Lesson 12 New Culture Movement

The Emergence of the New Cultural Movement

The newly born Republic of China soon fell into political chaos. After a painful reflection, some advanced intellectuals realized that innovation of the political system alone was not enough to save China, but must inspire a new ethical and moral consciousness among the people, cultivate their independent personality, and thoroughly cleanse them of the poison of the old feudal culture, and carry out a movement of intellectual and cultural innovation.

At the beginning of 1917, Chen Duxiu accepted the appointment of Cai Yuanpei, the new President of Peking University, as the Dean of Arts and Sciences of Peking University. The New Youth magazine was soon moved to Beijing. At that time, the main contributors to New Youth were Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun and others, most of whom taught at Peking University. They enthusiastically promoted the Western ideas of democracy and science, and fiercely attacked the old traditional Chinese morality and culture. The New Youth and Peking University became the most important positions of the New Culture Movement.

The content and significance of the New Culture Movement

The New Culture Movement attacked the old morality and culture. In response to the rebellion against Confucianism, which was rampant during the Beiyang government, the New Youth published numerous articles attacking the traditional morality and culture of Confucianism, represented by Confucius. Lu Xun's vernacular novel Diary of a Madman, a new literary form, profoundly exposed the cannibalistic nature of feudal rituals and called on the people to rise up and overthrow the "dark" cannibalistic society.

The New Culture Movement advocated democracy and science. Democracy and science were the two slogans of the New Culture Movement, first proposed by Chen Duxiu. He also called them "Mr. Virtue" and "Mr. Sai". These two gentlemen could save China from all the darkness in politics and thought."

The New Culture Movement was also a literary revolution, and in 1917, Hu Shih published an article in New Youth entitled "Ruminations on Literary Improvement", in which he advocated the use of vernacular as the language of new literature, emphasizing that writing "must be a matter of words" and "not imitate the ancients". He stressed the importance of "not imitating the ancients" and "not moaning without illness". Chen Duxiu then published his essay "On the Literary Revolution", which advocated overthrowing the old literature, which was corrupt, elaborate and difficult, and building a new literature, which was fresh, simple and popular. Through the advocacy of the New Culture Movement, vernacular literature gradually became popular.

The New Culture Movement shook the dominance of feudal morality and rituals and gave the Chinese people a baptism of democracy and science, which served as ideological propaganda and paved the way for the May Fourth Movement that followed. Despite its one-sided view of traditional Chinese culture, the New Culture Movement was a great intellectual liberation movement.（483words）