Revolution Need Courage And the Spirit Of Self-Sacrifice

Junyang Wang

Professor Luo

CHI 331

10/November/2013

Revolution Need Courage And The Spirit Of Self-Sacrifice

   China used to be one of the most powerful country in the world, this old country had five thousand years splendid civilization. However, because of the closed-door policy of the Qing dynasty, China became more and more weak and behind the times. During the 19th century, western powers invaded China. In order to save the nation, many capable Chinese people started a series of revolution movement, China entered a period of great change. Chairman Mao once said “revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture”.(Quotations from Chairman Mao). I highly agree with his opinion, revolution always bloody and cruel. The victory of the revolution always need a lot of pioneers pay with their lives. Therefore, revolution need courage and the spirit of self-sacrifice , without those dauntless pioneers, there wouldn't be today of Chinese People.

   Hundred Days of Reform is a famous and significant revolution movement in the history of Chinese revolution. Leaders of this reform advocated to learn science and technology from the western countries and reforming the education system to develop agricultural, industrial and commercial. However, this reform damaged the interests of the ruling class, so It finally failed. In this reform, there was one person that I must mention, his name is Tan Sitong, he was a leader of Hundred Days of Reform. After reform was failed, Qing government ordered the soldiers to arrest all the leaders of Hundred Days of Reform. Tan Sitong’s friend Wang Wu advised Tan to go to Japan to avoid arrest. However, Tan had already decided to die for the revolution, so he rejected his friend’s advice. He thought revolution always need people to sacrifice, he was willing to be the first one. I think Tan Sitong is a real hero. He refused to live and willing to die for the evolution, I really admire this kind of courage and self sacrifices. Tan’s died hit a nerve with the Chinese people. After he died, more and more people supported and joined the team of revolution. Tan used his courage and life to promote the process of revolution.

   If we said Hundred Days of Reform is the foundation of the China’s revolution, then the Second Sino-Japanese War brought it to a climax. The Second Sino-Japanese War brought destructive disaster to Chinese people, tens of thousands of people died in the war. In that period of time, thousands of fearless Chinese people pushed Chinese revolution to a new high. Yan Geling’s “The Flowers of War” is a really good fiction about how did Chinese people against invader and how did some prostitutes dedicated to the revolution so bravely. In this fiction, the female character Yumo once said “ we will go with Japanese, the school girls will stay behind”.(“The Flowers of War” P 230). Yumo and other prostitutes knew what will happen If they went to Japanese party, but they still insist went with Japanese because in this way they could save those school girls. They were so brave and dedicated. They sacrificing their own lives to save that young girls, they made contribute to the revolution with their own way. Their power is limited, but in a way they fought with enemy like real soldiers.

   A successful revolution need brave pioneers to endeavor and even sacrifice themselves. During the revolution movement, everyone has the right and obligation to support the revolution. Just like the Second Sino-Japanese War, every Chinese people has the right and obligation to save our nation. Therefore, bloodshed and sacrifice are inescapability. However, some people may ask “Why does revolution must need courage and sacrifices? What If I just keep myself safe and don’t join the revolution groups?” This is such a good question, famous writer Lao She gave us the answer. Lao She’s play “Tea House” showed us those all kinds of people's life during the revolution years. Wang Lifa, who is a main character in this play. He is the boss of the Tea House. He basically is a honest and virtuous person, he focused on his own work, he tried not to offend people. He once said to patriotic youth Qin Zhongyi “You are going to let go of all your property, for the sake of society, with no concern for yourself?”(Tea House P 37). From his words, we can say he don’t want to get involved in the revolution, he didn’t have courage and  spirit of self-sacrifice  to take part in revolution, he thought he can live a good life by relying on his philosophy of life. However, his philosophy of life didn’t help him live a good life, or even couldn’t give him a full meal. During warlord years, policeman always exploit him. For example, policeman said “You have been ordered to provide eighty catties of hardtack by noon today. The garrison troops can’t go out to fight until they have some dry provisions, eh? You have your excuess, but I have my orders. Thinks it over and see what you can do”.( Tea House P63). In the face of such oppression, Wang Lifa still chose swallowing his pain because he was too timid, he still afraid of taking part in revolution, still saving hope for the dark society. Finally, he lost his Tea House. He finally recognized the hellish society, then let his children to go to the liberated areas. He killed himself to accuse the dark society. If Wang Lifa had courage and the spirit of self-sacrifice , chose joined revolution at the beginning, his life may be completely different.



   There is a famous adage of China “ A fire on the city gate brings disaster to the fish in the moat”. This adage means when our nation suffer disaster, every citizen will inevitably be affected. Therefore, everyone need to be brave to working for the revolution, to save the nation. Revolution always bloody and cruel, so it needs courage and self sacrifices. Because of this fearless revolutionary martyrs, we got today’s China.

