Introduction
The "Public Intellectuals"
issue was heatedly debated in the Chinese media and on the Internet
in fall 2004 and proved to be one of the most contentious topics
of the year. The debate was initiated by Nanfang renwu zhoukan
南方人物周刊 (archive
copy), a journal belonging to the Nanfang ribao group and
run by Nanfang zhoumo 南方周末, the newspaper renowned for
its cutting-edge investigative journalism. In a special issue
cover-dated Sept. 8, 2004, Nanfang renwu zhoukan presented
a list
of fifty intellectuals and public personages it considered
essential in shaping public discourse in the PRC (in fact, the
list adds up to fifty-six if a "honorary list" is added,
the latter comprising the names of six intellectuals deceased
in recent years, but whose contributions continue to influence
current debates). The list was accompanied by short biographies
of each individual, as well as several articles
discussing the concept of "public intellectuals."
The concept of "public intellectuals" was not of Chinese
coinage. It reached the PRC through the publication in 2002 of
Richard A. Posner's book Public Intellectuals: A Study of
Decline (Harvard University Press, 2001; in Chinese as Gonggong
zhishifenzi: shuailuo zhi yanjiu 公共知识分子：衰落之研究. Beijing: Zhongguo
zhengfa daxue chubanshe). In contrast to Posner's book, however,
the Chinese debate centered less on the topic of decline, but
rather on the idea itself, of public-minded individuals with an
independent opinion fighting for a just cause. Susan Sontag, whose
name appeared time and again in the Chinese debate (see for example
the lead
article of the Nanfang renwu zhoukan issue), was
seen not as the last of a dying species, but as a role model for
emulation.
Nanfang renwu zhoukan set out to find individuals in
China with a mindset and role comparable to that of the intellectuals
described in Posner's book. The list it came up with in the end
was certainly eclectic. Others could have been named and were
named in the course of a widening public discussion. Some of the
more radical voices among China's intellectuals were conspicuously
absent from the original list - ironically, the Chinese government
did its part to reinstate these individuals: later in the year,
in the course of a general crackdown against intellectuals, lists
of all too outspoken intellectuals were distributed to the press
which was told not to mention them any longer or print their articles.
One such list of six names, issued in early November by the CCP
Propaganda Department, is reproduced below.
When the public intellectuals debate proved to be ever more contagious,
with an emerging consensus regarding the need for intellectuals
to maintain an independent position and intervene on behalf of
the public on major issues of relevance to society, the Hu Jintao
leadership became unnerved. Two months after the publication of
the Nanfang renwu zhoukan article, the government
decided to intervene. A November
15 editorial in the Shanghai Jiefang ribao 解放日报 criticized
the concept of "public intellectuals" for its foreign
origins and alleged that the debate was designed to lead to the
estrangement between the intellectuals and the CCP. The editorial
was consequently reprinted
by Renmin ribao in Beijing, and newspapers, magazines,
and other media outlets were ordered to discontinue the use the
term "public intellectuals" and bring the debate to
an end.
Over the past twelve months, DACHS has made an effort to find
out who these fifty individuals are, what they are doing, and
why they may have been nominated for the list of fifty. We have
downloaded from the Internet articles written by these fifty individuals,
including whole collections, as well as other sources relating
to them. Under each name, our database can be searched
for (1) articles available online in DACHS or
(2) more works in the holdings of the library of the
Institute of Chinese Studies, Heidelberg University. The collection
is dynamic and continues to grow.
Comments and suggestions
highly welcome - please contact
me.
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The Nanfang
renwu zhoukan list
The list of fifty in
Nanfang renwu zhoukan is arranged according to occupational
groups:
Economists 经济学家
Lawyers and Legal Specialists 法学家
Historians 历史学家
Philosphers 哲学史家
Political Scientist 政治学家
Sociologists 社会学家
Writers and Artists 作家、艺术家
Scientist 科学家
Public Personalities 公众人物
Media Anchors 传媒人
Columnists and Commentators 专栏作家、时评家
Honorary List 致敬名单
Economists:
Mao Yushi 茅于轼: b. 1929; founder of the non-official
think tank Tianze
jingji yanjiusuo 天则经济研究所. A prolific writer, Mao is board
member of numerous magazines and is one of China's internationally
most visible economists.
Articles available online and more works.
