Hu Shih Quotes

A collection of quotes by Hu Shih.

Hu Shih (1891-1962) was a prominent Chinese philosopher, essayist, and diplomat, best known for his role in promoting modern Chinese literature and vernacular language during the New Culture Movement. Born in Anhui province, Hu Shih attended Cornell University in the United States, where he studied agriculture before switching his focus to philosophy and receiving his Ph.D. in 1917.

Hu Shih returned to China in 1917 and became a leading figure in the New Culture Movement, which aimed to reform Chinese society and promote scientific thinking and democracy. He advocated for the adoption of vernacular Chinese language, known as baihua, as opposed to classical Chinese, which was the standard written language at the time. Hu believed that the use of vernacular language was essential for modernizing China and making its literature accessible to the masses.

Throughout his career, Hu Shih held various academic positions, including the presidency of the Academia Sinica. He also served as China's ambassador to the United States in the 1930s and later as the Republic of China's envoy to India. Hu Shih's diplomatic efforts were focused on countering the influence of communism and advocating for the recognition of the Republic of China as the legitimate Chinese government.

Hu Shih's intellectual contributions had a lasting impact on Chinese literature and language reform. He emphasized the importance of individualism, freedom of expression, and rationalism. His writings and speeches played a crucial role in shaping China's intellectual and cultural landscape during a period of significant social and political change. Hu Shih's work continues to be celebrated and studied in China and beyond.

Within my own life, I read all the beloved novels by lamps o

Within my own life, I read all the beloved novels by lamps of vegetable oil; I saw the Standard Oil invading my own village, I saw gas lamps in the Chinese shops in Shanghai; and I saw their elimination by electric lights.

Hu Shih

Life Light

On the basis of biological, sociological, and historical kno

On the basis of biological, sociological, and historical knowledge, we should recognize that the individual self is subject to death or decay, but the sum total of individual achievement, for better or worse, lives on in the immortality of The Larger.

Hu Shih

Death

On July 26, 1916, I announced to all my friends in America t

On July 26, 1916, I announced to all my friends in America that from now on I resolved to write no more poems in the classical language, and to begin my experiments in writing poetry in the so-called vulgar tongue of the people.

Hu Shih

Poetry

After learning the language and culture of the Chinese peopl

After learning the language and culture of the Chinese people, these Jesuits began to establish contacts with the young intellectuals of the country.

Hu Shih

Learning

Life and human society are the chief concern of Confucianism

Life and human society are the chief concern of Confucianism and, through it, the chief concern of the Chinese people.

Hu Shih

Society

Another important historical factor is the fact that this al

Another important historical factor is the fact that this already very simple religion was further simplified and purified by the early philosophers of ancient China. Our first great philosopher was a founder of naturalism and our second great philosopher was an agnostic.

Hu Shih

Religion

What is sacred among one people may be ridiculous in another

What is sacred among one people may be ridiculous in another and what is despised or rejected by one cultural group, may in a different environment become the cornerstone for a great edifice of strange grandeur and beauty.

Hu Shih

Beauty

Only when we realize that there is no eternal, unchanging tr

Only when we realize that there is no eternal, unchanging truth or absolute truth can we arouse in ourselves a sense of intellectual responsibility.

Hu Shih

Truth

No student of Chinese history can say that the Chinese are i

No student of Chinese history can say that the Chinese are incapable of religious experience, even when judged by the standards of medieval Europe or pious India.

Hu Shih

Experience