Western Style Education And The Happening Of The May 4～(th) Literature

Much research work has been done about the happening of the May 4^th literature. Those who experienced it and those who survey it from afar share very different views. But they are trying to find the origin of The May 4^th culture from different aspects, with the expectation of improving the research to a higher level. But it's a pity that we haven't interpreted it thoroughly from the profound and complicate relationship between western style education and the happening of the May 4th literature. In fact, they have a close reciprocal relationship. It is the western style education that prompted the construction of the May 4^th literature's creating subjects'modern cultural psychological structures, and it is also western style education that formed the modern psychological structures of the May 4^th's receiving objects. And the May 4^th literature facilitates the development of western style education. In other words, the creating subjects and receiving objects of the May 4th literature are all edified by the new style culture. The May 4^th literature and western style education are the two closely related aspects of one problem. Thus it is not only a change of point of view but also a change of historical notion to view the creating subjects and receiving objects of the May 4th literature from the perspective of new style education. In fact, western style education caused the fission of the May 4th literature's creating subjects and receiving objects, and it is the presupposition of the fission of the May 4^th culture. Western style education was very important to the happening of the May 4^th literature. It not only cultivated the creating subjects who had different cultural psychological structures, but also cultivated receiving objects that accorded with the creating subjects'cultural psychological structures. The former played a predominant role in the course of the May 4th literature, and they wrote the texts of their generation with their youth, affection and modern sense, which showed the highest level in the literature of that time. The latter, using their youth, affection and modern sense received the ideas of the receiving objects completely, expanded these ideas by affectionate responses, and made them exist as the main trend of the times. And this not only renovated the Chinese education, but also renovated Chinese literature, which made the May 4th literature established in the end. This dissertation has eight chapters. Chapter one focuses on summarizing the great achievements that have made on the May 4th literature, while giving brief definitions of several concepts concerned, introducing the context of students educated under western style, and emphasizing the importance of western education to the happening of the May 4th literature. Chapter two analyses the basic circumstances of western style education. Functioning as the logical starting point of the whole dissertation, this chapter mainly explores the role curriculum arrangements and textbooks have played on the happening of the May 4th literature. We think that curriculum arrangements and textbooks of western style education changed the knowledge components of students, thus influenced the components of students'cultural psychological structures, and promoted the conversion of their cognitive patterns. In this way, students can make a final affirmation of the May 4th literature on a new basic point. Chapter three explains the relationship between the abrogation of imperial examination and the happening of the May 4th literature, stressing that the abrogation of imperial examination reconstructed students'cultural psychological structures, and further displaying the importance of education innovation in late Qing dynasty to the happening of the May 4th literature. Chapter four emphasizes the explanation the creating subjects of the May 4th literature .The creating subjects consisted of two parts: one part were teachers who were born in "1880s and 1890s", the other part were students who received the teachers'idea and followed them. This generation directly prompted the birth of theMay 4th literature through their modern cultural ideas and creative achievements. They succeeded in constructing the selfhood of modern cultural psychology that was established by the people who were born in 1850s and 1860s, and it finally led to the birth of the May 4th literature. Chapter five focuses on explaining the receiving objects of the May 4th literature. In studying the happening of the May 4th literature, there exists the limitation of shadowing receiving objects while prioritizing creating subjects. In many narrations of literature history, the happening of the May 4th literature almost turned into the culture pursuit for the May 4th literature's creating subjects and the history of text experiments, thus shadowing the importance that the May 4th literature's receiving objects responded to their cultural pursuit and text experiments. In fact, without the active response to the May 4th literature's receiving objects, its creating subjects couldn't have established the May 4th literature eventually, thus the May 4th literature couldn't happen. Only if we stand on the effective connecting point of the May 4th literature's creating subjects and happening of the May 4th literature in accordance with its literary fact can we get the right interpretation of the occurrence of the May 4th literature. The receiving objects of the May 4th literature were not civilians who grew up in the atmosphere of traditional education, but students and intellectuals turned from students, who grew up in the atmosphere of the new education. The happening of the May 4th literature indeed didn't lack creating subjects, but lacked receiving subjects. Students who received western style education became the main receiving objects of the May 4th literature. They built the modern cultural psychological structure and the expecting aesthetic horizon with the western knowledge received, thus accomplished the connection of modern cultural psychological structure of the May 4th literature's creating subjects and aesthetics. Chapter six mainly explains the effects of western style education schools as public areas on the happening of the May 4th literature. Western style educationfacilitates the establishment of public areas, which provided a space for intellectuals to express their opinions and to exchange ideas, and which became another important public areas except the press. Naturally, it is under the function of western style education's public areas that the May 4th literature found its peculiar way of happening. Chapter seven investigates Lin Shu's novel translation together with western style education. We think that Lin Shu's novel translation is exactly the outcome of western style education, and on the other hand, Lin Shu's novel translation is a double-enlightenment to the creating objects of the May 4th literature, which ultimately caused the happening of the May 4th literature. Chapter eight explains the relation between western style education's scientific characters and the happening of the May 4th literature, and this dissertation will make the predominant person of the May 4th literature---Lu Xun as the example. Compared with the traditional education, western style education has different cultural characters. Western style education aimed at science enlightenments for saving the nation from extinction and this determined that what they studied was western knowledge that benefited to saving the nation from extinction. Western knowledge and Chinese knowledge had different scientific characters. The natural science of western knowledge regarded seeking for and dealing with the truth and reality as its special spirit, this decided the scientific characters of education as seeking for and dealing with the truth and reality and being aggressive, endowing the May 4th equality's creating and receiving subjects the scientific quality that accorded with new style education's scientific personality seeking for and dealing with the truth and reality. Teachers and students share the same position in western style education. The equal relationship between teachers and students set a good example for cultivating the modern cultural personalities of creating subjects of the May 4th literature. This tinged the May 4th literature with modern features that traditional culture didn't have. The epilogue gives prominence to reciprocal relationship between western styleeducation and the May 4th literature, and points out that western style education caused the happening of the May 4th literature, vice versa, the May 4th literature promoted the development of western style education.