ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

New Culture Movement

The new culture movement refers to a time in history when people in China wanted to make changes to their society and culture. It happened about 100 years ago, when China was going through a lot of changes.

Imagine that China is like a big building, and the people living in it are the Chinese society. In the past, this building had many traditional ways of doing things. They had old beliefs, customs, and values that people had been following for a long time. But some people felt that these old ways were not good anymore, and that it was time for new ideas to come in.

They wanted to make China more modern and stronger, like building a new and better house. They believed that the old ways were holding China back and wanted to change things. So they started a movement called the new culture movement.

This was like a big group of people who got together to talk about what they think needs to change in China. They wrote books, articles, and gave speeches to share their ideas. They wanted to get rid of old traditions and bring in new ideas and values. They even wanted to change the way people speak and write and make it simpler and easier to understand.

But why did they want to do all these things? Well, they believed that Chinese society needed to change in order to catch up with other countries. They looked at other places in the world that were more advanced and wanted China to be like them. They thought that if they could make these changes, China would become stronger and better.

One of the things they wanted to change was the old way of thinking. They felt that people were too focused on old beliefs and needed to think more critically and openly. They wanted people to question things instead of blindly following traditions. They believed that this would make people smarter and more creative, and it would help China progress.

Another thing they wanted to change was the way women were treated. In the past, women in China had fewer rights and were not treated equally. They believed that women should have the same opportunities as men and that they should be able to contribute to society in the same way. They wanted to empower women and give them more freedom.

The new culture movement also wanted to change the language. They wanted to simplify it and make it easier for everyone to understand. They felt that the old way of writing and speaking was too complicated and only a few educated people could understand it. They wanted to make sure that everyone, even the common people, could read and understand things.

Overall, the new culture movement was about wanting to bring new ideas and values to China. They wanted to make the country stronger and more modern by getting rid of old traditions and bringing in new ways of thinking and doing. They believed that this would help China catch up with other countries and become a better place for everyone.