“Babbitt in China :” (Publication, 2004)
Year
2004
Text
Ong, Chang Woei. Babbitt in China : 'Which West are you talking about ?' : Critical review : a unique model of conservatism in modern China. In : Humanitas ; vol. 17, no 1-2 (2004).
http://www.nhinet.org/babbitt2.htm. (Babb22)
http://www.nhinet.org/babbitt2.htm. (Babb22)
Type
Publication
Mentioned People (1)
Babbitt, Irving
(Dayton, Ohio 1865-1933 Cambridge, Mass.) : Professor of French Literature, Harvard University, Literaturkritiker, Philosoph
Subjects
Philosophy : United States of America
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References / Sources
Chronology Entries (3)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1915 |
Irving Babbitt acquired a dedicated disciple, Mei Guangdi at Harvard University. In addition to teaching Chinese at Harvard, Mei returned to China to lead a Chinese crusade based on Babbitt's concept of humanism, a movement closely linked with the attempt of the Chinese people to work out a political future during the transition from monarchy to democracy. Mei Guangdi : "[Babbitt] regularly stayed away from the commencement exercises at the University, and when his duty as a father required his presence at his son's graduation, he laughingly announced: 'This is the first commencement I have attended in many years.' Babbitt was a solitary figure in a crowded metropolis of learning." "Confucius was perhaps the teacher with whom Babbitt had the closest temperamental kinship." Ong Chang Woei : Mei Guangdi, besides praising Babbitt as a 'teacher of men' following the Chinese tradition, claimed that if Babbitt had been born in China not later than the seventeenth century, he would merit the extraordinary honor of being elevated to membership in the most exclusive of Chinese national institutions, the Temple of Confucius : an honor conferred on only a limited number of great men throughout Chinese history who were believed to have truly transmitted the Confucian way. |
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| 2 | 1924 |
[Babbitt, Irving]. Baibide lun min zhi yu ling xiu. Wu Mi yi. [ID D28801]. Introduction by Wu Mi. [What makes Mr. Irving Babbitt] differ from Christ and Confucius is that, although he emphasizes action (xing), he does not neglect intellect (zhi) ; what makes him differ from the humanists of the West is that he uses imagination to complete the intellect, and he does not regard intellect as all powerful. Given his equal emphasis on action and intellect, it seems that his teaching is closest to that of Buddha. [His idea about] the contrast of reality and illusion is also influenced by Buddhism. However, Mr. Babbitt does not involve himself with religion, does not establish precepts, does not obtain [anything from] mythology, does not concern himself with metaphysical theories, all these have made his ideas different from those of Buddhism. All in all, Mr. Babbitt actually adopts concurrently the teachings of these four sages, namely Buddha, Christ, Confucius and Aristotle, and achieves an embodiment of their great consummation. We can also say that he, with the heart of Buddha and Christ, is doing what Confucius and Aristotle were doing. Will those who hear my words think that these are flattering remarks by a disciple ? Ong Chang Woei : Wu Mi viewed Babbitt's New Humanism as an antidote for the chaos caused by the New Cultural Movement. For Wu Mi, the sages of history all had had their strengths and limitations, and Babbitt, from his perspective, was the only person with the ability to combine their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. As such a person, Babbitt assumed the role of a 'sage' who stood at the peak of the civilization of mankind, and the 'West' as represented by Babbitt was viewed as the highest achievement of mankind. |
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| 3 | 1957 |
Liang, Shiqiu. Guan yu Baibide xian sheng ji qi. [ID D28821]. "The often celebrated idea of 'élan vital' (vital impulse) in Bergson's philosophy is, according to Irving Babbitt, not worth mentioning. 'Elan vital' should give way to 'frein vital (vital control). To do a thing would require strength, but to refrain oneself from doing something would require greater strength. This kind of attitude seems very compatible with what Confucians called 'Refrain oneself and return to the ritual' (ge ji fu li)." "Though Babbitt has been said not to have shed his puritan thinking, I must say that he retained a great deal of elements of stoicism. I translated Marcus Aurelius' Meditations a few years ago because, inspired by Babbitt's implicit instruction, I wished to express my infinite respect for this great stoic philosopher." "When Xue heng was started, I was still a university student, one who was swept up in the wave of so-called modern thought. At that time I had a negative reaction after reading Xue heng, in which the classical Chinese characters scrawled all over the paper kept people from further probing into its content. In this way, Babbitt and his thought were cold-shouldered in China." "Those people like Lu Xun had never read Babbitt, Lu Xun could never understand Babbitt. Hou Chien : Starting out as a romantic and nationalist, Liang Shiqiu recalls that he went to Babbitt's class with an ax to grind. He went as a challenger but came out a convert to Babbittian classicism. He said nothing at all about Babbitt's Chinese scholarship, though in a private communication. Liang thinks that, in his respect for and promotion of classicism, and in his emphasis on reason, Babbitt shows an affinity of Confucian thinking. Liang does point out, though that Babbitt, in his insistence on the dualistic view of human nature, is inclined to say nothing about the Confucian creed of a human nature innately good. Bai Liping : Liang wrote about Babbitt's conception of three possible levels of human life : naturalistic, humanistic, and religious. Liang argued that the naturalistic life, though in a sense inevitable, should be subject to balance and restraint ; the life maintaining truly human nature is what we should always try to attain ; the religious way of life is, of course, the most sublime, but, being also the most difficult and beyond the realistic capability of most people, should not serve as an excuse for the latter to live life less than fully at the humanistic level. Liang remarked that Babbitt's New humanism was considered by many Americans to be 'reactionary, fogeyish, and impractical' and to have had a limited influence during his lifetime'. |
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Sources (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1957 | Liang, Shiqiu. Guan yu Baibide xian sheng ji qi. In : Ren sheng ; no 148 (1957). [About Mr. Babbitt and his thought]. | Publication / Babb28 |
Cited by (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000- | Asien-Orient-Institut Universität Zürich | Organisation / AOI |
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