The literary revolutionary movement is the most controversial, influential and outstanding movement in the New Culture Movement. However, vernacular literature has replaced classical Chinese as the real modern literature in China. No one can say that this is "total westernization", and no one has any basis to say that this is a total anti-tradition. Vernacular literature exists, not created by Hu Shi, but has been excluded from the literary world and despised by orthodox literature. The literary revolution made the established vernacular literature replace the authentic position of ancient literature, and made thousands of writers in Qian Qian create new literature with new languages, reflecting the new era. Hu Shi, an advocate of vernacular Chinese, was indeed inspired by the development and evolution of modern western cultural movements and literature, but can he say that he moved western languages and literature to China? Can we say that he abandoned the traditional China language and literature? Although Lu Xun's new novels written in vernacular Chinese are influenced by foreign writers, can we say that Lu Xun's Diary of a Madman and Kong Yiji are western literature rather than China literature? Can we say that Lu Xun's creation has nothing to do with China's classical literature? As long as we are impartial, everyone can see that vernacular new literature has inherited the fine tradition of China ancient literature and borrowed the advantages of western literature, which has achieved great success in reflecting modern life in China. Vernacular poetry has been polluted by people, and some people still doubt its vitality. In the past, some people misunderstood that "new poems are actually foreign poems written in Chinese". Hu Shi once firmly refuted this statement, emphasizing that the new poem "is a poem expressing the life, thoughts and feelings of modern China people in modern China language". If we study the development history of China's new poetry, we will understand how the first batch of new poets gradually broke away from the style of ancient China poets. That is to say, vernacular new poetry is not only influenced by western poetry, but also has its own national roots and a process of being born out of ancient poetry. Hu Shi's Attempt Collection can best illustrate this point. Therefore, China's vernacular poems are also the product of the combination of Chinese and Western.

Another focus of the New Culture Movement is the issue of ethics. Chen, Hu, Lu Xun and others criticized the old morality and advocated the new morality, which caused fierce opposition from conservatives. The center of the struggle is the question of personal value. Conservatives believe that the inherent universal ethics has eternal value. Loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of human relations, loyalty and righteousness must be used in things, filial piety must be used in parents, and wives and husbands must follow. These are unconditional. Although scholars of past dynasties have occasionally made euphemistic explanations, the outline has been set, and the advantages have been on the side of "Shang", "Father" and "Husband". As a minister and son, the wife has no right to speak. In this way, people were born in the world, fixed in the net of ethics, and had no opportunities and conditions for free development, so many great tragedies occurred in history. The leaders of the New Culture Movement think that this is a big problem that stifles humanity, suppresses creativity and dampens national vitality, but they stand up and shout: independent personality, free will and personal development are needed. In short, advocate individualism. Because China people have been bound by the old ethics for thousands of years, few people really understand what individualism is. When it comes to individualism, they will think it is selfish and extravagant. In fact, people who like to talk about ethics are often selfish and lewd. Because only by blocking the interests and desires of others can they do whatever they want. Therefore, most of the old ethical codes are just empty talk, and the more deceptive they become later. True individualism broke away from the church rule in the Middle Ages and was extended from the criticism of the old ethics. In fact, it is just an idea of recognizing personal value and striving to realize it. Admittedly, I don't think this concept has the ultimate nature of human development. However, we can say that individualism is a more sound concept, more humane, more conducive to the development of human beauty and goodness, and give full play to its creative wisdom.

The most fundamental significance of China's old ethics is to ask everyone to forget their personal values and give full play to their "birthright". If you are a minister, you want me to die, I have to die. Before I die, I have to thank Lord Long En, which is a complete birthright. Otherwise, I didn't do my duty. I was "rebellious." As a son, you must strictly obey your father's orders. If you surpass it, you are unfilial and a "rebellious son." According to the feudal family law, the law can't ask a father to teach his son a lesson and kill him. A woman must be absolutely obedient to her husband, slightly disobedient, and can also engage in family law. She has the rule of "going out seven times" to follow, and she was kicked out of the house, humiliated and unable to be a person. Except for the supreme ruler, everyone is born with a heavy shackle, or a minister, or a son, or a woman, but it is not an "individual". Where do the "Ming Jiao" and "birthright" come from? Nothing more than the so-called "saints" who have been dead for hundreds of thousands of years, or the ancestral heritage, all belong to the deceased. Therefore, the essence of ethics is to make sacrifices for the dead. The so-called ethical cannibalism means that the dead eat the living. Dead people are buried underground, so they can't eat people by themselves. So for kings, officials, dignitaries and superiors, they carried the banner of ethics and carried out the mission of eating people. Only by understanding this point can we truly understand how the speeches of Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Lu Xun and others during the May 4th Movement demonstrated human dignity and high humanitarianism. Lu Xun wrote Diary of a Madman, denouncing the ethical code of cannibalism. Chen Duxiu wants young people to be independent, independent, progressive and enterprising, and wants young people to "develop their individuality from the inside and contribute to the group from the outside". Hu Shi wanted to "cast his own materials into vessels" first. These are advocating personal dignity and personal value, and advocating giving everyone the right to be a man, rather than becoming an accessory or victim of others (or "born").

