The Research On Zhang Wentian’s Early Thought (1917-1925)

In modern Chinese history, the May Fourth era is a tempestuous, continuous intensification times, it brings about enlightenment and liberation of ideas world for the part of advanced intellectuals, and it has had a profound impact for the social transformation of that time and the modern Chinese history. In the frenzy of the May Fourth, the part of advanced intellectuals’thought has a turning point, and eventually identifies Marxism from the selection of the various trends of thought and embarks on a revolutionary road. Understanding these people’s ideological content and evolution, can increase the understanding of the May Fourth era these advanced intellectuals onto the revolutionary road course from a certain extent. In his youth, Zhang Wentian is one of the representative advanced intellectuals who choces Marxism and joins the revolution, and the evolution of his whole early thought also reflects the universality of the advanced intellectuals’thought in that era. Studying his early thought and the evolution has an important instructive significance for understandingthe intellectuals’ thought in that era. The paper glimpses the part of advanced intellectuals’state of mind in the May Fourth era, through a brief combing for Zhang Wentian’s early thought, in order to deepen the understanding of these intellectuals’joining the revolutionary road.Specifically, the paper is divided into six parts:The introductory section describes briefly the awareness of the problem of this paper, research status, research methods and innovations, and points out the necessity of carrying out this study, so as to provide useful help for further studying Zhang Wentian and his early ideas in academic circle. The first part overviews briefly the Youth Zhang Wentian’s personal life experience, the historical situation, as well as ideological trend of that era in which he lives, for understanding Zhang Wentian’s early thought to lay the background of foundation. The second part and the third one discusses in turn the early thought of youth Zhang Wentian’s content. Among them, the second part explains Zhang Wentian’s pursuit for an ideal life mainly from the three aspects of the criticism for the old morality and ideas, developing noble personality and promoting the spiritual movement; the third part discusses thinking about the social problems, mainly analysing from the three aspects that explore the road of transform the society, advocate free love and women’s liberation placed emphasis on and concern about socialism of the Soviet Union. The fourth part mainly analyzes the process and reasons that Zhang Wentian as a May4th Youth becomes into a Marxist as time dimension, deepening the understanding of these advanced intellectuals’ taking the course of the revolution. The fifth part mainly overall evaluates the early thought of Zhang Wentian, explaining the early thought of Zhang Wentian’s universal representation and personal characteristics relative to the contemporary part of the advanced intellectuals, and at the same time interpreting the early ideas’ profound influence for the later life as well as explorating the Marxism in China initially and its limitations.