Journal of East China Normal University (Philosoph ›› 2019, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (1): 24-36.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2019.01.004

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“The New from the Old” in the May 4th New Cultural Movement

XU Ji-lin   

  • Online:2019-01-15 Published:2019-01-22

Abstract: During the May 4th New Cultural Movement, three debates on new/Western and old/Chinese cultures were respectively carried out between the journal New Youth and LIN Qin-nan, CHEN Du-xiu and DU Ya-quan, as well as ZHANG Dong-sun and FU Si-nian. New Youth, CHEN Du-xiu and ZHANG Dong-sun were regarded as the "new school", whereas their opponents "the new school coming from the old school". The difference between them lies in their attitudes towards traditions instead of their new or old knowledge. After these three heated debates, New Youth gained a complete victory in port cities since young people there needed a radical project of cultural reform and simple attitude for action. However, the "young people from small towns" don't care about their attitude difference. They paid more attention to how to absorb "new knowledge" from them and kept more sympathetic to tradition.

Key words: New Cultural Movement, "the New from the Old", cultural discourse power, New Youth, New Trend, Oriental Journal