From Zimin to Guomin: Focusing on Concept Shifts and MeaningInterpretations in Chen Zibao’s New-style Textbooks for Women andChildren(PDF)
《南京师大学报》（社会科学版）[ISSN:1006-6977/CN:61-1281/TN]
- Issue:
- 2019年02期
- Page:
- 43-50
- Research Field:
- 教育学研究
- Publishing date:
Info
- Title:
- From Zimin to Guomin: Focusing on Concept Shifts and MeaningInterpretations in Chen Zibao’s New-style Textbooks for Women andChildren
- Author(s):
- WU Xiaoou
- WU Xiaoou, PhD in education, is Professor at School of Teacher Education, NjingboUniversity ( Ningbo 315211 ).
- Keywords:
- Chen Zibao; new-style textbooks for women and children; zimin; guomin
- PACS:
- -
- DOI:
- -
- Abstract:
- From 1895, Chen Zibao began to compile new-style textbooks for women and children, in whichthe terms zimin子民 ( literally people as sons ), guomin国民( literally national people ), nüguomin女国民( female national people ) and guojiazhimu国家之母( literally mother of the nation ) appeared successively. Allthese notions were intended to build a concept of guomin centering on the notion of guojia 国家( literally nationas family ). With the shift from taking guojia as the possession of the son of the heaven ( i.e. the supreme ruler )to regarding it as the nation of people, these textbooks put emphasis on the isomorphism between guomin andguojia and on the unification of the state power and human rights. With the shift from favoring Confucianismas part of the foundation of the nation to advocating women’s right to education, they promoted the idea ofequality and proposed curing ignorance by education and revitalizing the nation by education. With the shiftfrom favoring the benevolent gentlemen’s love for the social subjects to advocating the universal love based onequality, they called for the mutual love between people as equal social members and set up the order of love anindividual should cherish: i.e. from“ love for his nation” to“ love for his fellow people” to“ love for himself” .Striving to serve the country as the servants to women and children, Chen Zibao pioneered in developing andexpressing a notion of guomin, reflecting the imagination of a modern nation embraced by the intellectuals inmodern China and the process of how a new type of power relation and ideology came into being. Speaking ofthe spirit of the times embodied by the new-style textbooks, Chen’s works have blazed a trail in enlighteningChinese people by education to become man in the modern sense.
Last Update: 2019-03-30