China and the West

Hu, Shi. Yibusheng zhu yi [ID D26214].
Hu Shi schreibt : "Ibsenism ! This is a difficult ropic. I am not a specialist on Ibsen, how can I be qualified to write such an essay ? However, since we have to produce an Ibsen issue, and to introduce Ibsen in a spectacular manner to China, it is necessary to provide an essay on Ibsenism. Anyway, I will offer the Ibsenism I have in mind as an introduction to the special issue."
"In Ibsen's drama, there is a prominent theme which states that society and the individual are in opposition and mutually harmful to each other. Society is aristocratic and will destroy individuality by force. It suppresses the individual's free will and independence. When individuality is lost, the spirit of freedom and independence are gone ; society will lose its vitality and will not progress.
Ibsen reveals the real nature of the family and society. His purpose is to shock the readers and let them know that there are darker sides in the family and society so as to induce them to reform and revolt - this is Ibsenism. On the surface, it is destructive, but in reality, it is constructive, but in reality, it is constructive. It is like what a doctor does in his diagnosis of an illness : can we say that this is destructive ? Although Ibsen diagnoses many diseases, he is not willing to give prescriptions. He knows that human society is a very complex organization made up of inumerable small parts. Its diseases are of many types and there is no cure-all prescription. Therefore, he only diagnoses the symptoms and let the patien find the prescription that will suit his case."
"Ibsen tells us a good way to protect the health of society. He seems to say : 'The health of the human body depends on the large number of white blood corpuscles which are always fighting with the different kinds of diseases. The health of society and the state in the same way relies on the numerous white blood corpuscles which are never satisfied and are always fighting against the evildoers. If we want to defend the health of society we need to have the white blood corpuscles like Dr. Stockman. When society has obtained the spirit of these white blood corpuscles, there is no way that it will not reform and progress."
"Nora in A doll's house suddenly discovers that the family is a stage for monkey performances and she herself is one of the monkeys. She has the courage, and does not want to wear a mask, therefore she says goodby to the stage manager and jumps down from the stage to live her own life."
"Mrs. Alving in Ghosts is a coward, thus she is persuaded by the pastor to return home and resume her role as a wife."

Elisabeth Eide : Hu Shi's version of Ibsenism as a coherent doctrine consisted of three major elements : an attack on the traditional family system, a defence of individualism, a demand for acceptance of the position of a persecuted and reviled minorty. This was needed for a China that wanted to grow strong. Chinese critics from the 1930s have generally agreed that Ibsenism was an essential part of Hu Shi's philosophy of life. The basic premise of Hu's Ibsenism was his assertion, that Ibsen pitted the individual against society in an extreme and forceful manner. According to Hu, Ibsen attributed to society evil intentions that might not be deliberate, but were unavoidable. Hu claimed that society could not progress if it did not contain the yeast of the strong individual. His exposure, in plays like Ghosts and The wild duck, of the evil forces within society. His protest against all that was moribund in the old society was set in an artistically acceptable framework that made his exposition very forceful. His creation of strong individuals serving as fresh streams in a backwater and scapegoats for society's anger. His offer of a remedy that was sufficiently loose to be applicable also in China.

Tam Kwok-kan : Hu Shi attacks the Confucian moral order as a dying institution in China. He cites Ibsen's revolutionary ideas in denouncing traditional Chinese institution of law, religion, and morality which are all based on the Confucian concept of role-self, and he regards them as social evils culminating in selfishness, slavishness, falsehood, and cowardice. The individual is seen as always being repressed by society, and Hu Shi thinks that only when traditional society collapses will the individual be freed from the repression of all traditional bondage.
Hu Shi believed that the events described in Ibsen's plays have correspondence in the real world. Realism is not treated as a technique with the purpose of creating illusions. Realism was regarded by many Chinese dramatists shallowly as a reflection on stage of an event that could be found in real life. In terms of acting, this kind of external realism has the advantage of breaking away from the traditional Chinese theatre, which is symbolic and impressionistic in style.
Hu Shi's interpretation of Nora's decision to leave home was influenced by George Bernard Shaw. He interpreted Nora as a feminist work and argued that Nora suddenly discovered that the family was a stage for monkey performances and that she herself was simply one of the performers. Hu Shi further said that Nora had 'the courage to tear off the mask, say goodby to the stage manager and jump down from the stage to live her own life, but on the other hand Mrs. Alving in Ghosts was a coward and thus she was persuaded by the pastor to return home and resume her role as a housewife'.

He Chengzhou : That he applauds Ibsen, says Hu, is because "he tells us the truth, describing the various evil situations of society so that we can have a close look at them". Hu Shi summarizes the subjects Ibsen has discussed in his plays, namely family, the social power factors (law, religon and morals) and the relationship between individual and society. At almost every point, his summary ends with an uncontrollable angry abuse of the related Chinese reality. In the last section of his essay, Hu Shi explains explicitly what he thinks Ibsenism means. "We are moved by Ibsen's descriptions of family and society and realize that our family and society are in facto so currupted that reform becomes really indispensable. And this is Ibsenism."