A Comparative Study of Cultural Modernization in China and Sri Lanka: Similar Historical Driving Forces, Different Cultural Outcomes

Abstract

The cultural modernization of China and Sri Lanka shares several analogous historical driving forces. Both countries possess mature and stable traditional cultures, have been influenced by Western cultural paradigms, and have experienced national liberation movements in which nationalist ideologies and movements played a significant role in shaping cultural modernization. Yet, despite these similar historical factors, the outcomes of cultural modernization in the two countries differ markedly. This divergence is primarily reflected in two aspects: first, the degree of preservation and the functional role of traditional culture in contemporary societies vary greatly. In China, traditional Confucian values and the patriarchal system have largely receded in modern life, whereas in Sri Lanka, Buddhism continues to exert a visible and mainstream influence in contemporary society. Second, the institutional cultures of the two countries also differ significantly. China has developed a socialist institutional culture with distinct Chinese characteristics, while Sri Lanka has largely retained the Western institutional culture inherited from British colonial rule. This study identifies two principal factors underlying these differences. First, traditional culture experienced distinct fates within each country’s modernization process. In China, cultural modernization emerged within an anti-traditionalist intellectual climate, whereas in Sri Lanka, traditional culture was revitalized and mobilized as a foundational force supporting modernization through religious nationalism. These contrasting experiences have profoundly shaped the role and status of traditional culture in their respective modern societies. Second, the ideological foundations of modernization differed markedly: China’s modernization was driven by revolutionary ideology, while Sri Lanka’s was guided primarily by reformist currents. These ideological distinctions fostered divergent institutional and cultural configurations. This comparative analysis reveals that although China and Sri Lanka shared similar historical motivations for cultural modernization, the different approaches to implementation have led to different outcomes.