Hu Shih (1891–1962)

Hu Shih is one of the best-known scholars of the twentieth century, a leader in the reformation of literature at the time of the May Fourth Movement. He was born in Chihsi, Anhwei Province, and, because his father died when he was very small, his mother was the most formative influence on him. At show more the age of 18, Hu Shih came to the United States to study at Cornell University, and after graduating he attended Columbia University, where he studied for a Ph.D. He returned to China in 1917 and for a number of years taught at various institutions, including Peking University. During this time he strongly advocated the reform of literature, using the colloquial language based on the Mandarin dialect. From 1938 to 1942, Hu Shih served as ambassador to the United States. He went back to China again in 1946 to become the chancellor of Peking University. When the Nationalist government fell three years later, he fled China for the United States. He lived for several years in retirement in New York City, pursuing his scholarly studies and then serving as the curator of the Gest Oriental Library at Princeton University. He stayed aloof from the furious debate going on at that time in the United States over the "China question." In 1958 he returned to Taiwan at President Chiang Kai-shek's request to take up the post of president of Academia Sinica, where he remained until his death four years later. (Bowker Author Biography) show less