This article, a reflection on the author's tetralogy The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought, focuses on three sets of antithetical concepts—empire and nation-state, rational bureaucracy (junxian zhi) and feudal system (fengjian zhi), rites/music and institutions—“continuity and rupture” in history and the idea of the trend of the times (shishi); and the question of scientific outlook and national knowledge. It argues the importance of liberating the historical world of thought from the position as an object for our observation and transforming it into a perspective from which we can reflect on and observe the modern world of ours.
