-Re-understanding of the New Culture Movement
Abstract: When China was dead, the new culture movement led by Chen Duxiu was like a spring thunder, which brought hope and vitality to China. Young people are deeply influenced by this movement. They accept new ideas, new cultures and new morals, rise up against feudalism, get rid of ethical codes, and think about the fate and future of the country and the nation. This is an unprecedented new change and new situation in the Millennium.
Key words: New Youth, New Culture Movement, Youth Enlightenment in Chen Duxiu.
At the beginning of the 20th century, China, like a dragon waking from a deep sleep, experienced the ruthless destruction of foreign invaders and numerous abortive revolutions and movements, and his thoughts began to undergo drastic changes in this land. After the failure of the Westernization Movement and the Revolution of 1911, China intellectuals began to turn their hopes of saving the country to their thoughts. "After the founding of the Republic of China, feudal thoughts still spread all over China. One of the reasons is that China lacks a relatively thorough cultural and ideological revolution. If these feudal ideas are not washed away, not only the * * * and the political system will fail, but even this * * * and signboard will fail. " [1] Some farsighted people believe that the difficulty of saving the country is rooted in China people's "watching the fire from a distance, being familiar with it without tolerance" and "wanting to save the country fundamentally" [2], which must be completely changed. The fact that it was invaded by other countries in the past shows that feudalism is not feasible in this period, and feudal countries will eventually face the danger of national subjugation. Intellectuals who returned from studying in the west in the early days, therefore, some intellectuals' advanced ideas and feudal ideas collided fiercely during this period. The visionary hopes to transform China citizens and change the status quo in China through enlightenment, which is similar to that in the West. In this ideological emancipation movement, young people occupy a dominant position and are most influenced by it. They emancipate their minds, let them think about the fate of the country and the nation, and join in the revolution, so that the country will have hope and the nation will have a future.
On the eve of the New Culture Movement, intellectuals in China were in a state of chaos. Many intellectuals changed their minds after being exposed to western culture and western political system. After a long period of ideological emancipation, western capitalist countries have established a perfect national political system, so the first intellectuals who woke up wanted to change the status quo of China's colonization with western systems and ideas. However, there are still a group of stubborn conservatives who want to revive Confucianism out of their own interests and ruling needs, and carry out the so-called "respecting Confucius and ousting a hundred schools of thought, and respecting Confucianism alone" to make the sleeping people respect the sage Confucius, thus imprisoning the people ideologically and achieving the goal of slavish ruling the people at that time. A group of intellectuals, led by Chen Duxiu, were poisoned by feudal ethics when they were young and hated it. They rebelled from childhood, but they didn't give in and challenge it. This is also the first batch of people who dared to challenge the feudal ethics for thousands of years. At this point, "New Youth" was published, and the new culture movement officially broke out. Mr. Cai Yuanpei, then president of Peking University, appointed Chen Duxiu as the senior liberal arts student of Peking University. Subsequently, New Youth moved from Shanghai to Beijing and took root in Peking University. "New Youth" and Peking University are perfectly integrated, and "New Youth" magazine and Peking University have also become the main positions of this movement.
