East-west cultural debate
[8] In 1919, the Paris Peace Conference agreed to transfer Germany's rights and interests in Shandong Problem to Japan, which triggered the May Fourth Movement and the disappointment of Chinese intellectuals with the West.
[10] Since 1921, works by Liang Qichao and others have transmitted the pessimistic sentiment in Europe after World War I back to China, leading to a reflection on Western civilization in the debate.
[11] In 1962, young students such as Li Ao launched a cultural debate between China and the West with the opponents of Hu Shi's views from the Chinese Mainland in Taiwan.
During the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi believed that "it is advantageous for the country, regardless of distance" and pointed out that "in order to surpass the West in science and technology, we must first understand it".
[14] At the same time, Yan Fu further pointed out the backwardness of Chinese ideology, believing that the lifeblood of modern Western culture lies in "academic rejection of falsehood and reverence of truth, and in criminal and political justice, bending the private to consider public" rather than "steam engines and weapons" and "heavenly calculation and refinement", and advocating "inspiring people's strength, opening up people's wisdom, and renewing morality".
[17] However, new intellectuals, mainly from the group of international students, such as Liang Shuming, who had multiple debates with Hu Shih and supported the revival of traditional culture, studied Seohak from a young age, while Hu Shih, who opposed Liang Shuming and supported Westernization, was actually the first to receive private school education from a young age.
[18] In addition, active supporters of learning from the West, such as Kang Youwei and Gu Hongming, or scholars with complete Western educational backgrounds, have instead become defenders of traditional Chinese culture.
[11] Although traditional customs and beliefs gradually declined with the collapse of imperial power after the Xinhai Revolution, the voice of respecting the restoration of Confucianism remained constant.
[20] Democratic republican systems such as parliament, cabinet, and constitution became tools for warlords and politicians to compete for power and profit, which made Chinese intellectuals disappointed.
[22] Du Yaquan, the editor-in-chief of Oriental Magazine, published a series of articles under the pen name "Lungfu"[Notes 1] to compare the differences between Eastern and Western cultures and refute Chen Duxiu and others.
The book "The Confused Modern Mind" believes that the large-scale import of Western culture has led to the loss of China and the bankruptcy of the spiritual world.
[20] Afterward, more and more people participated in the debate, involving more and more issues, until Du Yaquan was forced to resign from his position as editor-in-chief due to a controversy in 1920 and could not rest.
[4] The transfer of Germany's rights and interests in China to Japan at the Paris Peace Conference in May 1919 sparked anger among Chinese intellectuals leaning towards Western democracy.
[7] However, the transfer of Germany's rights and interests in China to Japan at the Paris Peace Conference in May 1919 sparked anger among Chinese intellectuals leaning towards Western democracy.
[15] In 1918, German young teacher Spengler wrote "The Decline of the West", with a first edition of 90000 copies, which became popular in Europe and was unprecedented since the publication of "On the Origin of Species".
have said, "The power and influence of Eastern culture in Europe has long since spread beyond the scope of a few recreational writers and specialized antiquarians to the majority of people, and all those who are mentally disturbed in this world are among them.
"[31][2] Hu Shih, Li Dazhao, Qu Qiubai, Wu Zhihui, Yang Mingzhai, and others refuted Liang Shuming and Liang Qichao: Hu Shih believed that the democratization and scientification of China and India were inevitable; Li Dazhao and Qu Qiubai believed that only by launching the proletarian revolution can there be real cultural development.
[15] Liang Qichao expressed his feelings and denied the claim that science is omnipotent, and believed that China plays a huge responsibility in the reconstruction of world civilization.
The Western civilization "intended" to move forward and emphasized struggle, resulting in democracy and science, but lacking in metaphysics; Chinese culture's "desire" is self-acting, harmonious, and moderate, content with the status quo, self-satisfied, and less material than Western culture; Indian civilization, on the other hand, abstained from sexual desires to deny the existence of problems, leading to the full development of spirit and religion and the backwardness of material conditions.
[31] Hu Shih believed that both Western and Indian cultures have a time of "desire" to move forward or backward, and referred to Liang Shuming as "really talking nonsense with his eyes closed".
[31] But later, Hu Shih wrote in "A Year and a Half Review" that in fact, the most valuable article in the "Effort Weekly" may not be our political discourse,[Notes 2] but the criticism of Mr. Liang Shuming and Mr. Carsun Chang.
In October 1923, Liang Shuming gave a speech at Peking University, refuting the statement made by Hu Shih in his "A Year and a Half Review":[31] However, I am an obstacle to them!
The authors were mostly centered around National Southeast University, but there were also Wang Guowei, Chen Yinke, Tang Yongtong, and others from Beijing who participated, also known as the "Xueheng School".
"[34] Babbitt's "New Humanism" believes that the spirit of ancient Greece, Confucianism, Buddhism, and other classical cultures as well as the traditional order should be restored to repair the ills of modern society.
[5] After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, Japanese aggression triggered a national crisis in China, and the recognition and preservation of Chinese cultural traditions became a trend.
[6] After the war in Taiwan and Hong Kong, there were conflicts among positivism-liberalism led by Hu Shih and Yin Haiguang, New Confucianism, scholars of the Three Principles of the People, and the Government of the Republic of China regarding whether Chinese cultural tradition, science, and democracy could coexist.
The first issue can always be satisfied by hard work and the accumulation of experience and knowledge, and the desire to move forward, which corresponds to Western culture.
Among the "Eastern Cultural Faction", either supporters of the late Qing Dynasty's reform and revolution, or a new generation of intellectuals, there was a general aversion to the political situation controlled by warlords and the wave of restoration.
[21] Some scholars have pointed out that after learning from the West for decades, China's national affairs have still declined, and the choices of Chinese intellectuals have begun to be alienated.
[6] Conservatives are not unaware of the characteristics of Chinese secular culture, but the consequences of world wars and material desires that have occurred in European civilization have prompted them to reflect on modernity.
