05 The Transformation of Chinese Humanities

Published

2026-07-15

How did Chinese humanities transform from their ancient form to their modern form?
- A “modern” period? Very short in duration, similar in form, not clearly distinguishable

The Difficulty of the Emergence of Modern Chinese Humanistic Spirit

The difficulty: relative to the West
- The West: a thousand years of the Middle Ages served as a catalyst
- Italy: a developed capitalist economy
China: lacked a similar catalyst? (The “religionization” of Confucianism and Daoism?)

Emphasis on the “collective” (the realm, the nation, the state): collective value vs. emphasis on the individual

Be the first to bear the world’s worries, and the last to enjoy its pleasures.
- National cohesion, cultural continuity
Non-criticality: inheritance of tradition vs. criticality (past, future) (What about the inheritance of the Renaissance? The difference between the ancient Greek humanistic spirit and the ancient Chinese humanistic spirit?)
- Confucius: the Six Arts/Six Classics
The Zhou dynasty had the advantage of surveying the two preceding dynasties. How rich and elegant its culture! I follow the Zhou.
- Laozi: “a small state with few people”
- The “collective” → the feudal state, the feudal sovereign
- Ming and Qing: an early Enlightenment period saw the emergence of critical thought; it did not develop further
  - Qing: consolidation of rule, cultural autocracy; suppressed the early Enlightenment trend
Moral cultivation vs. exploring nature and pursuing knowledge
- Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), “Treatise on the Heavenly Offices”:
  - Division of the sky: Five Palaces
  - Hierarchical division: the North Star → the Central Palace
  - Projected the human order onto the stars — the Great Unity
  - Used humanistic research methods to study the natural sciences
- The development of the natural sciences lagged behind

Breaking Through the Difficulty: The Clash of Eastern and Western Cultures since the Opium Wars

An opportunity for the modern transformation of the Chinese humanistic spirit
Internal cause: the transformation of Chinese society and history

The transformation:

The Emergence of Modern Humanistic Spirit

The loss of the “Middle Kingdom” sense of superiority, and an unprecedented crisis
The intense clash of Eastern and Western cultures catalyzed the birth of new ideas
The awakening of the Chinese national consciousness → the modern Chinese humanistic spirit
- Similarities to the modern Western humanistic spirit:
  1. Strong criticality
    - The New Culture Movement
    - The Sinicization of Marxism
  2. Emphasis on and promotion of science (natural science)
    - Chen Duxiu, New Youth: “A Call to Youth”
    - Science and human rights given equal weight
    - The two great banners: Science and Democracy
    “Mr. Democracy” and “Mr. Science”
  3. Promotion of and respect for individuality
    - Ba Jin, The Family, Spring, Autumn
- Differences from the modern Western humanistic spirit: connections with the traditional Chinese humanistic spirit;
  - Born in a moment of life-and-death crisis, national salvation and patriotism
  - 1919-05-04 May Fourth Movement: national salvation and patriotism became the theme of the era

The Emergence of a Group of Modern Humanist Scholars

Philosophy, history, literature, linguistics, …
Different in their fields of study, political leanings, and views
Common ground: the hope to integrate Chinese and Western cultures, to connect ancient and modern scholarship, and to form a modern humanities
- Received traditional humanistic education in their youth, with a solid foundation in the tradition
- Took advantage of the new trends of the times, came into contact with Western thought in their youth, and even studied abroad
Philosophy:
- Yan Fu, Hu Shi, Liang Shuming, Xiong Shili, Feng Youlan, Jin Yuelin, He Lin, Li Da, …
  - Li Da: the Sinicization of Marxism
History:
- Wang Guowei: the “Double Evidence Method” (or “Dual Evidence Method”): written sources + excavated artifacts
Literature, linguistics, …

