During the May 4th New Culture Movement, there was a far-reaching discussion in academic circles about the advantages and disadvantages of eastern and western cultures and the construction and destination of China culture. Liang Qichao enthusiastically participated in this big discussion. He expressed his views on China's cultural construction in his own special way and deep feelings.
191710/In June, Liang Qichao resigned as the chief financial officer, and then retired from politics and devoted himself to academic research. At that time, Liang Qichao had deeply reflected on his political career. He said: "I don't care what others say about me, but I have recently discovered my own evil." Where is the source of evil? Because I can't get rid of the old idea of "sage politics" and always want to improve this country with an inherent old power, several things happened with those who shouldn't or don't want to do it. Although I am confident that I have done nothing wrong, I still can't help being used to do bad things. My conscience is infinitely painful and I feel that this is simply my indirect sin. " [1] (p59) Political ups and downs made Liang Qichao go through hardships and vicissitudes. It is this profound introspection, coupled with the mentality of not giving up patriotism, that makes Liang Qichao plan to roam Europe while writing a book. 19 18 12 Liang Qichao, Ding Wenjiang and others went to Europe for investigation, which lasted more than a year and returned to China in March 1920. This trip had a great influence on Liang Qichao's thoughts. His ideological gains are mainly reflected in the book A Record of a Journey to the Heart of Europe. His views on the development direction of China's cultural construction are all reflected in this book.
This trip to Europe enabled Liang Qichao to carefully examine the social conditions of post-war countries and gain a certain understanding of the disasters brought to Europe by the First World War, especially the differences between rich and poor countries and the contradictions and conflicts between countries after the war. At the same time, from the level of spiritual civilization, he not only realized the great progress brought by western civilization with laissez-faire as the core, "the benefits of these theories can not be ignored in the political system innovation and industrial development in the past hundred years." [2](P9) Of course, he also personally realized the obvious drawbacks of European civilization. In My Heart's Journey to Europe, he criticized the West for abusing science, saying that "most of its inventions are devoted to killing people" and "it not only makes mankind unhappy, but also brings many disasters". However, Liang Qichao's statement does not have any scientific significance. He declared: "Readers don't get me wrong, so I despise science. I will never admit that science is bankrupt, but I just don't admit that science is omnipotent. " [2](P 12)
Liang Qichao is proficient in Chinese studies and has a profound understanding and research on China traditional culture. He has always believed that there are many treasures in China's traditional culture that cannot be lost. After Ou You returned to China, he systematically studied the development of China's academic thought and the research methods of China's history in the past 300 years, and published famous monographs such as China's Academic History in the Past 300 Years, An Introduction to Qing Dynasty, and China's Historical Research Law. In addition, he also made a systematic study of China's ancient culture and philosophy, and completed a number of papers and works with academic value and progressive significance. All these show that Liang Qichao has a deep attachment to his traditional culture. Of course, he doesn't think China's traditional culture is perfect. At the same time, he also had a comprehensive contact and systematic exposition of western culture, and personally visited Europe, and had a deeper understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese and Western civilizations. He also has his own unique views on the development direction of China culture. He does not advocate total westernization, nor does he approve of the ideas of the Oriental Cultural School, and rejects all foreign cultures. He insists on the integration of Chinese and western cultures. In his words, it means "expanding my civilization with western civilization, subsidizing western civilization with my civilization and combining it into a new civilization." [1] (P35 ~ 36) He also pointed out: "Since ancient times, there have been no scholars who can learn from other countries but from their own countries; There are no scholars who cannot learn from their own countries, but can learn from other countries. " [1](P6 1) This shows that he did not separate and oppose "learning from other countries" and "learning from his own country" in theory and method. Therefore, Liang Qichao not only criticized China people's mistakes of not accepting western civilization, being conceited and denying the value of western civilization, but also criticized the foolish practice of totally westernizing China's local civilization and engaging in national nihilism. He hoped that the eastern and western civilizations could learn from each other's strong points and promote the progress of human civilization. To this end, he stressed that "there is another very important thing. To give full play to our culture, we must borrow their culture as a way. " Because their research methods are really exquisite. He also designed the steps of cultural development in China: "First, everyone should have a sincerity to respect and care for their own culture; The second step is to study him in the way that westerners study knowledge and get his truth; The third step is to integrate your own culture and subsidize him with other people's subsidies; Call him a combination and become a new cultural system; The fourth step is to expand this new system so that all mankind can benefit from it. " Obviously, this view is both reasonable and pertinent. Liang Qichao's cultural view of "combining Chinese and Western culture" provided valuable academic opinions for discussing cultural issues in the May 4th New Culture Movement, especially for the cultural construction in China, and was of positive significance to the development of China culture.
