Biographical Review of the Academic Thought of Zhu Guangqian

Author: Wang Youxin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-08-01
Features: Looking back at the development of Chinese academia in the 20th century, it can be said that it was a century of abundance, innovation, and glory. Over a hundred years, renowned scholars emerged, stars shone brightly, achievements were abundant, and new ideas were constantly introduced. Traditional Chinese scholarship underwent transformation as Western scholarship was extensively introduced into China. Through the exchange, collision, and integration of Chinese and Western academia, 20th-century Chinese academic culture was born and rapidly grew. Within a century, new breakthroughs and significant progress were made in various academic fields, establishing a complete system of modern Chinese academic culture. Reviewing and summarizing the academic development of the 20th century, discerning its right and wrong, gains and losses, is a highly meaningful endeavor. It is an essential step to advance 21st-century academia and further construct socialist academic culture in China. Traditional Chinese academic culture has a long history, profound roots, and has produced splendid achievements and substantial accumulations. It has long nurtured the Chinese people, shaping the character and spirit of the Chinese nation, and holds an important position in the history of world academic culture. However, since the mid-19th century, imperialist invasions brought Western academic culture to China as well. The spread of Western learning to the East went through several stages, starting with the dissemination of material civilization, followed by institutional and spiritual civilization, until Marxism was introduced to China. Western academic culture is vast and far-reaching in influence. Upon entering China, it took root, blossomed, and bore fruit. It changed the direction and pace of development of Chinese academic thought and even society, as China transitioned from a traditional feudal society to a modern one. During this period, there were intense struggles and gradual integration between Chinese and Western studies, old and new studies, traditional and modern scholarship. The 20th-century academic culture of China was born through this process of struggle and integration. The modernization of Chinese academic culture began with Yan Fu's translation of Western academic classics. In the late 19th century, he translated "Evolution and Ethics" by Thomas Huxley, introducing the theory of evolution to the Chinese people and bringing about a revolutionary change in academic thought. Later, he successively translated Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty," John Henry Alcock's "Elements of Social Science," Herbert Spencer's "Principles of Sociology," Montesquieu's "The Spirit of the Laws," John Stuart Mill's "A System of Logic," and George John Romanes's "Elementary Lessons in Logic." These were areas rarely studied or written about in traditional Chinese academia, providing references for modern Chinese economics, political science, law, sociology, and logic, thus giving rise to these disciplines. In 1901, Liang Qichao published "Discourse on the History of China," explaining the difference between modern and traditional historiography: "As world academia advances, the role of modern historians differs from that of their predecessors. Former historians merely recorded facts, while modern historians must explore the relationships, causes, and consequences of these facts. Former historians confined themselves to the rise and fall of a few powerful individuals or families, though called history, it was merely a genealogy of a person or family. Modern historians must investigate the overall movement and progress of human society, the experiences of the entire nation, and their interrelationships." He passionately called for the revolutionization of historiography, believing it was a matter of great importance to the nation's survival. He said, "If the revolution in historiography does not occur, our country will be irredeemable. Among all things, this is the most important." At that time, Xia Zengyou wrote "New Middle School Chinese History Textbook," the first modern Chinese general history written in a chapter-based style. Other disciplines also entered the modern era at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910, Shen Jiaben founded the Law Society and "Journal of the Law Society," marking the beginning of modern Chinese jurisprudence. Wang Guowei and Luo Zhenyu's study of oracle bones unearthed from the Yin Ruins can be considered the origin of modern Chinese archaeology. Zhang Taiyan's study of Indian philosophy and Wang Guowei's exploration of Schopenhauer pioneered the study of foreign philosophy by modern Chinese scholars. During the May Fourth Movement, Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi advocated literary revolution, giving birth to modern Chinese literature. Hu Shi wrote "Outlines of the History of Chinese Philosophy," the first systematic analysis of ancient Chinese thought from a Western perspective. As for natural sciences, in the late 19th century, scholars like Li Shanlan, Xu Shu, and Hua Hengfang translated numerous works and laid extensive groundwork. In 1915, Chinese students studying in the United States founded the Chinese Scientific Society and launched "Scientific Monthly," marking the gradual development of modern Chinese natural science research. The 20th-century Chinese academia was a product of advanced intellectuals seeking truth to save the nation from Western thought. Western theories and numerous works surged into China like a flood opening its. Chinese