The Exploration For The Value System By Chinese Outstanding Intelligentsia At The Beginning Of 20th Century

During the ten years before the 1911 Revolution, the traditional value the Confucian Schoolhad on the system was challenged because of both the domestic turmoil and foreign invasion.At this critical moment some intellectuals with new ideas analyzed and criticized thetraditional value of the system and proposed different views based on the western theory,which are beneficial to the ideological liberation and social revolution They emphasized theimportance of individual value and individual liberation, they thought they could notrejuvenate their country and nationality without individual liberation. Their theoreticaldiscovery was of great importance to the change of values afterwards.Some social problems arose after the Revolution of 1911 all because of the confusion of thevalue standards. Without a unified moral standard there would be a so-called "decline ofmorals"... But we should know that the standard and rule are formed historically and neededto be adjusted constantly with the change of society. The whole transgression emerged inmoral principles, which are common in the process of the transformation of society, and it'surgent to change the traditional value system.The intellectuals during the May 4th Movement had quite different concepts of moralstandard.. The radical intellectuals claimed that only by destroying the traditional system ofvalue a new value standard could be reestablished. They introduced the western value conceptof "science" and "democracy" and they were determined to get rid of the value standard ofConfucianism School completely. They focused on the change of moral values and denied theeternity of all the values. However, their one-sided pursuit of modernization resulted in theneglect of the discussion of ultimate value. But it was also necessary for the intellectuals withthe traditional value to re examine old value standard, and their insistence on the old valuewould hinder the formation of new value standards. However, the historical value and itspractical significance couldn't be neglected.