Hu Shih
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Hu Shih ( zh, t=胡適; 17 December 189124 February 1962) was a Chinese academic, writer, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform, and was a leading advocate for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He participated in the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...
and China's
New Culture Movement The New Culture Movement was a progressivism, progressive sociopolitical movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. Participants criticized many aspects of traditional Chinese society, in favor of new formulations of Chinese culture inform ...
. He was a president of
Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
and
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...
. Hu was the editor of the '' Free China Journal'', which was shut down for criticizing Chiang Kai-shek. In 1919, he also criticized Li Dazhao. Hu advocated that the world adopt Western-style democracy. Moreover, Hu criticized
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...
's claim that people are incapable of self-rule. Hu criticized the
Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...
for betraying the ideal of Constitutionalism in ''The Outline of National Reconstruction''. Hu wrote many essays questioning the political legitimacy of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and the Chinese Communist Party. Specifically, Hu said that the autocratic dictatorship system of the CCP was "un-Chinese" and against history. In the 1950s, Mao and the Chinese Communist Party launched a campaign criticizing Hu Shih's thoughts. After Mao's passing, Hu's reputation recovered. He is now known for his influential contribution to Chinese politics and academia.


Biography


Early life

Hu Shih was born on 17 December 1891, in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
to Hu Chuan (), and his third wife Feng Shundi (). Hu Chuan was a tea merchant who became a public servant, serving in northern China,
Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...
, and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. During their marriage, Feng Shun-di was younger than some of Hu Chuan's children. After Hu Shih's birth, Hu Chuan moved to Taiwan to work in 1892, where his wife and Hu Shih joined him in 1893. Shortly before Hu Chuan's death in 1895, his wife Feng and the young Hu Shih left Taiwan for their ancestral home in
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
. In January 1904, when Hu was 11 years old, his mother arranged his marriage to Chiang Tung-hsiu (). In the same year, Hu and an elder brother moved to Shanghai seeking a "modern" education.


Academic career

Hu became a "national scholar" through funds appropriated from the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program. On 16 August 1910, he was sent to study agriculture at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
in the United States. In 1912, he changed his major to philosophy and literature, and was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
. He was also a member and later a president of the Cosmopolitan Club, an international student organization. While at Cornell, Hu led a campaign to promote the newer, easier to learn Modern Written Chinese which helped spread literacy in China. He also helped found Cornell's extensive
library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
collections of East Asian books and materials. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he went to study philosophy at
Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...
, in New York City, where he was influenced by his professor,
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...
, and started literary experiments. Hu became Dewey's translator and a lifelong advocate of pragmatic evolutionary change, helping Dewey in his 1919–1921 lectures series in China. Hu returned to lecture in
Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
. During his tenure there, he received support from
Chen Duxiu Chen Duxiu ( zh, t=陳獨秀, p=Chén Dúxiù, w=Ch'en Tu-hsiu; 9 October 1879 – 27 May 1942) was a Chinese revolutionary, writer, educator, and political philosopher who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921, serving as its fi ...
, editor of the influential journal ''
New Youth ''New Youth'', also known as La Jeunesse, was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement. Publishing history ...
'', quickly gaining much attention and influence. Hu soon became one of the leading and influential intellectuals during the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...
and later the
New Culture Movement The New Culture Movement was a progressivism, progressive sociopolitical movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. Participants criticized many aspects of traditional Chinese society, in favor of new formulations of Chinese culture inform ...
. Hu quit ''New Youth'' in the 1920s and published several political newspapers and journals with his friends. His most important contribution was the promotion of
vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as ''baihua'', comprises forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular varieties of the language spoken throughout China. It is contrasted with Literary Chinese, which was the predominant written form ...
in literature to replace
Classical Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...
, which was intended to make it easier for the ordinary person to read.Luo, Jing (2004). Over a Cup of Tea: An Introduction to Chinese Life and Culture. University Press of America. Hu Shih once said, "A dead language can never produce a living literature." The significance of this for Chinese culture was greatas John Fairbank put it, "the tyranny of the classics had been broken." Hu devoted a great deal of energy to rooting his linguistic reforms in China's traditional culture rather than relying on imports from the West. As his biographer Jerome Grieder put it, Hu's approach to China's "distinctive civilization" was "thoroughly critical but by no means contemptuous." For instance, he studied Chinese classical novels, especially the 18th century novel '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', as a way of establishing the vocabulary for a modern standardized language. His Peking University colleague Wen Yuan-ning dubbed Hu a '' Philosophe'' for his humanistic interests and expertise. Hu was among the New Culture Movement reformers who welcomed
Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...
's 1922 visit to China. He personally translated her speech delivered at Beijing National University which stressed the importance of birth control. Periodicals ''The Ladies' Journal'' and ''The Women's Review'' published Hu's translation. He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1932 and the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1936.


