Academic research

Author: Zheng Yefu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: China Youth Press has recently published four works of Zheng Yefu under the general title "Series of Sociologist Zheng Yefu's Works." Except for the reprinted classic Out of the Prisoner's Dilemma, the other three works—Notes on Reading Biology, Research on Intellectuals, and Voices of Passive Smokers—are published for the first time. These collections clearly present the expansion and evolution of the author's academic research fields: from early studies on intellectuals to explorations of trust issues, and then to recent readings in biology. The major feature of these articles is their strong critical tone toward reality. For example, in the article Critique of Car Civilization, the author poses such questions: "Is car civilization truly a blessing for human transportation?" "Are people pursuing cars for vanity, or for the convenience of social life?" The author argues that the wave of private car ownership brings increasingly severe traffic congestion and that car civilization is a rare historical trend, born from merchants and the wealthy "to make money and display wealth," resulting in a catastrophic trend. The article Reflect on Happiness, Critique of Consumption, included in the book, is a speech by the author at Renmin University, where he criticizes the widespread "ostentatious" consumption in society. The content of these works also focuses on concerns about China's trust crisis, skepticism toward the housing system and social science fund system, and reflects the author's humanistic care for social progress.
The Upper Part was written following the format of an independent monograph, so it retains its completeness and does not mix other articles. The Lower Part is different; most of the articles were written without a unified plan. After completing the Upper Part, I had planned to write a book titled Books and Intellectuals. After finishing three chapters—"Symbol, Book, and Intellectuals," "History and Current Status of Book Publishing," and "Sociological Study of Libraries"—I found it difficult to gather more materials and lost interest, leaving the planned chapters such as Sociological Reflections on Book Censorship and Book Sales and Dissemination unfinished. These three papers, along with four other scattered articles on the issue of intellectuals, were included in the Lower Part. The Lower Part shares a common theme with the Upper Part. To some extent, the Lower Part broadens the perspective of the somewhat constrained Upper Part with its casual style. Thus, the two parts are compiled into one book titled Research on Intellectuals.
The issue of intellectuals has always been a focal point in China's academic circles. The author was one of the earliest scholars to engage in this research in the 1980s. Among those who tackled this topic and that generation of scholars, this work is actually the earliest ripe grape. However, due to various reasons, it almost became the last rose of last summer. What remains is a memory of that passionate era.