From the late Qing Dynasty to modern times, China intellectuals tried their best to save China, and used their words to arouse people's resistance. In view of the social situation at that time, newspapers and magazines were widely used as a means of communication. Therefore, Chen Duxiu turned his attention to magazines and young people, and took New Youth as the carrier, and chose the young people who were the easiest to change and the most troublesome for the ruling class. "Youth is like early spring, like the sunrise, like the germination of flowers, like the rebirth of a sword, which is the most precious period of life. Youth is to society what fresh and lively cells are to people. " [3] In this passage of Chen Duxiu's "Tell the Youth", Chen Duxiu expressed his ardent expectations and hopes for the youth with passionate words. Chen Duxiu is determined to use New Youth to guide young people, set up their new ideas, oppose feudalism, advocate democracy and science, and mobilize young students to join the revolution. New Youth not only educates people on healthy lifestyles and advanced ideas, but also discusses women's issues, literature and art research, current affairs and politics, national quintessence and national character, which was not available in other magazines at that time. It not only provided a platform for intellectuals to express their opinions, but also greatly broadened the horizons and knowledge of young people in China at that time, and various ideas emerged on this platform. At that time, under the guidance of New Youth, students at school began to strongly attack feudalism, including Confucianism and ethics for thousands of years, and at the same time began to think about the fate and future of the country. As a platform, New Youth allowed many advanced intellectuals to be displayed here, and also became the center of thought and public opinion at that time. Chen Duxiu wants to transform the youth in China ideologically with the help of New Youth. He believes that young people should be "independent rather than slaves", "progressive rather than conservative, enterprising rather than retired", "global rather than locked up", "practical rather than imaginary" and "scientific rather than imaginary". As early as when he was studying in Chen Duxiu, he knew that the current social system in China was difficult to save himself, and new systems and ideas were needed to transform China. So he brought bourgeois democratic thoughts and critical thoughts to China, hoping to spread them among young people through New Youth. I think there are several reasons for choosing young people. First, young people's own ideas are easy to change and accept new things and new ideas. Second, rulers have always been afraid of young people, because "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers", and young people are aggressive and rebellious. Third, young people in the future will have more time and energy to devote themselves to the revolution. After all, it took Europe more than 400 years of ideological enlightenment to completely change the social system. After the publication of New Youth, it sold out in Peking University. Students began to read New Youth one after another and actively participated in its publishing and editing. Teachers and students of Peking University became the main editors of New Youth at that time. At the same time, President Cai Yuanpei put forward "freedom of thought and inclusiveness" at Peking University at this time, which made New Youth perfectly combined with Peking University. The new culture movement is not only in the ideological field, but also in the cultural field. Hu Shi published "My humble opinion on literary improvement", advocating vernacular Chinese; Some people also suggest giving up Chinese characters and replacing them with western symbols; On the other hand, Lu Xun strongly criticized feudal ethics in the vernacular "Diary of a Madman" ... They believed that the national inferiority originated from feudal ethics and ethics, and the long-term imprisonment of feudal thoughts suppressed the national thought and personality, making it difficult to arouse resistance. Correspondingly, the influence on the youth also penetrated into the ideological and cultural field, which opened up a new world for the subsequent development of cultural thought and provided an ideological premise for the outbreak of the May 4th Movement.
"The national strength is weak, the martial arts is weak, and the national physique is getting thinner and thinner. This is a worrying phenomenon ... those who are not solid are afraid of soldiers. How can we succeed? Solidity lies in exercise. Exercise lies in self-awareness ... If you want exercise to be effective, you must move your subjectivity and promote your self-awareness of exercise. " [4] "New Youth" advocates physical exercise, keeping fit and strengthening the country, which also has a great influence on young people. However, it is difficult to build a strong country only by physical strength without mental and ideological changes. It is impossible to save the country by brute force alone. Lu Xun explained this point in Literature Abandoning Medicine: "I arrived in Tokyo before the end of this school year, because since then, I feel that medicine is not an urgent matter. All stupid and weak citizens, no matter how healthy they are, can do nothing but show off material things and look at visitors. There's no need to be unhappy when you die. Therefore, our first task is to change their spirit, and what is good at changing their spirit is that I thought it was natural to promote literature and art at that time, so I wanted to promote the literary movement. " [5]
