When US politicians want to argue in favor of a policy, they might assert that the policy will preserve American “freedoms.” In fact, two people might support diametrically opposite policies, while both claiming that their policy will do a better job of preserving American “freedoms.” Just as “freedom” is considered a virtue in US discourse, “tradition” was considered a good thing in the Confucian-influenced world of 14th to 17th century East Asia.
People in that time and place did not simply reject all new practices or ideas. Rather, when authors argued in favor of innovations, they often suggested that their new idea was really a revival of an old practice. They might say their new idea was actually more aligned with Confucian values than the current way of doing things.
We are all familiar with the practice of describing an idea differently to make it appealing to a particular audience (parents, teachers, students, friends). As you work with primary documents, keep an eye out for this technique.