Wu Jinglian 吴敬琏: b. 1930; professor at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and long-term member of the
Development Research Center at the State Council (Guowuyuan
fazhan yanjiu zhongxin 国务院发展研究中心). In recent years, Wu has been
campaigning for strengthening the legal mechanisms governing
the PRC's market economy.
Articles available online and more works.
Wen Tiejun 温铁军: b. 1951; economist at Zhongguo
renmin daxue 中国人民大学 and editor of Zhongguo gaige 中国改革
magazine. Wen became known for his research into China's "san
nong" problems - nongcun 农村 (the countryside), nongye 农业
(agriculture), and nongmin 农民 (peasantry).
Articles available online and more works.
Zhang Wuchang 张五常: b. 1935; economist at Hong
Kong University. Zhang, a graduate from the University of Chicago,
is said to have made an impact in particular with his popular
books and articles explaining economics to the common reader;
he is also said to have been an adviser
to Zhu Rongji.
Articles available online and more works.
Lang Xianping 郎咸平: b. 1956; U.S. trained management
specialist, teaching in Hong Kong. Taiwan-born Lang Xianping
(Larry Lang) became well-known through his fight for the rights
of small shareholders in listed Chinese companies. He has likened
himself to "that child in 'The Emperor's New Clothes'
that tells the truth."
Articles available online and more works.
Wang Dingding 汪丁丁: b. 1953; liberal economist
at Beijing University. In his thinking, Wang moves beyond the
confines of his specialty and frequently comments on Chinese
society and Chinese culture.
Articles available online and more works.
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Lawyers and
Legal Specialists:
Zhang Sizhi 张思之: b. 1927; Zhang has been called
"the conscience of Chinese lawyers" for his willingness
to defend controversial cases in the courtroom. He stepped into
the public spotlight as the defense lawyer for Jiang Qing during
the 1980-81 tribunal of the "Gang of Four."
Articles available online and more works.
Jiang Ping 江平: b. 1930; president of Zhongguo
zhengfa daxue 中国政法大学; Moscow-educated law specialist, was involved
in the formulation of laws crucial to the economic reforms of
the 1980s and 1990s. He boasts to "lower his head only
in front of truth."
Articles available online and more works.
He Weifang 贺卫方: b. 1960; professor at Beijing
University's Law School; He is one of China's most visible legal
specialists, campaigning publicly and in the media for more
popular awareness of legal issues and citizens' rights. His
best-known
intervention was motivated by the death in policy custody
of computer engineer Sun
Zhigang in March 2003.
Articles available online and more works.
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Historians:
Yuan Weishi 袁伟时: b. 1931; professor of philosophy
at Zhongshan daxue 中山大学 in Guangzhou who says of himself he
had never in his life taught philosophy. Yuan is known in particular
for his writings on 19th and 20 century Chinese history.
Articles available online and more works.
Zhu Xueqin 朱学勤: b. 1952; teaches history at
Shanghai daxue 上海大学; Zhu maintains high visibility in the PRC
with frequent comments on current affairs and on Chinese modern
history. He is seen as one of the "standard
bearers" of China's "liberal" intellectuals.
Articles available online and more works.
Qin Hui 秦晖: b. 1953; professor at Qinghua University;
Qin started from writing on Ming and Qing agriculature, and
since has expanded to contempoary issues ranging from politics
to economics and philosophy. He is seen as one of China leading
"liberal" intellectuals.
Articles available online and more works.
Wu Si 吴思: b. 1957; acting editor of the important
magazine Yan Huang chunqiu 炎黄春秋. From outside of the
academic establishment, Wu Si has produced penetrating analysis
of contemporary Chinese society and thought, published in his
provoking bestsellers Qian
guize 潜规则 and Xue chou dinglü 血酬定律 (fulltext
version in .exe format, must be downloaded before reading)
and elsewhere.
Articles available online and more works.
Xu Jilin 许纪霖: b. 1957; professor at Huadong
shifan daxue; Xu's research centres on twentieth century Chinese
history and the experience of China's intellectuals. He frequently
intervenes into public discussions, such as during the SARS
crisis in 2003..
Articles available online and more works.
Ding Dong 丁东: b. 1951; associated with the
Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences. Ding's research interest
focuses on those of China's intellectuals that were forgotten
in the course of the nation's numerous upheavals and political
campaigns. He has been the driving force behind important publishing
endeavours, such as the diaries of Gu Zhun 顾准
and the writings of Yu Luoke 遇罗克.
