Speech by Dai Bin at the Symposium on Commemorating the 93rd Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China and Academic Thought

On July 1, 2014, Dai Bin delivered a speech at the commemoration of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the Academic Thought Seminar. The full text is as follows: A first-class think tank must have first-class academic thinking. This year's National Tourism Science Annual Conference summarized the speech, and he publicly admitted that he had had many misconceptions on the path of academic exploration and growth: wearing a doctoral cap, making unconventional evaluations of professors, receiving applause and recognition from the industry, and even becoming a scholar, there would be an instant sense of complacency, a sense of "looking at the world, who would give up on me". But more often than not, it's quiet at night, surrounded by smoke, facing a screen full of text but unable to find academic value and research significance. When I was young, I could rely on my parents for guidance, and when I was studying, I could talk to my teachers for heart to heart talks. But now? You are already an adult who others are looking for your goals, values, and meanings, so you can only search and confirm them through the coupling of theoretical exploration and industrial practice alone. It should be said that many professional scholars and intellectuals have a similar emotional journey. As for the research institute, we are a tourism professional think tank with senior intellectuals as the main body, closely interacting with the government and industry. We need to fully understand and affirm the legitimacy and necessity of scholars' "inability" to care about real politics, while also facing the great risks of intellectuals entering the public discourse space and participating in politics itself. In this process, there will definitely be a sense of satisfaction when there are small achievements, as well as occasional setbacks and hesitation, especially in the face of the growing commercial power and the administrative will to retreat. The "stillness" and "purity" of learning will be shaken and shaken at intervals. What should we do? I think only thought, or faith, can prevent us from getting lost in the face of the afterlife and questioning. 1、 Why is thought important? Since the Spring and Autumn period, the complementary nature of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism has formed the fundamental framework of traditional Chinese thought. After the May Fourth Movement, in the context of saving the country and the people, "Mr. Sai (science)" and "Mr. De (democracy)" were introduced and attempted to reconstruct the interaction between intellectuals and society. In the turbulent century long history, scientific rationality and even instrumental rationality have been advocated by mainstream ideology, forming organizational systems such as science academies, engineering academies, and research universities, and continuously strengthened through daily knowledge production processes such as paper publishing, scientific research projects, and academic awards. Compared to others, whether it is the exploration of individual ideas based on traditional subsets of classics and history, or the collective construction of ideological systems based on contemporary philosophy and social sciences, they are in a relatively quiet state, not to mention the deep interaction between science, literature, art, religion, social reality, and historical processes that are essential in the process of ideological formation. The thousands of years of civilization evolution history in the West and China indicate that scientific development will inevitably form ideas at a certain stage, and ideas are the driving force and guarantee for technological progress, scholar growth, and even the entire process of civilization evolution that cannot be seen, touched, and truly exists. It's hard to imagine without Confucius, Plato, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Marx, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Hu Shi, Lu Xun Without their ideas to nourish the human soul, what would history be like. We acknowledge the value of rationality, or 'pure being', as the ideal standard pursued by modern science, which constructs a large set of logical reasoning processes that can withstand strict scientific scrutiny, greatly losing the prosperity and development of philosophy and social sciences. We must also soberly recognize that scientific rationality is different from rationalism, such as acknowledging the blurred boundaries between nature, humans, and gods, acknowledging the limitations of science, and recognizing the irreplaceability of ideas, art, and emotions for social progress and civilization evolution. Looking at the tourism industry today, it seems that the government and its industry regulatory departments, the industry, education and academic institutions each have their own circles, and there are exchanges between them. There are also more short-term intersections in specific matters such as planning, training, and conferences, but in fact, there is no consensus discourse system formed. How to overcome the practical dilemma of "who convinces whom" and "who commands whom", and continuously seek the maximum common denominator of ideas to jointly enhance the level of contemporary tourism development and ideological realm, is the shared responsibility of academia, politics, and business. The path to achieving this goal can adhere to the hard core of each operational level, play against each other, and attract each other; It is also possible to abandon the current operational level of each layer and follow the path of technology, system, ideology, and sentiment to move up. At a higher level, commonality should be easier. Thought is the level of advancement in the development of theory and academic research to a certain stage, and it is also a platform for dialogue between the political and business sectors. In this process, scholars should but have not taken on greater responsibility. There is a tendency in the current tourism academic community to overly pursue logical consistency, especially in terms of form and surface scientificity. Our country's tourism practice follows an unconventional development path of first entering the country and then entering the domestic market, first government and then market, and first high-end and then mass