A Study Of Hu Shi's Literary Thoughts Influenced By Western Culture

Hu Shi(1891-1962), born in Jixi, Anhui Province, was a distinguished modern scholar who had achieved high in literature, philosophy, history, textology, ethnics, Redology, etc. and had great influence on Chinese academic history. In 1917, Hu Shi published his article A Rustic Opinion on the Improvement of Literature and hence become an initiator of the Literary Revolution. He is considered one of the most influential leaders in China's New Cultural Movement and one of the most eminent figures in the history of modern Chinese cultural thinking.There has always been studies on the relationship of Hu Shi's literary thinking with Western culture, but few are systematic and comprehensive. Moreover, some issues are waiting long for deeper explorations.This paper is divided into three parts, namely, the introduction, the main part, and the conclusion.Part One briefly reviewes the studies on the relationship of Hu Shi's literary thinking with Western culture, then it describes the historic event of Literary Revolution, so as to provide a blended cultural background of both Chinese and Western for this event.The main part is subdevided into five chapters.Chapter One discusses the influence of the Evolution Theory on Hu Shi's linguistic and literary views, based on which we infer that Hu Shi's illustrations of both Chinese and Western literary history are mainly made with the influence of the Evolution Theory, and it is under this influence that he points out the necessity of a revolution in Chinese language and literature. Chapter Two aims to illustrate the enlightment and modelling significance that Euro-American literary history provided to Hu Shi's writing of vernacular literary history since the Renaissance, and it states the effect of global populist thinking on Hu Shi's populace literature.Chapter Three focuses on the influence of the Western culture on Hu Shi's realistic and liberal literary views, explains this two literary views, and points out their respective influence in China's modern literary history.Chapter Four explores the relation between Hu Shi's theories on vernacular poems and Western literature, among which, the relation of his advocations of"wiping platitudes out"in vernacular poem theories, prosifying tendency in peoms and"specified writing"with the advocations of Wordsworth, Whitman, and American Imagism.Chapter Five is mainly about the modern awareness that Western culture brings to Hu Shi and its reflection in the style and discourse of criticism. And the effects of scientism, positivism and biographical criticism in modern Europe on Hu Shi's textual research of Chinese classical literature.The final part sums up the previous five chapters, analyzes the time and reason of Hu Shi's acceptance of Western cultural resources, and reveals their varied reflection in his literary thinking.