The "National English Curriculum Standards for Ordinary High Schools" (2020) explicitly states that the cultivation of cultural awareness is a key aspect of the core literacy of the English subject. As a compulsory course in middle schools, it is of significant research importance to explore how to integrate excellent Chinese traditional culture into English teaching to enhance students' national cultural identity and promote Chinese culture to the world. This study selects the 2003 and 2017 editions of the Jiangsu Education Edition high school English textbooks as the main research objects and conducts a comparative analysis from three major aspects: the content, setting, and educational function of Chinese culture. The study aims to address the following three questions: First, what are the differences in national identity cultural content between the two editions of textbooks? Second, what are the differences in the presentation characteristics of national identity culture between the two editions? Third, what are the differences in the educational functions of national identity culture between the two editions?

Through comparative analysis, we found that the cultural content ratio in the 2017 edition has increased compared to the 2003 edition. Additionally, the types of culture covered are more comprehensive, extending beyond material culture to include more aspects of spiritual culture. This better meets the requirements of the new curriculum standards for the types of cultural training for students and helps to bridge the psychological distance between students and textbooks, thereby fostering cultural identity from a psychological perspective. In terms of the time span, the 2017 edition includes not only excellent traditional Chinese culture but also contemporary culture, such as volleyball and music. This represents a significant advancement in the cultural span, allowing students to realize that Chinese culture is a continuously evolving culture, encompassing both outstanding traditional culture and equally splendid modern culture.