Commemorating an Indomitable Thinker

The Hu Shih Memorial Hall

Lee Shan Wei　/　photos Jimmy Lin　/　tr. by Geof Aberhart

August 2018

中文日本語

The Hu Shih Memorial Hall (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Nestled away on the campus of Academia Sinica, the Hu Shih Memorial Hall stands unchanged by time. It was here that the philosopher and writer lived and worked, giving his all in both, and it is here that he set down his final roots in Taiwan.

Hu Shih’s eventful and extraordinary life is laid out in detail at his eponymous memorial hall, and the park dedicated to the man evokes the memory of his works, his life, and the many high-profile people and events that were part of them.

What was a sapling while Hu lived here has, in the decades since, grown into a towering tree.

A home of courtesy and respect

Surrounded by a lush green lawn, the former residence of Hu Shih cuts a tranquil and unassuming figure. A small, single-story three-bedroom home, it radiates simplicity from its red brick walls and black tile roof. It was here that Hu Shih, a leader of the 20th-century modernization of Chinese thought and literature, spent his final days. While more than half a century has passed since he departed the mortal realm, Hu’s former residence remains virtually unchanged.

This was the first official residence set up at Academia Sinica, built in 1958 as a sign of courtesy and respect to Hu as he took up the presidency of the institution.

A collection of Hu’s letters, manuscripts, copybooks and annotations is on display in a showroom added after his passing, a collection that is both an important piece of cultural heritage and a valuable resource for researchers.

His elegant and scholarly appearance belied the tenacity and will beneath. With his writings and his life, Hu served his country with honor and left indelible footprints in the modern history of Greater China.

Enlightened through his father’s love

Born in Qing-era Chuansha County, Jiangsu Province (now Pudong New Area, Shanghai) on December 17, 1891, Hu was doted on by his father, who was 50 at the time of Hu’s birth. When Hu Shih was just two years old, his father, Hu Chuan, brought him to Taiwan, where the elder Hu was stationed in Tainan and Taitung.

With a three-year-old Hu Shih at his side, Hu Chuan composed a book in classical verse called Conduct of Life, teaching his young son to conduct himself with propriety. Unfortunately these idyllic times were to be short-lived, and the following year Hu Chuan fell ill and died.

Hu Shih’s mother, Feng Shundi, was Hu Chuan’s third wife, and his junior by quite a margin. In the large extended families of the late Qing era, a young widow with a small child was expected to grit her teeth, stay low-key, and focus on raising her child. And so it was that Hu Shih learned forgiveness and forbearance from his mother, growing up to become a man of integrity and kindness, committed to teaching in word and deed.

Hu later recalled how his mother fretted over him when he suffered from an eye infection as a child and, having heard that one could cure such infections by licking the affected part, set to work for the sake of her child doing just that. Such great maternal love left an indelible mark on Hu’s spirit, and his deep gratitude to her shines through his writings.

In many fine details of his writings, we can see clearly how diligent a young man Hu was, and the expectations and rigor with which his mother raised him. On display at the Hu Shih Memorial Hall is a Chinese pronunciation guide which Hu copied by hand himself at the age of 13. From the precise and neat handwriting, we can see how dedicated and assiduous he was in his studies.

Once-in-a-generation master Hu Shih created numerous scholarly masterpieces.

Foreign study foments transformation

Throughout his life, Hu was committed to applying Western thought in Eastern contexts, and at the memorial hall half a wall is dedicated to displaying the 33 honorary doctorates he received over the years. In 1895, Hu and his mother left Taiwan to return to Shanghai, and then went on to the family’s ancestral home in Jixi, Anhui Province, where Hu enrolled under a private teacher. There he began his studies in the traditional Chinese system.

In 1910 he was selected for the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program and was sent to study in the United States at Cornell University. Five years later, he went on to pursue a PhD at Columbia University, studying under John Dewey. Dewey’s philosophy of pragmatism became the cornerstone of Hu’s ideological transformation and his belief in never making claims that go beyond the evidence one has to support them.

Newly committed to reform in China, in 1917 Hu received his PhD and hurried back to his homeland, becoming a professor at Peking University and a contributor to the journal New Youth, an influential publication in the May Fourth Movement.

Over the 1920s and 1930s, through publications like New Youth, The Endeavor, and Independent Critique, Hu made penetrating critiques of current events, driven by a passion to make the country and the world better.

This small dining table was Hu’s favorite place to sit and eat or read, whiling away his most pleasurable hours. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Serving the country with the written word

Living in a turbulent era, Hu found himself a man for the times, passionately devoted to making the Republic of China a better place through his writings. At a special exhibition in the memorial hall, we can see how while he and Chiang Kai-shek took different paths, the two were both committed to similar goals.

