Famous teachers are disgraced, China has hope! The causes and consequences of Hu Shi’s words

Hu Shi received his enlightenment at the age of 5 and received 9 years of private education in his hometown in Jixi, where he laid a certain foundation in classical Chinese. In his early years, he studied at Meixi Academy and Chengzhong Academy in Shanghai, where he initially came into contact with Western thought and culture, and was greatly influenced by the thoughts of Liang Qichao and Yan Fu. In 1904, he went to Shanghai to attend a new school, accepted "Tianyan Lun" and other new trends of thought, and began to publish vernacular articles in "Jingye Xunbao". He was admitted to the Chinese Public School in 1906 and admitted to the "Boxer Indemnity" study abroad program in 1910. After going to the United States, he first entered the Agricultural College of Cornell University, and then transferred to the College of Liberal Arts to study philosophy. In 1915, he entered Columbia University Graduate School and studied under the idealist philosopher John Dewey. He accepted Dewey's pragmatism philosophy and kept it in mind throughout his life. He graduated with a doctorate in philosophy in 1917 and returned to China in July of the same year.

[1] After returning to China, he served as a professor at Peking University and joined the editorial board of "New Youth". He wrote articles against feudalism, promoted individual freedom, democracy and science, and actively advocated "literary reform" and vernacular literature, becoming An important figure in the New Culture Movement at that time. In the same year, Hu Shi published "A Preliminary Opinion on Literary Reform" in "New Youth", advocating the replacement of classical Chinese with vernacular, proposing that writing articles should "not make idle moans" and "must have something to say", making preliminary ideas for a new literary form. . During the "May 4th" period, he launched a debate on "issues and doctrines" with Li Dazhao and others; he accompanied Dewey to give lectures in China and served as Dewey's translator for more than two years; he launched a "scientific debate" with Zhang Junmai and others, and Ding Wenjiang, a "scientist" at the time, backstage. From 1920 to 1933, he was mainly engaged in the research and textual research of Chinese classical novels. He also participated in some political activities and served as the principal of Shanghai Public School for a time. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as a senator in the National Defense Council of the Kuomintang. In 1938, he was appointed China's ambassador to the United States. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he became president of Peking University in 1946. In 1949, he moved to the United States and devoted himself to the textual research of "Shui Jing Zhu" and other work. Later he went to Taiwan. In 1954, he served as deputy chairman of Taiwan's "Design Committee for the Restoration of the Mainland". In 1957, he became the president of Taiwan's "Academia Sinica". In 1962, he died of a heart attack at a cocktail party in Taiwan.

Hu Shi was a knowledgeable scholar who made considerable achievements in many fields such as literature, philosophy, history, textual criticism, education, and ethics. As far as the study of Confucius and Confucianism is concerned, in the "Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy" (Volume 1) published in 1919, Hu Shi first adopted the system and methods of modern Western philosophy to study Chinese pre-Qin philosophy, and placed Confucius and Confucianism in a certain Under historical conditions, using an "equal perspective" to conduct comparative research with other scholars has eliminated the "exclusive" status and mystery of Confucianism, which has a groundbreaking influence. Later, he published a long paper "Shuo Confucianism", which proposed that "Confucianism is the priest of the Yin nation", "the original Confucian people were all Yin people, and they were all survivors of the Yin Dynasty", "they relied on their knowledge of ethics and ethics for their food and clothing, and they were all Yin people." The priests taught by the ancestors of the nation practiced Yin rituals and wore Yin clothes and crowns." After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed Yin, "they were burdened with preserving the cultural heritage of their motherland." "Confucianism is a cowardly person, and it not only refers to the complimentary clothes. The elegant appearance of the doctor also refers to the judo and outlook on life of the survivors of the subjugated country who endured humiliation and heavy burdens." Confucius was the "savior" born of the "suspense" of the Yin nation. "He changed from a priest class of a subjugated nation to a person who reconciled the culture of three generations. "Teaching Confucianism", Confucius' greatest contribution lies in the expansion of the tribal "Confucianism" of the Yin people to the Confucianism of "benevolence as one's own duty", and changing the cowardly "Confucianism" into a resolute and enterprising "Confucianism". Confucius was not the creator of "Confucianism", but the reviver of Confucianism. Confucius' teachings emphasize the individual's status in society, education and benevolent government, and use this to influence the entire society. Hu Shi's "bold hypothesis" was shocking at the time, and his argument was not sufficient. However, his hypothesis that "Confucianism" existed in the Yin Dynasty was judged to be fact by subsequent research on oracle bone inscriptions.

Hu Shi did not blindly worship Confucius and Confucianism. He believed that "Confucianism cannot meet the needs of the times" and "now most people who understand the truth have broken the dream of Confucianism" ("The Significance of New Trends of Thought" ) China’s social progress after the Revolution of 1911 is “not a gift from Confucius, but the result of everyone’s efforts in the revolution, and the result of everyone’s acceptance of a new world and a new civilization. There is hope only if we move forward, but we will not succeed if we go backwards.” " ("Written after the Birthday of Confucius") is critical of the "Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Principles" emphasized by Confucianism, saying: The ancients believed that the "Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Principles" were truth because they were very useful in the ancient patriarchal society.

But now the situation has changed, the state system has changed... What was right and proper in ancient times has now become nonsense. (Experimentalism")

Hu Shi wrote many works, which have been edited and selected many times. The more important ones include "Hu Shi's Essays", "Hu Shi's Recent Works on Theory", "Hu Shi's Academic Works", "Hu Shi's Autobiography", etc. Many works have been widely circulated.