Moral education in transition: The values conflict in China

Abstract

Since China began to conduct all-round reform and to adopt the policy of opening itself to the outside world at the end of 1978, great changes have taken place in every aspect of Chinese society. The changes challenge not only the old socio-economic structure but also the traditional ideological system. Due to the introduction of a market economy and the impact of diverse ideologies from the West in the wake of new policy, orthodox Chinese moral ideas which were tormed on the basis of a centrally planned command economy and the closed door policy are conflicting with various new ideas suited to a commodity economy and an open society. The conflict of values causes ideological confusion among people, including educational workers, which creates difficulties for a Chinese moral education which was characterized by its indoctrination of a single value. How to overcome these difficulties and deal with the conflicting values is a hotly debated issue. In this article, I have singled out two pairs of conflicting values that cause the most confusion among the Chinese: individualism and collectivism, and egoism and altruism. In the first two parts, I will discuss their complexities in the Chinese context, especially their significance for building a democratized and modernized China. In the last part, my discussion will focus on two approaches advocated by Chinese authorities and Chinese scholars respectively.