Research On The Controversy Of Reading Classics In The Period Of Nanjing National Government (1927-1937)

The debate on classics in 1927-1937 occupies a very important position in the history of modern Chinese ideology and culture.The occurrence and evolution of this debate is not a coincidence of history.It is a continuation of the debate over reading the classics in the early years of the Republic of China.At the same time,it is also a cultural policy adopted by the Nanjing National Government to “honor Confucianism,respect Confucianism”,the impact of Western cultural trends and national sentiments against Japan and many other factors the result of the interaction.This academic controversy,which was inherited from the early years of the Republic of China,has gradually evolved into a massive movement for reading classics.The reading classics controversy of Nanjing National Government divides into four stages of evolution: the first at the initial stage of the reform,the Nanjing National Government started to carry out educational reforms and started reading classics in primary and secondary schools.In addition,the “Respect Confucius and Sacrifice Confucius” activities throughout the country triggered controversy over reading Confucian classics.In the second stage,Jiang Jieshi launched a new life movement and He Bingsong opened the “Reading Comprehension” after Education Magazine which was resumed.Both of them jointly pushed the rise of the debate on reading history to the summit of discussion.In the third stage,the national crisis intensified unprecedentedly,triggering another upsurge of controversy over the study of the Chinese classics.In the fourth stage,after the full-blown anti-Japanese war broke out,the entire nation persisted in the war of “Anti-Japanese War to the End,” and the argument was gradually declining.Looking at the evolution of the debate about classics in the period of the Nanjing National Government,we can find that the focus of the debate on classics is very rich,while the emphasis is different at different time periods.First of all,during the period when the debate first appeared,the focus of the debate on reading classics focused on “whether Confucianism should be read through the Confucian Classics”;at the height of the debate,the debate focused mainly on“whether the school promoted the study of the Bible”;during the War of Resistance against Japan,“Whether or not to save the nation from danger ”;and “ whether the study of reading can improve individual morality” is discussed throughout the process of reading classics in the period of the Nanjing National Government;secondly,there are different debate and discussion on the focus of reading classics at different ages,different regions,different qualifications,different sectors and different interests of the representatives of different perspectives.The debate on the classics of the Confucian classics in the period of the Nanjing National Government,which is full of the characteristics of the times,is affected by various factors.It hassuch characteristics as the long duration of the study of the sutra,the broad scope of the controversy,the strong regionalism and timeliness of the disputes,and the decline of the war as a result of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War Features.The debate about the study of the classics in the period of the Nanjing National Government not only occupied an important position in the history of thoughts,but also had far-reaching effects in the history of social history and education.Examining this controversy about the study of the sutra can undoubtedly provide useful references and revelations on how to treat the Chinese traditional culture represented by the Confucian classics.