Research On The Thought Of Christian Family Reform In The May Fourth Period

The May Fourth Period is a transitional period between traditional ages and modern times for Chinese society.During this period,due to the outbreak of the May4 th New Culture Movement,the Confucian ethics with the core of "Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constants Virtues" was fiercely attacked and criticized,and even collapsed.Before the establishment of new ethical standards,the society was full of social problems,such as morality,livelihood,prostitutes,women,labor,etc.,and the Social Transformation Trend followed.As one of the most important issues in the society at that time,family transformation has attracted the attention of people from all walks of life.Under the old-style ethics,not only the big family characterized by cohabitation,communism,and parental autocracy but also social customs,such as early marriage,squatting,forced observance,etc.have caused many family tragedies.Therefore,the rushing faction(represented by some socialists and feminists)advocated freedom of marriage,denied permanent monogamy,and advocated declaring war on men to seek professional equality;Conservatives insisted on the view that family organizations couldn’t be easily changed and women didn’t have to work from the perspective of biology and religion;The Eclectic Party advocated the transformation of old-fashioned families through legislation and education.As an important force in the family transformation movement at that time,Christianity proposed a set of principles and standards for building a "new family",based on religious positions and Christian family principles(in line with the spirit of Christ,emphasizing responsibility,and paying attention to social well-being).The principles of organization included "sacred combinationism","love liberalism","monogamy","small familism","mythology",that was,gender equality.The ethical principles included "egalitarianism","faithfulness","liberalism","mutual assistance","mutual forgiveness","mutual love" and "responsibility","respect",and the first six standards were for couples,and the latter two standards were for parents and children.Christian intellectuals emphasized that Christ’s love wasthe key and foundation for the construction of a "new family".It’s undeniable that the Christian organization and ethical principles provided Chinese society during transitional era with guidance and reference for the establishment of new moral and family ethical norms.In addition,Christianity was a religion that emphasized practice.They proposed a series of ideas and methods for establishing an ideal family.In terms of marriage,Christianity advocated social openness,payed attention to gender education,and advocated freedom of love,but opposed unrestricted free love and unreasonable divorce.In terms of female career view,they praised the new women and actively encouraged women to work,but insisted on good motherhood and feminism,and advocated that women still had to be family-oriented.In practice,Christians followed the experimental method,organized family research groups,discussed issues such as couple treatment,child happiness,family health,and focused on home-based guidance to improve woman’s skills in family collaboration management;In order to increase family’s pleasure and reduce bad entertainment,such as visiting a prostitute and drinking opium,they organized family clubs,promoted family religious life,and ultimately achieved an ideal family life of "personal development and complete happiness".