The Emergence of Humanities Disciplines in Modern Universities

In 1917, Cai Yuanpei became the chancellor of Peking University and reformed its educational structure
- Marked the emergence of modern university humanities disciplines
- Xue (theoretical knowledge → liberal arts, sciences) and Shu (applied knowledge → engineering, commerce, law, medicine)
  - Universities: vigorously develop liberal arts and sciences;
  - Technical colleges: develop applied fields
Peking University: established as a comprehensive university with liberal arts and sciences as its core
- Discontinued programs such as commerce and established programs such as Chinese philosophy and French literature
- Abolished the division of learning into separate branches and established a departmental system
- Academic reform: freedom of thought, inclusiveness
  - Extensively invited scholars as teachers, lecturers, and for exchanges
  - Dean of the Faculty of Arts: Chen Duxiu

Five years ago, when Mr. Yan Jidao was the chancellor of this university, I was serving in the Ministry of Education and made some contributions to the school on the opening day. Many of you have come from the preparatory department, so you must have heard of it. Three days apart, one looks at a person with new eyes; how much more after several years, you must have made great progress compared to before. I now take charge of this university, and I wish to tell you three things:

First, hold fast to your purpose. You have come here to study with a definite purpose. To know whether your purpose is correct and grand, you must first understand the nature of a university. Today, people study in specialized schools and then take up work — this is only natural. But a university is different: a university is a place for the study of advanced knowledge. Outsiders often criticize this university for its corruption, because those who study here all have the ambition to become officials or get rich. That is why most graduates of the preparatory department enter the law school, very few enter the arts, and even fewer enter the sciences — for law is the shortest path to officialdom. Because of their eagerness for office, they care not about the depth of a teacher’s learning, but only about the size of his official rank. Those with high ranks are particularly welcome, for they may help them advance after graduation. At present, those who are expert in politics and law in our country mostly enter the political world, and very few serve as full-time professors. That is why we have no choice but to hire part-time teachers. I will not dwell on whether the outside criticism is justified; but the best way to stop slander is to cultivate oneself. If people mock our corruption but our conscience is clear, what is there to fear? If you truly wish to achieve the goal of becoming an official or getting rich, there are plenty of specialized schools in Beijing. Those entering law could just as well study in a law school, and those entering commerce could take the entrance exams for a business school — why come to this university? Therefore, you must hold fast to your purpose: come for the sake of learning. Those entering law are not here to become officials; those entering commerce are not here to get rich. Once your purpose is fixed, you will naturally follow the right path. You study here for three or four years — that is no small amount of time. If you can cherish every moment and study diligently, your achievements will have no limit. But if your only ambition is to become an official or get rich, your purpose will be perverted and your direction will be different. In normal times you will indulge in dissipation, and at examination time you will cram from lecture notes, caring not whether you have learned anything, but only about your scores; after the examinations, you will shelve your books and never look at them again. After shuffling through three or four years in a perfunctory manner, once you have your diploma in hand, you can use it to maneuver in society — is this not completely contrary to the original purpose of studying? Wasting your time and learning nothing — this is harming yourself. Moreover, the reason we revolted in the Revolution of 1911 was the corruption of the Qing court officials. Even today, we are dissatisfied with those in power, also because of their moral decay. If you do not now lay a solid foundation and diligently pursue your studies, then in the future, if forced by livelihood to take up work, if you take up teaching, you will surely mislead your students; if you enter politics, you will surely mislead the country. This is harming others. To harm oneself and others — can this be what you wish? Therefore, your purpose must be correct and grand. This is my first hope for you.

Second, cultivate your moral conduct. Today, customs are increasingly lax and morality is decaying; Beijing society is especially bad. Deeds of moral degradation are everywhere. Unless one’s foundation is deep and firm, it is rare not to be corrupted by vulgar trends. As students of this university, you should be able to restrain yourselves and love yourselves. But the rise and fall of a nation depends on the thickness of its customs. If customs are like this, what future can we imagine? There must be outstanding people who set an example and strive to correct decadent customs. As university students, your status is high and you bear this heavy responsibility — no one else can do it. Therefore, you must not only think of how to perfect yourselves, but also how to encourage others. If you do not cultivate virtue and do not pursue learning, if you go along with vulgar trends and conform to corrupt ways, you will already be despised by others — how much less can you move others? But you spend all day bent over your desks, laboring hard with no entertainment, and you must feel physical pain. My advice to you is to replace improper amusements with proper ones, so that your morals will not be impaired and your health will benefit. When you entered your respective faculties, you signed a pledge to obey the university’s rules. If you violate them midway, is that not contrary to your original promise? Therefore, your conduct must be strict and careful. This is my second hope for you.

