Cultural Choice And Educational Modernization

Liang Shuming, the famous scholar, thinker, educationalist and social activist in the modern history of China, has carried on a thorough probe into Chinese culture and its relations with modernization. Liang's rural educational thought was formed under the guidance of the new-Confucianism cultural idea, his cultural idea was a theoretical foundation of his educational thought, and his educational thought showed his cultural idea in the educational field. This article attempts to put Liang in the modernization background, from the angle in which the choice of cultural value influences the educational modernization pattern, comments on the historical significance, the realistic value of the new-Confucianism cultural idea and the rural educational thought. The research content has mainly three aspects:Firstly, the author will analyze Liang's new-Confucianism cultural idea in the viewpoint of modernization.Liang proposed the main three cultural roads and the three periods of cultural reappearance, combined multi-cultural value orientations with one cultural development contradictorily. He thought that the Chinese culture characteristic was the early enlightenment of the reason and precocity of the culture, the Chinese traditional social structure was the ethical standard and the job discreteness, the recent human culture should be the rejuvenation of the traditional philosophy of the Confucian life which took reason as characteristic. He thought that the life of the Chinese culture lied in the national spirit, the core that embodies life spirit best in Confucianism was "benevolence", and its modern spirit factor was "hard". He proposed the mutual complementary theory of human culture based on the existence of Chinese society as the way of reconstructing Chinese culture, the idea of the new bud from old root had emphasized the connection between new and old culture. He thought that the life was creating and the culture was the talents' creation. The talents' creation and the national consciousness were subjects creating the new culture, let person with Confucianism appear again and inspire the awakening of Chinese nation.Secondly, the author will analyze Liang's rural educational thought under the guidance of his new-Confucianism cultural idea.Liang thought the function of the rural education was to spread and promote culture. The aim of the rural education was ethic principle and life upward. The primary task of Chinese problem was to rebuild a new organization. The purpose of the rural education was to establish new customs. The new social organization should rebuild the ancient Chinese rural customs. The rural school was the organization of the rural education. It instilled reason into the public through the education. After analysis and criticism of the traditional education, he put forward that the content of rural education should be the combination of knowledge and skill education with the life. The key to the rural education was to inspire the farmer to be self-conscious. The motivational subject of the rural education was the combination of intellectual with farmers.Thirdly, the author will analyze Liang's new-Confucianism cultural idea and rural educational thought.First, Liang's modernization model took culture and education as the core to start with, the goal was to seek the modernization of Confucian culture. He not only kept the identification with traditional culture but also devoted himself to the transformation and innovation of traditional culture. Second, Liang's views of particular Chinese society had determined his reform direction of cultural reconstruction, the rural education became a good wish. Third, Liang changed the old education system, the rural educational thought was a broad educational view regarding society as an object and taking modernization as goal. He was making every effort to make China walk on an educational modernization road full of national characteristics. Fourth, the new-Confucianism cultural idea and the rural educational thought influence and permeate into each other. The main three cultural roads was philosophical foundation of the rural educational thought, the culture life was the core, the humanistic spirit was a value choice. It was a mission that the rural education should carry forward Confucian culture. Fifth, Liang's exploration indicated that the educational modernization should correctly handle the relation between the national characteristics and the world' ones, the old and the new. The educational modernization must strengthen the humanism education. The difficulty of Chinese educational modernization was in the rural areas. The core of educational modernization was to realize people's modernization.In a word, during Chinese transition from traditional to modern society, Liang had established his own rural educational thought under the guidance of the new-Confucianism cultural idea. It was very special in cultural value choice and educational modernization exploration. Although Liang's theory was not very perfect, it was a great enlightment to people.