The Research On Zou Tao-fen's Enlightenment Thoughts

Zou Tao-fen is a great influence person in modern Chinese history. That can be seen not only from his thoughts on news and democratic politics, but also from his thought on enlighten. The September 18th Incident was a point that Zou Tao-fen's thought on enlighten could be divided into two stages. Zou's thought on enlighten not only inflected his thought's change, also inflected the enlightenment's change after the May 4th Movement of 1919. To analyze and discuss Zou's thought on enlighten has an important significance to discuss the enlightenment in modern Chinese history.The content of this dissertation has two aspects, firstly to discuss the enlighten thoughts of Zou Tao-fen's and its development, secondly to try to find out the condition of the Chinese enlighten after the era of the May 4th Movement. In the first the dissertation discusses the traits of modern Chinese enlightment and the content of the era of the May 4th Movement, so that it can be found out the connection between Zou's enlightment thoughts and the Chinese enlightment.Enlighten means to inspire one's intelligence, its core contents are to purse personality independence and acting on one's own rationally. The contents of the West enlightment include pursing independent personality and destroying the theology and feudal autocracy. Meanwhile the goal of modern Chinese enlightment is to save the nation from extinction, so the contents of Chinese enlightment is to inspire the mass's national consciousness and sense of responsibility to society.That can be confirmed that the purpose of thinkers going in for enlightenment was to advocate individual emancipation and pursue individual independence, i.e. to make a man can conducts himself in society. And meanwhile they have not ignored how to make the country independence and liberation. It is an indispensable means and course for building up a nation to make a man conducts himself in society.In the later period of the era of the May 4th Movement, the camp of the enlightment broke up. The reasons that led to the enlightenment of the days of May 4th Movement splited off have many elements. The objective elements are that the domestic politics became more terrible and the whole country doubt advantage of the West culture due to the harsh reality caused by the First World War. The subjective elements are that the thinkers had different understanding to the enlightenment that made them have different comprehension to Marxism. When the news of the October Revolution in Russia was propagated in China, the enlightenment began to split off. The debate on problem-doctrine in the late of 1919 indicated the enlightenment split off formally. After that, some thinkers like Chen Du-xiu and Li Da-zhao went in for revolutionary enlightenment under Marxism, the other thinkers like Hu Shi insisted on the enlightenment thought of the bourgeoisie.In the beginning of enlighten, Zou Tao-fen wanted that valuable persons became more and more by the methods of reformism, so that the society can be improved and the nation can be powerful and prosperous. The reasons why Zou had such thoughts are the following; firstly in the influence of his family, Zou had the strong sense of responsibility to society, secondly Zou was influenced by the patriotism and positive forging ahead of the traditional culture, thirdly Zou advocated saving the nation by education. So in the all kinds of theories, Zou approved of pragmatism.In Zou's mind, the valuable person is a responsible person in and out home. Its contents include three fields, thought of reforming the traditional family system, thought of women emancipation and thought of vocation instruction. Zou Tao-fen believed that the Chinese traditional family made every man be troubled, dependent on other and lazy, so he advocated building small family system. The way for women being emancipated was that women must get economic independence and personality equality. Zou Tao-fen wanted young people didn't know difficulty, danger, troublesome and disappointment, just gave his all to work hard, to make more contribution to society.So in this period, the features of Zou's thought have strong sense of social responsibility and distinctive reformism. Zou's thoughts of loving school, loving family, loving country and vocational direction showed its responsibility.Zou Tao-fen wanted youth would shoulder the responsibility, trying one best to make the society development and nation prosperous and powerful. Zou's thoughts on self-supporting, values and vocational training showed its reformism.Zou pointed out youth should get good education so that he could get a good job. And Zou pointed out youth should be able to adapt oneself to different circumstances, use his special skill to make the society development. In that social environment, the efforts made by Zou Tao-fen got no result. But we cannot deny that the publications directed by Zou got praise highly and the influence of Zou's thoughts among the mass. NO EFFORTS means the society of that time had no improve.After the September 18th Incident, the thought of Zou's has changed much. Zou Tao-fen believed that revolution was unavoidable, and he didn't persist in reformism. The reasons why his thought would be changed have many, firstly the previous efforts that Zou had taken got no result, secondly it stimulated Zou Tao-fen that the existence of China became more dangerous caused by Japanese invasion, and thirdly Zou was disappointed by the policy that the Kuomingdang's government implemented to deal with Japanese invasion. During the course to explore the strength to save the nation from doom and ensure its survival, Zou Tao-fen believed that the masses had the strength to resist the aggressors and save the country. But who were the masses led by? Obviously Zou Tao-fen didn't believe the kuomingdang's government, because it had no methods to deal with the national crisis. While Zou believed the Communist Party of China could lead the masses to save the country.Zou Tao-fen believed that the masses were the main strength to resist aggressors and save the country, but the great strength of the Chinese masses was in the condition of incubation, not exploit potentialities. To arouse the masses'sense of resisting aggressors, Zou proposed that we should do our best to liberate our nation, to eradicate feudal remnants, to overcome individualism. Zou strove to found national united front, to launch the people's movement t resist Japanese aggression and save the country, to carry out democratic politics, because Zou believed that the country could be saved by these methods. In this period, the purpose that Zou went in for enlightenment was to make the Chinese nation independence. That indicated Zou's sincere patriotic emotion.In the war of Resistance Against Japan, Zou's thought on arousing the mass has such traits; one should submit to the collective and put the national interest first. Zou Tao-fen took an active part in the New Enlightenment of the 1930's.The thought to arouse the people of Zou's included the Principle of Democracy and Nationalism.During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zou's efforts achieved good results, many young people advanced the revolutionary way under the influence of Zou's thought. The reasons of Zou's success have many. Firstly Zou Tao-fen advocated the benefit for the masses of the people. Secondly Zou Tao-fen showed the masses how to make their way forward. Of course, cooperation is also the key to success for Zou Tao-fen. Cooperation means every people should depend on organization, individual would be no strength without organization, so each individual must bear collectivism in mind, just in that way can we get a strong collective. In the meantime the collective benefit is got, individual goal can also be come true. Zou Tao-fen adopted producers' cooperative in the Life Bookstore and managed by democratic centralism. So the Life Bookstore was a organization with strong fighting capacity. And Zou joined in all kinds of social organization, such as China League for Civil Rights and China Union Organization of saving nation. With the aid of organizations, Zou Tao-fen led youth to purse progress, and Zou succeeded in his cause.