scholars, rooted in their own culture, selected, distinguished, and absorbed, creating academic culture suited to their time. As Chinese scholars, born and raised in China, educated within its culture, were inevitably deeply influenced by traditional Chinese culture. The scholars of the 20th century, coming from the old era, were generally well-versed in traditional Chinese culture. The fierce anti-traditionalists of the May Fourth Movement, such as Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong, and Wu Yu, strove to oppose and break away from old traditions to fulfill their historical mission of discarding the old and embracing the new. Yet, old traditions had already permeated their blood, making it impossible for them to completely sever ties with tradition. As they themselves said, they had broken out of the old camp and turned against it. Even "wholly Westernized" advocates like Chen Xujing could not escape the influence of old traditions. As long as one is Chinese and has been educated in Chinese culture, it is impossible to completely the influence of Chinese academic culture. "Today's me" cannot entirely oppose and discard "yesterday's me." Similarly, no 20th-century Chinese scholar, no matter how conservative or stubborn, could completely oppose Western academic culture. The superiority and advancement of Western academic culture became increasingly evident, and people could not help but accept it to some extent. There were no one who entirely opposed and rejected Western academic culture. Modern life in China was heavily influenced by the West—western suits, western-style meals, western-style houses, cars, and airplanes. Western civilization was everywhere. Whose life could be separated from these things? Mao Dun, in "The Midnight Sun," portrayed Wu Laoye as a stubborn and ignorant old man, yet upon arriving in Shanghai from the countryside, he recited the "Great Response to" but lived in a western-style house and had to travel by car. The-dressed, retro-advocate Su Hongming was actually a university scholar with a comprehensive Western education. The major characteristic of the 20th century was the transition from conflict to integration between Chinese and Western cultures. People grew up in a cultural atmosphere that was both Chinese and Western, neither purely Chinese nor purely Western, but a fusion of both. The struggle and integration of these two heterogeneous cultures would not end in a short time. Historically, when Buddhist culture entered China, it took root over the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tang, and Song dynasties, with Confucianism and Buddhism engaging in fierce struggles and mutual rejection before gradually integrating. This gave rise to Confucianized Buddhism—Chan Buddhism—and Buddhistized Confucianism—Neo-Confucianism. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jesuit missionaries brought Western culture to China. Despite support from figures like Xu Guangqi, Li Zhi'ao, even the emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi, they faced strong resistance from Confucianism. Over a hundred years later, the influence faded, and Western culture did not take root or flourish. This shows that the integration of heterogeneous cultures, especially the birth of new academic culture from this integration, is a long, slow, and arduous process. After the Opium War, the spread of Western culture in China marked the third time it entered the country, with greater momentum and far-reaching influence than the previous two. Due to the superiority of Western academic culture, traditional Chinese culture seemed inferior. By the end of the last century, in the clash between Chinese and Western studies, Chinese studies had been disorganized and defeated. It was necessary to learn from the strengths of Western studies, "taking the West as the teacher," and to recreate Chinese academic culture on its own foundation to rebuild it. Against this historical backdrop, through the unremitting efforts of Chinese scholars, 20th-century Chinese academia was nurtured, emerged, and displayed a new face and vigorous vitality. 20th-century Chinese academic culture, broadly speaking, has the following characteristics:
1. Guided by the theory of evolution and materialist history. Traditional Chinese academia praised the institutions and figures of ancient times, revered the sages and looked down upon later rulers, considering Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius as the bearers of the Way. Believing that the ancient Way had been lost, the Chinese people engaged in oppression and strife, leading to societal decline. In the late 19th century, Yan Fu translated "Evolution and Ethics," and the principles of social evolution became popular nationwide, completely changing outdated ideas. The Chinese people came to understand how to observe and study human society from an evolutionary perspective, arriving at conclusions vastly different from those of the ancients. Thus, 20th-century academic culture abandoned traditional concepts and established modern new ones. Around the May Fourth Movement, Marxism was introduced to China, and advanced intellectuals grasped the scientific materialist history, further understanding productive forces and production relations, the economic base and superstructure, the objective laws and subjective initiative of social development, etc. Academic culture research was guided by materialist history and scientific methods. 20th-century Chinese academic culture made significant progress. All 20th-century Chinese scholars believed in the theory of evolution. After 1949, materialist history under Marxism held the dominant position, nurturing and fostering a large number of scholars.
