JWACA2023-050: The Concept of Tradition, Modernity, and Identity A Comparative Study on Cultural Concepts Between Chinese and the West

Abstract

This article attempts to compare the differences between Chinese and Western concepts of architectural cultural gene. The term “chuan-tung” (传统 i.e. tradition)” in Chinese culture follows the "continuity" of predecessors' thinking; in contrast, the concept of "tradition" in Western culture is to transform predecessors' thinking, linking past-present-future. On the other hand, the meaning of the word “hsen-dai” (現代 i.e. modern) in Chinese culture is biased towards the meaning of "contemporary", which is a fashionable acceptance and pursuit; it is completely different concept of the “modernity” in Western culture, which is a kind of introspection, redemption and social criticism. Identity in Chinese cultural genes is to "recognize the same." Nevertheless Western culture discovers the self-evidence of cultural genes from différance.