A Pragmatist and His Free Spirit

出版者:The Chinese University Press

作者:Susan Chan Egan

页数:410

出版时间:2009-3-1

价格:USD 30.00

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9789629963415

具体描述

A Pragmatist and His Free Spirit portrays the unconventional love of Hu Shi, a Chinese social reformer and civil rights pioneer, and Edith Clifford Williams, an American avant-garde artist of the early twentieth century. Hu studied at Cornell University, where he first met Williams, and Columbia University, where he worked with the famous pragmatist John Dewey. At the time of his death in 1962, he and Williams had exchanged more than 300 letters that, along with poems and excerpts from Hu's diaries and documents (some of which have never before been translated into English) form the center of this book.

In Williams, Hu found his intellectual match, a woman and fellow scholar who helped the reformer reconcile his independent scholarship with cultural tradition. Williams counciled Hu on the acceptance of an arranged marriage, and she influenced his pursuit of experimental vernacular poetry through an exposure to avant-garde art. In 1933, the two became lovers, although their romance would eventually dwindle. Nevertheless, Williams maintained a devoted and honest correspondence with Hu throughout his tumultuous life.

Hu's work touched on virtually every crucial aspect of twentieth-century Chinese society, particularly Chinese liberalism and the use of vernacular Chinese. A Pragmatist and His Free Spirit explores the lesser-known side of this major philosopher while reconstructing his romance with Williams. Not only does the volume place Hu within the larger social, economic, and political context of his time, but it also provides readers with a multifaceted portrait of China's dramatic modern history.

Hu Shi: Father of the Modern Chinese Renaissance1891: Born in a suburb of Shanghai; 1962: Died in Taipei. Married with three children. Possibly the most documented life in modern China. Earned a B.A. and M.A. at Cornell University; Earned a Ph.D. at Columbia University, where he studied with the famous pragmatist John Dewey. Became a leading figure of the Chinese Literary Revolution of 1919, advocating the use of vernacular Chinese and the importance of intellectual individualism. Become a civil rights advocate who promoted the empowerment of women. Served as the Republic of China's Ambassador to the United States from 1938 to 1942. Installed as president of Peking University from 1946 to 1948. Worked as curator of Princeton University's Gest Library from 1950 to 1952. Became the target in absentia of a massive political denunciation campaign launched by the Chinese government between 1954 and 1955. Served as president of Academica Sinica, Taipei, from 1958 to 1962. Quoted as saying: "Be bold in your hypothesis; be meticulous in your verification."

Edith Clifford Williams: A Woman Ahead of Her Time 1885: Born in Ithaca, New York; 1971: Died in Barbados. Claims to have followed her father's advice: "Don't marry unless you can't help it." Studied at Yale University School of Art and the Académie Julian in Paris. Became a pioneer of abstract art and a member of Alfred Stieglitz's inner circle. Worked as the first full-time librarian of Cornell University's Veterinary Library from 1923 to 1946. Completed two modernist works of monumental importance: Two Rhythms (1916), a painting now housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Plâtre à toucher chez de Zayas (1916), a sculpture made for touching that was featured in Marcel Duchamp's 1917 journal, Rongwrong, and used as the subject of a lecture by Guillaume Apollinaire in Paris.

作者简介

Susan Chan Egan is an independent scholar based in Santa Barbara, California. She is the author of A Latterday Confucian: Reminiscences of William Hung (1893-1980) and cotranslator of Wang Anyi's The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai.

Chih-p'ing Chou is professor of East Asian studies at Princeton University.

用户评价

读罢此书，我发现自己对“自由”这个词汇的理解被彻底颠覆了。作者巧妙地通过一系列看似毫不相关的次要人物——比如那个总是在黄昏时分出现的流浪画家，或者那个永远在等待某人的咖啡店老板——来映照主角内心的挣扎与追求。这些配角的存在并非为了推动主线，而是像一面面棱镜，折射出不同形态的“自由”与“束缚”。文字的质感是极其干净且富有节奏感的，它像精准的节拍器，引导着读者的情绪起伏。书中关于“选择的代价”的论述尤为深刻，它没有将选择描绘成非黑即白的对立面，而是呈现出一种多重可能性叠加的复杂光谱。阅读过程更像是一场智力上的马拉松，你必须全神贯注，才能跟上作者那不时变换步伐的叙事节奏。它挑战了读者对“完满结局”的期待，最终留下的余韵是复杂的、略带酸楚但又充满希望的，让人在合上书页后仍久久不愿离去。