Third, respect and love your teachers and friends. The teaching of the instructors and the tasks of the staff are all for your convenience in studying — can you remain unmoved? You should treat them with sincerity and respect. As for classmates living together in the same dormitory, you should be especially affectionate with one another, so that you may benefit from mutual discussion and improvement. Not only should you be open and fair, but you should also encourage one another in righteousness, for living together in this school, your reputations are shared. If a classmate has moral failings or improper conduct and is criticized by society, even if you yourself behave properly, you will not be able to defend yourself. This is why you must encourage one another. When I was in Germany, whenever I went to a shop to buy something, the shopkeeper would treat me warmly, and we would thank each other when paying and receiving goods. This is a small matter, but it is necessary in social intercourse. If ordinary people do this, how much more should university students? Respect and love for teachers and friends — this is my third hope for you.

I have only been in office for a few days and am not yet familiar with all the university’s affairs. The two things I plan to do are: first, to improve the lecture notes. Since you are studying advanced knowledge, this is different from middle school and high school. You should not rely solely on the teacher’s lectures, but also on your own independent study. In the future, the printed lecture notes will only outline the main points; the finer details and profound meanings will be either orally transmitted by the lecturer or consulted by yourselves, so that you may gain true understanding and practical benefit. Second, to purchase more books. Although our library has many books, there are very few new ones. If we do not buy widely, they will not be sufficient for your reference. I plan to raise funds to purchase more new books. In the future, when the shelves are full of books, you will naturally be able to consult widely and have no fear of shortage. What I have said to you today is only this. In the days to come, we shall have many more meetings and can discuss matters further at any time.

— Cai Yuanpei, “Inaugural Address as Chancellor of Peking University”

Tsinghua University: Institute of Chinese Studies (Guoxue Yanjiuyuan)