market. In recent years, with the industry starting to turn back and take remedial courses, are tourism development theories and academic ideas also going through this process? It should be said that it is synchronized with practice. For a long time, apples have been a formula related to apples rather than apples themselves, and are further away from the soil and ecological conditions where apples grow. It is easy to become a closed game of conceptual reproduction, logical derivation, and formula entanglement. The result is that despite wearing Spider Man's clothes, the person is still the same ordinary self as before. What's even more paradoxical is that after performing on the street for half a day, they realize that they don't even need you, Spider Man! Young scholars are the future of the academic community and what we need to make great efforts to cultivate. However, the doctoral and master's degrees produced by the existing education system, as well as professors and researchers who have become or will become frontline scholars, always make people feel that there are fewer classic resources of cultural traditions and academic ideas in their knowledge structure and experience accumulation from publicly published papers, works, speeches, and reports. Coupled with the limitations of large and small circles, it is difficult to have the pioneering atmosphere of a master. In my academic growth process, several series of books have played a role in ideological enlightenment and academic assistance. Firstly, I started reading the business edition of "Chinese translated classics" during my university years in the mid-1980s. Secondly, I started reading the Shanghai Sanlian edition of "Contemporary Economic Literature" during my graduate studies in the mid-1990s. Thirdly, I served as a university leader in various university editions of biographies of educational and academic experts around 2006. In addition, I have been reading traditional Chinese literature, history, and philosophy books, which have generally constructed my own ideological framework and academic support. Of course, for economics as a profession, some efforts have also been made in basic theories, especially in the areas of consumer behavior theory and firm theory in microeconomics. Compared to the generation of scholars led by Mr. Shen Baojia who passed away in early spring this year, our foundation should be said to be relatively weak. Perhaps it's a path dependence during my growth process. Every time I interview researchers, postdoctoral candidates, or talk to young scholars, I often ask, 'What books have you read?' This refers to these ideological books, not textbooks like 'Introduction to Tourism' or 'Travel Agency Management', not inspirational books like 'The Weaknesses of Human Nature' or 'Take Your Soul to Travel', and certainly not motivational books like 'Winning Others in Five Minutes'. Another frequently asked question is "What projects have you worked on?" I hope to hear an answer that is based on original academic research, rather than having published several papers, compiled several textbooks, or done tourism planning for any particular place. This is not to demand young tourism scholars who are striving with the standards of experienced people, but to demand future tourism theory builders and academic leaders with higher standards. Without similar self expectations and strict requirements, our goals and plans for discipline construction, academic achievement construction, international cooperation, talent cultivation, and social services proposed in the first six years can only be daydreams. The systematic improvement of the academic level and sustainable development capability of the research institute is the most direct practical background for us to think about the construction of academic ideas. Since the proposal of the "1+8+X" academic achievement system at the first discipline construction seminar in 2009, we have mobilized the strength of the entire college and academic community, and personally promoted it. By the publication of the research report on scenic area development in August 2013, we have achieved this goal in terms of quantity. The next task is how to consolidate and improve this achievement system, and more importantly, how to continuously enhance the academic level of the entire team, and how to extract scientific theories and tourism ideas that are suitable for the development practice of mass tourism. At this point, to be honest, I didn't have a bottom line, so I chose "Professional Competence and Social Service" as last year's theme. In fact, it is to enable comrades to integrate into social practice and grow themselves in the process of interacting with industry and society. From the current situation, it seems that only a relatively systematic and intuitive reflection on this issue has to some extent solved the problem of young scholars constructing theories and forming ideas. As for how to form ideas, what kind of ideas can be formed, can we live up to the requirements of contemporary tourism development practice, and can leave some voice for future history, to be honest, we do not have a definite answer. 2、 What is first-class academic thought? First class academic ideas share the common characteristics of great ideas, which have epoch-making significance in human history or form the theoretical foundation of a certain industry from scratch. Confucius, Laozi, Shakyamuni, and Marx are certainly great thinkers who are the "meta thinkers" and creators of human civilization. It is difficult to imagine a modern free market economy without the "invisible hand" advocated by Adam Smith in his 1776 book "The Wealth of Nations". Without a modern free market economy, it would be difficult for human material living standards to develop to the current level of prosperity. Great ideas can make readers, listeners, and viewers feel the worldly emotions and logical beauty in the process of acceptance. When we carefully read Locke's "On Government" more than 300 years ago, Rousseau's "Social Contract" more than 200 years ago, Montesquieu's "The Spirit of Law", Mill's "Representative Government" and "On Freedom" more than 100 years ago, especially the classic works of Marxism such as "Capital", "The Communist Manifesto", "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State", we will find the brilliance of thought, shaken by its ubiquitous power of thought, and moved by the beauty of