Red Studies (1954)

Author: Sun Yuming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features:
Editor's Recommendation: Truly recreates the 1954 Red Studies Movement. The study of Red Studies has a long history, but none of the previous debates could match the 1954 "Criticism Campaign on the Research of Dream of the Red Chamber": it transcended the academic level and expanded into various fields, becoming a major event that influenced the political and cultural life of the nation. Originally, when the "two little figures" published the articles "On Brief Discussion of Dream of the Red Chamber and Others" and "Commentary on the Research of Dream of the Red Chamber," the debate remained at the academic level. However, under the personal guidance and leadership of the founding leader Mao Zedong, the nature of this academic debate underwent a complete change, and the criticism soon turned toward the "Hu Shi Thought" that had dominated Chinese academia for three decades. This book provides a comprehensive and objective review and reflection on this period of history. The author spent several years, using convincing and detailed historical materials and a relatively scientific writing approach, to objectively and comprehensively introduce the causes and consequences of the "Criticism Campaign on the Research of Dream of the Red Chamber" in the autumn of 1954. By reviewing and analyzing the typical figures, events, and statements of the intellectual community during this movement, the book points out that the expansion of the movement's scale, its renewed forms, and the active participation of the intellectual class are closely related. Facing the questions of history and the responsibilities of the present, intellectuals themselves should engage in profound reflection. The book is imbued with a positive and progressive spirit, narrates objectively and justly, and, while calling for conscience and responsibility, provides valuable materials for the study of the history of academic thought in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially the development history of "Red Studies."