Seeking Order and Meaning - Chinese Intellectuals in Crisis

Author: Zhang Hao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: This is a research monograph on four leading figures of early Chinese intellectuals—Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, Zhang Binglin, and Liu Shiyi. It is not a collection of biographies of their thoughts. My focus is on their intellectual development from the early 1890s to 1911, which serves as an entry point to explore the intellectual transformations during the "Transition Period" (1890–1911). I chose these four individuals, to some extent, because they all played significant roles in the intellectual sphere during this period in different ways. More importantly, their worldviews reflect the crucial intellectual landscape of this understudied era. I believe that analyzing their four worldviews together will allow us to examine their thoughts and era from a new perspective. However, this analysis requires us to move away from some of the dominant topics and methods in existing literature. The discussions that follow will help to accurately articulate my research. This is a research monograph on four leading figures of early Chinese intellectuals—Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, Zhang Binglin, and Liu Shiyi. It is not a collection of biographies of their thoughts. My focus is on their intellectual development from the early 1890s to 1911, which serves as an entry point to explore the intellectual transformations during the "Transition Period" (1890–1911). I chose these four individuals, to some extent, because they all played significant roles in the intellectual sphere during this period in different ways. More importantly, their worldviews reflect the crucial intellectual landscape of this understudied era. I believe that analyzing their four worldviews together will allow us to examine their thoughts and era from a new perspective. However, this analysis requires us to move away from some of the dominant topics and methods in existing literature. The discussions that follow will help to accurately articulate my research.