--- title: "05 The Transformation of Chinese Humanities" date: 2026-07-15 --- - How did Chinese humanities transform from their ancient form to their modern form? - A "modern" period? Very short in duration, similar in form, not clearly distinguishable # The Difficulty of the Emergence of Modern Chinese Humanistic Spirit - The difficulty: relative to the West - The West: a thousand years of the Middle Ages served as a catalyst - Italy: a developed capitalist economy - China: lacked a similar catalyst? (The "religionization" of Confucianism and Daoism?) 1. Emphasis on the "collective" (the realm, the nation, the state): collective value vs. emphasis on the individual > Be the first to bear the world's worries, and the last to enjoy its pleasures. - National cohesion, cultural continuity 2. Non-criticality: inheritance of tradition vs. criticality (past, future) (What about the inheritance of the Renaissance? The difference between the ancient Greek humanistic spirit and the ancient Chinese humanistic spirit?) - Confucius: the Six Arts/Six Classics > The Zhou dynasty had the advantage of surveying the two preceding dynasties. How rich and elegant its culture! I follow the Zhou. - Laozi: "a small state with few people" - The "collective" → the feudal state, the feudal sovereign - Ming and Qing: an early Enlightenment period saw the emergence of critical thought; it did not develop further - Qing: consolidation of rule, cultural autocracy; suppressed the early Enlightenment trend 3. Moral cultivation vs. exploring nature and pursuing knowledge - Sima Qian, *Records of the Grand Historian* (*Shiji*), "Treatise on the Heavenly Offices": - Division of the sky: Five Palaces - Hierarchical division: the North Star → the Central Palace - Projected the human order onto the stars — the Great Unity - Used humanistic research methods to study the natural sciences - The development of the natural sciences lagged behind # Breaking Through the Difficulty: The Clash of Eastern and Western Cultures since the Opium Wars - An opportunity for the modern transformation of the Chinese humanistic spirit - Internal cause: the transformation of Chinese society and history The transformation: ## The Emergence of Modern Humanistic Spirit - The loss of the "Middle Kingdom" sense of superiority, and an unprecedented crisis - The intense clash of Eastern and Western cultures catalyzed the birth of new ideas - The awakening of the Chinese national consciousness → the modern Chinese humanistic spirit - Similarities to the modern Western humanistic spirit: 1. Strong criticality - The New Culture Movement - The Sinicization of Marxism 2. Emphasis on and promotion of science (natural science) - Chen Duxiu, *New Youth*: "A Call to Youth" - Science and human rights given equal weight - The two great banners: Science and Democracy > "Mr. Democracy" and "Mr. Science" 3. Promotion of and respect for individuality - Ba Jin, *The Family*, *Spring*, *Autumn* - Differences from the modern Western humanistic spirit: connections with the traditional Chinese humanistic spirit; - Born in a moment of life-and-death crisis, **national salvation and patriotism** - 1919-05-04 May Fourth Movement: national salvation and patriotism became the theme of the era ## The Emergence of a Group of Modern Humanist Scholars - Philosophy, history, literature, linguistics, ... - Different in their fields of study, political leanings, and views - Common ground: the hope to integrate Chinese and Western cultures, to connect ancient and modern scholarship, and to form a modern humanities - Received traditional humanistic education in their youth, with a solid foundation in the tradition - Took advantage of the new trends of the times, came into contact with Western thought in their youth, and even studied abroad - Philosophy: - Yan Fu, Hu Shi, Liang Shuming, Xiong Shili, Feng Youlan, Jin Yuelin, He Lin, Li Da, ... - Li Da: the Sinicization of Marxism - History: - Wang Guowei: the "Double Evidence Method" (or "Dual Evidence Method"): written sources + excavated artifacts - Literature, linguistics, ... ## The Emergence of Humanities Disciplines in Modern Universities - In 1917, Cai Yuanpei became the chancellor of Peking University and reformed its educational structure - Marked the emergence of modern university humanities disciplines - *Xue* (theoretical knowledge → liberal arts, sciences) and *Shu* (applied knowledge → engineering, commerce, law, medicine) - Universities: vigorously develop liberal arts and sciences; - Technical colleges: develop applied fields - Peking University: established as a comprehensive university with liberal arts and sciences as its core - Discontinued programs such as commerce and established programs such as Chinese philosophy and French literature - Abolished the division of learning into separate branches and established a departmental system - Academic reform: freedom of thought, inclusiveness - Extensively invited scholars as teachers, lecturers, and for exchanges - Dean of the Faculty of Arts: Chen Duxiu > Five years ago, when Mr. Yan Jidao was the chancellor of this university, I was serving in the Ministry of Education and made some contributions to the school on the opening day. Many of you have come from the preparatory department, so you must have heard of it. Three days apart, one looks at a person with new eyes; how much more after several years, you must have made great progress compared to before. I now take charge of this university, and I wish to tell you three things: > > First, hold fast to your purpose. You have come here to study with a definite purpose. To know whether your purpose is correct and grand, you must first understand the nature of a university. Today, people study in specialized schools and then take up work — this is only natural. But a university is different: a university is a place for the study of advanced knowledge. Outsiders often criticize this university for its corruption, because those who study here all have the ambition to become officials or get rich. That is why most graduates of the preparatory department enter the law school, very few enter the arts, and even fewer enter the sciences — for law is the shortest path to officialdom. Because of their eagerness for office, they care not about the depth of a teacher's learning, but only about the size of his official rank. Those with high ranks