The pronouns confuse a little because the title says 'he' and 'my' but then it is 'they' and 'you.' It is also not completely clear whether 'they' are Chinese people who developed *mainly* from books, or outsiders who only know about it from books (in which case they would not be 'products of').

What he is missing is my Chinese cultural background. They were totally products of the ancient broader tradition absorbed from the classics; you, on the other hand, have absorbed Chinese culture from the actual lives of ordinary people. That is quite different. They had probably not systematically observed or experienced social life, whereas you have frequently encountered all the vivid realities, pondered them, identified issues, and proposed ideas. They were not able to do that. I have consciously placed myself in the shoes of the farmers. But in fact, this does not mean I completely identify with their mentality. After all, I am not a peasant but an intellectual within the larger culture. I come from the gentry class which has formed my social attributes, while my cultural ones are those of an intellectual background nurtured by learning new things. Later I went to Britain and came into close contact with the West.