An Investigation of the Relations between Nanjing Teachers College and Dewey’s Visit to China during the May Fourth Period(PDF)
《南京师大学报》（社会科学版）[ISSN:1006-6977/CN:61-1281/TN]
- Issue:
- 2019年03期
- Page:
- 16-30
- Research Field:
- 本刊特稿
- Publishing date:
Info
- Title:
- An Investigation of the Relations between Nanjing Teachers College and Dewey’s Visit to China during the May Fourth Period
- Author(s):
- ZHOU Hongyu; LI Yong
- Keywords:
- May Fourth Period; Dewey; China; Nanjing Teachers College; Pragmatism
- PACS:
- -
- DOI:
- -
- Abstract:
- On the eve of the May Fourth Patriotic Movement, John Dewey, the American pragmatist philosopher and educator, was invited to visit China as a distinguished guest by the new intellectuals and began a two-year trip in China which left far-reaching impact. Dewey’s theory of pragmatism became popular in the ideological and cultural circles during the May Fourth Movement because it was profound in content, suitable for our needs and easy to be accepted. Nanjing Teachers College was one of the three major educational institutes responsible for the invitation, for among others its president Kuo Pingwen and its faculty member Tao Xingzhi had been under the supervision of Dewey at the Teachers College of Columbia University. They participated in inviting their American mentor to visit China, widely publicizing the event, actively raising funds, translating Dewey’s works and accompanying him to make inspection tours over China. All this made Dewey’s visit to China fruitful. As a return to Chinese scholars’ hospitality, Dewey took Nanjing Teachers College as an important base in the South and helped the college to become an important academic capital in southeast China through investigation, lecture, question and answer, and teaching courses. The long-term influence is that Dewey spread pragmatism in depth, contacted European and American scholars extensively, and effectively promoted international exchanges. He had also contributed a lot to promoting Nanjing Teachers College and the later Southeast University to become a modern university.
Last Update: 2019-05-25