This study examines the discourse of young people in China led by ideological education in the 50s and the emotional structure of the young people surrounding it, using the “problem discussion” of 『Chinese Youth』, which led youth discourse in China in ...
This study examines the discourse of young people in China led by ideological education in the 50s and the emotional structure of the young people surrounding it, using the “problem discussion” of 『Chinese Youth』, which led youth discourse in China in the 50s as the text.
First of all, there were two major institutional changes in Chinese society in the 1950s. One was the dissolution of the patriarchal-centered traditional family system. This means that the social and economic foundation that was centered on the family was dismantled, and the basis of individual existence was changed from family-centered to socially-centered. The other is the implementation of the selection system and job distribution system along with the reform of the higher education system. The higher education system abolished university colleges and reorganized the basic unit of university operation centered on departments. In the selection system and job distribution system, young people graduating from middle and high school were assigned a job in their area of residence, and those who graduated from a junior college or higher were assigned a job not only in their area of residence but also in each region of the country. This acted as a point of conflict and contradiction between ideals and reality, especially for young people who have received higher education.
The following analyzes the youth discourse of 『Chinese Youth』 in the 50s from the following three aspects. First of all, it is the aspect of reforming family consciousness and re-establishing moral values. In the early 1950s, 『Chinese Youth』 called the young man a “revolutionary youth,” meaning that he was a leader in the socialist revolution and socialist construction. The young people led the discourse that they should innovate the home and lead the revolution centered on schools and organizations outside the home. The main target of these discourses were intellectual youth from landowners, wealthy peasant families, and capitalist-class families. They expressed the conflicts and contradictions that accompany various emotions in the complex relationship between the existing social norms and the family situation, along with the reorganization of individual thoughts through self-narratives.
The following are "What is wrong with Lu Sang-bo's idea," a problem discussion that began with No. 3 in 1952, "What is our grand future," and "What is the happiness of young people," a problem discussion that began with No. 17 in 1954, The discourse of youth was analyzed from two aspects: critique of bourgeois ideology, formation of a new working consciousness, and critique of individualistic outlook on life. In 1952, the debate about Lu Sang-bo began with a letter stating that Lu Sang-bo, a wealthy student, would take over his father's business and become a capitalist. There are four issues raised in this regard. The first and second are the problem recognition of the capitalist class and the raising of the labor consciousness, and the third and fourth are the attitude of enjoying personal life and the value or view of an ideal or happy life. These two types of problems are in fact closely related and intertwined. The main issue raised in these three “problem discussions” can be said to be the question of what kind of attitude and ideals in life should be emphasized when a young person's personal ideal and society's ideal collide. In the end, it comes down to the argument that individual ideals must be realized through socialist ideology. The background of this “problem discussion” lies in the atmosphere of hope for the future surrounding the intellectual youth of the early 50s, the underdeveloped economic reality, and the contradictory reality revealed in the process of forming new institutions and cultures.