After the end of the Cultural Revolution in p>1976, the new era that people expected came after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee at the end of 1978, just like the spring breeze, and a lightning-fast ideological liberation quickly spread across the land of China. Intellectuals stepped onto the stage of this era, and some events were passionately shown on the curtain of that era like slides-Today magazine, hazy poetry, star painting exhibition, scar literature, avant-garde literature, exploration film, Sartre's existentialism, Nietzsche's declaration that "God is dead", aesthetic craze, salon party, the third annual craze, And so on-these historical events, which once caused great repercussions in society, have become a symbol or even a symbol of this era. As the saying goes, "squandering flowers gradually attracts people's eyes", all of which come one after another, making intellectuals always in a state of ecstasy, just like Nietzsche's interpretation of Dionysian spirit.
Kitajima said in an interview, "In any case, I really miss the 198s, despite all kinds of crises. Every country has a cultural climax to be proud of, such as the Silver Age in Russia in the early 2th century. The 198s was the cultural climax of China in the 2th century, and it may take many years for this climax to occur again, so I'm afraid our generation will not be able to catch up. The climax of the 198s began with the' Cultural Revolution'. The earthquake has opened up a new source. Without the' cultural revolution', there would be no eighties. " Without the ten-year Cultural Revolution, there is an easily overlooked problem in Beidao's speech in the 198s, that is, the cultural climax began with the "Cultural Revolution". Without the blank and repression of culture for ten years, it may not be possible to produce the high dance and romance, poetry and broadness in the 198 s. Gan Yang, who was once the main cause of western learning, edited the series "Culture: China and the World" in the 198s, which caused a sensation and became a symbolic cultural event in the intellectual world. Before that, western learning was often regarded as a taboo in translation and publication. Nothing is freer than drawing a picture on a blank, and nothing can show your achievements than building a building on the ruins. It is hard to say that "scar literature", "reflection literature", "reform literature" and "avant-garde literature" have reached a high literary level, but it is easy to understand that literature in the new period has been enthusiastically sought after because of the silence of literature in the past ten years. In fact, literature in the 198s has become a way for people to interpret history and vaguely understand it. Its own aesthetic function is more in the second place, and the criticism of social history is the most critical. When we recite "meanness is the passport of the despicable, nobility is the epitaph of the noble", "Tell you what, the world/I-don't-believe!" (North Island), "The night gave me black eyes, but I used them to look for light" (Gu Cheng), "China, I lost my keys" (Xu Xiaobin) and other poems, the kind of knowing identity that stirred up in the hearts of a generation of people who experienced the Cultural Revolution was unimaginable, but it is worth noting that this poetic form actually left traces of the quotation-style culture in the Cultural Revolution.
If the 198s were not preceded by a decade of Cultural Revolution that severely depressed people's spirits, it would be hard for us to imagine that such an era would bring the whole intellectual community into a carnival. Wang Dewei, a scholar, once asked, "Without the late Qing Dynasty, where would the May 4th Movement come from?" Similarly, when we think about the 198s, we also need to think: If there were no Cultural Revolution, would the 198s have come into being? Returning to the May 4th Movement and Reflecting on the 198s
In almost all reflective writings, the 198s are often endowed with the same historical significance as the May 4th Movement, and these two times with similar characteristics in China's one-century history have become special time periods that all intellectuals often miss in parallel. Throughout the history of the 2th century, the May 4th Movement and the 198s have very similar historical features-they are both turbulent, the era of intellectuals as heroes, and a new era of enlightenment ...
In addition, we need to point out that the 198s appeared after the May 4th Movement. So, did the 198s learn anything from the spiritual legacy of the May 4th Movement? I think the answer is yes. In an interview with Cha Jianying, scholar Chen Pingyuan emphasized the spiritual inheritance of "atavism", saying, "To understand scholarship in the 198s, we should link it with university education in the 193s. This is related to the words and deeds of a group of old gentlemen. ..... Most of the old gentlemen I mentioned didn't really integrate into the academic trend of thought in the 195s and 196s. It is only after' bringing order out of chaos' that it is natural to return to the 193 s and continue the academic tradition that has been formed during the Republic of China. " In the eighties, on the one hand, there were young people who grew up in the Cultural Revolution, and they were full of passion and walked at the forefront of the times with a heroic attitude; On the other hand, the cultural elders once became the helm of this era in the May 4th culture, and they grasped the historical and cultural lifeline for the trend of this era with their profound and senior cultural prestige.
The spiritual mission and pursuit pursued and continued in the 198s are also the spiritual ideas sought during the May 4th Movement. No matter opposing ultra-left ideological trends, opposing alienation, advocating ideological emancipation, carrying forward humanitarianism, and advocating the ideas of democracy, science and freedom, these are the main contents of the May 4th Movement spirit. Chen Pingyuan has a thorough explanation for this: "With the turbulent 198s, we are thinking, following, reflecting and surpassing the May 4th new culture. The key is to follow and reflect. " Therefore, in the review and reflection of many scholars, we can all find traces of the May 4th Movement in the splendid historical events of the 198s.
The cultural trend of thought in the 198s was characterized by excessive pursuit of passion and grand narrative, and intellectuals assumed the role of historical savior too much, lacking practical training. Li Tuo, a critic, made such a harsh judgment against the cultural and ideological upsurge in the 198s: "An era of great ideological activity is not necessarily an era of great ideological harvest-the 198s is not an era of great ideological harvest." Perhaps this is precisely the characteristic of the enlightenment era, and what happens after enlightenment is not what intellectuals consider.
On the one hand, what we left behind in the 198s is our cherished ideals, pursuit, salvation, commitment, passion, simplicity, mission and belief; on the other hand, it may be vague, poor, incompetent, naive, grand, romantic and inflated. Therefore, when we look back on the 198s, we will find that the spiritual legacy left behind is far from being as rich as expected. However, the 198s finally came to an abrupt end, and everyone was driven into the 199s without mercy, a new era completely different from the 198s, an era full of desire and excitement.