1950 Shanghai Suburban And Rural Areas And Farmers' Ideological And Cultural Literacy Education

This article investigates the process of rural literacy movement in the wholecountry and Shanghai suburb in1950s, using the literacy education files and the ruralliteracy textbooks in Shanghai Archives and Shanghai Library as empirical materials.Meanwhile, it analyses the teaching contents of the rural literacy textbooks ofShanghai suburb and discusses the significance of rural literacy.Through the investigation and analysis of the literacy education files in1950s inShanghai Archives, this article concludes that some changes have taken place in theaspects of scale and quality of the rural literacy movement in the whole country andShanghai suburb in1950s, influenced by political, social and other factors.This article investigates and analyses the literacy textbooks in1950s in ShanghaiLibrary and Shanghai Archives---“Literacy Book for Farmers”, published by People’sEducation Press; and “Literacy Book for Farmers in Shanghai Suburb”, written by theeducation section of workers and peasants of Shanghai Education Bureau. It suggeststhat the teaching contents of the rural literacy textbooks of Shanghai suburb in1950scontain two parts: ideological and political education, education of science andculture. The former mainly covers the love for the party and the nation, classconsciousness, political affairs and policy, while the latter mainly covers the scientificknowledge, agricultural production technology, general knowledge and learningmethods.This article hypothesizes that the rural literacy movement in Shanghai suburb in1950s has not only given literacy education to farmers in Shanghai suburb and spreadthe scientific and cultural knowledge, but also given ideological and politicaleducation to them, and increased the farmers’ class consciousness, enhanced theirmaster consciousness, and strengthened the foundation of the new regime in ruralsociety.