Destiny and Mission (A Century-Old Reflection on the Issue of Chinese Intellectuals)

Author: Feng Jianhui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The historical fate of intellectuals in modern China vividly reflects the difficulties and twists in China's process of achieving social transformation and pursuing modernization. The author adopts a unique perspective, reversing the traditional approaches of a purely "political perspective," "cultural perspective," and "pure rational perspective" in the study of the intellectual issue. By placing the intellectual problem within the broader context of modern Chinese historical development, the author conducts a systematic historical examination of the status, social position, and historical roles of intellectuals in various periods and categories. Furthermore, the author presents many thought-provoking insights on long-standing views and theories about intellectuals, such as the standards for intellectuals' social positioning, the relationship between intellectuals and other social strata, the connection between the fate of intellectuals and the overall social condition, the characteristics of intellectuals' modes of thinking, the relationship between academia and policy, and the dynamics between scholars and politicians. This work is an invaluable contribution to recent research on the intellectual issue in China.