0910G【Try Best】第二小组 issue147 by tianshi02

tianshi02UID: 2362794

TOPIC: ISSUE147 - "Tradition and modernization are incompatible. One must choose between them."
WORDS: 722          TIME: 02:10:00          DATE: 2009-6-29 12:20:43

Among the contrasting concepts, such as banality and novelty, vitality and demise, indolence and industriousness, there is a contradiction between the two, and therefore, one must choose one and discard the other. However, this is not true of tradition and modernization. Through the development process of everything, for example, the development of a city, that of people's values and lifestyles, and that of musical style, tradition and modernization always coexist,  how to balance them is what we are really concerned about.

With the unprecedentedly fast pace of modernization in developing countries, to what extent and how to preserve traditions has been a much debated issue nowadays. Modernization, namely the process of urbanization and  industrialization with the help of novel technologies, has considerably improved people's lives, which is desirable. However, the cost of it is that it is threatening the cultural, historical and natural heritage - traditions of the city. The transformation to a modern city might involve the impact to people's traditional values, destruction of historical sites, pollution to the environment which cause the deterioration of ecosystem and thus natural beauties  and so on. Even though there is a tension between tradition and modernization, they can and they must coexist, as the tradition refers to the identity of the city, which is equally,if not more, important. Beijing is such a city, where tradition and modernization perfectly coexist. In there, not all ancient mansions are demolished to make room for high-rise buildings. Rather, most of the traditional buildings and places of interest are preserved for visitors and offspring. The government has also endeavored to conserve the environment and its natural sights. Besides, people, even increasingly crazy for western festivals, such as Christmas, Halloween, are still obsessed with their traditional celebrations all through the year and stick to their own lifestyles.

With the accelerating development of society, people's values and lifestyles are also "modernized". In oriental  world,  western cultures and lifestyles have had an irreversible impact on people's life and views of the world. People there play all sorts of games Americans are fond of, like frisby, football. They mimic parties of western people and have even more fun. As for the values, modern women are less obedient to men and men are more respectful to women. Moreover, the hierarchies between people tend to be weakened. Nonetheless, have people in oriental world completely abandoned their traditional values and lifestyles that last for thousands of years? Certainly not. Their traditional values, such as modesty and respect for the elderly, are deeply rooted in everybody's mind in oriental world, despite the urge for self-assurance and human equality in modern society. Even if people are aware nowadays that appropriate self-display is essential to one's success, humility is still a generally accepted moral attitude there. Even if personal ability and talent are what society is craving for and thus distinguish the people in modern society, age, as a traditional social force, endows older people advantages and prestige regardless of their abilities. Nor are the people's traditional lifestyles shakened by modern and fashionable ones. Does anyone in oriental world give up rice in favor of burgers or pizzas? No and never! Do schools teach students tennis and football instead of shadowboxing? Modern sports and food are certainly attracting people's attention, but in no way can they replace the traditional counterparts in oriental world.

The development of music composition, at first glance, seems to favor the innovations that cater to modern tastes of music, whereas, the traditional rules, styles have never been really challenged. Beethoven has been said to be a free-thinker in composition. His music sounds a completely disparate style from his predecessors. However, a close study of his compositions reveals that he had never toppled any fundamental rules or freed music from the stifling confines of convention. Actually, he simply exploited the limits the convention, inherited from such predecessors as Haydn, Mozart, Handel and Bach, in strikingly original ways.

All in all, I see no incompatible conflicts between tradition and modernization, in the course of development of anything. Modernization, namely, novel ideas, innovations and so on, are something that keep everything advancing. Traditions, namely, long developed and fully established rules, values, perspectives, human constructions and artifacts, cannot easily be undermined by modernization. They, in fact, serve as valuable experiences, methodology, or identity that direct the way of modernization.