二十世紀(jì)初，隨著西方思潮的進(jìn)入，中國對本身傳統(tǒng)文化的幻滅，我們看到了一個新文化運動。

新文化運動的發(fā)展觸發(fā)了對中國千年文化的質(zhì)疑和重新檢討。學(xué)者呼吁以世界和西方準(zhǔn)則來重建新中國文化。就是說，孔子教義和古代經(jīng)典都要以現(xiàn)代內(nèi)容及批評方法來重新檢驗。

蔡元培(1868-1940)，一個二十世紀(jì)初卓越的開放的教育者，就以他在改革傳統(tǒng)教育和綜合中西方教育思想所做的努力而著名。他的教育方針是“五育”并行：軍國民教育（體育）、實利主義教育（智育）、公民道德教育（德育）、世界觀教育（哲學(xué)觀念教育）、美感教育（美育）。

西方美育的概念由王國維(1877 - 1927)，一個在哲學(xué)、文學(xué)批評、中國歷史等領(lǐng)域的先驅(qū)人物，最先介紹到中國來。但是，蔡元培卻是比較有效的推行者。他們兩位都確信衰退中的古老中國制度能以現(xiàn)代教育來重建和更生。

蔡元培靠著他的前線行政員和著名教育家的地位，帶領(lǐng)北京大學(xué)行政改革來展開他的信念。他的‘以美育代宗教’口號特別有名。這事實上是宗教教育在中國終止的信號。

Around the turn of the twentieth century that featured the influx of western ideas, China witnessed a new cultural movement sprang from the disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture.
The development of the New Culture Movement promoted the questioning and re-appraisal of millennia-old Chinese values. The scholars called for the creation of a new Chinese culture based on global and western standards, especially democracy and science. That also meant there was a need for re-examination of Confucian texts and ancient classics using modern textual and critical methods.

Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), the leading liberal educator of early twentieth-century China, was noted for his pioneering work in reforming the system of traditional education and for his efforts to synthesize Chinese and Western educational ideas. His educational policy was characterized by the unity of five types of education: military/citizenship, utilitarian, moral, a world view, and aesthetic education.

The Western notion of aesthetic education was first introduced to China by Wang Guowei (1877 - 1927), a pioneering scholar in fields as diverse as philosophy, aesthetics, literary criticism, Chinese history. However, it was more effectively promoted by Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940). Both were convinced that the declining institutions of old China could be reconstructed and revived by means of modern education.

Cai Yuanpei took advantage of his role as a front-line administrator and renowned educator who led the administrative renovation of Peking University to spread his ideas. He was especially known for his slogan of “replacing religion with aesthetic education”. This actually signals the end of religious education in China.