2. A new system of knowledge classification was formed. Traditional Chinese academia was divided into Confucian classics, historical records, philosophical works, and literary collections, not strictly based on disciplinary classification. Among these, Confucian classics were particularly important, dominating and encompassing everything. The "I Ching" included mathematics, philosophy, and natural sciences; the "Book of Documents" included political science, history, and geography; the "Book of Songs" included literature, art, and natural sciences; the "Book of Rites" included political science, ethics, and pedagogy; the "Spring and Autumn Annals" included history and political science. Many disciplines were still in their infancy, yet to fully differentiate from the broad Confucian classics, with extremely blurred boundaries between disciplines. 20th-century Chinese academic culture flourished and became comprehensive, forming a new system of knowledge classification. Natural sciences adopted the academic achievements accumulated over centuries in the West and became an independent major. Within it, disciplines branched out, establishing major fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, engineering, and medicine, with numerous categories and rich content, reaching a high level and benefiting national well-being. In the humanities and social sciences, literature, history, and philosophy were separated, forming their own specialties. New disciplines such as economics, law, pedagogy, sociology, journalism, political science, and psychology emerged and became independent. Due to the rapid progress of human society in the 20th century, people's understanding of nature, society, and themselves deepened, with knowledge and information quantities growing immensely. Academic culture became increasingly rich and expansive, completely breaking the old framework of Confucian classics, historical records, philosophical works, and literary collections, forming a new system of modern social and natural sciences.
3. The application of rational methods. Traditional academic research methods were not precise enough, logic was not rigorous, and reasoning and judgment had a certain degree of subjectivity. Academic pursuits involved intuitive insights, deep meditation, self-reflection, and self-cultivation. Certain non-rational methods, such as those that were imaginative, intuitive, faith-based, speculative, or emotional, as long as they could express the state of the research object—whether real or illusory—could form certain academic knowledge, such as ancient theories of the vast seas and nine regions, the theory of (heaven-mankind interaction), and (clear mind and self-nature). In the 20th century, Chinese academia introduced Western research methods, using induction and deduction, emphasizing evidence, and adhering to the principles of "no evidence, no belief" and "no single piece of evidence, no conclusion." Subjective biases were discarded, and a calm, objective attitude was adopted to engage in specific and accurate cognitive activities with rational methods toward determined objects. In natural sciences, microscopes, telescopes, and other scientific instruments and experimental methods were used. In social sciences, research methods focused on investigation and collection of firsthand material. 20th-century academic culture pursued precise and specific understanding of the rich diversity of the real world, thereby recognizing its essence and laws. Modern academic culture values rational spirit rather than intuition, faith, or authority.
4. High-pitched patriotism. When China entered the 20th century, imperialist invasions became fiercer, and the oppression of feudal warlords and the Nationalist government became more brutal. Facing internal and external troubles, the people lived in hardship. 20th-century Chinese scholars witnessed the fragmentation of the nation and the suffering of the people, filled with deep compassion and a sense of responsibility, calling for their duty to save the nation. They painstakingly explored and dedicated themselves to research in various academic fields, all for the sake of saving the country. 20th-century Chinese academic culture was born and developed in the stormy and difficult years. Scholars shared a strong desire to oppose imperialist invasions and feudal oppression, aiming for a prosperous nation and a happy people. Those in natural sciences hoped to save the country through science; economists hoped to save it through industry; pedagogues through education; political scientists through national prosperity and stability; philosophers through reviving the national spirit; historians through teaching and awakening the people with historical experience; and writers through shaping the heroic images of the unyielding national spirit. 20th-century Chinese academic culture emerged alongside the nation's hardships, driving the nation forward, calling for national awakening, and inspiring the struggles of the masses. Therefore, patriotism permeated it, becoming its main spiritual support. 20th-century Chinese academic culture proudly waved the banner of patriotism.