"New Youth" Research On Confucius

Today is an era that emphasizes the inheritance and development of Chinese excellent traditional culture.Under such a background,how should we treat those anti Confucian articles in New Youth?To answer this question,we must go back to the text of new youth again.The criticism of Confucius’ thought in New Youth mainly focuses on three aspects: first,Confucianism can not unite modern people’s belief;second,Confucius’ political thought is inseparable from autocracy;third,Confucius’ ethical thought is not suitable for modern life.In New Youth’s criticism of Confucianism,it first criticizes the view that Confucianism is regarded as a religion.These criticisms began with the fact that the establishment of Confucianism as a state religion violated the principles of freedom of religious belief and separation of politics and religion in modern times,and gradually penetrated into the discussion of whether Confucianism is a religion.Secondly,the New Youth also thinks that even if Confucianism is only regarded as a kind of enlightenment,it should be abandoned at that time,and can no longer be regarded as the foundation of Chinese people’s self-cultivation.While believing that Confucianism can not unite the belief of modern people,New Youth also began to construct new belief,and put forward some possible plans,such as replacing religion with science,replacing religion with aesthetic education,replacing Confucius’ religion with Taoism,and so on.The discussion of the relationship between Confucianism and autocratic regime in new youth has a gradual deepening process.From the view that the autocratic rulers use Confucianism to implement autocracy,to the view that Confucianism itself is dependent on the autocratic regime,and then to the view that Confucianism is completely reduced to the tool of autocratic rule in the subsequent development.The voice of the letter to the New Youth pointed out that there were democratic republics in Confucius’ political thought.However,such a view could not refute the accusation in the New Youth that the politics of Confucius contained autocratic thoughts,so it gradually fell into silence.Until the European war broke the people’s superstition of western culture,the New Youth also began to rethink the oriental culture,and re examined the policy of Confucius,and finally began to treat the policy of Confucius dialectically under the guidance of Marxism.The New Youth regards Confucius’ ethical thought as the product of patriarchal feudal era,and thus thinks that Confucius is not suitable for modern life.From this point of view,the New Youth criticizes the suppression of individual personality by the traditional big family system which Confucius ethics relies on,and discusses how to maintain individual personality.At the same time,New Youth also accuses the inequality of the status of men and women in Confucian ethics,criticizes the requirement for women to become good wives and good mothers and the act of commending chastity,and involves the possibility of public child rearing for the liberation of women.Therefore,the reflection of Confucius thought in new youth still has its value today.