A Study On The Ideological Trend Of Rural Revival In 1930s

Rural renaissance trend is the product responded to the social contradictions and time challenges actively by the Chinese intellectuals in the process of probing road to saving the nation from extinction and achieving modernization of the country and pursuiting national rejuvenation in 1930 s.Although intellectuals already went to the countryside to carry on the rural construction and rural revival consciously under the influence of the national revolution in late 1920 s, Rural renaissance trend turned into mainstream trend with the aggravation of rural bankruptcy and national crisis in 1930 s.The intellectuals who initiated and participated rural revival movement attempted to revitalize agriculture, to promote the industry, to make China on a path to modernization and to realize the Chinese nation revival by the institutional improvement.Therefore,under the background of national rejuvenation,with modernization as the mainstream,the thesis, using the method of history,sociology and economics, will study comprehensively historical conditions of rural revival, clarify systematically development course of rural revival,review the main content of rural revival overall, analyze concretely representative intellectuals’ thought of rural revival, explain the view of rural revival in the famous media in detail, review intellectuals’ controversy of rural revival in the specific historical context.This paper will summarize the characteristics and historical position of rural revival and reveal the effects and significances of rural revival trend in the process of national modernization and national revival.Chinese rural began to decline after the Opium War. Chinese rural appeared the unprecedented crisis due to the imperialist invasion and the feudal landlord class exploitation and many natural disasters especially in the 1920 s and 1930 s.Rural crisis showed bankrupt of the rural economy,political chaos,social disorder and rural education decline.The national crisis aggravated the rural crisis further in 1930 s.The intellectuals put forward opinions of rural revival in the face of national crisis and rural crisis.Some intellectuals who found resources of rural revival from the Chinese traditional agricultural culture advocated to found a state by agriculture. Some intellectuals who studied Xiangyue and took in the rational elements from Xiangyue looked for reasonable factor of the rural construction through supplementing and reforming Xiangyue. Some intellectuals put Sun Yat-sen’s Principles of People’s Livelihood as the guiding ideology of the rural construction.Others reformed rural education through drawing lessons from western pragmatism education philosophy.In other words,Rural reconstruction theroy that was originated from Chinese traditional culture and absorbed the modern westen culture was the result of a variety of culture thoughts together.The development of rural revival trend has experienced three periods.Since the local self-government was carried out in the late Qing Dnasty,The village self-government thought arose in the late 1920 s. While rural education crisis triggered the intellectuals to think modification of the rural education, rural education ideological trend arose.This period is the germination period of rural revival ideological trend. Relief in rural areas,construction countryside,rural revival became a trend and moved forward because rural economics declined in the middle 1930 s.It promoted rural revival trend toward high that national revival trend rose with the national crisis deepened.This is the second period of the rural revival development,namely the climax of the rural revival development.The third period is the period of transition and declination.It became a main task to save the nation from extinction after the Anti-Japanese War broke out completely in 1937. Rural construction movement transformed into the rural united front. Moreover, rural revival movement turned into national liberation movement. So,rural revival trend was replaced by trend of vigorous Anti-Japanese War.There were many groups and institutions of rural revival in 1930’s.Rural Renaissance movement had many names.It was named rural self-government, or the country education movement,or country cooperative movement,or agricultural extension movement.Rural revival cause mainly included the implementation of the villagers’ autonomy,the renovation rural education,the organization of rural cooperative,the implementation of agricultural extension,the enlivening rural financial,the development of rural industry and so on.There are different theories of rural reviva due to village reconstruction groups constructed village to take a different approach and rural construction leaders had different theoretical basis.China emerged a batch of representative figures such as Liang Shu-ming, Yan Yang-chu,Gao Jian-si,Xu Shi-lian,in rural revival movement.They put forward the systematic and valuable rural Renaissance thought from different angles. Liang Shu-ming thought that the Chinese problem was a serious cultural dissonance.He advocated to establish countryside-peasant school.He thought that it was important to revive rural and to creat a new culture by relying on the intellectuals and peasants,by applying the methods of the education and cooperation and by taking the road which agriculture caused industry.He advocated to establish an ideal society in China eventually.Yan Yang-chu carried out “Four Educations”and “Three Models”aiming at four symptoms--foolishness poverty weakness selfishness existing in rural.He cultivated the farmers’ knowledge power,productivity,healthy power, solidarity force in order to lay a foundation fou rural revival and national revival.Gao Jian-si suggested to carry out the mass education and to cultivate people’s organization for saving the bankrupt of rural economy.Fang Xian-ting put forward developing rural industry and establishing rural cooperation organization. He urged that rural construction should be led by the government to realize rural modernization in China. Xu Shi-lian proposed that rural construction should construct the whole society from the local natural economic area using the scientific and planned method.He thought that Chinese strived for the survival and development only through the rural reconstruction.Their rural Renaissance ideology showed the whole picture of the rural revival.Rural economic collapse caused the attention of the media.Newspapers and magazines published the articles of relief the countryside and put forward the idea of rural revival. The Independence Review had a profund cognition about the present situation of rural bankruptcy, analyzed the cause of rural bankruptcy in detail and put forward the rural revival solutions.The China Economic summed up the performance of rural bankruptcy,pointed out that the fundamental cause of the rural bankruptcy was the imperialism invasion and the feudal exploitation,seeked the both temporary and permanent solutions of rural revival. Ta Kung Pao sent reporters to investigate situation of rural bankruptcy and analysed the reasons of bankruptcy due to media responsibility and mission. Ta Kung Pao established rural construction supplement which published articles about rural revival. Ta Kung Pao sponsored donations in order to relieve disaster countryside. Eastern Miscellany set up the rural issues which highlighted the countryside important status. Eastern Miscellany spread the trend of rural revival and urged the government to implement various measures to relieve countryside with media function.Rural Renaissance movement advocated by a minority turned into a kind of social ideological trend and turned into the times trend from a trickle due to newspapers and magazines disseminated and preached.The intellectuals put forward different rural relief opinions from different disciplines background in order to save and revive countryside. Therefore the intellectuals had divergence and controversy on methods and ways to revive countryside.The debate mainly focused on three aspects.In the first place, it was a debat whether implementing inactive policies or positive policies to survive the rural economy.In the second place,it was a argument to revive rural whether developing industry dependent on agriculture or saving the countryside dependent on developing city.In the third place,it was a controversy whether revolution or reform to revive rural.In fact,argument on both sides had surpassed the rural revival.Arguments reflected that intellectuals in those days concerned and thought deeply about the problem of Chinese modernization,the focus of the national economy and the future of the nation.National rejuvenation and national modernization became the main subiect because national crisis became more and more serious and to salvage China from subjugation was an urgent mission in 1930 s.The ultimate goal of rural renaissance was the revival of the Chinese nation from the view of value objective.Rural revival movement was a movement which was committed to the modernization of people from the view of the nature of rural revival.Rural revival movement promoted the rural productivity development by using the improved means from the view of the means. Rural revival movement pushed combination of intellectuals and peasants,strengthened the integration of rural society in a state of disunity. Rural revival movement carried on the beneficial exploration on China modernization and laid the foundation of national rejuvenation.Rural revival movement advocated and promoted by patriotic intellectuals was the product of the era. Although rural revival movement had improved properties, revolution and improvement run parallel to save China, both revolution and improvement are power to promote the development of Chinese history. It’s sure that rural revival movement promoted the rural social progress and development.