Public service

Hu was the Republic of China's ambassador to the United States from 1938 to 1942. He was recalled in September 1942 and was replaced by Wei Tao-ming. Hu then served as chancellor of Peking University, at the time called National Peking University, between 1946 and 1948. In 1957, he became the third president of the
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...
in Taipei, a post he retained until his death. He was also chief executive of the '' Free China Journal'', which was eventually shut down for criticizing Chiang Kai-shek.


Death and legacy

He died of a heart attack in Nankang, Taipei at the age of 70, and was entombed in Hu Shih Park, adjacent to the Academia Sinica campus. That December, Hu Shih Memorial Hall was established in his memory. It is an affiliate of the Institute of Modern History at the Academia Sinica, and includes a museum, his residence, and the park. Hu Shih Memorial Hall offers audio tour guides in Chinese and English for visitors. Hu Shih's work fell into disrepute in mainland China until an 1986 article written by Ji Xianlin, "A Few Words for Hu Shih" (), acknowledged Hu Shih's mistakes. This article was sufficiently convincing to many scholars that it led to a re-evaluation of the development of modern Chinese literature.Ji Xianlin: A Gentle Academic Giant
, china.org, 19 August 2005
Selection 15 of the Putonghua Proficiency Test is a story about Hu Shih debating the merits of written vernacular Chinese over
Literary Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...
. Hu also claimed that India conquered China culturally for 2000 years via religion. At the same time, Hu criticized Indian religions for holding China back scientifically. Including redology, he had a wide range of interests in literature, philosophy, history, textual criticism, and pedagogy.
Feng Youlan Feng Youlan (; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung ...
criticized Hu for adopting a pragmatist framework and ignoring all the schools of Chinese philosophy before the
Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...
. Instead of simply laying out the history of Chinese philosophy, Feng claims that Hu made the reader feel as if "the whole Chinese civilization is entirely on the wrong track." Before Feng, Hu might have been the first to interpret the concept of the
Tao The Tao or Dao is the natural way of the universe, primarily as conceived in East Asian philosophy and religion. This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being. T ...
through modern Western philosophy. As "one of
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
's most notable Chinese alumni", Hu has several honors there, including the Hu Shih Professorship and Hu Shih Distinguished lecture. Hu Shih Hall, a residence hall, was dedicated at Cornell in 2022.


Contributions to philosophy


Pragmatism

During his time at Columbia, Hu became a supporter of the school of
Pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics ...
. Hu translated "Pragmatism" as . Hu's taking to the thinking reflected his own philosophical appeals. Before he encountered Dewey's works, he wrote in his diary that he was in a search of "practical philosophy" for the survival of the Chinese people, rather than deep and obscure systems. He was interested in . Hu viewed Pragmatism as a scientific methodology for the study of philosophy. He appreciated the universality of such a scientific approach because he believed that such a methodology transcends the boundary of culture and therefore can be applied anywhere, including China during his time. Hu Shih was not so interested in the content of Dewey's philosophy, caring rather about the method, the attitude, and the scientific spirit. Hu saw all ideologies and abstract theories only as hypotheses waiting to be tested. The content of ideologies, Hu believed, was shaped by the background, political environment, and even the personality of the theorist. Thus these theories were confined within their temporality. Hu felt that only the attitude and spirit of an ideology could be universally applied. Therefore, Hu criticized any dogmatic application of ideologies. After Hu took over as the chief editor at Weekly Commentary () in 1919, he criticized Li Dazhao and engaged in a heated debate regarding ideology and problem (). Hu writes in "A Third Discussion of Problems and Isms" ():Throughout the literary works and other scholarships of Hu Shih, the presence of Pragmatism as a method is prevalent. Hu Shih avoided using an ill-defined scientific method. He described his own as experiential, inductive, verification-oriented, and evolutionary. Hu quotes Dewey's division of thought into five steps: # A felt difficulty # Its location and definition # Suggestion of possible solution # Development of the suggestions # Further observation and experiment leads to acceptance or rejection. Hu saw his life work as a consistent project of practicing the scientific spirit of Pragmatism as a lifestyle.


