Study Of Cai Yuanpei’s "Substituting Aesthetic Education For Religion"

“Substituting Aesthetic Education for Religion” was one of the vital parts inCaiYuanpei’s aesthetic education, which is related in many recent researches. Butacademics have not reached a consensus on this phrase. Thus this thesis tries to clarifythe connotation of Cai’s “aesthetic education for religion”, restoring the idea based onthe original logic situation.Firstly，through researching the life time Caiyuanpei lived and his experiences,this thesis goes inside the context, including the historical background, namely thetheory of religious salvation, the expansion of the church education, the beginning ofChinese modern aesthetics and his early study as a Confucian. All of these played animportant role in the formation of his aesthetic education. Relying on the socialfactors, the thesis returns to his original text and its resources as well, clarifying theessence of "aesthetic education" and "religion".The second part mainly discusses Cai’s absorption of the Kant’s and Schiller’saesthetics. A research on his experience as overseas a student in Germany is written inthis part, which was another basis of his aesthetic thoughts, then a comparison of theidea between his and two German’s aesthetics.In the final chapter, the thesis interprets the relations between Cai’s thoughts ofaesthetic education and the German education theory. As it is known, Germaneducation theory is the stronghold of the rapid development in education andeconomy. Therefore, the thesis finally analyses comparisons and contrasts betweenthem, getting understanding of the real motivation of his idea of aesthetic education.