Hu Shih’s Enlightenment Rationality And Enlightenment Practice

Hu Shih makes research of a great variety of disciplines, such as, philosophy, history, literature, textology, education, etc. In process of these researches, Hu Shih, for the most part, wants to teach people a method of thinking. According to this, The influences that Hu Shih exerts on modern Chinese thought and culture are not confined to individual field. Hu Shih has a more continuous academic method and thinking ancestry which reveals that Hu Shih aspires for a higher cultural target, that is to pursue modern civilization. For Hu Shih, enlightenment rationality is the core element of modern civilization, and includes contents of four aspects, intellect, value, emotion and belief. And this understanding of enlightenment is closely linked with his personal experiences. Hu Shih owns several identities in modern Chinese culture stage, such as philosopher, historian, litterateur, textual critic, etc. Above all, the most general identity for Hu Shih is enlighteners.When put the theory of enlightenment rationality into practice, it yields enlightenment practice. And we can analyze Hu Shih’s enlightenment practice from three perspectives, enlightenment origin, enlightenment pattern and enlightenment stance. As for the enlightenment origin, Hu Shih starts with concrete problems; for the enlightenment pattern, Hu Shih uses both emotion and rationality to put forward his enlightenment work; and for the enlightenment stance, Hu Shih constructs his thoughts through criticism.