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daizhicheng1
  • 2025/6/21
文字稿
00:00we often say that the new culture movement was the beginning of modern civilization in china
00:15but what did it really mean if we look farther afield we will find that the renaissance and
00:21the enlightenment in europe had stirred up the same storm of ideas hundreds of years ago
00:25so what do they have in common and what are the fundamental differences through comparison
00:32we may be able to understand more deeply why a cultural movement can influence an era and even
00:37change the destiny of a nation in the 15th century a.d europe ushered in a quiet but profound revolution
00:50not in terms of swords and shadows nor in terms of change of power but in terms of an intellectual
00:56awakening an awakening of the human being this is what we know as the renaissance in the past few
01:03centuries medieval european society was firmly controlled by religion and people's worldview
01:08outlook on life and values had to seek answers from god people could only be god's people and were not
01:15allowed to have much of their own thoughts and feelings and even their bodies were regarded as
01:20sinful however with the rediscovery of ancient greek and roman literature people began to realize
01:26that once upon a time human beings were free to think express and create to understand the world with
01:32reason and to celebrate life with art in this way a group of thinkers artists and scholars stepped onto
01:39the stage of history they were no longer centered on doctrine but on man as the starting point
01:45we are familiar with da vinci not only painted that mona lisa that mysterious smile he also studied the
01:53structure of the human body the design of flying machines michelangelo carved david is no longer a
01:59religious saint but a standing in the world full of strength and dignity of youth these works were not
02:06only masterpieces of art but also a redefinition of man the parts of the renaissance were not only art but also
02:14literature philosophy and science behind the names of petrarch boccaccio and machiavelli
02:21are a series of questions can man control his own destiny can one challenge tradition can one create
02:29one's own knowledge and world
02:40of course such an idea did not appear overnight it was driven by history and reality for example the black
02:48death that swept through europe made people question the protection of god and the rise of urban commerce
02:53also made people begin to pay attention to their own values and judgment these social changes became
02:59the hotbed of the renaissance people were no longer satisfied with the comfort of faith but longed for
03:06the power of knowledge it is worth noting that the renaissance was not about destroying faith but about
03:12giving people a place to stand up man was no longer a humble and obedient servant but the center of the
03:18universe an independent individual capable of understanding nature controlling destiny and
03:24expressing emotions this movement began in italy and gradually spread throughout europe it not only laid
03:31the foundation for the subsequent scientific revolution and enlightenment but more importantly
03:36it evoked a new kind of value human beings are dignified human thoughts can be respected and human
03:44freedom and creativity are worth pursuing the renaissance was a spiritual reconstruction of
03:50western civilization there was no regime change but it shook the spiritual structure of the whole society
03:58it did not start a war but broke down the walls of thought it was this awakening of man that brought
04:04europe from darkness to light from theocracy to rational exploration and opened a window for the modern world
04:10world looking back today we can say that without the renaissance the concept of modern man as we
04:16understand it might not exist at all
04:30in europe after the renaissance people had gradually become accustomed to thinking in terms of themselves
04:36but it was the enlightenment that really made reason the star of the age
04:41the enlightenment took place from the 17th to the 18th century
04:45at this time in europe it was no longer just an awakening of art
04:49but also a complete change of thought science and political system
04:54it was an unprecedented confidence that as long as we relied on reason
04:58we could understand the world and even transform it
05:01the question at the heart of the enlightenment was really quite simple
05:04how can people live freer and happier lives
05:08to answer this question enlightenment thinkers began to approach it from various angles
05:13some studied politics like rousseau locke and montesquieu some studied the scientific method
05:20like bacon and newton and others studied morality religion and education like kant
05:26voltaire and diderot though they have different positions they have a consensus
05:31reason is the most reliable tool for human beings
05:36so let's look at a few specific claims
05:40rousseau said that sovereignty should belong to the people not the king
05:44montesquieu said that power should be checked and balanced against each other
05:48and no one should be allowed to hold absolute power
05:51diderot simply organized people to write encyclopedias to spread knowledge to ordinary people
05:56all these ideas sound quite normal now don't they but at that time it was a great challenge to the
06:04whole feudal system and the authority of the church
06:10the enlightenment took place at a time when europe was still generally under feudal rule with the
06:19aristocracy and the church having great power people's thoughts beliefs and even educational
06:26opportunities were all controlled what the enlightenment thinkers were trying to do was to free people from
06:32these invisible chains they said that human value comes from reason not from birth that freedom and
06:39happiness are for everyone not just for the aristocracy the most interesting thing about the
06:44enlightenment is that it was not a riot or a political coup d'état but a group of thinkers writing
06:49books giving speeches and having discussions but once these ideas spread they were like kindling that
06:56ignited all kinds of changes in european society from the french revolution to the
07:02independence of the united states to the establishment of modern democracy none of them could be
07:06separated from the enlightenment it has been said that the renaissance liberated human nature and
07:12the enlightenment liberated reason this is true at this stage knowledge was no longer just the
07:20privilege of scholars and ideas began to come out of the study into the streets and became a public topic
07:26that ordinary people could participate in of course the enlightenment had its limitations
