# Time in China

## Linear Model of History
* It is a western concept. The Western world's concept of time as linear has been the basis of intellectual and religious thought for many centuries. Western time which originated from the Judaeo–Christian worldview, was conceived as being directional, advancing and non-repetitive.
* It has ultimacy. The history moves forward along with time and it will ultimately reach the end of the history.
* When the idea was brought into China, it was understood, to contrast with the cyclical concept of history. What it was said was that linear history contradicts how chinese people interpret history.
* 明末清初時萬斯同
（1638-1702）說「不師古而有治法者，未之或聞」

## The development of the Linear Model of history in China
* The linear model of history was imported from the West. Since the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, there were multiple books of social science that have been brought into China, such as 社會通銓（Edward Jenks)
* In late 19th century, China suffered tremendous setbacks and the encroachment from foreign powers. Chinese people began to develop unprecedented admiration for western societies. The linear model of history became the new potential perspective to review Chinese history in order to bridge the mode of development of Western history. Therefore, the intellectuals want to justify the possibility that China could become as strong as western powers.
* **Universal patterns**: The intellectuals claimed that they exist and that they can not only be used to review and reconstruct the understanding of history, but also can improve the practical aspect. They analyze the chinese history by inserting it into the framework of the Western Linear history Model and saying that the chinese society has to go through all the different stages of history but ultimately will reach the stage where the western powers are in.

* History as a straight line from primitive to civilized
All things had a develpmental course
The process of western historical development reflect universal pattern
Historical progress is a chain that linked different time period in a process of gradual change

## Challenge and Problem

* Inflexibility
Since the measurement was from a western point of view, when the main stream in the western society changed, the chinese intellectuals were thrown into confusion immediately.

* Exclusivity
The main line of history only included or placed certain greats on a certain position. Scholars had chosen to take account of popular events ,instead of the other crucial components. In the other word, the possibilities have been narrow down to few in order to correspond to "universal patterns". It ignored that different societies have unique and identical cultural traits which might develop into various

* Identity Issue
The intellectuals were too rush to fit the China's feet into western shoes. Some have doubt the authenticity of own history. The other were eager to find a strong connection with western and spread the idea of Sino-Babylonianism. The basic science spirits of western is to expound and prove but in this period of time, people tend to believe whatever would lead to the preferable conclusion.

# Conservatism in China

Conservatism is a modern phenomenon which arises in the wake of enlightment cahllenges against the authority of tradition that is against inherited, religiously or cosmologically grounded views on the matter and thus has to organise and rationalize a defense against some of those challenge.

It's important to stress out the different type of conservatism: Classcist and Historicist
### **Classicist conservatisim**
* it doesn't completly object the universal pattern or priciple but it doesn't think that there is a set of moral standard that can be altered and adjusted to human needs or desires.They aregued that Human condition is defined by god's well due to their religious background.

* in otherwords, human mind has limitation so no matter what human attempt to achieve will ultimately fail if it doesn't correspond to god's will.

* The moral standard is to exert self-control. （發揮道德教化的作用）exercised as edification. It is to value duty instead of cherish rights.
focurs on the interest of the collective.

## Historicist convervatism
* Human Instittion are historical .
*Human institution: They are social structures created and maintained through the action of humans acting especially in groups but also as individuals—a lineage or a church is this sort of an institution. Among economists and many sociologists, however, institutions are seen as norms and ideas.*

* Human being can not apprehend universal standards.Theefore human being should groundly rely on tradtion.

* Human being can only be understood as parts of the totality

### Common Sharing Value:

Human Fallibility : doubt about universal reason and a rejection of any notion of a necessary linear historical progress.

WHY linear historical progress???因為他會一直進步而且進不的動力是來自人嗎？

### Difference between nationalism and conservatism

#### Nationalism
the emphasize on egalitarian (平等主義)
national compatriotsthe goal of all the effort is to modernize

conservaitves who turn to the state as the focus of collective identificaiton and accept who even support this state in pursuing a policy of political ,scoail, and econimoic modernization cese to be conservatives.
use cultural heritage to move on in the progress of modernization.

The threat of imprialism push intellectuals to have innovations such as a new attitude towards the past, a progressive view of hisotry and new universal pattern of history

* a new attitude
Theory of three ages from Kung Yo Wei

* New progressive view of history
History was transformed into a law like process governed by causality leading to an ideal furture. Human agency was left small spaces
The idea of citizen: has the national conciousness and loyalty to the new nation state.

# Human Agency

The idea was brought by Hegel
Progress and Subjectivitity