Local colleges and universities undertake the mission of social development,but their surviving surroundings have not received enough attention. Their types,diachronic and synchronic reflect their respective characteristics: It embodies the difference be- tween the traditional mission and the structure in the key tasks and structure,and there are similarities and differences in internal gov- ernance. It is found by the comparison of relevant literature on the development of local colleges and universities and the development of first - class universities,which is guided by the thought of structure,regard the modernity theory as the framework and to analyse by means of the methods like bibliometrics,social network and text information. Therefore,the development of first - class universities shows the integration and development of tradition and modernity. And that of local colleges and universities shows the conflicts and di- lemmas of tradition and modernity.