Fu Ssu-nien: A Life in Chinese History and Politics

by Fan-sen Wang

• ISBN13: 9780521480512
• ISBN10: 0521480515
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-06
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Fu Ssu-nien, scholar, and political and social critic, was one of the most colourful, influential intellectual figures in twentieth-century China. Wang Fan-sen's biography of Fu's life and contributions offers an in-depth examination of his role in intellectual development in modern China. Fu's life in many ways embodied the dilemma faced by modern Chinese intellectuals: dissatisfied with the model of the traditional literati, they lacked a professional, academic model to take its place. Fu's early years as a student leader of the May Fourth movement and subsequent life as an activist were born of intellectual dissatisfaction: as an educator and founder of the Institute of Philology and History at Peking University and the Academia Sinica, he worked to fill the void by professionalizing Chinese research and education. This book, incorporating original, previously unpublished material from Fu's personal archives, fills a major gap in the cultural and intellectual history of modern China.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
List of Abbreviations	xii
Chronology	xiii
Introduction: Fu Ssu-nien and Post-1895 Intellectual Trends	1	(10)
Fu Ssu-nien's Early Years	11	(44)
The Shaping of a New Historical School	55	(43)
Toward a Theory of Plural Origins of Chinese Civilization: Hypotheses on Ancient Chinese History	98	(28)
Contra-Introspective Moral Philosophy	126	(14)
The Burden of the May Fourth Mentality	140	(24)
Statism and the Later Days of a May Fourth Youth	164	(33)
Conclusion: The Defeat of a May Fourth Youth	197	(8)
Appendix I A Fragment from a Short Story Attacking Ku Chieh-kang	205	(2)
Appendix II A Transcript of a Conversation between Fu Ssu-nien and Ch'en Pu-lei	207	(2)
Glossary	209	(20)
Bibliography	229	(26)
Index	255