新文化运动时期科学何以能够战胜儒学?

How could science defeat confucianism during the New Culture Movement?

新文化运动时期,经受过科学大潮冲击的中国知识分子大都选择了拥抱"赛先生",以致科学得以冲破儒学的束缚,在中国迅速生根发芽,并快速长成参天大树。科学何以能够在中国战胜儒学,赢得胡适所言的"无上尊严的地位"?深入考察新文化运动时期科学大潮的特征后发现,之所以民国初期"没有一个自命为新人物的人敢公然毁谤‘科学’",主要是因为科学与儒学相比在研究对象和宗旨的设定、研究手段和方法的选择等方面存在显著差异,前者明显占有优势。但是,科学与儒学均有各自的社会功用,故既不能以儒学抵制科学,也不能用科学取代儒学。关键在于:任何学术观点都要接受理性的洗礼和事实的检验,科学需要如此,儒学也不能例外。

During the New Culture Movement,most of the Chinese intellectuals who were exposed to science chose to embrace'Mr.Science'enthusiastically.Their vehement support helped science break from the shackles of Confucianism,rooting and germinating in the Chinese soil and rapidly growing into a towering tree.How could science defeat Confucianism in China and win'a status of supreme dignity'as described by Hu Shi?This article investigates the characteristics of science as advocated in the New Culture Movement,and argues that the reason why'none of those who consider themselves as enlightened dared to openly despise’science’'in the early Republican China,is because of science’s obvious advantages over Confucianism regarding their definitions of research object and purpose and their choice in research methods and approaches.However,science and Confucianism have distinctive but complementary social functions,and it is inappropriate to replace or repudiate one with the other.The most important thing is that,any scholarly viewpoint,regardless of being scientific or Confucian,must be tested with reason and facts.