Second, it affects a generation of intellectuals, whose political and cultural thoughts are the spiritual catalysts for the rise of the New Culture Movement.
During the Reform Movement of 1898, Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei began to attack the autocratic monarchy and advocate civil rights and freedoms, which made them famous for a while and became great figures admired by Chinese people. Undoubtedly, Liang Qichao also became the spiritual idol of a generation of advanced intellectuals during the May 4th Movement. Especially after he fled to Japan after the failure of political reform, he founded Qing Yi Bao and Xinmin Cong Bao, and wrote a series of articles introducing and commenting on bourgeois social, political, cultural and moral thoughts. The clear, eager, sharp and passionate words are really "invincible, shocking and soul-stirring". I don't know how many people have been fooled. Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Lu Xun and Mao Zedong all admitted that their thoughts were deeply influenced by Liang Qichao's articles. Chen Duxiu, commander-in-chief of the New Culture Movement, made the following confession: "When we were young, we studied stereotyped writing and talked about old learning. Every time I get sick, I look at the scholar-officials and learn about the new bachelor from Owen, thinking that they are all foreign slaves and the famous religion can't tolerate them. " After reading the articles of Mr. Kang and his apprentice Liang Rengong, I suddenly realized that I was in the academic field of politics and religion outside China, and I felt yesterday was not now. Our little knowledge of the world today stems from the gifts of Mr. Kang and Mr. Liang. It is Mr. Er's work of reforming and understanding the world, and the history of modern civilization in China should be written in detail. "[3] If you think about it carefully, this is really Chen Duxiu's heartfelt words. Hu Shi wrote in his memories many years later: Liang Qichao's Taixi Learning Case "violently awakened me from this happy dream of self-sufficiency in our ancient civilization, and nothing can learn from the West except the weapons of war and the tools of commercial operation". [4](P49) He also said: "The chapter of Xinmin Shuo opened a new world for me, which made me fully believe that there are very advanced nationalities and cultures outside China; The changing trend of China's academic thoughts has also opened a new world for me, letting me know that China has academic thoughts besides the Four Books and Five Classics. "It can be seen that Liang Qichao was the first mentor to introduce Hu Shi into a brand-new academic hall. After reading Liang Qichao's Xinmin Cong Bao, young people admire Liang very much. Some articles, such as the newspaper serial Xinmin Shuo, he "read and read until he can recite them". [5] (p113) When he reads important chapters, he punctuates them and comments them to express his feelings. It can be said that Liang Qichao was Mao Zedong's idol and the most important spiritual mentor at that time.