logic from the inside out. Such ideas can withstand historical tests. First class academic ideas run through different disciplines without being limited by existing disciplinary boundaries; All methods and tools can be used to promote the germination and formation of ideas, rather than cutting them to fit the shoes and letting ideas take care of methods and tools. The constantly evolving division of labor system between natural sciences, engineering sciences, and social sciences, as well as within them, provides scientists and scholars with a place to settle down, but it is also easy to gain a growing sense of stability in the continuation of similar families, while losing creativity. As a reaction against division of labor, seeking the greatest commonality between different disciplines, even science, humanities, and religion, often becomes an effective path for the enlightened to reach the status of masters. The Japanese architectural philosopher Kengo Kuma's book "Negative Architecture" mentions the representative figure of the "idealism free modernity" architectural school, Tenggo Murano, who loved "Capital" throughout his life. Let's take a look at how Marx and architects reconciled. Marx said, 'The realization of commodity value is a thrilling leap.' The principle of transaction is to conduct it between two different value systems and different price standards. However, it is unclear whether goods traded on different value systems will necessarily be accepted by the other party during the production process, which is why the goods have a thrilling jump. In creative works, on the one hand, only things that are forced to jump have grace and charm, and on the other hand, there is a sense of tension to crush oneself. In fact, the sense of tension arises not only from the different value systems between production and consumers, but also from the artist's desire for self transcendence in their work. It is precisely from the relationship of tension and transcendence that thinkers find a connection between "Capital" and modern architecture. It is precisely because of the importance of interdisciplinary communication that top universities in Europe and America, whether comprehensive universities or liberal arts colleges, place special emphasis on liberal arts courses, emphasizing the understanding and acceptance of humanity, history, art, and life. First class academic ideas often sprout and grow during the adolescence of academia and scholars. Adolescence is full of vigorous vitality, always associated with confidence and boldness. 'When the water hits three thousand miles, confident life lasts for two hundred years.'. Adolescence is characterized by both courage and mutual tolerance, adept at learning from outstanding competitors in competition, and the spirit of 'meeting and drinking for you, tied to the towering horse and willow trees'. The Warring States period was the adolescence of Chinese civilization, during which various schools of thought and schools of thought constructed the ideological genes of a brilliant culture. In the Han Dynasty, Confucianism matured to the point of "exclusive respect", which was the pinnacle. When theories and ideas reach a unified level, without the pressure of competition or the drive to expand territory, one can only embroider flowers on their own one and a half acres of land. The current construction of tourism theory and the formation of academic ideas, whether from the perspective of industry practice or the maturity of the scholar community, are still in their adolescence stage. I think there is no need to rush to establish a unified system. Use a boundary to separate tourism from natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, and then use another boundary to circle basic theories, economics, management, markets, planning, and other fields. In the era of primitive innovation, learning how to pee like a puppy takes up a lot of space, and limiting oneself is not good! The reason for the phenomenon of "young and old" is related to the fact that China's tourism development theory and academic research paradigm are both introduced from developed countries in Europe and America, lacking theoretical abstraction of local industry practice and confidence. Now, national, mass, and modern tourism and leisure have emerged, and the adolescence of Chinese tourism academia has arrived. The era of innovative thinking of "letting modern academia speak Chinese" has arrived! By comparing with the standards of first-class academic thought and taking a look at the new trends in the development of contemporary world and China's tourism industry, it is time to think about "ideas". In the past, tourism was one-way, passing through or not passing through transit or distribution centers from the source area to the destination, and then returning, which was just a return journey. Scholars have conducted extensive research on this unidirectional circular flow. UNWTO and PATA have proposed concepts such as global tourism ethics, sustainable tourism, and responsible tourism, focusing on the "host guest" relationship during short-term travel stays at destinations. In recent years, with the rise of mass tourism, especially the development of outbound tourism, China has successively proposed concepts such as integrated development, tourism rights, and tourist satisfaction from a national strategic perspective. What will tourism look like in twenty, fifty, one hundred years, or even longer? This requires social participation and industrial practice, as well as academic research and ideological refinement. In the era of rapid development in practice and the era of big data eroding authority, no one can occupy the high ground of thought, ethics, and theory, nor can anyone specify a research paradigm that everyone must follow. The future competition is not only a competition of industrial practice, but also a competition of academic ideas. Without ideas, scholars and their academic achievements cannot guide and lead the business community, government, and mass tourists, and even lose their own recognition in dialogue. I have heard from many entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who have started pursuing goals that are more important than making money, which is to promote social fairness and justice. This is very shocking to me: the reason why I am able to say such words is because China's current system and social resources have already had an impact