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As early as the 1920s and 1930s，a large number of Chinese intellectuals had a“saving the nation through education” dream，focused deeply on Chinese education.At that time，educators such as Yan Yangchu and Tao Xingzhi developed concepts associated with lifelong education.
Yan Yangchu，the “the father of the world civilian education movement”，launched a national literacy campaign called “eliminating illiteracy，bringing wisdom” in 1922.He suggested that China's big trouble is that people have four diseases:poverty，stupid，weakness，selfishness ；these are the main factors causing the poor and weak in modern China.He argued that the poverty problem can be solved by developing productivity；the problem of foolishness can be solved through imparting knowledge；the problem of weakness can be solved by strengthening the body，and selfishness can be solved by cultivating others.
He further pointed out that，to cultivate the four “forces”，three kinds of education should be included:school education，society education，and family education.Through these several different forms，outdated education thoughts can be discarded so that school，society，and family can promote each other.In this way，education can influence all aspects of life；people can achieve national prosperity，national independence，and development of individuality.
Under the influence of Dewey's educational thoughts，Tao Xingzhi and others began to advocate civilian education for the whole country.Tao Xingzhi rejected the view that only school education should be considered education.He thought that if people want to resolve the Chinese national situation，they must improve the effectiveness of education to cultivate “all-round citizens”.This must rely not only on liberal education and school education，but it also needs the effect of adult education.In other words，the objective of education should include all adults.
In Knowledge Education Reform ，Tao Xingzhi said that “both young and old，should also be educated” and that “［it's］ never too late to learn”.That is，the objectives of education include all citizens，not just children.He emphasized that job workers，cadres，and peasants are directly responsible for economic construction and social development.It is necessary for people who are engaged in important work to improve their cultural and science quality.The most valuable aspect is that he regarded adult education as an organic part of lifelong education.That is，society must pay sufficient attention to adult education.
In Chinese Education ，Tao Xingzhi said that “education comes when one is born and continues until one is dead”.In the book Chinese Education Project for All ，he elaborated a new view of “the meaning of the universal education”:First，having school-age children and dropout adults enter school does not indicate that the country had achieved modernization.Second，eliminating illiteracy does not mean that people live a modern life；that will take a long time.The most important achievement of education is to help people develop good habits to study together and promote each other.People should have the attitude of “［it's］ never too late to learn”.Thus，the implementation period of education must be abolished；education should occur throughout one's life.
Education should be regarded as one of a person's continuing activities which is not restricted by time and space.This idea，to some extent，not only covers the essence of lifelong education，but also reflects Tao Xingzhi's far-sighted education theory from another perspective.
The origin of modern lifelong education dates back to the International Conference on Adult Education held in Paris in December 1949 by the United Nations Educational，Scientific and Cultural Organization （UNESCO）.The conference speaker，UNESCO's adult education program director Paul Lengrand，submitted a proposal about lifelong education at the conference，which represented the formation of modern lifelong education and the coming of lifelong education's era.Since then，lifelong education has become a trend in international education.
At the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s，with the liberal social environment and the recovery of diplomatic activities，the vision for education began to expand to overseas.At the same time，Chinese academia gradually began to explore the idea of lifelong education and theory.In May 1975，Professor Zhang Renjie elaborated the origin，development，and basic theory of lifelong education in his article Lifelong Education:A Notable Trend of International Education .He conducted detailed research on the implementation of lifelong education in UK，US，and other Western countries.This is the earliest paper to introduce lifelong education in China.
Since then，Paul Lengrand's An Introduction to Lifelong Education ，Mochida Eichi's Lifelong Education Books ，Colin J.Titmus' Lifelong Education for Adults:An International Handbook ，Arthur J.Cropley's Introduction to Lifelong Education-the Analysis on Psychology ，and many other books on lifelong education have been translated into Chinese，one after another.
The Chinese version of Paul Lengrand's An Introduction to Lifelong Education is a milestone in the development of lifelong education in China.This book is based on a long-term exploration of the process of adult education.It expounds the challenges of education which come from the postwar science and technology revolution and discusses the relationship between adult education and lifelong education，lifelong education and equality of education，lifelong education and individual fulfillment，and lifelong education and the “life cycle”.
It fully and systematically discusses the concept，significance，principles，content，and development strategy of lifelong educationaul.The author specially pointed out that lifelong education is not a luxury for developing countries.As a short-term goal，these countries should develop adult education and take measures to lay the foundation for development of lifelong education in theory and practice.
However，because Chinese education was still recovering，the urgent task at the time was how to develop basic education and achieve universal education.The discussion of lifelong education was limited to academia and did not attract enough attention or response in Chinese society.
After the beginning of the 1990s，with the establishment and development of China's market economic system，the adjustment and upgrade of industrial structure became important to achieve national economic development.People had to learn new skills，and a crisis appeared in traditional school education，which urged people to rethink and reflect on education issues.
How to meet different demands，how to promote people's all-round development，and how to adapt to the social，economic，and cultural changes became a widespread problem.At the same time，Zhou Nanzhao，Zhao Zhongjian，and others translated a series of educational books published by UNESCO；from these books，the public began to realize the importance of lifelong education，and the books also provided useful reference for solving practical problems in Chinese education.
The series consists of three books: Learning to Be ， Learning the Treasure Within ，and Revisiting Lifelong Learning for the 21st Century . Learning to Be is based on a review of the development of education in human history.It summarizes the current situation of education in developing and developed countries and points out the important role of education in the development of modern society.The book focuses on the challenge and main tendency that world education faces；it indicates strategies and ways to achieve educational innovation and suggests that the need for a learning society is urgent.
