國學興起及其演化,與經學逐級退出學制乃至整個知識體系時間上高度重疊。國學既然為新舊過渡時期的將就兼容,便具有兩面性,在中西新舊的纏繞下,倡導國學者取向迥異,國學形態下經學究竟有無立足存身之地,一直聚訟紛紜。守成者竭力維系經學的一統地位,趨新者則希望化解為不同分科。國學之下經學與諸子、史學、文學的糾葛,使得經學日益喪失既有地位。可是經學在中國,同時體現為知識體系和價值體系,對內支撐道德倫理,對外顯示國性。如何不依傍古人又能取信于廣大,建構當下的道德機制,為世界體系的重構提供重要選項,是考驗國人智慧的關鍵。

The rise and development of the national learning was almost simultaneous with the gradual retreatment of the classical learning from the school curriculum and even the whole knowledge system. In this transitional period,scholars had ambivalent attitudes toward the traditional classical learning. The conservatives tried to maintain the supreme status of the classical learning,while the reformists hoped to disintegrate it into multiple disciplines. Included in the overarching concept of the national learning,the classical learning was entangled with philosophy,history and literature,and gradually lost its previous high status. However,the classical learning in China was a knowledge/moral system,both a mainstay of ethics domestically and a symbol of national essence internationally. How to remake a moral system without relying on the ancient texts and provide an alternative to reconstruct a global system was a key challenge faced by the Chinese then.