New Culture Movement
The New Culture Movement was a progressive sociopolitical movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. Participants criticized many aspects of traditional Chinese society, in favor of new formulations of Chinese culture informed by modern ideals of mass political participation. Arising out of disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture following the failure of the Republic of China to address China's problems, it featured scholars such as Chen Duxiu, Cai Yuanpei, Chen Hengzhe, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, He Dong, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong, Bing Xin and Hu Shih, many of whom were classically educated, who led a revolt against Confucianism. The movement was launched by the writers of New Youth magazine, where these intellectuals promoted a new society based on unconstrained individuals rather than the traditional Confucian system. In 1917, Hu Shih put forward his famous "eight principles", which advocated for abandoning ancient traditional writing methods for ones that more accurately represented vernacular speech.
The New Culture Movement was the progenitor of the May Fourth Movement. On 4 May 1919, students in Beijing aligned with the movement protested the transfer of German rights over Jiaozhou Bay to Imperial Japan rather than China at the Paris Peace Conference, transforming what had been a cultural movement into a political one.
Major positions
The movement promoted:- Vernacular instead of classical literature
- An end to the patriarchal family in favor of individual freedom and women's liberation
- The view that China is a nation among nations, not a uniquely Confucian culture
- The re-examination of Confucian texts and ancient classics using modern textual and critical methods, known as the Doubting Antiquity School
- Democratic and egalitarian values
- A national orientation to the future rather than the past
History
Background
Following the 1911 Revolution, Yuan Shikai’s ending of the second revolution of the summer of 1913 forced many intellectuals into exile, some fleeing to Tokyo, while others sought refuge in Shanghai. In Tokyo in May of 1914, Zhang Shizhao founded the political magazine The Tiger that, while being short-lived, running only between May of 1914 – October of 1915, was one of the most influential political journals in China of the time. Chen Duxiu, as well as other intellectuals who would later become a part of the New Culture Movement in China such as Li Dazhao contributed articles, poetry, letters, and more to The Tiger. The Tiger was known for “probing the fundamental spirit of politics”, and the writers of this magazine grappled with the question of how underlying cultural values and beliefs shape politics, which would become important during the New Culture Movement.In 1915, Twenty-One Demands were issued, and six months later, it became evident that Yuan Shikai had the intention to restore the imperial system. In the same year, Chen Duxiu founded the Youth Magazine, which was later retitled as New Youth, thus marking the beginning of what would become the New Culture Movement. In its initial stages, New Youth was only a small operation, but it would soon become much more influential than The Tiger had ever been. Some of the articles published in the New Youth that were most influential in instigating the movement include: "To Youth", "1916", and "Our Final Realization". In 1917, Chen Duxiu and Zhang Shizhao moved to Beijing University where they became acquainted with the other individuals who made up the community of the New Culture Movement.
Rise
Two major centres of literature and intellectual activity were Beijing, home to Peking University and Tsinghua University, and Shanghai, with its flourishing publishing sector. The founders of the New Culture Movement clustered in Peking University, where they joined Cai Yuanpei, who served as chancellor. These founders include Chen Duxiu who served as the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters in addition to being founder of the New Youth, Li Dazhao as librarian, Hu Shih who was a leading figure in the literary revolution, the philosopher Liang Shuming, and the historian Gu Jiegang, among others.Hu Shih had argued for the use of the modern written vernacular Chinese in literature before and especially in his essay published by New Youth in January 1917 titled Preliminary Discussion on Literary Reform with the guideline: "Do not imitate the ancients." On April 18, 1918, he published the followed landmark article Constructive Literary RevolutionA Literature of National Speech.
The first vernacular Chinese fiction was the female author Chen Hengzhe's short story One Day, published 1917 in an overseas student quarterly. This was a year before the publication of Lu Xun's Diary of a Madman on April 2, 1918, and The True Story of Ah Q, which has often been incorrectly credited as the first vernacular Chinese fiction.
Death of Yuan Shikai
, who inherited part of the Qing dynasty military after it collapsed in 1911, attempted to establish order and unity, but he failed to protect China against Japan, and also failed in an attempt to have himself declared emperor. When he died in 1916, the collapse of the traditional order seemed complete, and there was an intensified search for a replacement to go deeper than the changes of the previous generations, which brought new institutions and new political forms. Daring leaders called for a new culture, as the death of Yuan Shikai in June 1916 had opened the possibility of fundamental reform in the Chinese political sphere anew.Literature
The literary output of this time was substantial, with many writers who later became famous publishing their first works. For example, Lu Xun's essays and short fiction created a sensation with their condemnation of Confucian culture. "Diary of a Madman" directly implied that China's traditional culture was mentally cannibalistic, and The True Story of Ah Q showed typical Chinese people as weak and self-deceiving. Along with this musicians such as Yin Zizhong joined the movement through music.Major figures
Chen Duxiu
Chen Duxiu founded the New Youth journal, which was a leading forum for debating the causes of China's weakness, as it laid the blame on Confucian culture. Chen Duxiu called for "Mr. Confucius" to be replaced by "Mr. Science" and "Mr. Democracy". These two were regarded as the two symbols of the New Culture Movement and also its legacy.Hu Shih
Another outcome was the promotion of written vernacular Chinese over Literary Chinese, the predominant written form of the language since antiquity. The restructuring of national heritage first began when Hu Shih replaced traditional Confucian learning with a more modern construction of research on traditional culture. Hu Shih proclaimed that "a dead language cannot produce a living literature." In theory, the new format allowed people with little education to read texts, articles and books. He charged that Literary Chinese was understood by only scholars and officials. Scholars, such as Y.R. Chao, began the study of the various Varieties of Chinese using tools of foreign linguistics. Hu Shih was among the scholars who used the textual study of Dream of the Red Chamber and other vernacular fiction as the basis for the national language. Literary societies such as the Crescent Moon Society flourished. Hu Shih was not only one of the founders of the movement but also considered the leader of the vernacular faction with his promotion of scientific methods. The "national language" has another social and political function: it facilitates intellectuals to enlighten, spread new ideas, and create new cultures. In Hu Shi's view, this is also the premise for the formation of modern state order.Hu was among the influential New Culture Movement reformers who welcomed Margaret Sanger's 1922 visit to China. He personally translated her speech delivered at Beijing National University which stressed the importance of birth control. Periodicals The Ladies' Journal and The Women's Review published Hu's translation, which contributed to the public debate regarding birth control.
Li Dazhao
While serving as an editor for various newspapers and journals, Li Dazhao campaigned for a new culture and opposed the enshrinement of Confucianism in China's constitution, and implored Chinese people to defend the nascent republicanism. He wrote articles promoting Western civilization, constitutional rule, and endorsing democracy.Cai Yuanpei
was a Chinese philosopher, the Chancellor of Beijing University, and he was also a friend of Chen Duxiu. Cai Yuanpei was involved in the New Culture Movement, as well as other similar movements such as the May Fourth Movement.Consistent with the New Culture Movement, Cai contended that divine authorities and superstitions should be overthrown. He also viewed religious aesthetics as containing major potential for achieving transcendence through appreciation of beauty.