Wang Yuanhua (Chinese: 王元化; November 30, 1920 – May 9, 2008) was a Chinese scholar and literary theorist who was a leading figure in the New Enlightenment movement in mainland China in the 1980s. As an influential liberal intellectual in China, Wang was a professor at the East China Normal University, and served as the director of the Publicity Department of Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (1983–1985). He founded the journal New Enlightenment in Shanghai in 1988.
Biography
Wang Yuanhua was born to a Christian family in Wuchang, Hubei on November 30, 1920. Wang Yuanhua's parents got married in 1906, and his father, Wang Fangquan (王芳荃), obtained master's degree of education at the University of Chicago in the United States before returning to Tsinghua University in 1915 where he taught English; Wang Yuanhua thus spent his childhood in Beijing.
Wang joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1938 and attended the Great China University from 1939–1941. In 1948, Wang married his wife Zhang Ke (张可). After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Wang served in the China Writers Association in Shanghai. He was seriously affected by the "Anti-Hu Feng Campaign" in 1955, even being expelled from the CCP.
After the Cultural Revolution in 1976, Wang was rehabilitated and returned to the CCP, serving as the director of the Publicity Department of Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (1983–1985). He taught at the East China Normal University, and became an advocate for thought liberation in the 1980s and for Chinese liberalism in the 1990s. In particular, Wang played a leading role in the New Enlightenment movement in the 1980s and founded the New Enlightenment magazine in Shanghai in 1988. He was also recognized as an influential literary theorist.
Wang passed away on May 9, 2008, in Shanghai.
See also
References
- ^ Li, Ping (2018-09-07). "王元化与基督教文化" [Wang Yuanhua and the culture of Christianity]. The Paper. Century (journal).
- ^ Xu, Jilin (May 3, 2012). "Enlightenment and Chinese Civil Society: The Cases of Wang Yuanhua and Li Shenzhi | US-China Institute". University of Southern California. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
- ^ "王元化学馆" [The Wang Yuanhua Study Center]. East China Normal University (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-10-13.
- ^ Jilin, Xu (2021), van de Ven, Hans; Mühlhahn, Klaus; Cheek, Timothy (eds.), "The 1990s: Wang Yuanhua: A Party Intellectual Reflects", The Chinese Communist Party, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 175–190, ISBN 978-1-108-84277-8, retrieved 2024-10-13
- ^ "JPRS Report: Beijing Bookstore 'Barometer' of Political Climate" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Chengming Magazine. 1989-07-06. pp. 7–9.
- ^ Xu, Qinquan (2015-11-17). "王元化与"都乐书屋事件" [Wang Yuanhua and the "Dule bookstore incident"]. Ai Sixiang (爱思想) (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2024-06-18.
- ^ Li, Rui (2010-09-30). "王元化与新启蒙" [Wang Yuanhua and the New Enlightenment]. Ai Sixiang (爱思想) (in Chinese). Yanhuang Chunqiu. Archived from the original on 2015-06-06.
- ^ Xu, Qingquan (2008-05-21). "王元化："五四的儿子"走了" [Wang Yuanhua, "son of the May Fourth Movement", has passed away]. Sohu (in Chinese). China Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
- "这些青春，来自1924年的大夏". East China Normal University. 2024-05-04. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- ^ Xiang, Biao; Wu, Qi (2023), Xiang, Biao; Wu, Qi (eds.), "Using the 1980s to Critique the 1980s", Self as Method : Thinking Through China and the World, Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 99–105, doi:10.1007/978-981-19-4953-1_11, ISBN 978-981-19-4953-1, retrieved 2024-10-13
- Xia, Zhongyi (2012). "On the Evolution of Wang Yuanhua's Methodology for Literary Theory". Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art. 32 (1): 114–127.
- Sun, Chenhui (2008-05-20). "追忆著名学者王元化：知识与精神的双重导师" [In memory of notable scholar Wang Yuanhua]. China Science Daily (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-10-13.