Chen Duxiu's last articles and letters, 1937-1942

Includes bibliographical references and index.Chen Duxiu (1879-1942) founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, after a revolutionary career in the movement that overthrew the Manchus and brought in the Republic. Between 1915 and 1919, he led the remarkable New Culture Movement that electrified student youth and laid the intellectual foundations for modern China. In 1929, he helped found the Chinese Trotskyist Opposition, which he then led. In 1932 he went to prison for seeking to overthrow the government. Between his release in 1937 and his death in 1942, he wrote the letters and articles collected in this volume.x, 163 p., [8] p. of plates ill., maps 25 c

The Idea of Freedom in Modern China Revisited

Western historiography on the idea of freedom in modern China has tended to focus on its conception as service to the state and social ends, as illustrated by studies of Liang Qichao’s democratic thought; as a result, many other interpretations have been overlooked. This article locates Chinese notions of liberty in a broader context as a fusion of personal, national, social, civic, and moral freedoms. After revisiting Liang Qichao’s conception of freedom, it posits six others that are mutually interactive—freedom as liberation; as self-development, independent personality, and responsibility; as democracy and human rights; as a spiritual cultural necessity; as a private realm; and as autonomy and self-mastery. The article offers a more nuanced understanding of the issue of the primacy of collective interests over individual interests by developing the notion of dual responsibilities, or the dualism between the sanctity of personal liberty and the public morality of service to society and state