Liang Qichao's ideological influence on Chen Duxiu and others is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, anti-autocracy, extension of civil rights. Liang Qichao pointed out that autocracy is the great enemy and public enemy of the people, and colleagues should sacrifice their lives to destroy it in the Buddhist spirit of "I don't go to hell, whoever goes to hell". Liang Qichao's attack on authoritarian regime is not only out of emotional impulse, but also full of rational thinking. He strictly distinguished the two concepts of "state" and "imperial court": "Those who have national thinkers often love the imperial court; People who love the imperial court may not all have national thoughts. If the court is formally established, the court is the representative of the country, and loving the court means loving the country. If the court is not formally established, the court is a thief of the country and the official court is patriotic. " Liang Qichao's criticism of autocratic regime and his exposition of the theory of modern western countries profoundly influenced a generation of advanced intellectuals during the May 4th Movement. For example, Mao Zedong, a young man, said next to Liang Qichao's remarks about national thoughts, "A formal and established country is also a constitutional country. The constitution is formulated by the people and the monarch is supported by the people; All the countries that have not been formally established are autocratic countries, and the laws are made by the monarch, who is not convinced by the people. The former, such as Britain and Japan today; The latter, such as China, has been stealing countries for thousands of years. " [6](P390) It is not difficult to see that it is under the influence of Liang Qichao's thought that Mao Zedong clearly realized that monarchy should obey and represent civil rights. During the May 4th Movement, advanced intellectuals opposed autocracy and advocated equality of human rights, which was inseparable from Liang Qichao's ideological enlightenment.
The second is to be a "new citizen" and emphasize "turning over a new leaf". Liang Qichao, starting from the concept of national organism, thinks that the country is "accumulated by people". If its people are ignorant, timid, sloppy and chaotic, this country cannot survive and develop. This is like "four limbs are broken, five internal organs are collapsed, tendons are hurt, and blood circulation is dry", and people's bodies will rot and die. He also vividly said: "Napoleon's name is also a lazy soldier who demands green flags, not a black barbarian;" Columbus's sailboat owner took a rotten wood glue boat and couldn't cross the stream. " Therefore, he firmly believes that the revival and strength of China depends on the emergence of a new generation of citizens. These new citizens should have a correct view of the country, rights and obligations, as well as excellent qualities such as enterprising, adventurous, free, independent, progressive, self-esteem, gregarious and martial arts. "If there are new people, why not a new system, a new government and a new country? If you are not a child, although you changed the law today, you will be lonely easily tomorrow, and you will learn from it. I haven't seen it. "How to be a new national Liang Qichao proposed to adhere to the road of' transformation' and' self-improvement'. By "turning over a new leaf", Liang Qichao emphasized the liberation and development of individual self. Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Mao Zedong and others were deeply inspired by "Xinmin Theory". When the New Culture Movement was launched, Chen Duxiu and others warned young people to be "new youths". They called on young people to become independent people, boldly emancipate their minds, measure everything with reason and science, break through the shackles of feudal ethics and morality, tear down deceptive idols, fully understand China's position in the world, strive consciously with the spirit of being realistic and enterprising, overcome all difficulties and defeat the old society. It can be said that the theory of "New Youth" put forward by Chen Duxiu and others is related to Liang Qichao's thought of "new people". The thought of "Xinmin" is the theoretical source of the theory of New Youth. It can be said that the two are intertwined. Chen Duxiu and others' thought of "New Youth" is a spiritual response to Liang Qichao's thought of "new people". Liang Qichao's pioneering work is undeniable.
Third, it promoted the development of the May 4th New Culture Movement in many ways.
First of all, the "revolution in poetry", "revolution in novels" and "revolution in literature" advocated by Liang Qichao had a great influence on the New Culture Movement.
