Chinese Intellectuals in Crisis (Seeking Order and Meaning)

Author: Zhang Hao, edited by Gao Liki, translated by Wang Yue, proofread by Mao Xiaolin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This is a research monograph on four leading figures of early Chinese intellectuals—Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong, Zhang Binglin, and Liu Shipei. It is not a collection of biographies of their thoughts. My focus is on the intellectual development of these individuals from the early 1890s to 1911, using this period as a gateway to explore the intellectual changes during the "transitional era" (1890–1911). I chose these four figures, to some extent, because they all played significant roles in the intellectual world in different ways during this period. More importantly, their worldviews reflect the highly significant intellectual landscape of this little-studied era. I believe that analyzing their four worldviews together will allow us to examine their thoughts and the era from a new perspective. However, this analysis requires us to move beyond some dominant topics and methods in existing literature. The discussions that follow will help to accurately articulate my research.