A Study Of The Centrist In The Debate Between Classical Chinese And Vernacular In The May 4th Movement

The literary revolution of May 4th is the starting point of modern Chinese literature,and the vernacular movement is an important part of the literary revolution of May 4th.When the new literature camp advocated vernacular Chinese,and proposed to replace classical Chinese with vernacular,the conservative forces and the new literature camp launched a controversy about classical Chinese and vernacular.But the two sides of the dispute are not all in a dualistic attitude.Some members who agree with the basic position of new literature in this debate belong to a group between conservatives and radicalists.They are different from the Conservatives' classical Chinese position or the position of transforming the vernacular with classical Chinese.On the whole,they stand in the position of the vernacular Chinese.However,they can objectively view the classical Chinese and agree with the advantages of classical Chinese,which is different from the radicalists' views in the debate,In this paper,they are called the "centrist" in the debate.According to their attitudes towards classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese and their changing process,the centrist is divided into radicals and conservatives.This paper is divided into four chapters.The first chapter examines the historical origin of the May 4th movement of vernacular,and analyzes the differences between vernacular and classical Chinese.Although the new literature camp holds high the banner of vernacular,its members have different definitions of vernacular,but they do not affect their vernacular attempts.The vernacular movement of May 4th is the result of political,economic,cultural and other factors.This paper mainly selects two important movements as the starting point.One is that the vernacular movement in the late Qing dynasty laid the foundation for the development of the vernacular movement from the aspects of ideological theory and creative achievements.The other is that the Chinese Movement broke people's superstition of classical Chinese and took official means It promotes the establishment of the authentic status of vernacular.The second chapter mainly explores the literary views of the gradualism in the debate between vernacular and classical Chinese.In the early days of Hu Shi's view of literary reform,gradualism played an important role,and Hu Shi often discussed the way out of Chinese literature with them when studying in the United States.Their attitude towards vernacular has gone through the process from doubt to partial recognition,and then to active creation of vernacular.At last,they agree with the value of vernacular,but oppose to abolish classical Chinese.In the view of literary revolution,they have objections to the use of vernacular in poetry and firmly oppose the abolition of Chinese characters.Gradualists have made positive contributions to the formation of Hushi's vernacular view,the expansion of the influence of literary revolution,and the construction of vernacular.They are the advocators and practitioners of cultural diversity in the May 4th period.The third chapter is about the reformist ideas and ideas in the debate between vernacular and classical Chinese.The denomination of reformists is based on their attitude towards vernacular.In the relationship between classical Chinese and vernacular,they saw the historical development trend of the integration of classical Chinese and always stood on the side of the vernacular school,but they also saw many problems existing in the vernacular school at that time.They not only supported the improvement of vernacular,but also advocated using the advantages of classical Chinese for vernacular.In the view of literary revolution,they put forward the views of school education reform,distinguishing between art and applied literature,and opposing the abolition of allusions and antithesis.Reformists hold a more objective position on classical Chinese in the debate of literature and white.They play an active role in the special historical context and make an important contribution to the construction of vernacular Chinese.However,if they fully adhere to their ideas,the process of the integration of classical Chinese and literary revolution will be delayed,and historical opportunities will be delayed.The fourth chapter is the evaluation of the centrist's ideas in the debate between vernacular and classical Chinese.From the perspective of the thought of progressives and reformists,we should re analyze the complexity of the debate between classical Chinese and vernacular in the May 4th period,and also analyze their relationship with the mainstream radicals of the May 4th literary revolution in a historical way,so as to make an overall and objective evaluation of the debate.The result of this debate is to win in vernacular,which replaces classical Chinese.It conforms to the historical requirements of Chinese literature reform and cultural modern transformation in general.It is an important content of the May 4th Literature Revolution,an important ideological way to enlighten the public,and the victory of new culture over traditional culture.The interaction between the middle school and the radical school plays an important role in the victory of vernacular instead of classical Chinese.