Liang Qichao is a pioneer of modern new literature movement. Guo Moruo once said: "The literary revolution ... can be traced back to the awakening of the bourgeoisie in the late Qing Dynasty. As a representative of this primitive period, we should push a few Ren Lianggong. " [7](P88) Guo's evaluation is fair. Around 1902, Liang advocated "novel revolution", "poetry revolution" and "literature revolution". It can be said that it played a connecting role in the literary innovation movement advocated by Chen Duxiu and others during the May 4th Movement. Liang, with his far-reaching writing style, called for "to improve group governance today, we must start from the revolution in the novel world and create new people, and we must start from new novels." He is also the most enthusiastic advocate of the "Poetry Revolution". He proposed that there should also be a revolution in poetry. "However, revolutionaries should change their spirit, not their form ... If they regard the accumulation of new words as a revolution, it is the reform of the Manchu government. If we can contain new artistic conception in the old style, we can cite the revolutionary reality. If you can do it, it is not a disease, although there are one or two new terms. " In addition, he also advocated "literary revolution", which, in terms of its content, refers to opening people's wisdom with the help of western civilization and "spreading civilized thoughts to the people"; As far as stylistic form is concerned, we can use "oral style" to write. In a word, Liang Qichao raised the banner of improving feudal old literature and building bourgeois new literature, and put forward some ideas from the aspects of purpose, content and form, which opened a precedent for modern new literature. The literary revolution is another important content of the May 4th New Culture Movement. The leader of the new culture movement, represented by Chen Duxiu, held high the banner of "literary revolution", opposed classical Chinese and advocated vernacular Chinese; Oppose old literature, advocate new literature and launch a literary revolution. 19 17 At the beginning of this year, Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu published "Improvement of Literature" and "On Literary Revolution" successively, and they advocated a thorough reform of literature in form and content. Their initiative greatly promoted the rise of the May 4th New Literature Movement. There is no doubt that Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi's efforts in the reform of the literary revolution are much greater and have much deeper influence than Liang Qichao's new literature proposition. However, it is undeniable that Liang Qichao put forward the idea of improving old literature and building bourgeois new literature before Chen and Hu, and made great contributions to the development of the May 4th New Literature Movement.
Secondly, Liang Qichao's critical spirit of rational thinking and enterprising in various disciplines, including philosophy, history, pedagogy and other academic fields, laid the cornerstone of modern academic development.
The content of the May 4th New Culture Movement is multi-layered. Advocating "democracy" and "science" is the distinct theme of this movement, but criticizing old learning and promoting modern academic development are also the meanings in the title. Liang Qichao has a deep foundation in middle school, rich knowledge of western learning, and personal talent and talent. In particular, he has a wide range of interests, is diligent in academic research, has proper methods and is good at in-depth thinking. Therefore, he made a comprehensive and in-depth study of many disciplines, and was able to put forward his own unique views, thus constructing his own modern academic theory system. Some of his ideas and viewpoints are particularly inspiring to people and still have academic value. In this sense, Liang Qichao has contributed to the development of modern scholarship, and it is not an exaggeration to call him a pioneer and cultural giant of modern scholarship in China.
We might as well analyze it in detail. Liang Qichao can be said to be one of the earliest famous scholars in China who studied with the viewpoint and method of bourgeois historiography. First, he pointed out that China is the earliest and most developed country in history. "China is the most developed in all kinds of knowledge, but history is the most developed. Historiography in the world, but China is the most developed ". He believes that China's earliest historiography is due to China's earliest establishment of historians, whose duties are clear and lofty. Of course, China's developed history is not perfect. Due to the influence of feudal regime, it has some disadvantages, such as knowing the imperial court but not the country, the individual but not the group, the history but not the current affairs, the facts but not the ideal. Because of these disadvantages, it has two diseases: it can tell but can't cut, and it can follow the trend but can't create. Secondly, he pointed out that although China's historiography has these disadvantages, we can't deny its function and value. Under the guidance of the theory of evolution, he pointed out: "Historians describe the future evolution of people and get their axioms." He also said: "Historians are the most extensive and important scholars, but also the mirror of the people and the source of patriotism. Today, European nationalism is so developed and countries are so civilized, and the merits and demerits of history are half-baked. " It is not difficult to see that Liang Qichao's view of history is biased, but he thinks that studying history is the key to discovering the law, and the view of "national mirror" and "source of patriotism" is commendable.
