A Study Of The History Education In China's Middle Schools During The Period Of Anti-Japanese War(1931-1945)

During the period of the Anti-Japanese War(1931-1945),Chinese cultural and educational industries were severely damaged,and Japan launched a cultural aggression in an attempt to eliminate the national consciousness of the Chinese people to destroy China by destroying its history.Under the crisis of national destruction and extinction,"Salvation and Survival" became the epoch topic of the first half of the 20 th century.Historiography and historical education were playing an important role in awaking national consciousness,enhancing national self-confidence,enhancing patriotism,promoting national culture,and building national spirit.During this period,in order to make the most of the social function of history education and boost national confidence of the people,the Nanjing National Government took "Three People's Principles" as the educational purpose and "wartime needs to be treated as peacetime" as the educational policy to guide the development of school history education.On the other hand,the Communist Party took "new democratic thought" and "education as the service of the War of Resistance Against Japan" as its educational purpose and educational policy.They actively developed historical education in the revolutionary bases to promote revolutionary ideas.At the same time,historians were also deeply aware of the important functions of historiography and history education.Based on their own consciousness and the sense of social responsibility to be concerned about the country and the people,historians appealed to the public that the history should serve for the war of resistance against Japan,which had made a series of historical theoretical achievements.Represented by Liang Qichao,Wang Guowei,Gu Jiegang,Hu Shi,Li Dazhao and Lv Simian,etc.,they explored the theory of Chinese historiography,and formed new historiography: positivism historiography,nationalist historiography,and Marxist historiography,which became the mainstream of the development of Chinese historical theory during this period.These achievements not only greatly promoted the scientific development of Chinese historiography,but also endowed new historical connotation of modern history education.Through the systematic review of Chinese history education during the Period of Counter-Japanese War,history education had faced many dilemmas and many deficiencies during the implementation in schools.However,as an significant tool for the ruling class to propagate its ideology,it had always been closely related to the revolutionary construction of China,and had made tremendous contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan.The value orientation of history education in different historical periods is different.The value orientation of middle school history education during the Period of Anti-Japanese War was mainly affected by social crisis,the requirements of the ruling class,the orientation of historians,the trends of Chinese and Western cultural thoughts,and the logic development of history itself.It also reflects the following characteristics: the value orientation of "historical education serves political services",the value pursuit of "taking new citizens as the training target",the value appeal of "bursting with national and international consciousness",the value practice of "to highlight the social function of historical education".Digging up the essence through appearance can give us more comprehensive understanding of the history of middle school history education during the Period of Anti-Japanese War.It also provides enlightenment and reference for the development of history education.That is,history education should always run through the national spirit with patriotism;history teachers must continuously improve themselves;history education should cultivate students' scientific outlook on history;and history education should focus on scientific teaching method.