Skepticism

For Hu Shih, skepticism and pragmatism are inseparable. In his essay "Introducing My Thoughts" (), he states that Thomas H. Huxley is the one person who most heavily influenced his thoughts. Huxley's
agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer t ...
is the negative precondition to the practical, active problem-solving of Dewey's pragmatism. Huxley's " genetic method" in Hu's writing becomes a "historical attitude", an attitude that ensures one's intellectual independence which also leads to individual emancipation and political freedom.


Chinese intellectual history

Hu Shih brought the scientific method and the spirit of Skepticism into traditional Chinese textual study (''
kaozheng ''Kaozheng'' (), alternatively called ''kaoju xue'' () was a Chinese school of thought emphasizing philology that was active during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) from to 1850. It was most prominent during the reigns of the Qianlong Emperor and J ...
''), laying the groundwork for contemporary studies of Chinese intellectual history. In 1919, Hu Shih published the first volume of ''An Outline History of Chinese Philosophy.'' The later portion was never finished. Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University where Hu was teaching at the time, wrote the preface for ''Outline'' and pointed out four key features of Hu's work: # Method of proving for dates, validity, and perspectives of methodology # "Cutting off the many schools" (), meaning ignoring all schools before the time of
Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...
and starting with
Laozi Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...
and Confucius # Equal treatment for Confucianism,
Mohism Mohism or Moism (, ) was an ancient Chinese philosophy of ethics and logic, rational thought, and scientific technology developed by the scholars who studied under the ancient Chinese philosopher Mozi (), embodied in an eponymous book: the '' ...
,
Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...
, and Xunzi # Systematic studies with chronological orders and juxtaposition that present the evolution of theories Hu's organization of classical Chinese philosophy imitated Western philosophical history, but the influence of textual study since the time of the Qing dynasty is still present. Especially for the second point, "cutting off the many schools" is a result of the continuous effort of Qing scholarship around ancient textual studies. Since the validity of the ancient texts is questionable and the content of them obscure, Hu decided to leave them out. In fact, before the publication of ''Outline'', Hu was appointed to be the lecturer of History of Classical Chinese Philosophy. His decision of leaving out pre-Warring States philosophy almost caused a riot among students. In ''Outline'', other philosophical schools of the Warring States were first treated as equal. Hu did not hold Confucianism as the paradigm while treating other schools as heresy. Rather, Hu saw philosophical values within other schools, even those considered to be anti-Confucian, like Mohism. Yu Yingshi commented how this paradigm followed
Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American History and philosophy of science, historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and ...
's Enlightenment theory. Feng Youlan, the author of ''A History of Chinese Philosophy'', criticizes Hu for adopting a pragmatist framework in ''Outline''. Instead of simply laying out the history of Chinese philosophy, Feng claims that Hu criticizes these schools from a pragmatist perspective which makes the reader feel as if "the whole Chinese civilization is entirely on the wrong track."Yu-lan Fung, "Philosophy in Contemporary China" paper presented in the Eighth International Philosophy Conference, Prague, 1934. Feng also disagrees with Hu's extensive effort on researching the validity of the resource text. Feng believes that as long as the work itself is philosophically valuable, its validity is not as significant.


Political views


Individualism, liberalism, and democracy

Unlike many of his contemporaries who later joined the Socialist camp, liberalism and democracy were Hu's political beliefs throughout his life. He firmly believed that the world as a whole was heading toward democracy, despite the changing political landscape. Hu defines democracy as a lifestyle in which everyone's value is recognized, and everyone has the freedom to develop a lifestyle of individualism. For Hu, individual achievement does not contradict societal good. In fact, individual achievement contributes to overall social progress, a view that he distinguishes from the so-called "selfish individualism." In his essay, "ImmortalityMy Religion", Hu stresses that although individuals eventually perish physically, one's soul and the effect one has on society are immortal. Therefore, Hu's individualism is a lifestyle in which people are independent and yet social. Hu sees individual contributions as crucial and beneficial to the system of democracy. In "A Second Discussion on Nation-Building and Autocracy" (), Hu comments that an autocratic system needs professionals to manage it while democracy relies on the wisdom of the people. When different people's lived experiences come together, no elite politician is needed for coordination, and therefore democracy is, in fact, easy to practice with people who lack political experience. He calls democracy "naive politics" (), a political system that can help cultivate those who participate in it. Hu also equates democracy with freedom, a freedom that is made possible by tolerance. In a democratic system, people should be free from any political persecution as well as any public pressure. In his 1959 essay "Tolerance and Freedom", Hu Shih stressed the importance of tolerance and claimed that "tolerance is the basis of freedom". In a democratic society, the existence of opposition must be tolerated. Minority rights are respected and protected. People must not destroy or silence the opposition.