In 1938, Hu was named the ROC’s ambassador to the United States, and in this role he traveled the country, giving some 246 talks and fervently seeking American support in the ROC’s fight against the Japanese Empire. However, with financial aid slow in coming, Chiang’s faith in Hu was shaken, and in 1942 Hu was recalled from the ambassadorship.

Chiang still had high regard for Hu’s vision, though, and continued to entrust him with positions of responsibility. In 1945, Hu was the chief representative of the ROC government at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, and later at the Conference for the Establishment of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, held in London, at which the UNESCO charter was formulated.

On December 25, 1946, the Constituent National Assembly, chaired by Hu Shih, formally adopted the newly drafted Constitution of the Republic of China. In 1954, returning to Taiwan from the US, Hu, as acting chair of the second meeting of the National Assembly, represented the assembly in certifying Chiang Kai-shek’s reelection to the presidency.

Throughout his life, Hu was committed to applying Western thought in Eastern contexts, and this combination of cultures was reflected in his sartorial choices—a Chinese changshan paired with leather shoes was his usual outfit.

A promise to his mother

While Hu was always at the forefront of new ways of thinking, he nonetheless also respected the old ways, including a lifelong commitment to honoring his mother. He was betrothed to Jiang Dongxiu at 14, eventually marrying her 13 years later. They went on to have three children together, a daughter and two sons. While such a marriage may seem to be built on a foundation that lacks love, over time the two grew increasingly fond of one another.

On June 4, 1928, Hu wrote in his journal that Jiang had returned to his hometown to help create gravesites for his grandparents and parents, enduring no small amount of hard work. In his description of her contribution, written in elegant, poetic phrasing, Hu’s feelings for her shine through as bright as day.

On November 26, 1961, Hu Shih was admitted to National Taiwan University Hospital with heart disease. He put US$100 into an envelope, sealed it, and wrote on it, “A little extra money for my mahjong-loving wife to play with.” He also got one of the nurses to buy a pearl necklace and earrings for him as a gift for Jiang’s December 15th birthday. Such demonstrations paint a picture of just how much Hu loved his wife.

After Hu’s passing, Jiang came back to Taiwan from the US with boxes of books and documents and expressed the wish that their former residence should be renovated and the collection stored there “so that my husband can rest peacefully in the afterlife.” Such a deep understanding of Hu and such commitment to realizing his final wishes are yet another demonstration of the close bond forged between the couple over their 45 years together.

As befits his habit of mixing East and West, Hu adopted different instruments for his writing, using a brush to write his poetry and a fountain pen for his other writings.

A life’s work comes to an end

An old and yellowed calendar, still showing February 24, 1962, commemorates the day that Hu Shih suffered a fatal heart attack while at the Fifth Academic Reception of Academia Sinica. President Chiang Kai-shek memorialized Hu as “a model of the old morality amid the new culture, and an exemplary teacher of the new thought amid the old ethics.”

Hu’s epitaph is a perfect encapsulation of his life: “This man, who worked tirelessly for the advancement of learning and culture, for freedom of thought and speech, for the honor of the nation, for the wellbeing of mankind, now rests here in peace.”

“In academics, one should always be suspicious of the unsuspected, and in dealing with people, one should always be unsuspecting of the suspect.” Rigor in his academic work and tolerance in his personal life were the standards for which Hu Shih strove throughout his life. When Lei Chen (1897‡1979), cofounder of Free China, was imprisoned on sedition charges, Hu sought to boost Lei’s morale by quoting these lines by the Song-Dynasty poet Yang Wanli (1127‡1206): “Though mighty mountains block the way / The creeks still trickle night and day / Weaving to the other side / To merge into a mighty tide.” A person who fights for his ideals should have no regrets in life.

Today, two pines stand like watchmen guarding Hu Shih’s grave, his wife at his side forevermore, together with their two sons. As a gentle breeze blows through, one imagines Hu, clad in traditional dress and sporting his trademark thin-framed glasses, continuing to insist that “we must choose our own direction.”

Hu Shih was a student of both East and West and a leading advocate for democracy. In 1949 he cofounded the journal Free China in Taipei, also serving as its publisher.

Hu’s lounge has been maintained in its original state, still looking today as it did when he hosted guests there as president of Academia Sinica.

Dr. Hu Shih Park, just outside the Academia Sinica campus, features a wall that showcases several of his quotations and aphorisms, along with a poem by Yang Wanli that Hu cited to give encouragement to Lei Chen.