Some people may say that this individualistic ethics and outlook on life are purely western. Advocating it means advocating westernization and anti-tradition.

A lot of data reflect that people often have only a very general concept of tradition, but they don't know that tradition is not single. Any nation always has its own strengths, otherwise it will not be able to stand on its own feet in the world and create thousands of years of history. But there will always be shortcomings, so it is inevitable to walk a tortuous road, and sometimes even encounter bad luck and lift your head. Therefore, we have to admit that a nation has both good traditions and bad traditions; There are dominant traditions, and there are traditions that only occupy a secondary position or even be buried for a long time. Is the individualism we mentioned above, which began to rise in modern times, totally unfounded in the history of China and must be transplanted from the west? I don't think so. Among the pre-Qin philosophers, there was a figure like Yang Zhu, who said, "If you draw a gross profit, nothing will happen in the world.". In Wei and Jin Dynasties, if Kong Rong, Ji Kang and Ruan Ji were independent, wouldn't they show a little spirit of self-integrity and self-realization of personal value? At the end of Ming Dynasty, Li Zhi was "strong and willful, and didn't do whatever he wanted". He despised ethics and didn't care about others, and finally sacrificed his life. Can't it be regarded as the sprout of individualism that recognizes the value of life and strives to realize it? Dai Zhen, a great thinker in Qing Dynasty, theoretically demonstrated the legitimacy of human lust. Isn't this a challenge to the old ethics? In my opinion, although China's old ethical code has been passed down for thousands of years, it is not without strange people who struggled for their personal values in history. Their echo also constitutes another weak but not non-existent tradition in the history of China's thought. In fact, many enlightenment thinkers and scholars around the May 4th Movement are trying to explore this tradition. Hu Shi, Lu Xun and others have done this kind of work effectively.

We should also see that tradition is not static. There are pre-Qin traditions, Han Wei has Han Wei traditions, Tang Song has Tang Song traditions, and Ming and Qing dynasties have Ming and Qing traditions. Although they are continuous, there are quite a few changing factors. Can't the pursuit of human liberation, freedom and democracy since modern times be regarded as an excellent tradition in China's modern ideological history?

In the liberation of human beings, a prominent problem is the liberation of women. Advocating equality between men and women, encouraging women to receive education, protecting the autonomy of men and women in marriage, etc., are these ideas just imported and groundless in the history of China? In fact, it was only after the heyday of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty that China's female status became particularly miserable. Prior to this, there were quite a few records to publicize women's personality, women's talents and praise the faithful love between men and women. Neo-Confucianism preaches "keeping justice and destroying human desires", and regards women as the source of impurity and evil, and keeps them in cages. In fact, there is a proverb instilled in the world that "a woman without talent is virtue." According to the examination, women's foot binding was also popular in Song Dynasty. This inhuman "punishment" is described as a kind of beauty by boring literati, which is almost abnormal.

The leaders of the New Culture Movement expressed great indignation at the inhuman social prejudice that men are superior to women. Advocating women's liberation, encouraging women to receive education, stepping out of family walls and actively participating in social life only require restoring the proper appearance of human society, not just copying the model of any western country. If we pay attention to it again, the theory of equality between men and women was put forward in the 1930s of 19, long before the west knocked on China's door. During the Xinhai period, there were female students studying abroad and women taking part in the revolution. Then, isn't it fair to say that the New Culture Movement has inherited the excellent traditions of our predecessors?

The New Culture Movement has created a new generation of outstanding women in China. They have played an important role in politics, academia and literary and art circles. No one can say that they are no longer women in China. No one has any reason to accuse them of totally betraying the tradition of China. In fact, they have some excellent virtues admired by China people, which is one of the important reasons for their establishment. It is enough for people to pay attention to the typical example of Deng.

