Abstract: Since Wang Hui discussed "the anti-modern modernity" in detail in his article "Contemporary Chinese Thought and the Question of Modernity", the issue of Chinese modernity has become a bone of contention in the ideological circle of China. In fact, the theory did not grow from China, but was initially proposed by Western Leftist theorists. It affected Chinese scholars in the West and then entered China. This article focuses on the discussion of "the anti-modern modernity" by Arif Dirlik, Liu Kang and Wang Hui, and compares their different understandings and interpretations in Chinese and Western contexts. The theory of Arif Dirlik and Liu Kang was to reflect on the West by using Chinese theory. When Wang Hui introduced the theory to China, there was a structural change. By analyzing the practical experience of China with abstract theory, he reduced the critical power of the original Western Leftist theory and gave it a superficially glorious coat. The original insights in Western theories became useless for interpreting Chinese experiences.

Key words: the anti-modern modernity, travel of theory, Arif Dirlik, Liu Kang, Wang Hui