Articles available online and more works.
Xie Yong 谢泳: b. 1961; editor-in-chief of the
magazine Huanghe 黄河. Writing from outside of the scholarly
establishment, Xie has been trying to bring the fate
of 20th century intellectuals back to public consciousness.
In particular his research on Southwestern United University
(Xinan lianda 西南聯大) during Wold War II and on the magazine Guancha
觀察 have drawn wide attention.
Articles available online and more works.
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Philosophers:
Du Weiming 杜维明: b. 1940. The Harvard professor
is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary
proponents of New Confucianism. His culturalist notion of Confucianism
as an integrating and mediating factor for Greater China has
recently attracted much attention in mainland China, too.
Articles available online and more works.
Xu Youyu 徐友渔: b. 1947; researcher at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences. Outspoken Xu belongs to China's
"liberal" intellectuals. He has published widely on
both European thought since the Enlightenment, and on China's
Cultural Revolution.
Articles available online and more works.
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Political Scientist:
Liu Junning 刘军宁: b. 1961; political scientist.
In 1999, Liu fell out with the government and left his post
at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; he works now as an
independent scholar. His research includes issues of democracy,
constitutionalism, and liberalism.
Articles available online and more works.
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Sociologists:
Li Yinhe 李银河: b. 1952; sociologist at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences. Li specializes in sexology and has
been the public face of efforts to talk more openly about matters
of love and sex. She has been breaking taboos in particular
with her work on China's homosexuals.
Articles available online and more works.
Zheng Yefu 郑也夫: b. 1950; professor of sociology
at Beijing University. His research ranges from urbanization
and poverty to China's intellectuals. In contrast to many others
on this list, Zheng retains a low visibility and says
he was surprised to find himself listed.
Articles available online and more works.
Yang Dongping 杨东平: b. 1949; teaches at Beijing
ligong daxue 北京理工大学. Yang focuses on problems in China's education
system, especially education for those groups left behind by
the country's economic transformation. His contrastive study
of Beijing and Shanghai mentalities, Cheng shi jifeng 城市季风,
became a bestseller in 1994.
Articles available online and more works.
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Writers and
Artists:
Shao Yanxiang 邵燕祥: b. 1933; essayist and poet.
Shao is known in particular for his efforts to revive the tradition
of zawen 杂文. Many of his essays are auto-biographical
and inquire into the fate of Chinese intellectuals during the
Maoist era.
Articles available online and more works.
Beidao 北岛: orig. Zhao Zhenkai 赵振开, b. 1949,
poet. Bei Dao emerged as one of the leaders of the "misty
poetry" (menglong shi 朦胧诗) movement in the late
1970s, and co-founded the journal Jintian 今天. He has
been living in exile since 1989; Beidao has
received numerous awards and his works have been translated
into many languages.
Articles available online and more works.
Li Ao 李敖: b. 1935; Taiwan writer with political
ambitions. A perennial dissident who spent years in prison,
Li is writing feverishly, having produced over 100 books to
date, dealing mostly with history and politics. He launched
an (unsuccessful) bid for the presidency in the 2000 elections.
Infamous for his outspokenness, Li Ao did not even hesitate
to attack the CCP leadership during a September 2005 speech
at Beijing University.
Articles available online and more works.
Long Yingtai 龙应台: b. 1952; essayist and novelist
from Taiwan. After living and teaching in Heidelberg for several
years, she returned to Taiwan in 1999 for a short political
career. She now shares her time between Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
mainland China.
Articles available online and more works.
Wang Shuo 王朔: b. 1958; Beijing-based novelist.
Wang Shuo shocked the nation with what has been dubbed "hooligan
literature." Many of his novels were adapted to the TV
screen. After the "Wang Shuo fever" subsided in the
mid-1990s, he has kept a lower profile.
Articles available online and more works.
"Lin Da" 林达夫妇: This is the pseudonym
of a husband and wife team who emigrated to the U.S. in the
early 1990s and since have been writing sympathetic and enormously
popular essayistic accounts of daily life in America. Their
real identity is a well-kept secret.
Articles available online and more works.
Liao Bingxiong 廖冰兄: b. 1915; cartoonist. Ever
since his first exhibition in 1938, Liao's cartoons have been
art works, but also political and social commentaries. His post-Cultural
Revolution series "Zichao"
自嘲 is widely seen as his masterpiece (Liao
Bingxiong website).
