Li Shicen (, 1892–1934), born Li Bangfan (李邦藩), was a
Chinese philosopher
Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developme ...
and
editor of advanced philosophical journals of the
May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chines ...
, such as ''
Minduo Magazine'' and ''
Education Magazine''. Li is best remembered as an exponent of the thought of
Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...
, who was among the Western thinkers most influential in
China in the early
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
era.
Li Shicen belonged to circle of radical intellectuals and activists who emerged in Hunan in the early 20th century. Another was
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. Li in fact had several contacts with Mao; as both young men wrote manuals on swimming, and Mao's later widely publicized exploit of swimming in the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
may be traced back to Li's inspiration.
Li produced a number of books and articles which are still read as expositions of Western philosophy, and are of value in understanding the reception of ideas in this era. ''Rensheng Zhexue'' (人生哲学, "Philosophies of Human Life") was his longest published work. Li produced special issues of ''Min Duo'' devoted to a number of influential philosophers including Nietzsche,
Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson and
Eucken. In the early 1920s, Li's circle of friends and acquaintances included
Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo (; November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang (), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official.
Biography
Family history
Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November ...
and
Zhu Qianzhi.
Following a sojourn in Europe in the late 1920s, Li returned to China and announced that materialist dialectics was the "philosophy of the future." This conversion from neo-romanticism to
Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
was seen as a signal event at the time, and was a harbinger of many that were follow.
Prior to this he had been involved in scandal involving a female student. He published a ''Qingbian Wanzi Shu'' (情变万言书, "Ten Thousand Word Letter of Heartbreak") in response, and which expresses a neo-romantic philosophy typical of the era.
1892 births
1934 deaths
Republic of China philosophers
20th-century Chinese philosophers
People from Liling
Sun Yat-sen University faculty
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