On Liang Shiqiu's Libertarian Thought

Liang Shiqiu was a famous scholar and litterateur who had contributed a lot to the course of Chinese modernization and democracy among other scholars and ideologists at the beginning of 20th century, while, for some historical reasons, he was neglected and only to regain his fame after the Culture Revolution. This thesis intends to explore the liberalism spirits of Liang Shiqiu's works through political and literary perspectives, and it will revalue his contribution and status in modern Chinese literary history. I will focus on the connection of Hang's works with western liberalism and try to sort out the influential impact of the West, and then put him in the context of modern Chinese ideology history and dig out the connection between Hang's ideas and neo-humanism in China. As Liang Shiqiu's opinions and propositions were quite different from those radical ideologies adopted by Chinese intellectuals at that time, and his comparatively conservative propositions were actually complementary of the leading ones, thus his liberalism theories are more proper to the social and political context of today. By studying the liberalism factors in his works, this thesis will provide a new viewpoint of Liang Shiqiu and make profound contribution to Chinese ideology history.