Table of ContentsPreface1If we make a comprehensive survey of China's history of the past hundreds of years�� we can find that our ancestors were so unintelligent and confused ��comparing them with other nations in the same period instead of looking at the past only from a modern perspective��. If our descendants look at the Chinese people of today�� will they think that modern Chinese people are extremely unintelligent? The Author's Preface5A mode of thinking is formed by the environment and culture�� but as soon as a mode of thinking forms thinking habits and thought sets�� then a mode of thinking does not have much to do with the original culture. Instead�� the mode of thinking dominates the trend of the culture. Preface to the Second Edition 9In any country and nation�� intellectuals are a basic factor determining the fate of the nation and country. If a nation's intellectuals are intelligent�� then the nation will be intelligent; if a nation's intellectuals are stupid�� then the nation will be stupid. Similarly�� if a nation's intellectuals are noble�� then the nation will be noble; if a nation's intellectuals are morally degenerate�� then the nation will be morally degenerate. Foreword 1Honest and Forthright Criticism Is the Best Policy Yue Xuanyi 19Thinking determines the fate of all�� from countries and nations to groups�� units and all individuals. Therefore�� thinking is a topic that everybody should be concerned about. More importantly�� the author has attributed the root cause of China's backwardness to the backward thinking�� which has caused a sensation and attracted everybody's attention. Foreword 2The Scientific Mode of Thinking and the Scientific Concept of Development Zhao Jinghua 23The traditional mode of thinking is a true invisible killer that along the rough road of China's advancement has been a persistent ailment�� resistant to long��term treatment on. There are many symptoms�� such as the culture and political system�� but there is only one root cause: the traditional mode of thinking. All backwardness is man��made. Foreword 3The True Value of a Theory Lies in Its Discovery Shen Shihao 26What does Mr. Chu Yu discover in this book? He discovers the root cause of China's backwardness: the traditional mode of thinking. He first puts forward the conclusion that once thinking habits and thinking sets are formed�� the mode of thinking does not have much to do with the original culture. He systematically and poignantly reveals the defects and characteristics of the Chinese traditional mode of thinking and the serious harm caused by it. This is a grand proposition and can be called a great undertaking. Introduction1A nation or a person usually can only have one mode of thinking and cannot possibly have two or more modes of thinking. There is no logical relationship between the mode of thinking and faith either. People having the same mode of thinking might believe in communism or fascism. Similarly�� there is no organic connection between the mode of thinking and the occupation and moral character. People having the same mode of thinking might be gentlemen or bandits. Chapter One Current Mainstream Theories on the Cause of China's Backwardness and Their False Conclusions5We believe the root cause of China's backwardness is not factors such as feudalism�� the autocratic rule that lasted more than 2��000 years�� or that Confucianism has played a dominant role in Chinese culture�� institutions and systems. Although these factors contributed to China's long��term stagnation and backwardness�� they are not fundamental. The root cause is our traditional mode of thinking. The biggest weakness of the Chinese traditional mode of thinking is not conventionality but vagueness�� confusion and rigidity. Chapter Two Defects of the Chinese Traditional Mode of Thinking31Section One Abstract Logical Thinking Ability of Chinese People is Weak33The vagueness of concepts is a fatal weakness of the Chinese people's thinking. If a person's concepts are vague�� you cannot clearly discuss any issue with him. Therefore�� the vagueness of concepts also leaves gaps for displacement of concepts�� change of subjects and sophistry. A person who neglects concepts cannot possibly become interested in categories and cannot possibly attain abstract logical thinking. Section Two Chinese People's Thinking Methods are Disordered and Rigid 45Many of our scholars actually do not know anything. Even if they have a little intelligence�� they still have not learned much. They simply collect things from a heap of old books and pretend to make a profound explanation�� in order to deceive themselves and threaten others. Chapter Three Seeking Truth from Facts and Applying Theory to Practice Is Very Difficult to Achieve with the Chinese Mode of Thinking89Our schools hold indulgent attitudes towards�� and even consciously or unconsciously help the spread of the immoral behavior in our culture. Since ancient times�� a culture of gangsters has accounted for a significant part of our social and urban life. Although China does not have aristocrats like the West�� we had a ��ministerial class�� ��shi�� in ancient times. The moral conscience of our shi was greater than that of the Western aristocrats. Unfortunately�� the gangster psychology has been handed down instead of the morality of our shi. Chapter Four Chinese People's Mode of Thinking Seriously Harms Their Own Personal Interests105The philosophy of life�� inherited by Westerners from those great thinkers of ancient Greece�� is the pursuit of truth. The philosophy of life inherited by the Chinese from the ancient sages is the pursuit of fame and fortune. Therefore�� the purpose of the Chinese people's existence is often to seek wealth and honor. If we cannot get wealth and honor�� we either stand aloof from worldly affairs or rebel. As a result�� Chinese people's actions and work are only a means to something. They neither discuss how to refine work nor pay attention to technique�� so Chinese people always dream about reaching outer space by just taking one step ��there are countless examples in our culture�� and thus always want to take short cuts when doing things. Chapter Five Chinese Wisdom and Western Wisdom117Chinese wisdom is a strategy; Western wisdom is thinking tools and science. In the clash between Chinese civilization and Western civilization that began more than a hundred years ago�� Chinese wisdom and culture have suffered a crushing defeats. Perhaps many of our scholars do not agree with this view. Then let us look at only one fact. Currently Chinese people's basic necessities of life from head to toe are all from the West. Even ��socialism�� in our current ��socialism with Chinese characteristics�� was borrowed from the West. Apart from Chinese language�� Chinese food and extremely unintelligent Chinese thinking�� what is left in our society that is ours? Chapter Six Confused and Rigid Vague Thinking Hinders the Progress of China's Science and Technology129The main reason why ancient Chinese and Greek thinkers pursued different goals is that ancient Chinese thinkers pursued practical methods to solve immediate problems. Ancient Greek thinkers pursued a very simple goal��truth ��or reality��. In other words�� ancient Chinese thinkers of the Pre��Qin Period pursued ��fortune���� while ancient Greek thinkers pursued ��truth��. Ancient Chinese people showed pragmatic characteristics�� while ancient Greeks showed purely idealistic characteristics. Therefore�� ancient Chinese people's ideas were quite utilitarian�� while the ancient Greeks' ideas were quite rational. Chapter Seven Reforming the Chinese's Traditional Mode of Thinking Is the Primary Task of Chinese Education155Our rigid education begins as early as preschool when kids are lively and animated. This is also the golden period for children to explore the unknown world and expand their intellectual space�� but Chinese parents force them to study things that should not be studied at this age�� thus cruelly stifling their children's ability to expand knowledge of the world around them. Some of our so��called child educators have formulated a complete set of educational methods that from the cradle strangles children's nature�� their intelligence�� and the potential of their future. Chapter Eight Epilogue 177Most people who have read the first draft of this book believe that they are quite enlightened�� realizing what shortcomings they have in terms of thinking�� and at the same time also noticing what is wrong with others' modes of thinking. Thus�� they can gradually improve their mode of thinking and go towards a scientific mode of thinking. Some Other Words 187This book philosophically attempts to interpret some shortcomings of Chinese people and attempts understand Chinese people from the perspective of the science of thinking. Beginning with the root cause of our backwardness perhaps is helpful for Chinese people to change their shortcomings. However I do not think Chinese people have any inherent weakness. All nations and individuals should fight for their survival�� but if the thinking of Chinese people is faulty�� then we cannot truly maintain the interests of our nation and its individuals. Appendix 233Main References 347