In addition, his exposition of pedagogy is also unique. 1922 He pointed out in the article "Education and Politics": "What is education? Education is to teach people to become people-to become modern people. " He also said: "Educating a tutor is not to teach him to be a single person, but to teach him to be a parent, a child, a husband, a wife, a buddy ... even a nation." [1](P68) is very insightful. In order to cultivate "new citizens", he also proposed to reform the content of education. In the past, the schools run by the Westernization School, "more words and arts, less politics and religion", were just "shallow language and martial arts" in the west, and "rich and powerful westerners, the essence of production and the ability, could hardly speak". For China's "old school", students from foreign schools are also shelved. Liang Qichao believes that it is impossible to cultivate the "new people" that the country needs. In addition, western civilization can't continue until it is learned. In order to get rid of this drawback, Liang Qichao put forward that "first, we should learn the essence of the Six Classics, second, we should tell stories of past dynasties, third, we should be familiar with the origin of characters, fourth, we should be familiar with historical situations, fifth, we should specialize in stylistics, and sixth, we should learn languages of various countries." [1](P37) After the Revolution of 1911, according to the change of national conditions, he proposed to divide school education into two categories: one is to educate ordinary citizens, "to make the salty people have intelligence above the horizon"; The other is "educating higher talents, thinking that the construction of the country and society is dry". He also pointed out that school education at that time was "too general" in moral education and "too narrow" in physical education, and advocated that school education should be changed to education of knowledge, emotion and meaning. Do what Confucius said, "The knower is not confused, the benevolent is not worried, and the brave is not afraid." Its significance lies in cultivating students' independent thinking ability and perfecting their personality. In order to cultivate the talents needed by the country, Liang Qichao also put forward requirements for the selection and training of teachers. He believes that the country should "take the establishment of normal schools as the first priority" so that the trained teachers can "take teaching and educating people as the principle". He also emphasizes that teachers must be dedicated and love their jobs and must not do other things at the same time. He said that if a person is not interested in education, "I advise him to change careers at once, so why suffer here?" Of course, teachers should also "never tire of learning, never tire of teaching", be close to students, pay attention to their own moral cultivation, and so on. Liang Qichao's viewpoint is instructive even today.
Finally, Liang Qichao organized * * * clubs, compiled new books, sponsored overseas students, and set up a library with the aim of "cultivating new talents, publicizing new culture and opening up new politics"; Set up a lecture society and invite famous foreign philosophers to give lectures in China; He also publicized the new culture and introduced his research experience through the supplement of Liberation and Transformation and the Morning Post. These activities promoted the development of the New Culture Movement.
After Liang Qichao returned from his trip to Europe in 1920, he and his colleagues founded the * * * Society, whose main work was to translate foreign language works and send overseas students. According to statistics, * * * translated more than 100 foreign language books at that time and tried its best to select a group of international students. * * * Association's activities promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. In September of the same year, Liang Qichao and some colleagues set up a "standing group" called "Speaking Society". We will invite a famous philosopher to give a speech in China every year. "Under the preparation of Liang Qichao and others, Russell, a famous British philosopher, Dewey, a famous American philosopher, Hans Driesch, a German philosopher of life, and Tagore, a famous Indian writer, have come to China to give lectures. The lecture tour of China's four famous philosophers undoubtedly brought a fresh breath to the academic circles in China, which was very beneficial to the academic development in modern China. At the same time, in order to promote the development of China's cultural undertakings, Liang Qichao was also enthusiastic about building his own library. Songpo Library was established from 19 16. After the establishment of the museum, he became the curator. After his many travels, Songpo Library became a large-scale library in China at that time. Not only that, he also discussed library science and compiled China Book Dictionary. Later, he served as the director of Beijing Library, trying to get funds for the library. He donated all his books to Beitu. During the May 4th Movement, there were many publications promoting new culture, and Liang Qichao, who was unwilling to be lonely, co-organized Liberation and Correction, Morning News and its Supplement, Current Affairs News and its Supplement, and Deng Xue. These publications played a positive role in introducing new western theories and concepts and enlivening the academic atmosphere at that time.
In a word, Liang Qichao has a close relationship with the May 4th New Culture Movement, which he influenced and promoted in many ways. Undeniably, Liang Qichao's later cultural outlook and his research on various disciplines inevitably have the limitations of the times and classes, but we should not be demanding.