Chapter 1 Introduction

IN 1915, CHINA'S STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS USHERED IN A VIBRANT, NEW intellectual era. These individuals wanted to reevaluate China's cultural practices, discard those elements that were outdated, and bring about a more modern worldview. Unless China underwent a rapid cultural-intellectual reorientation, they claimed, the twin acids of warlordism and imperialism would continue eating away at the Chinese nation. Over the course of the next decade, many of China's literary, social, and philosophical traditions were held up to close scrutiny, and eventually discarded for being backward, regressive, and unenlightened.