Abstract: In modern China, the cultural starting point of the “prosperity as the body, constitutional system as the application” paradigm is pragmatism in Chinese tradition. The pragmatism of seeking quick success and instant benefits is a fundamental character exhibited in the Chinese constitutional culture. In modern times, advanced Chinese people, in their pursuit of establishing a constitutional system, assumed a logical relationship of “constitutional system as the cause and prosperity as the result”. Behind this assumption lies a divergence of thinking between liberalism and collectivism. There is an inherent value conflict between constitutionalism and prosperity, but it can also be integrated in situations where the country is facing internal and external troubles. Without the accumulation of constitutional culture, rough utilization of constitutional system is difficult to succeed, so cultivating constitutional culture has become an important inspiration left by history to the current constitutional construction. It is particularly necessary to provide a new interpretation of the meaning of prosperity.

Key words: constitutional system, prosperity, pragmatism, cultural paradigm