In the context of Chinese modernization,modernity plays a pivotal role in the transformation of China’s ideological and cultural epistemes, underpinning the development of a modern knowledge system and its paradigm shifts. The pre- and post-Opium War paradigm of “learning from the West” and “Chinese learning for essential principles, while Western learning for practical application” epitomizes the early stages of this transformation. This paradigm shift and the evolution of modern Chinese epistemes have been inextricably linked to changes in intellectual experience, cognition, and conceptual models of modernity. Modernity in China has thus served as both the foundation and theoretical framework for constructing knowledge paradigms and producing knowledge. Since the turn of the century, the trajectory from modern to post-modern epistemes has been shaped by critical reflections on modernity. This dynamic interplay between social and cultural realities and knowledge production elucidates the characteristics of China’s ideological and cultural epistemes, knowledge paradigms and systems. It offers significant insights for examining and reflecting on the history of ideological and cultural development and knowledge production in modern China.