The author suggested that “learn to learn，learn to live，learn to do，and learn to be” are the four pillars of modern education，and “learn to be” is the kernel and crux of education.This report states，“man is an imperfect creature，and only by regular study，can he make himself a better person，people can get close to the objective world infinitely，but we can never exhaust it.” In the process of self-development，people will be just an “imperfect creature”.In a sense，human survival is an endless process of improving and learning and education plays a very important role in this endless learning process；“education is a process of developing person's full potential ability.”
Human history is the history of productive labor development and dreams coming true.The development of society and technology has changed the minds of people；only comprehensive and lifelong education can cultivate the perfect man.Furthermore，people need lifelong learning to construct an evolving knowledge system.
Learning the Treasure Within was also published by UNESCO and constituted extremely important education literature.The book looks at the goal of human development in the future，sets out specific national conditions，and puts forward creative advice.The book covers future education reforms and development in all aspects and proposes countermeasures and suggestions to meet future challenges.Lifelong education is one of the most distinctive ideas contained in the book.
Lifelong education is defined in this book as “continuing education which is expanded to various social aspects”.This view reflects a further realization of the education phenomenon.More importantly，it puts forward the notion that “we should rethink and expand the connotation of ‘lifelong education'” and suggests that“lifelong learning is the key to open the door of the 21st century”.This is a scientific judgment.
In the new century，lifelong education began to come into people's awareness.However，the “diploma” cannot determine one's lifetime fate.Rather，it is the wisdom to obtain new knowledge and the wisdom to participate in activities positively.We can at least master a potential ability to adapt to changes in the reform process.This kind of new education concept opens a new door to seek education reform for the Chinese people.
The third book， Revisiting Lifelong Learning for the 21st Century ，analyzes the problems that existed in many countries in the world in the 1990s，such as illiteracy，dropping out of school，the gender gap in education，environmental degradation and population explosion，war，violence，and other problems，then proposed strategies and specific action plans for these problems to guide the countries' actions.
All in all，this set of books with their rich content，profound insights，and new point of view have attracted considerable interest in Chinese education.They also point out a development path for the Chinese who are seeking education reform.After these books were published，discussion of lifelong education has gradually become a focus in the education field in China.
When the translations of famous foreign works were introduced to China，many Chinese scholars advocated breaking the traditional outdated school education pattern based on the present situation of China.They looked forward to a new education system which was closely linked with the society，economy，science，and technology.From then on，lifelong education research results began to emerge.The Chinese National Knowledge Internet shows that papers related to lifelong education have been published in key journals through 2020.This shows that Chinese lifelong education is still growing.Because the monographs are complete with narrations and materials are abundant，here mainly the three representative works of Wu Zunmin and Huang Fushun are discussed.
In 1999，Wu Zunmin published Modern International Lifelong Education ，which introduces basic theory of modern international lifelong education and policy，characteristics，implementation evaluation，and development history of lifelong education in the United Kingdom，United States，Japan，France，and Germany.Although it does not provide a specific comparison of the differences in lifelong education in these countries，it played a role in helping Chinese people understand the foreign development of lifelong education.
In 2003，Wu Zunmin published a book titled Modern Lifelong Education of China ，which filled some gaps in the field of lifelong education.The main theoretical characteristics of this book are embodied in the following three aspects:
a.Starting with the introduction of international lifelong education to China，recognizing and understanding the theory of lifelong education and the view that“learning is a human right”.The author argues that modern lifelong education theory is based on the importance and satisfaction of each citizen's individual freedom and independent learning requirements.Therefore，the international community considers learning to be a human right.Its purpose is to guarantee each citizen's personal learning right，especially those in vulnerable groups.
b.Trying to put Chinese lifelong education research into a historical development process and background to study.Specifically，this refers to a detailed analysis of the historical evolution of education and changes to modern school education in China.Until the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949，the author identified internal relationships between historical characteristics and contemporary development of lifelong education policies.
c.Analysis of the causes and background of current Chinese lifelong education.The book suggested that the future development of lifelong education involves an emphasis on Chinese national conditions.At the same time，the concept of lifelong education，as commonly considered by international society，should be further studied in theory.
In 2003，Huang Fushun published a book titled “ The Ccomparison of the Lifelong Education ”；it mainly discusses United kingdom，United States，Japan，France，Germany，Sweden，China's mainland and Taiwan Region to introduce and perform a comparative analysis of lifelong education implementation.It points out 14 similarities，including receiving government support，promulgating policy，attaching great importance to education and adult education，strengthening the community，and paying attention to vulnerable groups.It also outlines seven different points （e.g.，China should pay attention to the theory forerunner）.In addition，it suggests that every country and region has different needs for the development model regarding implementation of lifelong education policies.
After these foreign lifelong education works were introduced in China，scholars began to study the theory and the connotation of lifelong education.Then they started to research education's position and function in lifelong education and how to develop all kinds of education under the framework of lifelong education.The effort is mainly concentrated on the following aspects:The first is to pay attention to the explanation and discussion of the notion of lifelong education as well as the research on the necessity for lifelong education；the second is to emphasize preschool education，adult education，continuing education，senior citizen education，community education，network education，and occupation training，especially for their position and function in the lifelong education system and development path；the third is to study school education reform from the perspective of lifelong education to develop innovation in the education system and education content；the fourth is to unify China's national conditions to discuss and explore the construction of lifelong education system.