The New Culture Movement directly promoted the formation and development of new education in China. Almost all the famous leaders of the New Culture Movement have worked in the field of education. They have devoted great enthusiasm and painstaking efforts to the development of modern education in China.

China's new education did not begin in the May 4th period. But this is just the beginning. Thanks to the new culture movement, it was formed. There are three main points in the so-called new education. First, the establishment of a new educational concept, breaking the traditional mode of reading as an official, making education face the society and cultivating people who really need it in social life. The second is to establish a new academic system. 1922, the new academic system plan written by Hu Shi himself was implemented until the early 1950s. Although this educational system is obviously influenced by the American educational system, it takes into account the characteristics of China everywhere. Primary, secondary and vocational education places special emphasis on meeting the practical needs of China society. Colleges and universities also pay full attention to the cultivation of the foundation of Chinese studies. If the external form of the primary-secondary-university education system is similar to that of the United States, it is said to be "foreign goods", which is a statement that ignores the facts. The third element of new education is that the new curriculum should consider social practical value as much as possible. When talking about rural primary education, Hu Shi once said: "You don't have to ask what the regulations of the Ministry of Education are, but you must first ask what this place needs most. For example, what we need most here is farmers' common sense, sericulture common sense, business common sense and hygiene common sense, but you teach them to be sages with self-cultivation textbooks! And give them 20 yuan organ to teach them music! Please hire another teacher with an annual salary of 60 yuan to teach them English! ..... I suggest that all schools should pay attention not to the integrity of the curriculum, but to the practicality of the curriculum. There is no need to curry favor with students, but with little people. It is useless to treat students as saying that this school is good. It is necessary for ordinary people to send their children to school. That is the effect of education. " Hu Shi is not the only one who pays full attention to the practical value of society. At that time, most educators with new ideas, such as Cai Yuanpei, Tao Xingzhi, Jiang Menglin, Zhang Boling, etc. Although the new education after the May 4th Movement did not embark on the track of stable development because of the instability of the country, it has taken shape after all. This embryonic form is also the product of the combination of Chinese and western, not the result of "total westernization" or "total anti-tradition".

Another remarkable achievement of the New Culture Movement was the transformation of China's old scholarship. Hu Shi's Outline of China's Philosophical History (I) can be said to be an important symbol of the creation of new academic Excellence. Later, Lu Xun's A Brief History of Chinese Novels and Gu Jiegang's Analysis of Ancient History. It is refreshing in style, theory and method. They influenced a whole generation of scholars. In the 1920s and 1930s, China made considerable academic progress, which can be said to be based on this. The basic feature of new learning is the combination of Chinese and Western learning, that is, learning the theories and methods of western scholars, transforming the traditional theories and methods of China, re-studying China's cultural heritage or creating a brand-new social science and humanities discipline in China. Needless to say, Hu Shi's textual research, Gu Jiegang's suspicion of the past and Lu Xun's "hook and sink" are all based on China's own tradition, and are by no means simply copying western theories and methods.

Another point that cannot be ignored here is that the New Culture Movement has promoted the development of science in China. It is a fact that the leaders of the New Culture Movement are not scientists themselves. But they all respect science extremely, believe in science extremely, and are extremely keen on its development. China's scientific undertakings developed successively in the 1920s and 1930s, and were directly or indirectly influenced by the New Culture Movement. As the leader of the New Culture Movement, Hu Shi has a very close personal friendship with first-class scientists in almost all fields. A long list can be made of the scientists and their undertakings that he directly or indirectly supported and helped. And just a few, such as Ding Wenjiang's geological survey, Wang Jingxi's experimental psychology research, Ren Hongjuan Institute of Science and Chemistry, Hu Xiansu (although this person cursed Hu Shi! ) biological research, astronomical research in Gaul, paleontology research in Peking University and so on.

Many achievements left by the New Culture Movement, as well as the new ideas and new undertakings it advocated, are closely related to the life of China people, such as the popularization of vernacular Chinese, the adoption of punctuation marks, the establishment of Chinese Pinyin, etc. New concepts such as equality between men and women, independence of personality and freedom of personality; Develop science and even advocate birth control and good parenting, and so on. Even the most conservative people in China, including those who denounced the New Culture Movement as "total westernization" and "total anti-tradition", probably don't have to do the opposite.

To sum up, we can see that the New Culture Movement is essentially a movement combining Chinese and Western cultures to create a new culture in China. Although its progress in various fields is uneven, there are still some shortcomings in different degrees, which need to be criticized and corrected by future generations, but the direction it represents to create a new culture in China by combining Chinese and Western cultures is undeniable.