Hu Shi

Hu Shi (1891–1962), courtesy name Shizhi, was a native of Jixi, Anhui, and a modern Chinese scholar and thinker. A leading figure of the New Culture Movement, he is known for advocating the use of vernacular Chinese. He served as a professor and later president of Peking University, and subsequently as president of the Academia Sinica. The library holds 213 of his works, spanning social culture, Eastern philosophy, essays and miscellaneous writings, and biography. His representative works include Tolerance and Freedom, An Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy, A History of Vernacular Literature, and The Diaries of Hu Shi Abroad. His writing combines scholarly argument with personal essays, showing both intellectual sharpness and a plain, fluent style; he exercised a profound influence on modern Chinese thought and cultural development.