Движение «Новая жизнь» в Китае 1930-х годов

1930s Chinese civic campaign

The New Life Movement was a government led civic campaign in the 1930s Republic of China to promote cultural reform and Neo Confucian social morality and to ultimately unite China under a centralised ideology following the emergence of ideological challenges to the status quo. Chiang Kai shek as head of the government and the Chinese Nationalist Party launched the initiative on 19 February 1934 as part of an anti Communist campaign, and soon enlarged the campaign to target the whole nation. Chiang and his wife, Soong Mei ling, who played a major role in the campaign, advocated a life guided by four virtues, lǐ (禮/礼, proper rite), yì (義/义, righteousness or justice), lián (廉, honesty and cleanness) and chǐ (恥/耻, shame; sense of right and wrong). The campaign proceeded with help of the Blue Shirts Society and the CC Clique within the Nationalist Party, and Christian missionaries in China.

Chiang Kai shek's September 1934 speech stated that the New Life Movement aimed at the "promotion of a regular life guided by the four virtues," – 'Lǐ' (proper rite), Yì' (righteousness or justice), lián (honesty and cleanness) and chǐ (shame; sense of right and wrong). These virtues, he went on,
must be applied to ordinary life in the matter of food, clothing, shelter, and action. The four virtues are the essential principles for the promotion of morality. They form the major rules for dealing with men and human affairs, for cultivating oneself and for adjustment to one's surroundings. Whoever violates these rules is bound to fail, and a nation that neglects them will not survive." Chiang later extended the four virtues to eight by the addition of "Promptness", "Precision," "Harmoniousness," and "Dignity". These elements were summarized in two basic forms: "cleanliness" and "discipline" and were viewed as the first step in achieving a "new life". People were encouraged to engage in modern polite behaviour, such as not to spit, urinate or sneeze in public. They were encouraged to adopt good table manners such as not making noises when eating.

The ideological strictness of the New Life Movement had many similarities with Neo Confucianism, which had been the dominant moral philosophy of previous centuries. The New life Movement "four virtues" were taken from Confucian school of thought. Paul Linebarger had stated that the New Life Movement's "principles consist of a simple restatement of the cardinal Confucian personal virtues, interpreted to suit modern conditions." The historian Lloyd Eastman saw Chiang's goal as unifying China under a singular ideology, a fascist one at that, with the resulting New Life Movement being a popularized or a "sloganized Confucianism". According to Keith Schoppa, the new set of beliefs was seen to be easy to execute, with four main virtues backed by 95 further sub rules that regulated the everyday life of the regular Chinese citizen. The Movement was also shaped by Chiang's Christianity. According to Elmer Clark, the new doctrine was "an ambitious moral and ethical enterprise which proposed nothing less than a Chinese renaissance, a complete reformation of the habits, customs and manners of one fourth of the human race, to bring them more in line with the accepted morals of Christian civilisation". Overlapping moral guidelines exist between Confucianism and Christianity. The 95 rules placed in the New Life movement often blur the lines between the influence of the two on the Movement, such as "do not gamble" or "be polite and courteous to women and children". This Movement has also been accused of having a totalitarian element. Dirlik sees the movement as a "modern counterrevolution" opposed to an "anti revolutionary conservatism" due to the fact that it instrumentalised traditional moral codes and societal constructs. Other historians, however, have provided more positive or mixed reviews of the New Life Movement, noting that it was not without some positive benefits to Chinese society at the time, and have argued that while a flawed, overidealistic and puritanical movement, it was not necessarily a fascist one at its core.

The New Life Movement aimed to control Chinese lifestyles. Some measures and moral codes included: opposition to littering and spitting at random; opposition to opium use; opposition to conspicuous consumption; rejection of immoral entertainment in favour of artistic and athletic pursuits; courteous behaviour; saluting the flag. Chiang urged citizens to bathe with cold water, since the (supposed) Japanese habit of washing their faces with cold water was a sign of their military strength. Chiang relied on government law enforcement to reinforce moral behaviour. Task forces were created in different regions to implement the movement, yet, in reports from some districts on the implementation, the movement was seen to be severely underfunded, understaffed and poorly understood by law enforcement officials. The Blue Shirts were also instrumental in the implementation of the New Life movement. The neo right wing group at first sought to correct the behaviour of those not following the four virtues and the further 95 rules placed. However, they soon turned to force to reinforce Chiang's ideals, giving bad publicity and views on the movement. The excessive violence used by the Blue Shirts encompassed the movement, leading to a reluctant public in following the new dogma in place by the KMT.

In the words of Soong Mei ling's biographer, the New Life Movement was a "curious East West ideological fusion of neo Confucian precepts, thinly disguised, New Testament Christianity, YMCA Style social activism, elements of Bushido—the samurai code—and European fascism, along with a generous dose of New England Puritanism." She concluded that, "In reality, the real and lasting impact of the New Life Movement on Chinese society was limited. Albeit noble, its battle against the immemorial ills of Chinese life—gambling, opium, debauchery, poverty, begging, robbery, filth, corruption, and indifference to the public good amounted to tilting at windmills. A mass movement that rejected popular initiative, New Life tried to imbue the public with a political consciousness while denying it a political voice." Arif Dirlik explains the Movement as motivated by the need to counter Communist success in both ideological appeal and political organization. Historian Suzy Kim contrasts the New Life Movement with the later Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. While both movements had superficial similarities in terms of changing everyday behavior, "The New Life Movement sought to expand the power of the state and was instituted from the top down for the purposes of mobilizing people around its own agenda as a form of 'controlled popular mobilization,' whereas the Cultural Revolution was a bottom up movement that periodically escaped control of the state[.]" Encyclopedia Britannica briefly mentions the New Life Movement, describing it as neither a specifically reactionary nor a particularly successful sociopolitical movement, simply as "a program that sought to halt the spread of communism by teaching traditional Chinese values". According to Hans van de Ven, "Although it is easy to lampoon the New Life Movement – as indeed it was at the time – it has had a long influence. Even today many schools and offices in China display 'civility certificates' in the same way that those in the West display hygiene and health and safety certifications. Today, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping's administration has again imposed limits on entertainment allowances and continues to campaign against extravagance. New Life ideals have sufficiently broad appeal that their promotion bolsters the standing of those in power. He also points to the Hunan peasant revolution in 1927, in which former CCP leader Mao Zedong noted that "they [the peasantry] were eradicating the old China's vices of gambling, opium smoking, vulgar opera performances, superstition, excessive feasting and banditry", through which Mao defended the use of extreme force to end what he saw as corrupt and harmful practices. Mao himself eventually implemented the 'Three Rules of Discipline' (obedience to orders, no confiscations of peasant property and the prompt surrender to higher authority of all things taken from landlords) and 'Eight Points of Attention' (politeness, honesty, courtesy to women and so on) in an effort to make Chinese soldiers aspire to higher standards of behavior.

Xinsheng Road, a major arterial road in Taipei is named after the movement.

"Americans and Ideological Reform: The New Life Movement," in , pp. 151– 174.