A Study Of Prof. Wang Yuanhua's Scholarship And Ideology From 1960s Through 1990s

Prof.Wang Yuanhua is similar to his contemporaries in carrying on the ideological trend of the May 4th Movement and suffering many a setback during his life. He insisted the principle of "making one's own judgment based on the fact" in his academic research, and there appeared a tendency from exploration to retrospection in his study in the late 20th century. This thesis chiefly divided into two sections to analyse his research and thoughts in this period from the perspectives of "academic exploration " and "cultural retrospection". The section of "academic exploration" tries to cover his discoveries in WenXinDiaoLong, aesthetics and the study of literature and art in his study from 1960s to 1980s, with the purpose of displaying the features of his methodology as well as his courage of breaking the limits and blazing new trails. The section of "cultural retrospection" intends to manifest the characteristics and value of his retrospection in 1990s by sifting his reflections which started from rethinking on Hegel's conceptions and extended to aesthetics, the study of literature and art, political democracy and history of modern ideology. The section of "conclusion" generally summarizes his study in this period, so as to probe into his mental progress in scholarly research, then shows the characteristics of his study: from literary theory to culture, based on philosophy, linking up literature and history, and advocating comprehensive research methodology, and the transfer in his study from "contrasting for similarities" to "referring for differences" between Chinese and foreign academic viewpoints and cultures. It can be seen that Wang Yuanhua's research trend and spirit not only keep in pace with Chinese ideological history and academic history in 20th century, but also reflect the mental progress of a few intellectuals with individuality and conscience at that time.