Work Cited 

1. Lao She, “Tea House”, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004

2. Yan Geling, “The Flowers of War” ,China Book International, 2006.

3. Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao”, 1960

4. J.A.G.Roberts, A Concise History of China, Harvard University Press, 1999, print.

The Influence of New Culture Movement

Junyang Wang                                                       

Professor Luo

CHI 331

6/October/2013

The Influence of New Culture Movement

   In the early 20th century, Chinese society in the period of dramatic change. Because of the failure of the Xinhai Revolution, Yuan Shikai became the president of China, he pushed forward the Confucianism, in order to maintain the feudal rule. The whole society under the cloud of feudal rule. At that time, some far-sighted personage launched the new culture movement to save the precarious society. New culture movement is one of the most successful and effective movement in modern Chinese history. It was a unprecedented ideological liberation movement. This movement was not only a cultural reform movement but also a successful ideology reform. In this paper, I will talk about the influence of this movement from two aspect: literature and ideology .

   As the name suggests, New Culture Movement was a cultural reform, It  fundamentally changed the outdated Chinese literature. On September 15, 1915, Chen Duxiu founded a revolutionary magazine named as New Youth. This magazine was significant because it was the first vernacular magazine in modern Chinese history. Chen Duxiu used this magazine to carry out new literature. At that time, many famous writers published their articles in this magazine. For example, Lu Xun published the first vernacular fiction Diary of a Madman in New Youth. It was a great innovate because it created the Chinese new literature. Before we started to use vernacular Chinese, Chinese used to use classical Chinese as our writing language. The advantage of vernacular Chinese is it can simplify writing language thus more people can read. In Diary of a Madman, Lu Xun used first person view to expose the disadvantages of the feudal society. “Since I couldn’t get to sleep anyway, I read that history very carefully for most of the night, and finally I began to make out what was written between the lines: the whole volume was filled with a single phrase:EAT PEOPLE!”( Diary of a Madman, Lu Xun, 1918) At the end of the fiction, Lu Xun also expressed the wish of save children. “Maybe there are some children around who still haven’t eatn human flesh. Save the children...”(Diary of a Madman, Lu Xun, 1918). New Culture Movement is a good start, and it laid the foundations for the popularization of vernacular Chinese.

   Another battle line of New Culture Movement is thought battle line, and that was the most essential revolution of New Culture Movement. Chen Duxiu once said “If you want to change the social system fundamentally, you must change people’s mind first”. Because China has 4000 years of feudal rule, people had become apathetic. For example, although the Qing government so decadent, people still had big hope for Qing government. Until Sino-Japanese war, people began to realized how decadent Qing government were. After Sino-Japanese war, there were another famous reform movement named Hundred Days of Reform. This reform was a institutional innovations movement. Leader Liang Qichao advocated to learn advanced technology from western, reform political system and educational system, develop agriculture, industry and business. In this reform, Liang Qichao attempted to renew the people. “Here Liang’s sense of ‘a people” is of a “nation” informed by the western(and Japanese) sense of nationalism: “a” people as a nation ( not just “the people” as commoners) would become an organic group with a consciousness of its own identity, actively participating in the determination of its national destiny in a world of many contending peoples. To this end he sees a need for corporate organization, an educational system and communication media, bridging the gap between educated eite and illiterate masses. This involves not just individual self-understanding and self-cultivation but one’s own group learning from other peoples and their cultures.”(Source of Chinese Tradition, Wm.Theodore de Bary and Richard Lufrano, page 289). We can say Liang Qichao had realized the importance of renewing people. However, this movement mainly focused on institutional reform, actually it wasn’t changed people’s mind, so this form only lasted about 100 days.

  Leaders of New Culture Movement learned the experience of failure from Hundred Days of Reform,they realized that the importance of ideology reform, they decided to regarded change people’s thought as a main task in the New Culture Movement.In this movement, Chen Duxiu advocated Democracy and Science, or people named them as “Mr.De and Mr.Sci”. Democracy and Science is the soul and principe of New Culture Movement. Chen Duxiu profoundly challenged the feudalism. He criticized the feudalism and ethical system, he thought in order to make true democracy, people must wipe out The feudal patriarchal system and moral rules. “In December 1916, Chen Duxiu, who himself came from a wealthy Anhui family and who had taken, but failed, the provincial examinations, published an article entitled 'The Way of Confucius and Modern Life'. In it he criticized Confucian teaching on filial piety and on the subservience of women, noting in particular the prejudice against the remarriage of widows. Confucius, he remarked, lived in a feudal age and the ethics, social mores and political institutions he advocated belonged to a feudal age.”(A Concise History of China, J.A.G.Roberts, page 221). Another leader Li Dazhao also against Confucianism, he appealed young people don’t be reluctant to leave the old society, we should work together to create new China. At that time,feudal thought  encountered the ruinous attack, most of young people praised Democracy and Science, Chinese’s ideology gained liberate greatly. The development of Democracy and Science, promote the development of nature science in China, and it also layed the foundation for the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement.   

                                                                                  In conclusion, New Culture Movement was a successful ideological liberation movement.In the literature aspect, this movement promoted the development of vernacular Chinese, simplified writing language thus more people can read. In the thought aspect, this movement advocated Democracy and Science, liberated people's thinking, caused the all-round changes of the society. This movement has profound and lasting significance in the modern Chinese history.

Work cited

Lu Xun, Diary of a Madman, 1918, print.

 Wm.Theodore de Bary ,and Richard Lufrano, Source of Chinese Tradition, New York, Columbia University press, 2000, print.

J.A.G.Roberts, A Concise History of China, Harvard University Press, 1999, prin