自  序

对于人类而言，再没有比文化更丰富多彩、更复杂多变、更难以捉摸、更令人深思和更令人烦乱的了。人作为一种社会的存在物，是文化使其成为人，是文化使其从宇宙演化的自然历程中走出来。文化赋予人以意义、智慧和灵魂，赋予人以认知自然、改造自然，认知世界、改造世界，认知社会、改造社会以及认知自身、改造自身的超凡能力。

人既是文化的产物和结晶，同时又推动文化不断地发展和进步。人的最高本质——创造智慧、创造能力、创造精神的形成，既是文化演进的核心，又决定了文化演进的方向和路径。

人类真正的历史是文化史，是文明史。文化作为人的一种特殊创造物，其丰富的构成和演变自有其内在逻辑。它从低级到高级，从简单到复杂，从单一到多样，是一个不断发展进步的过程。人的发展无止境，文化的发展便无止境；文化的发展无止境，人的发展也便无止境。

人类文化历经狩猎采集文化、畜牧文化、农耕文化、工业文化，到今天已进入一个全新的发展时期。文化从来没有像今天这样借助于信息、科技、市场经济和民主政治而存在发展，以至于进入了一个文化空前交流、空前繁荣、空前激荡、空前碰撞的时代。文化越来越接近每一个人，文化在本质上作为人类的认知方式、思维方式、生活样式和行为样式，作为自然生命的内在支撑和外在衣饰，从来没有像今天这样如此丰富多彩，从来没有像今天这样如此变化多端，从来没有像今天这样如此平民化、大众化。文化进入共享时代，与此同时，文化所带来的迷茫、迷乱，也从来没有像今天这样令人如此担忧。文化与政治，文化与经济，文化与科学，文化与教育……一切的界线似乎都已消失。文化就是一切，一切又都变成文化。文化正处在一个“泛滥”的时代。文化似乎过剩了，越来越碎片化了，并且充满了垃圾、污染。然而我们不可否认，一种更新的、更先进的、更美好的、更智慧的、更充满创造力的文化又孕育其中。我们究竟从哪里来？我们究竟身在何处？我们究竟又去往何方？人类文化空前的繁荣背后隐藏着同样空前的忧虑。

中华文化作为人类文化的重要组成部分，自产生的那一刻始，就一直在开放中变异，在撕裂中整合，在迷茫失落中探索前进，在经历无数次与外来文化的碰撞、融合中走到今天。这其中，既有近现代的文化断割，又有改革开放的时代洗礼。实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦，根本在于中华民族优秀文化的复兴与创新。这将是与世界先进文化融合的过程，在融合中扬弃与升华的过程，这个过程将产生一种新的文化发展形态。

对于每一个个体、每一个国家、每一个民族来讲，文化是什么不是什么，能干什么不能干什么，这个问题仁者见仁，智者见智。作为人类的认知方式、思维方式、生活样式和行为样式，文化根本上是为人的，人为的。怎样更好地认识文化、把握文化、发展文化、完善文化以取得文化的可持续发展，怎样让人变得更美好，让社会变得更美好，让世界变得更美好，应是每一位文化研究者的神圣使命。对于以上问题，本书以检阅的方式，力求给关心文化的人提供些参考。

《文化是什么》一书从文化的发生、分类、界定、与人的关系、使用限定、属性、构成、功能、传播演进、未来展望十个方面，试图对文化做出全方位、动态的展示和论述。它运用人类学、社会学、民俗学等多学科交叉的综合研究方法，提出了一些关于文化的个人见解。本书写作前后历经两年，相关的思考却长达若干年。在这里，要非常感谢耿振东博士，没有他的辛勤帮助和劳作，这本书不可能这么快与读者见面。

“观乎天文，以察时变；观乎人文，以化成天下。”希望本书能得到同行专家的批评指正。

李中元

2014年元旦

For human beings, nothing could be more colorful, more complicated, more elusive, more challenging and more confusing than culture. It is culture that makes human beings human as a social existence in the natural process of cosmic evolution. It gives meaning, wisdom and spirit to human beings. It also gives human superpowers to recognize and rebuild nature, world, society and themselves.

Human beings are the creations and outcomes of culture, at the same time, they also promote the cultural development and progress. Human nature, that is, wisdom, ability and spirit of creation, is at the very core of cultural development, which also decides the direction and route of cultural development.

The real human history is cultural history and civilization history. Culture, as a special human creation, has its own logic of construction and development. It is a continuous developing and progressive process from lower level to higher level, from simple to complex, from single to multiple. If human development were endless, cultural development would be endless, and vice versa.

After hunting-gathering culture, animal husbandry culture, farming culture and industry culture, human culture enters a new period in which cultures communicate, flourish, surge and clash unprecedentedly. The existence and development of human culture become dependent on information, technology, market economy, democracy as never before. Culture is closer and closer to everyone. As human cognitive style, ways of thinking, life style and behavior style, as intrinsic maintenance and extrinsic fashion of natural life, culture has never been so colorful, diversified and popular as it is. Culture history has enters a common-sharing age. Nevertheless, Culture has never been so confusing and worrying. It seems that the boundaries between culture and politics, culture and sciences, culture and educations, etc. have faded away and disappeared. Culture is everything and vice versa. It is a “culture-flooding” era in which culture seems to be superfluous, fragmental and full of waste and pollution. However, what we could not deny is, a newer and better, a more advanced and more intelligent, more creative culture is also implicit in it. Where are we from? Where are we being? Where are we going? Behind the unprecedented flourish of human culture, is the same unprecedented worry.

As an important component of human culture, Chinese culture, from the very beginning of its origination, has been in a process of opening-up and ever changing, a process of being torn and integrated, and a process of getting lost and confused while still forging ahead. After numerous clashes with foreign cultures, it comes here. There are castration of culture of modern times, baptism of reforming and opening times during this process. The foundation of realizing China dream, a great national rejuvenation, lies in the innovation and renaissance of national fine culture. It would be a process of integration with advanced cultures worldwide, a process of sublation and sublimation, which would originate a new type of cultural development.

What is culture? What culture could do? Different individuals, different countries, different nations have their own views. Ultimately, as human cognitive style, ways of thinking, life style and behavior style, culture is “for-human” and “by-human”. How to understand culture, acquire culture, develop culture and improve culture in order to realize a sustainable cultural development? How to make a better human, a better society and a better world? These are questions for every researcher studying culture, which is their holy mission. By examining the above questions, this book attempts to propose some references for those who are interested in cultural studies.

The book What is Culture aims to provide a comprehensive and dynamic demonstration and discussion on cultural issues from the following ten aspects: culture's origination, classification, definition, relationship with human being, use limitation, properties, construction, function, popularity and revision, future perspectives. It proposes some individual opinions on culture issues with a comprehensive research methodology which includes anthropology, sociology, folklore, etc. It took me two years to write, but number of years to think over. The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to Dr. Geng zhendong. Without his help and effort, this book could not have met with the readers so early.

“Observing the law of nature in order to know the time variation, observing the law of human culture in order to moralizing people in the world.” Comments and criticisms from colleagues and experts will be highly appreciated.

Li zhongyuan

New Year's Day, 2014