Try To Talk About Chen Duxiu's "new Education" Thought

Born into a traditional Confucian family, Chen Duxiu grew into a vigorous character withAdvocating of Practical Learning being his cherished cultural heritage. From this kind of soilChen Duxiu’s early educational notions such as Learning to Meet Practical Needs, Learning inorder to Practise, and Being Creative came into being, which consequently formed one aspect ofthe basis of his new educational thought. The background of Confucian family, coupled withlocal cultural influence of Tongcheng School, made Chen Duxiu first into a traditionalintellectual. Then after contacting and being influenced by Western cultures, Chen Duxiutransformed first into a democrat, then a communist. Accordingly his educational ideas changedfrom the pursuit of individual character liberation into paying attention to social problems. Tohave a better understanding of Chen Duxiu’s new national educational thought, focus should beput on the context of cultural value reconstruction movement from1912to1919among Chineseintellectuals.As a democrat, Chen Duxiu clarified what mental and moral qualities a new citizen shouldhave, with patriotism and consciousness being the core value. To make new citizens with newspirit was the fundamental educational purpose during this period of time. Pragmatic educationalthought which focused on developing learners’ practical skills was repeatedly propagated byChen Duxiu with the spread of western educational concepts in China.As a socialist, the principle aim of Chen Duxiu’s new education was to take advantage oftradition with new ideas, build new spirit, and nurture new social atmosphere. During this period,pragmatic educational thought such as learning as applying, learning as practicing and learningas innovation was given new spirit of socialism. New education means new ideas taken and newmethods adopted, rather than just taking place in different time or space.