救世与救心——万国道德会缘起初探

Salvation of Society and the Human Soul:An Exploration of World Wide Ethical Society

清末民初,伴随着新政改革、社会急剧转型而出现的国人道德走向和归宿问题,特别是第一次世界大战给一直追求学习西方、建设美好社会的中国人心理上带来的困惑、震撼与省思,促使中国社会寻求新的坐标,起而探求新形势下救世、救心,实现人类和平、世界大同之策,万国道德会即是这种探求过程的结果之一。该会酝酿、初创阶段所进行的探索对今天依然具有重要的借鉴与启示意义。

Between the late of Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the Chinese were faced with a problem of where their moral destination was, especially after the First World War brought about a shock to the Chinese people who had all the way attempted to learn from the West and to build a better society. All this promoted them to seek a new orientation so as to explore, under the fresh new situations, the way to the salvation of the then society and their soul, and to achieve peace and universal brotherhood. The World Wide Ethical Society was the result of those efforts. The initial stage of the World Wide Ethical Society＇s exploration still bears significances even nowadays.