我必须承认，这本书的阅读体验是相当具有挑战性的，它要求读者付出大量的思考和耐心，绝非那种可以轻松消遣的作品。它的深度隐藏在看似平淡无奇的日常互动之下，需要你不断地挖掘和反刍。我特别喜欢作者对时间概念的处理——过去、现在和未来似乎是相互渗透的，角色的每一个决定都携带着前世的重量，同时也预示着尚未到来的可能性。书中反复出现的意象，比如那扇永远半开的窗户，或者那架总在走调的钢琴，都成为了解读人物复杂心境的钥匙。这些意象并非简单地重复，而是随着情节的推进，不断被赋予新的含义，显示出极高的文学技巧。它不提供明确的答案，而是抛出更优质的问题，逼迫读者走出舒适区，直面那些我们习惯性回避的伦理困境和个人局限。对于那些厌倦了被喂养式阅读的读者来说，这本书无疑是一剂强心针。

这部作品简直是一场精神的冒险，作者以一种近乎散文诗的笔触，带领我们穿梭于日常生活的细微之处与宏大哲思之间。故事的核心人物，一个沉稳务实的中年人，他的内心世界却充满了对自由和未知的渴望，这种强烈的内在张力构成了全书最引人入胜的底色。我尤其欣赏作者对环境描写的细腻——无论是清晨薄雾中街道上行人的匆匆身影，还是老旧书店里弥漫的书香与尘埃味，都仿佛触手可及。叙事节奏的处理非常高明，它时而舒缓得如同慢镜头，让我们有足够的时间去品味角色的每一个眼神和呼吸；时而又陡然加速，抛出一个令人措手不及的转折，让人几乎要从椅子上跳起来。更令人称道的是，它探讨了“实用主义”与“浪漫主义”两种看似对立的生活哲学如何在一个人身上共存并相互滋养，这远比一般小说停留在表面的冲突要深刻得多。读完后，我感到自己也受到了某种洗礼，对如何平衡责任与梦想有了全新的体悟，仿佛有人轻轻拨动了我内心深处一根沉寂已久的弦。

这本书的叙事结构是极其大胆且充满实验性的，它摒弃了传统小说的线性叙事，更像是一系列高度浓缩的、情绪饱满的蒙太奇片段组合而成。每一章的篇幅都不尽相同，有的仅寥寥数语，却掷地有声，像一把精准的手术刀切开了某种社会现象的表皮；有的则长篇大论，充满了晦涩的内心独白，仿佛直接接入了主角的潜意识流。这种跳跃感，初读时会让人有些许迷茫，但一旦适应了作者构建的这种“非线性逻辑”，你会发现它精准地捕捉了现代人碎片化、信息过载的生活状态。书中的对话艺术尤其值得称赞，那些看似随意的街头巷尾的交谈，常常隐藏着对存在主义的深刻叩问，火花四溅，绝不拖泥带水。作者对语言的驾驭能力登峰造极，他能用最朴素的词汇搭建出最复杂的情感迷宫，让你在不经意间，对自身存在的意义产生全新的审视。这与其说是一本小说，不如说是一部关于“如何感知世界”的思维训练手册。

这部作品的氛围营造堪称一绝，它成功地构建了一个介于现实与梦境之间的灰色地带。你很难确定故事中的场景究竟是发生在哪个具体的城市或哪个确切的年代，这种模糊性反而增强了其普适性和永恒感。作者对于人物心理的刻画细腻得令人心惊，他没有用大段的心理分析，而是通过环境的微妙变化、角色细微的肢体语言，不动声色地揭示了角色内心最深处的恐惧与渴望。例如，主角处理信件的方式、他对待旧物的态度，都成为了他内在冲突的外化表现。全书的基调是沉静的，但这种沉静之下暗流涌动着巨大的情感能量，如同深海中的洋流，缓慢而不可阻挡地改变着一切。我个人认为，这本书最成功的地方在于，它让我们意识到，最深刻的哲学思考往往不是在象牙塔里完成的，而是在我们处理账单、排队买咖啡的瞬间，在那些被我们视为“不重要”的间隙中悄然生成的。