The Chinese root of democracy

A large portion of Hu Shih's scholarship in his later years is dedicated to finding a Chinese root for democracy and liberalism. Many of his writings, including "Historic Tradition for a Democratic China", "The Right to Doubt in Ancient Chinese Thought", "Authority and Freedom in the Ancient Asian World" make a similar claim that the democratic spirit is always present within the Chinese tradition. He claimed that Chinese tradition included: # A democratized social structure with an equal inheritance system among sons and the right to rebel under oppressive regimes. # Widespread accessibility of political participation through civil service exams. # Intragovernmental criticism and censorial control formalized by governmental institutions and the Confucian tradition of political criticism.


Constitutionalism and human rights movement

In 1928, Hu along with Wen Yiduo, Chen Yuan, Liang Shih-chiu, and Xu Zhimo founded the monthly journal ''Crescent Moon'', named after
Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
's prose verse. In March 1929, he learned from Shanghai Special Representatives of National Party Chen De. Hu criticized and rejected
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...
's claim that people are incapable of self-rule and considered democracy itself a form of political education. The legitimacy and the competency of people participating in the political process comes from their lived experience. Sun's government also proposed to punish any "anti-revolutionary" without due process. Hu wrote an article in ''Crescent Moon'' titled "Human Rights and Law" (). In the article, Hu called for the establishment of a written constitution that protects the rights of citizens, especially from the ruling government. The government must be held accountable to the constitution. Later in "When Can We Have ConstitutionA Question for ''The Outline of National Reconstruction''" (), Hu criticized the Nationalist government for betraying the ideal of Constitutionalism in ''The Outline of National Reconstruction''.


Criticism of the Communist Party after 1949

In the early 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party launched a years-long campaign criticizing Hu's thoughts. In response, Hu published many essays in English attacking the political legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. In the writing field, Lu Xun and Hu represented two different political parties. The political differences between the Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party led to significantly different evaluations of the two writers. As a supporter of the Communist Party, Lu Xun was hailed by its leader
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
as "the greatest and most courageous fighter of the new cultural army". By contrast, Hu Shih was criticized by Communist-leaning historians as "the earliest, the most persistent and most uncompromising enemy of Chinese Marxism and socialist thought". The different evaluations of the two different writers show the complexity between two different political parties in modern China. Hu's opposition to the Chinese Communist Party was an ideological conflict. As a supporter of Pragmatism, Hu believed that social changes could only happen incrementally. Revolution or any ideologies that claim to solve social problems once and for all are not possible. Such a perspective was present in his early writing, as in the ''problem'' versus ''isms'' debate. He quotes John Dewey: "progress is not a wholesale matter, but a retail job, to be contracted for and executed in section". Hu also opposed communism because of his ideological belief in individualism. Hu affirms the individual's right as independent from the collective. The individual has the right to develop freely and diversely without political suppression in the name of uniformity. He writes in "The Conflict of Ideologies": In contrast to a Marxist vision of history, Hu's conception of history is pluralistic and particular. In his talk with American economist Charles A. Beard, recorded in his diary, Hu believed the making of history is only coincidental. Since he is a proponent of reformism, pluralism, individualism, and skepticism, Hu's philosophy is irreconcilable with Communist ideology. Hu's later scholarship around the Chinese root of liberalism and democracy is consistent with his anti-CCP writings. In a later manuscript titled "Communism, Democracy, and Cultural Pattern", Hu constructs three arguments from Chinese intellectual history, especially from Confucian and Taoist traditions, to combat the authoritative rule of the Chinese Communist Party: Therefore, Hu regards the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party as not only "unhistorical", but also "un-Chinese".


Global policy

Along with
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
, Hu was one of the sponsors of the Peoples' World Convention (PWC), also known as Peoples' World Constituent Assembly (PWCA), which took place from 1950 to 1951 at Palais Electoral in Geneva, Switzerland.


