A Century of Aesthetic Education and Basic Necessities of Life——Livelihood as Reflected Through the Old Textbooks

During people’s lifetime, there are hundreds and thousands of sceneries, but fundamentally four seasons and the basic necessities of life after all. In the material world, we study the nature to acquire knowledge and spiritual abundance.

I have pondered over the name of the show:

“Aesthetic Education and Life, with Everlasting Charm—Basic Necessities of Life in Old Textbooks”

“Basic Necessities of Life, All the Way towards Beauty”

“Spring and Autumn on Paper, the Campaign Titled New Life”.

 —Chinese characters are rich and profound like this land, but contain deep and subtle meanings hard to fully convey. Actually, three expressions can give an overview of the show: century-old textbooks, basic necessities of life, and the evolution of aesthetic education.

An age has its own logic, just as the youth have their own aspirations. There is a song What Is Good in Children’s World published by the Commercial Press in August 1934:

“I want to get dressed, but what should I wear? Homemade homespun clothes are cheap but good in quality. I want to have a meal, but what should I have? Vegetables and bean curd are nutritious, and taste good if cooked in the right way. I want to live, but where should I live? In sturdy buildings with high foundations, with sufficient sunlight and fresh air.”

Aesthetic education lies in needles and threads, porridge and rice, bricks and tiles, words and deeds. People live in the beauty of the nature, as well as the evolution of aesthetic life.

The exhibition probes into people’s livelihood, focuses on aesthetic education, and contains national tradition, the spirit of the May 4th Movement, civilian life and the destiny and vigor of the nation, with a series of text and images across the country retained scarcely through wars and various campaigns. This is an unprecedented way of revealing the past, a remembrance, a reflection, an everlasting experience, a walk in a time tunnel, as well as thinking about changes on seeing something reminding you of someone.

Clothing is the dignity of the skin

Food is the manifesto of stomachs

Housing is a form of immersion in time

Transport is traffic flowing across the vast territory