The New Culture Movement was a social and political movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. People involved in the movement criticized many parts of traditional Chinese society and wanted to replace them with new ideas based on modern values, such as greater involvement of the public in government. This movement began because many people were disappointed with traditional Chinese culture after the Republic of China failed to solve China's problems. Important scholars like Chen Duxiu, Cai Yuanpei, Chen Hengzhe, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, He Dong, Qian Xuantong, Liu Bannong, Bing Xin, and Hu Shih, who were often trained in classical education, led a challenge against Confucianism. The movement started with writers of the magazine New Youth, who promoted a society focused on free individuals rather than the traditional Confucian system. In 1917, Hu Shih introduced his "eight principles," which encouraged people to stop using old writing styles and instead use forms of writing that better reflected everyday language.

The New Culture Movement influenced the May Fourth Movement. On May 4, 1919, students in Beijing joined the movement to protest the transfer of German rights over Jiaozhou Bay to Japan instead of China at the Paris Peace Conference, which set the rules for ending World War I. This event changed the movement from a cultural effort into a political one.

Major positions

The movement supported the idea that Confucian morality limited the natural experience of sexuality. It believed that sexuality should be understood using scientific methods.

History

After the 1911 Revolution, Yuan Shikai ended the second revolution in 1913, causing many intellectuals to leave China. Some went to Tokyo, while others stayed in Shanghai. In May 1914, Zhang Shizhao started a political magazine called The Tiger in Tokyo. Though it only lasted from May 1914 to October 1915, it was very influential. Chen Duxiu and others who later joined the New Culture Movement, like Li Dazhao, wrote for The Tiger. The magazine focused on exploring how cultural values affect politics, a topic that became important during the New Culture Movement.

In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands, and six months later, Yuan Shikai tried to restore the imperial system. That same year, Chen Duxiu started Youth Magazine, which later became New Youth. This magazine marked the start of the New Culture Movement. At first, New Youth was small, but it soon became more influential than The Tiger. Important articles in New Youth included "To Youth," "1916," and "Our Final Realization." In 1917, Chen Duxiu and Zhang Shizhao moved to Beijing University, where they met other leaders of the New Culture Movement.

Beijing and Shanghai were major centers of intellectual activity. Beijing was home to Peking University and Tsinghua University, while Shanghai had a strong publishing industry. Leaders of the New Culture Movement gathered at Peking University, where they worked with Cai Yuanpei, the university’s chancellor. These leaders included Chen Duxiu, who was the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters and founder of New Youth; Li Dazhao, the librarian; Hu Shih, a key figure in the literary revolution; Liang Shuming, a philosopher; and Gu Jiegang, a historian.

Hu Shih argued for using modern written vernacular Chinese in literature. In 1917, he published an article in New Youth titled Preliminary Discussion on Literary Reform, which said, "Do not imitate the ancients." In 1918, he wrote Constructive Literary Revolution – A Literature of National Speech, a major work.

The first vernacular Chinese fiction was a short story titled One Day by Chen Hengzhe, published in 1917 in an overseas student magazine. This was a year before Lu Xun’s Diary of a Madman appeared in 1918. Lu Xun’s stories criticized Confucian culture, and The True Story of Ah Q showed weaknesses in traditional Chinese society. Musicians like Yin Zizhong also supported the movement through music.

The New Culture Movement encouraged women to write and opposed old traditions that limited women’s roles. Chen Duxiu started New Youth, which debated why China was weak, blaming Confucian culture. He called for replacing "Mr. Confucius" with "Mr. Science" and "Mr. Democracy," symbols of the movement.

The movement promoted using vernacular Chinese instead of Literary Chinese, the traditional written form. Hu Shih helped modernize the study of Chinese culture, arguing that "a dead language cannot produce a living literature." This change allowed more people to read books and articles. However, vernacular Chinese included many foreign words, making it harder for some to understand. Scholars like Zhao Yuanren studied Chinese dialects using tools from foreign linguistics. Hu Shih used works like Dream of the Red Chamber to shape the national language. Literary groups, such as the Crescent Moon Society, grew in popularity.

Hu Shih supported Margaret Sanger’s 1922 visit to China, translating her speech on birth control for Chinese audiences. Periodicals like The Ladies’ Journal and The Women’s Review published his translations, sparking public discussions about birth control.

Li Dazhao, as an editor, promoted a new culture and opposed putting Confucianism in China’s constitution. He wrote about Western ideas, democracy, and constitutional rule.

Cai Yuanpei, a philosopher and chancellor of Peking University, supported the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement. He believed religious beliefs and superstitions should be replaced, and he saw beauty as a way to achieve spiritual growth.

The New Culture Movement changed how China viewed itself, seeing it as part of the global community rather than uniquely different. Many foreign ideas became popular, especially those that supported cultural criticism and building a stronger nation.

Evaluations and changing views

Orthodox historians believe the New Culture Movement was a major change from old traditions and social practices. It helped create leaders who formed the Chinese Communist Party and later established the People's Republic of China in 1949. Mao Zedong said the May 4th Movement began a new stage in China's struggle against foreign powers and old traditions. He noted that a strong group, including workers, students, and a new type of business class, emerged in this struggle.

Western historians also saw the movement as a break from the past, but recent research suggests the changes it promoted had roots in earlier times. This means the movement did not completely abandon tradition, which was already diverse. Studies over the last 50 years also show that while radical Marxists were influential, other groups, such as anarchists, conservatives, Christians, and liberals, played important roles.

Some historians agree that the thinkers and writers of the New Culture Movement were important, but they do not believe these individuals saw themselves as cultural revolutionaries. Others argue that Mao's communist revolution did not fully follow the goals of the New Culture Movement. Instead, it moved away from its values of free expression and openness to other cultures.

Yu Yingshi, a student of Qian Mu, defended Confucian ideas against the New Culture Movement's criticism. He argued that late imperial China was not stagnant or isolated, as some claimed, and that thinkers from that time were already using Confucius's ideas in creative ways.

Xu Jilin, a Shanghai intellectual, agreed that the New Culture Movement was the foundation of the Chinese Communist Revolution but had a different view of its results. He said New Culture intellectuals struggled to balance nationalism and openness to other cultures in their search for a "rational patriotism." However, he noted that the open-minded movement of the 1920s was replaced by a strong wave of nationalism. Xu compared this shift to a "wild horse" that could not be controlled, leading to major events in China's history during the first half of the twentieth century.