Articles available online and more works.
Chen Danqing 陈丹青: b. 1953; painter. Since 1982,
Chen lived and worked in New York, but returned to the PRC in
2000 to assume a teaching position at Qinghua daxue. However,
in spring 2005 he
quit his job, publicly expressing
his disappointment about the Chinese educational system
and complaining about the restrictions put on his work.
Articles available online and more works.
Cui Jian 崔健: b. 1961; rock musician. It was
Cui who brought
rock music to China in 1986. With his ambiguous texts, he
more than once enraged the Chinese authorities, resulting in
a ban of his performances. His song "Yi
wu suo you" 一无所有 became the unofficial anthem of the 1989
student demonstrations in Tiananmen square.
Articles available online and more works.
Luo Dayou 罗大佑: b. 1954; pop musician from Taiwan.
Back in the 1980s, the "godfather of Taiwan pop music"
became known for his rebellious song texts, such as "Zhi
hu zhe ye" 之乎者也. In recent years, he has conquered
mainland China.
Articles available online and more works.
Hou Xiaoxian 侯孝贤: b. 1947; Taiwanese art house
director. In his films, Hou Xiaoxian tries to blend a lyrical
language with Taiwan's harsher sociopolitical realities. His
1989 movie Beiqing chengshi 悲情城市 was a milestone in addressing
the Feb.28, 1947, GMD-led massacre on the island. In recent
times, he has repeatedly intervened
in political debates in Taiwan.
Articles available online and more works.
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Scientist:
Zou Chenglu 邹承鲁: b. 1923; Cambridge-trained
biochemist with international reputation, retired from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences. Notwithstanding his high age, Zou is campaigning
tirelessly for moral and ethical standards in the sciences,
and fights against academic corruption.
Articles available online and more works.
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Public Personalities:
Hua Xinmin 华新民: b. 1954; essayist. Since 1990,
the daughter of a former chief city planning official has become
the most outspoken advocate for the protection of Beijing's
traditional alleys, the hutong 胡同, and a perservationist
with considerable public impact.
Articles available online and more works.
Wang Xuan 王选: b. 1952; rights campaigner. Since
the early 1990s, Wang Xuan has been campaining passionately
for the Chinese victims of Wolr War II. She won her most important
battle in 2002 when a Japanese court acknowledged for the first
time the poison gas experiments of the Japanese army on Chinese
soil.
Articles available online and more works.
Gao Yaojie 高耀洁: b. 1927; AIDS activist. A doctor
from Henan province, Gao was one of the first in China to alert
the public about the danger of HIV and AIDS. For her efforts
to raise public awareness of the disease, she has received numerous
national and international awards.
Articles available online and more works.
Ruan Yisan 阮仪三: b. 1934; conservationist. If
it weren't for the professor from Tongji daxue in Shanghai,
many outstanding examples of China's architectural heritage
would have been gone by now. Ruan Yisan was instrumental in
the conservation of places like Pingyao 平遥 in Shanxi and Lijiang
丽江 in Yunnan.
Articles available online and more works.
Liang Congjie 梁从诫: b. 1932; historian and environmental
activist. Liang Congjie is the son of architect Liang Sicheng
梁思成 and the grandson of Liang Qichao. In 1994, he founded "Friends
of Nature," the earliest Chinese environmental pressure
group and one of the first Non-Governmental Organizations in
the PRC.
Articles available online and more works.
Fang Zhouzi 方舟子: b. 1967; U.S.-based freelance
writer and poet. In 1996, Fang set up the Xin
yusi 新语丝 website, named after a journal founded by Lu Xun.
Since then, his one-man enterpise his become the best feared
watchdog against scholarly corruption and plagiarism in the
PRC.
Articles available online and more works.
Yuan Yue 袁岳: b. 1965; entrepreneur. Yuan heads
the Lingdian
yanjiu Group 零点研究集团, which he established in 1994 as the
first independent company doing market research. His pioneering
work included opinion polls on social and political issues..
Articles available online and more works.
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Media Anchors:
Jin Yong 金庸: b. 1924; orig. Cha Liangyong 查良镛,
writer and journalist. Jin Yong is known to practically every
Chinese for his martial arts novels, but he is also an influential
journalist and commentator in Hong Kong. In 1959 he founded
the Mingbao 明报 newspaper, followed by the monthly Mingbao
yuekan 明报月刊 and Mingbao chubanshe 明报出版社.