Writings


Essays

Hu was an advocate for the literary revolution of the era, a movement which aimed to replace scholarly classical Chinese in writing with the vernacular spoken language, and to cultivate and stimulate new forms of literature. In an article originally published in ''
New Youth ''New Youth'', also known as La Jeunesse, was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement. Publishing history ...
'' in January 1917 titled "A Preliminary Discussion of Literature Reform", Hu originally emphasized eight guidelines that all Chinese writers should take to heart in writing: # Write with substance. By this, Hu meant that literature should contain real feeling and human thought. This was intended to be a contrast to the recent poetry with rhymes and phrases that Hu saw as being empty. # Do not imitate the ancients. Literature should not be written in the styles of long ago, but rather in the modern style of the present era. # Respect grammar. Hu did not elaborate at length on this point, merely stating that some recent forms of poetry had neglected proper grammar. # Reject melancholy. Recent young authors often chose grave pen names, and wrote on such topics as death. Hu rejected this way of thinking as being unproductive in solving modern problems. # Eliminate old clichés. The Chinese language has always had numerous '' chengyu'' used to describe events. Hu implored writers to use their own words in descriptions, and deplored those who did not. # Do not use allusions. By this, Hu was referring to the practice of comparing present events with historical events even when there is no meaningful analogy. # Do not use couplets or parallelism. Though these forms had been pursued by earlier writers, Hu believed that modern writers first needed to learn the basics of substance and quality, before returning to these matters of subtlety and delicacy. # Do not avoid popular expressions or popular forms of characters. This rule, perhaps the most well-known, ties in directly with Hu's belief that modern literature should be written in the vernacular, rather than in Classical Chinese. He believed that this practice had historical precedents, and led to greater understanding of important texts. In April 1918, Hu published a second article in ''New Youth'', this one titled "Constructive Literary Revolution – A Literature of National Speech". In it, he simplified the original eight points into just four: # Speak only when you have something to say. This is analogous to the first point above. # Speak what you want to say and say it in the way you want to say it. This combines points two through six above. # Speak what is your own and not that of someone else. This is a rewording of point seven. # Speak in the language of the time in which you live. This refers again to the replacement of Classical Chinese with the vernacular language. In the 15 July ''New Youth'' issue, Hu published an essay entitled, ''Chastity'' (). In the traditional Chinese context, this refers not only to virginity before marriage, but specifically to women remaining chaste before they marry and after their husband's death (). He wrote that this is an unequal and illogical view of life, that there is no natural or moral law upholding such a practice, that chastity is a mutual value for both men and women, and that he vigorously opposes any legislation favoring traditional practices on chastity. There was a movement to introduce traditional Confucian value systems into law at the time. His 1947 essay ''We Must Choose Our Own Direction'' () was devoted to liberalism. He held the Jiaxu manuscript () for many years until his death.


Academic works

Among academic works of Hu Shih are: * ''An Outline History of Chinese Philosophy''. Vol. 1 (1919). * ''The Chinese Renaissance: The Haskell Lectures, 1933''. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934). * ''Hu Shih's Recent Writings on Scholarship'' (). (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1935). Including essay "Introducing My Thoughts" (). * "The Conflicts of Ideologies" in ''The Annuals of American Academy of Political and Social Science'', Vol. 218, November 1941.


Autobiography

The 184-page ''Autobiography at Forty'' () is the only
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
written by Hu Shih himself.


Fiction prose and poetry

In 1920, Hu Shih published the collection of his poems ''Experiments'' (zh: , ''chángshì jì''). The following excerpt is from a poem titled ''Dream and Poetry'', written in
vernacular Chinese Written vernacular Chinese, also known as ''baihua'', comprises forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular varieties of the language spoken throughout China. It is contrasted with Literary Chinese, which was the predominant written form ...
by Hu. It illustrates how he applied those guidelines to his own work. His prose included works like ''The Life of Mr. Close Enough'' (), a piece criticizing Chinese society which centers around the extremely common Chinese language phrase (), which means something like "close enough" or "just about right": The ''Marriage'' () was one of the first plays written in the new literature style. Published in the March 1919 issue (Volume 6 Number 3) of ''New Youth'', this Hu Shih's
one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...
highlights the problems of traditional marriages arranged by parents. The female protagonist eventually leaves her family to escape the marriage in the story.


