A Tentative Study On Tao Xingzhi's Culture Thought

Tao Xingzhi was a world renowned educationalist and cultural giant of 20^th-century China. His life and thought have been the concern of scholars both at home and abroad for long. Study on Tao's educational thought has even become a salient subject in China's educational circle. This thesis elaborates on Tao's cultural thought, which is seldom touched upon, in the hope of digging out the cultural root of Tao's educational thought and finding a new approach to our deeper understanding of Tao's educational thought, his life views, his values and his career.Since Tao's ideas were mostly scattered over his lectures, reports or letters, the thesis first discusses his views on Chinese culture and western culture. In the transitional time of history, Tao's understanding of and attitudes towards Chinese culture and western culture, his work on certain theoretical topics were special and influential in the Chinese thinking history, forming kind of revolutionarily progressive direction among modern Chinese intellectuals. Tao introduced the western culture and reorganized our country's culture critically. This viewpoint which unified "inheritance" and "development" differs in all manners other cultural views, such as indiscriminate westernization view. He emphasized "distinguishing and choosing the good", "suitability matters, age matters not". His culture views characterized by its nationality, popularity, patriotism and scientificity, is consistent with the position of the CPC which stresses on "getting rid of old culture's dregs, taking its essence", "critical inheritance". His view of culture is in the same direction with that of Mao Zedong. He balanced between the traditional education and the modern education, between Chinese education and foreign education. He successfully constructed the Life Education Theory which fits China. These achievements can be described as "soaring" development.This thesis then discusses the cultural significance of the Life Education Theory of Tao Xingzhi. Tao melted up Chinese culture and western culture, domesticated foreign educational resources, thus forming the Life Education Theory which fits...