Hu Shih
Hu Shih, born Hu Hongxing on December 17, 1891, in Shanghai, China, was a significant figure in modern Chinese intellectual and political life. Coming from a scholarly family, he was influenced by a rigorous Confucian education early on, which he later sought to reform after studying in the United States. He attended Cornell University and Columbia University, where he was notably impacted by the pragmatism of philosopher John Dewey. Upon returning to China in 1917, Hu Shih championed educational and literary reforms, promoting the use of vernacular Chinese (baihua) over classical forms. His poetry and writings broke from traditional constraints, merging Western influences with Chinese thought. Throughout his career, he served in various prominent roles, including as the ambassador to the United States and chancellor of Peking National University. After the establishment of the Communist government in 1949, Hu Shih spent time in New York City before returning to Taiwan, where he continued to contribute to academia until his death on February 24, 1962. His legacy is marked by his efforts to modernize Chinese literature and education.
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Subject Terms
Hu Shih
Philosopher
- Born: December 17, 1891
- Birthplace: Shanghai, China
- Died: February 24, 1962
- Place of death: Nankang, Taiwan
Biography
Named Hu Hongxing at birth, Hu Shih was born December 17, 1891, in Shanghai, China. His father, Hu Chuan, was a scholar-official from Chi-ch’i county in Anhwei province and died when Hu Shih was only three. Hu Shih’s mother, Feng Shundi, was herself uneducated but carefully emphasized education for her son as the avenue for success in the civil service examinations that allowed one to become a government official. Hu’s early education emphasized the Chinese classics, especially Confucian classics, and the close study of literary form. The system of education was designed to justify the rule of the Manchu Dynasty. Such training emphasized orthodoxy in form and thought and proved daunting, since the language used was remote from the spoken language.
In 1904, Hu went to Shanghai to get a modern education, and in 1910, he won a scholarship that enabled him to go to the United States and study agriculture and philosophy at Cornell University. He received his B.A. in 1914, and then completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at Columbia University in 1917. In December of 1917, Hu Shih married Jiang Dongxiu, an illiterate girl one year older who had bound feet.
While studying in America, Hu was greatly influenced by the philosophy of John Dewey, under whom Hu wrote his doctoral dissertation. Dewey maintained that one should not quest for absolute ideals, but accept only what could pass the “test of consequences.” This pragmatism profoundly affected Hu, who, upon his return to China in 1917, began lobbying for educational and literary reform in China. In 1918, Hu wrote a collection of poems that illustrated the value of writing vernacular literature, or baihua. Such modernizing ideas spread so rapidly that by 1922, the government of China proclaimed the vernacular as the national language.
Hu’s poetry broke free from the strict, formal structure of classical Chinese literature and used the varied line lengths of Western literature. His poems, such as “Dream and Poetry” and “Old Dream,” demonstrate a fine balance between Chinese and Western influences. In his Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy, published in 1919, Hu advocated applying scientific methods to the study of the logic of ancient philosophers.
Hu will be remembered well as a political reformer. He promoted a gradual transformation of society through education, in contrast to the liberal ambitions of the Chinese Communists. From 1938 to 1945, Hu served as China’s ambassador to the United States. From 1945 to 1949, he was the chancellor of Peking National University. For some time after the establishment of the Communist government in mainland China in 1949, Hu lived in New York City where in 1957 he represented Nationalist China at the United Nations. In 1958, he returned to Taiwan to become president of the Academia Sinica. He died on February 24, 1962, in Taiwan.