New Youth was founded by Chen Duxiu alone, and it was full of "utilitarian" psychology from the selection of articles to the publication. Out of the original intention and expectation of his role, Chen Duxiu firmly controlled the center of public opinion and the dissemination of ideas in New Youth. The content presented by New Youth magazine is closely related to Chen Duxiu's thoughts. During the New Culture Movement, the thoughts of New Youth revolved around: opposing feudalism, advocating democratic science, opposing old morality and advocating new morality; Oppose old literature and advocate new literature. The influence of New Youth on the youth at that time can be seen from the outstanding revolutionary leaders: Mao Zedong once said: "New Youth is a famous magazine of the New Culture Movement, edited by Chen Duxiu. When I was a student in a normal school, I began to read a magazine. I am particularly interested in the articles by Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu. They replaced Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei and became my role models for some time. " [8], Zhou Enlai said when studying at Nankai University: "When I was in China, I was busy with school affairs and didn't pay special attention to the magazine" New Youth "published the year before last. Sometimes when I buy it from the bookstore, it's just a passing sight and I forget it when I look at it. But when I saw the whole third volume of New Youth, I was greatly inspired, so I started reading New Youth in the morning and went back to read it at night. " [6][7] It can also be seen from the reader's reply at that time: The letter from the New Voice Society of the Middle School Department of Zhonghua University in Wuchang to the editor of "New Youth": "Our life has always been chaotic. Since watching "New Youth", we have gradually awakened, and it is really like seeing the dawn in a dark place. " [9]
The New Culture Movement initiated by Chen Duxiu was an anti-feudal ideological enlightenment and liberation movement, which had a great influence on the ideological transformation of young people at that time, made them learn to criticize and think, and inspired their enthusiasm for thinking about the future of the country and the nation and joining the revolutionary movement. Even though the New Culture Movement has its own limitations, whether it is to spread the idea itself or to abandon and carry forward the traditional culture, it is undeniable that it transformed the thoughts of young people at that time and promoted the spread of Marxism at the same time, which was a dawn in the dark land of China at that time and opened a new climax of saving the country.
Precautions:
[1] Chen Duxiu: Old Ideas and State System.
[2] Outline of Modern History of China (20 15 revised edition) Higher Education Press.
[3] Chen Duxiu: "Warning to Youth"
[4] Twenty-eight painters. Sports research [J]. New youth,1917,3 (2).
[5] Lu Xun. Screaming preface [a]. Complete Works of Lu Xun (Volume/kloc-0) [M]. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 1973: 27 1.
[6] Quoted from the United States and Si Nuo: "Red Star over China".
[7] Diary of Zhou Enlai's Visit to Japan is quoted from Biography of Zhou Enlai compiled by the Central Literature Research Office.
[8] France and Modern Civilization, edited by Ren Jianshu: Selected Works of Chen Duxiu, vol. 1.
[9] "Welcome to the New Voice" [J], "New Youth", 19 19 Vol.6 No.3.
References:
1 Outline of Modern and Contemporary History of China by Higher Education Press (revised edition of 20 15)
2 Chun Liu "The Awakening of Modern Culture in China under Great Change" (2020)
3 Chen Guoen's "The New and Old Contradictions in the Centennial Debate of the New Culture Movement and the Conflict between China and the West"1000-14x (2020) 06-0148-12.
4 Centennial commemoration of Shen Zuwei's New Culture Movement.
5 "Lantai World" 2065438+early September 2003: Professor of Law and Politics, Hengshui University, "Chen Duxiu's Enlightenment Thought and the Limitations of the New Culture Movement in the Early May 4th Movement".
6' Overseas Chinese Garden Forum': Chen Baozhong (Chuzhou Vocational and Technical College)' On Hu Shi's Thought of National Character Transformation during the New Culture Movement' 2020.07 73 pages.
7 "Communication Future", Volume 27, No.5, June 5438 +20201October: Zhang Lianyi's "* * * and the National Ideal and the Enlightenment of New Youth"
Journal of Zhengzhou University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), Volume 53, No.6: Zhang Baoming (School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan Province, 47500 1) Public Opinion or Thought: A Study of New Youth as an Enlightenment Text.
9. Wang Ling, the cause analysis of the influence of New Youth magazine in the times.
10 academic topic (centennial commemoration of new youth): Zhang Hong's theoretical reflection on some issues of the New Culture Movement.
1 1 Shanghai Party History and Party Building June 438+05, 2065: On Chen Duxiu in the New Culture Movement —— Centered on Zhao Fei's political thoughts and cultural ideas.
12 Journal of Social Sciences /20 15/6/25/00 1 Edition: A Century of Tianlin New Culture Movement: Enlightenment is still on the Road.
13 PPT lecture iv "the early spread of Marxism and the establishment of the China * * * production party" Pei zhi Peking University Marxism institute.