07:31for example it was still dominated by the elites and did not really reach the lowest class of people
07:37and it overemphasized rationality sometimes ignoring the value of emotion religion tradition and other
07:43factors however it is undeniable that it has laid the foundation for modern society the equality
07:50freedom human rights the concepts of equality freedom human rights and civil society that we take for
07:57granted today were basically established at that time the enlightenment taught people that it is not god
08:04who gives you happiness or the king who grants you freedom but you yourself who can strive for it and
08:08decide on it this is the power of reason and the starting point of modern society
08:14why did the new culture movement break out at such a special moment in history it was neither accidental
08:29nor merely a momentary cultural impulse of a few intellectuals in the final analysis it reflected a great
08:36anxiety the desire of a nation to catch up after seeing the world clearly entering the 20th century
08:43china has felt the pressure from the modern western countries the defeat of the late qing dynasty
08:49the invasion of the great powers and the corruption of the system made the chinese people realize for
08:54the first time that the world was not the heavenly kingdom that we thought it was but a real world
08:59that talked about strength science and system and the new culture movement is in this context a group of
09:07thinking sentimental knowledgeable intellectuals trying to turn the page from the ideological efforts they
09:14wanted to reawaken the nation let everyone come out from the tradition from subject to citizen from
09:20obedience to thinking from obedience to thinking in new youth chen dushio explicitly proposed mr tack and mr
09:30sai that is to say democracy and science who she on the other hand emphasized the spirit of bold
09:39assumptions careful proof which was used to replace the past ancestors say so kai yuan pei on the other hand
09:47through the educational reforms of peking university allowed students for the first time to freely discuss
09:52all kinds of ideas instead of just memorizing scriptures this movement is actually a spiritual breakthrough
10:00of chinese intellectuals they not only wanted to awaken themselves but also wanted to awaken the
10:06whole society they knew very well that the reason why the west was powerful was not only warships
10:12guns and factories but also a set of ideological foundations that supported modern civilization
10:18freedom equality science and rationality therefore the new culture movement was essentially an
10:25ideological catch-up race instead of imitating the west it attempted to use western intellectual tools
10:33to complete the spiritual reconstruction of chinese society and all this is a profound awakening
10:40of course awakening is never easy at that time china did not yet have a developed capitalist economy
10:48nor did it have the foundations of a modern civil society participants in the new culture movement were often
10:54alone and in the minority but it was this awakening of the few that ignited the spiritual fire of
11:00subsequent generations
11:12if we widen our horizon a bit you will find that the new culture movement actually shares a similar rhythm
11:17with the two great intellectual changes in western history the renaissance and the enlightenment
11:23they both took place in the transitional moment when the old order was collapsing and the new world had
11:28not yet been established the renaissance which took place in 15th century europe began as a rediscovery
11:35of greco-roman culture but was soon transformed into a cultural trend in pursuit of freedom aesthetics and
11:41human dignity through art and literature it evoked a renewed awareness of the value of the individual
11:48this is similar to the emphasis on the individual in the chinese new culture movement in the 17th and 18th
11:55centuries the enlightenment went even further placing reason at the center and directly challenging the
12:01feudal system and the authority of the church voltaire russo kant and other thinkers put forward the social
12:10contract civil rights separation of powers and other modern political ideas these thinkers put forward
12:17modern political ideas such as social contract civil rights separation of powers etc which laid the
12:24ideological foundation for the later democratic system what about the new culture movement in china
12:31although it also shouted the slogan of democracy and science due to the limitations of practical
12:36conditions it did not directly bring about institutional changes like the enlightenment
12:42it was more like a cultural enlightenment an awakening of the mind rather than a reconstruction
12:47of the system but their commonalities are also clear they all started with ideas
12:52and they all wanted to use ideas to break with the old authority and find a new world view
12:58in other words all three emphasize human subjectivity
13:01and believe that freedom of thought is the key to social progress
13:06of course their backgrounds economic conditions and social structures were different
13:12behind the renaissance and the enlightenment was the rise of european capitalism and the rise of the
13:17middle class while behind the new culture movement was the anxiety of semi-colonial china about
13:22modernization and its cultural struggle under the sense of crisis
13:26but it is precisely for this reason that the new culture movement is all the more valuable
13:31it was not a fetishism not a simple imitation but a localized response to western ideas in the
13:37special context of china it was not a successful political revolution but a far-reaching intellectual
13:44movement therefore when we look at the new culture movement today we might as well put it into the
13:50context of global intellectual history it was china's intellectual voice to the modern world at the
13:56beginning of the 20th century and it was also a spiritual experiment for the chinese nation to find a
14:01way out in the midst of the stormy times
14:11today when we look back again at these cultural waves of history we realize that thought never existed in
14:17the abstract it is the spark that ignites individual self-consciousness and propels the turn of the
14:23times the new culture movement may not have as splendid an art form as the renaissance or as
14:29direct an institutional output as the enlightenment but it is equally precious it proves that in the
14:35most difficult moments of a nation there is always someone who comes forward to redefine what is progress
14:40and tries to change the world with ideas the echoes of civilization across time and space
14:47may leave a certain echo in your heart