Vernacular style

Hu Shih was part of the Chinese language reform movement and used the vernacular style in writing articles. The opposite style of writing is Classical Chinese, and one of the key leaders of this language was Zhang Shizhao. Hu Shih and Zhang Shizhao had only a ten-year age difference, but the men seemed to be of differing generations. In October 1919, after visiting in China, Hu Shih said with emotion: "In the last ten years, only deceased personalities like Song Jiaoren, Cai E, and Wu Luzhen have been able to maintain their great reputation. The true features of living personalities are soon detected. This is because the times change too quickly. If a living personality does not try his utmost, he falls behind and soon becomes "against the time". In Hu Shih's ideals, only dead people can hold their reputation; the world will soon know the real value and personality of a person if they do not follow the times. They will fall back in time soon if they are not trying to find changes that encourage writers in old China to follow the new revolution and start using the new vernacular style of writing. They cannot stay in the old style; otherwise, they will fall back in time. Furthermore, Hu Shih meant that China needed more new things. Zhang was the biggest 'enemy' of the vernacular style, According to Liang Souming: "Lin Shu and Zhang Shizhao were two most significant people against vernacular style of writing in history". But in fact, Hu Shih and Zhang Shizhao had a big age difference; when Zhang was at work in Shanghai, Hu was only a middle school student.


May Fourth Movement

Hu Shih participated in the
May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...
, marking the beginning of modern China. Hu had a vision of the May Fourth Movement in China as part of a global shift in philosophy, led by Western countries. The global nature of the movement, in Hu's eyes, was particularly important, given China's relatively recent status as a global power. During the May Fourth Movement, Hu's political position shifted dramatically. As fellow thinkers and students of the movement looked towards socialism, Hu also gained a more favorable view of the collective, centralized organization of groups like the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and the Third International. After the early 1930s, he changed back to his earlier positions, which put more weight on individualism. Hu then began criticizing communism such as Mao's government and the Soviet Union. During the chaotic period this movement developed, Hu felt pessimism and a sense of alienation. Towards the end of Hu's life, he expressed disappointment at the politicization of the May Fourth Movement, which he felt was counter to the primarily philosophical and linguistic issues that drove him to participate in it. No matter how Hu's position shifted through the course of the Movement, he always put the May Fourth Movement in a global, albeit Eurocentric, context. Despite the implications of the May Fourth Movement, Hu Shih ultimately expressed regret that he was unable to play a larger role in his nation's history.


Notes


References


Citations


Sources


Secondary

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Primary

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Further reading

* Chan, Wing-tsit. "Hu Shih and Chinese Philosophy." ''Philosophy East and West'' 6.1 (1956): 3–12
online
* ''Chinese Writers on Writing'' featuring Hu Shih. Ed. Arthur Sze. ( Trinity University Press, 2010). * "Dr. Hu Shih, a Philosophe", by Wen Yuan-ning.
Imperfect Understanding: Intimate Portraits of Modern Chinese Celebrities
'. Edited by Christopher Rea. (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2018), pp. 41–44.
Life of Mr.pdf Another Mr. Chabuduo English Translation
at
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Selected Bibliography of Hu Shih's Writings in English Language


Essays

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External links


"The Chinese Renaissance"
a series of lectures Hu Shih delivered at the University of Chicago in the summer of 1933. (see print Reference listed above)

at newconcept.com
"Hu Shih in The Chinese Student Club At Teachers College"
at pk.tc.Columbia.edu
Hu Shih Memorial Hall
in Nangang District, Taipei, Taiwan
Hu Shi. A Portrait by Kong Kai Ming
at Portrait Gallery of Chinese Writers (Hong Kong Baptist University Library). {{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Shih 1891 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Chinese writers 20th-century diarists Ambassadors of China to the United States Ambassadors of the Republic of China to the United States Boxer Indemnity Scholarship recipients Chinese Civil War refugees Chinese diarists Chinese essayists Scholars of Chinese literature Chinese scholars of Buddhism Cornell University alumni Educators from Shanghai Academic staff of Fu Jen Catholic University Language reformers Liberalism in China Members of Academia Sinica Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Ministers of science and technology of the Republic of China Modern Chinese poetry Academic staff of the National Southwestern Associated University Academic staff of Peking University Permanent representatives of the Republic of China to the United Nations Philosophers from Shanghai Politicians of Taiwan Presidents of Peking University Redologists 20th-century Chinese philosophers Republic of China politicians from Shanghai Taiwanese educators Taiwanese people from Shanghai Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Writers from Shanghai Members of the American Philosophical Society Scholars of ancient Chinese philosophy Chinese language reform