and observation angle. It can be said that different people have different opinions, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, various explanations are not mutually exclusive, but complement each other. Based on the internal unity of various definitions, we can easily see that "culture" includes three levels, namely, conceptual culture, institutional culture and utensil culture. The so-called conceptual culture mainly refers to a nation's psychological structure, way of thinking and value system, which is different from philosophy and ideology. It is something between the two without rising to philosophical theory, and it is a deep-rooted culture. The so-called institutional culture refers to various systems formed in the process of historical development under the influence of philosophical theory and ideology. They are changing one after another or constantly, thriving or abolishing, long or short, or different. Or it is hidden in people's hearts in the form of a "hidden rule", which is a middle-level culture. The so-called artifact culture refers to those concrete things that embody a certain way of life, such as houses and costumes, which are created by people, serve people, can be seen and touched, and are a superficial culture. On this basis, we believe that in addition to unmodified or humanized (natural objects are subjective feelings given by people)