Artigo Revisado por pares

The Role of Intellectuals in the Reform Process

2003; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 34; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2753/csp1097-146734048

ISSN

1558-0997

Autores

Jean-Philippe Béja,

Tópico(s)

Chinese history and philosophy

Resumo

In the eighteenth century, Voltaire presented China as the kingdom of philosophers. The term philosophe, which appeared at this period, is the ancestor of the "intellectual," a name most historians date back to the Dreyfus Affair at the beginning of the twentieth century. But the request for a specific role in public affairs by literati is much more ancient than this specific case. After all, at least since the early nineteenth century, the Russian intelligentsia affirmed its involvement in the public sphere. And discussions have been going on in China for decades to assess how much modern zhishifenzi (intellectuals) can be considered as the heirs (albeit very weakened) to the traditional literati, or shi. All along the twentieth century, and especially after the May Fourth movement signaled its irruption on the political scene, the intelligentsia has been involved in the definition of the way to "save China." The 1920s and 1930s have been witnesses to raging debates on the path to modernization, the necessity (or not) to create a new culture in rupture with Confucianism, and on the desirable political system for China.1 The majority of intellectuals agreed on the necessity to introduce the values of Enlightenment in the Middle Kingdom, but they soon diverged on the type of political system that would best ensure their enactment. Intellectuals were soon involved with the various political parties that competed (often violently) for the leadership of the country, and opposition between exponents of parliamentary democracy such as Hu Shi and Marxists such as Chen Duxiu.

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