are particularly welcome, for they may help them advance after graduation. At present, those who are expert in politics and law in our country mostly enter the political world, and very few serve as full-time professors. That is why we have no choice but to hire part-time teachers. I will not dwell on whether the outside criticism is justified; but the best way to stop slander is to cultivate oneself. If people mock our corruption but our conscience is clear, what is there to fear? If you truly wish to achieve the goal of becoming an official or getting rich, there are plenty of specialized schools in Beijing. Those entering law could just as well study in a law school, and those entering commerce could take the entrance exams for a business school — why come to this university? Therefore, you must hold fast to your purpose: come for the sake of learning. Those entering law are not here to become officials; those entering commerce are not here to get rich. Once your purpose is fixed, you will naturally follow the right path. You study here for three or four years — that is no small amount of time. If you can cherish every moment and study diligently, your achievements will have no limit. But if your only ambition is to become an official or get rich, your purpose will be perverted and your direction will be different. In normal times you will indulge in dissipation, and at examination time you will cram from lecture notes, caring not whether you have learned anything, but only about your scores; after the examinations, you will shelve your books and never look at them again. After shuffling through three or four years in a perfunctory manner, once you have your diploma in hand, you can use it to maneuver in society — is this not completely contrary to the original purpose of studying? Wasting your time and learning nothing — this is harming yourself. Moreover, the reason we revolted in the Revolution of 1911 was the corruption of the Qing court officials. Even today, we are dissatisfied with those in power, also because of their moral decay. If you do not now lay a solid foundation and diligently pursue your studies, then in the future, if forced by livelihood to take up work, if you take up teaching, you will surely mislead your students; if you enter politics, you will surely mislead the country. This is harming others. To harm oneself and others — can this be what you wish? Therefore, your purpose must be correct and grand. This is my first hope for you. > > Second, cultivate your moral conduct. Today, customs are increasingly lax and morality is decaying; Beijing society is especially bad. Deeds of moral degradation are everywhere. Unless one's foundation is deep and firm, it is rare not to be corrupted by vulgar trends. As students of this university, you should be able to restrain yourselves and love yourselves. But the rise and fall of a nation depends on the thickness of its customs. If customs are like this, what future can we imagine? There must be outstanding people who set an example and strive to correct decadent customs. As university students, your status is high and you bear this heavy responsibility — no one else can do it. Therefore, you must not only think of how to perfect yourselves, but also how to encourage others. If you do not cultivate virtue and do not pursue learning, if you go along with vulgar trends and conform to corrupt ways, you will already be despised by others — how much less can you move others? But you spend all day bent over your desks, laboring hard with no entertainment, and you must feel physical pain. My advice to you is to replace improper amusements with proper ones, so that your morals will not be impaired and your health will benefit. When you entered your respective faculties, you signed a pledge to obey the university's rules. If you violate them midway, is that not contrary to your original promise? Therefore, your conduct must be strict and careful. This is my second hope for you. > > Third, respect and love your teachers and friends. The teaching of the instructors and the tasks of the staff are all for your convenience in studying — can you remain unmoved? You should treat them with sincerity and respect. As for classmates living together in the same dormitory, you should be especially affectionate with one another, so that you may benefit from mutual discussion and improvement. Not only should you be open and fair, but you should also encourage one another in righteousness, for living together in this school, your reputations are shared. If a classmate has moral failings or improper conduct and is criticized by society, even if you yourself behave properly, you will not be able to defend yourself. This is why you must encourage one another. When I was in Germany, whenever I went to a shop to buy something, the shopkeeper would treat me warmly, and we would thank each other when paying and receiving goods. This is a small matter, but it is necessary in social intercourse. If ordinary people do this, how much more should university students? Respect and love for teachers and friends — this is my third hope for you. > > I have only been in office for a few days and am not yet familiar with all the university's affairs. The two things I plan to do are: first, to improve the lecture notes. Since you are studying advanced knowledge, this is different from middle school and high school. You should not rely solely on the teacher's lectures, but also on your own independent study. In the future, the printed lecture notes will only outline the main points; the finer details and profound meanings will be either orally transmitted by the lecturer or consulted by yourselves, so that you may gain true understanding and practical benefit. Second, to purchase more books. Although our library has many books, there are very few new ones. If we do not buy widely, they will not be sufficient for your reference. I plan to raise funds to purchase more new books. In the future, when the shelves are full of books, you will naturally be able to consult widely and have no fear of shortage. What I have said to you today is only this. In the days to come, we shall have many more meetings and can discuss matters further at any time. > > — Cai Yuanpei, "Inaugural Address as Chancellor of Peking University" - Tsinghua University: Institute of Chinese Studies (Guoxue Yanjiuyuan)