Cultural Self-inferiority Giving Way to Cultural Self-respect: Thoughts on——Hu Shi’s Idea of Wholesale Westernization

TLDR: Considering the rapid growth of China's economy, our sense of cultural self-inferiority must give way to that of culture self-respect and confidence and a Chinese spiritual home can be rebuilt by learning from and absorbing the essence of western civilization as well as by inheriting and carrying forward the splendid Chinese traditional culture, which can be developed along with China's economic growth as discussed by the authors.

Abstract: The persistent negation of the Chinese traditional culture by Hu Shi and other social elites before and after the May 4th Movement has promoted both social progress and the Chinese people’s sense of cultural self-inferiority,which is much regrettable.Hu Shi argued for "wholesale westernization",which has its historical causes,and proposed the strategy of westernization by means of "slow permeation",which led to the decline of China’s cultural power later on.Considering the rapid growth of China’s economy,our sense of cultural self-inferiority must give way to that of cultural self-respect and confidence and a Chinese spiritual home can be rebuilt by learning from and absorbing the essence of western civilization as well as by inheriting and carrying forward the splendid Chinese traditional culture,which can be developed along with China’s economic growth.