Articles available online and more works.
Dai Huang 戴煌: b. 1928; journalist. Ever since
his retirement from the official Xinhua news agency, Dai Huang
has been fighting courageously to keep alive the memory of the
dark sides of recent Chinese history; his books and articles
deal in particular with the Anti-Rightist movement and the Cultural
Revolution.
Articles available online and more works.
Lu Yuegang 卢跃刚: b. 1958; journalist with Zhongguo
qingnianbao and author of reportage literature. With his
cutting-edge stories, Lu has tried to test the limits of investigative
journalism in China. He has raised eye brows with articles on
SARS and an open
letter to Youth League secretary Zhao Yong.
Articles available online and more works.
Hu Shuli 胡舒立: b. 1953; journalist. In 1998,
Hu founded
Caijing 财经 magazine that since has become China's
hardest-hitting economic journal, uncovering cases of corruption
and other irregularities on a weekly basis. The editor-in-chief
is considered China's foremost muckraker.
Articles available online and more works.
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Columnists and
Commentators:
Lin Xingzhi 林行止: b. 1940; Hong Kong media entrepreneur.
Lin started his career at Mingbao, but founded his paper, Xinbao
信报, in 1973. He has an enormous output of commentaries that
fill dozens of volumes, and is known for his popular elaborations
on economic knowledge, his independent spirit, and a sharp style.
Articles available online and more works.
Yang Jinlin 杨锦麟: b. 1953; columnist and TV
host. The current affairs commentaries of mainland-born Yang
can be found in many Hong Kong newspapers; he is best known,
however, for his influential programme "You bao tian tian
du" 有报天天读 on the popular Phoenix TV channel.
Articles available online and more works.
Yan Lieshan 鄢烈山: b. 1952; writer and long-time
columnist for Nanfang zhoumo 南方周末. Yan has an enormous
output of essays that cover an astonishing range of topics including
politics, society, economic affairs, and education. At Nanfang
zhoumo, he had to use pen names after 2002 to continue
publishing.
Articles available online and more works.
Xue Yong 薛涌: b. 1961; columnist for Nanfang
dushi bao 南方都市报. Xue, a controversial writer currently
living in the U.S., had a widely read column in Beijing
wanbao 北京晚报 and has published numerous essays on the United
States.
Articles available online and more works.
Wang Yi 王怡: b. 1973;
lecturer of law at Chengdu daxue 成都大学. Wang has made an impact
in particular through a number of influential websites and discussion
forums he has hosted, including Guantian chashe 关天茶舍, Shiji
shalong 世纪沙龙, and Xianzheng
lunheng 宪政论衡. He writes for numerous cutting-edge newspapers
and has compiled an alternative
list of 50 in response to that of Nanfang renwu zhoukan.
Articles available online and more works.
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Honorary List:
Yin Haiguang 殷海光: 1919-1969; professor at Taiwan
University. A proponent of liberal thinking, Yin translated
the works of Friedrich Hayek to Taiwan; he was one of the founders
and a frequent contributor to the influential journal Ziyou
Zhongguo 自由中国. He was forced out of Taiwan University in
1966 and died three years later of cancer.
Articles available online and more works.
Gu Zhun 顾准: 1915-1974;
economist and historian. Gu was brandmarked as a rightist in
1957 for advocating a socialist market economy and his opposition
to the utopian politics of the 1950s and 1960s. He was rediscovered
in the 1980s and since become a model and inspiration for many
liberal intellectuals.
Articles available online and more works.
Wang Ruoshui 王若水: 1926-2002; deputy editor-in-chief
of Renmin ribao (1977-1983). An independent and original
thinker, Wang advocated "socialist humanism" as an
alternative to more orthodox interpretations of the ideology.
He was criticized during the 1983 campaign against "spiritual
pollution" and expelled from the CCP in 1987. In the ensuing
years, he frequently travelled and spoke abroad, but refused
to go into exile permanently.
Articles available online and more works.
Wang Xiaobo 王小波: 1952-1997; courageous sociologist,
essayist, and novelist. After having obtaining a PhD degree
from the University of Pittsburgh, Wang lectured at prestigious
Beijing University and People’s University before he quit his
job to concentrate on writing. Together with his wife Li
Yinhe, he wrote a path-breaking 1992 book on homosexuals
in China. His novels and essays achieved cult status among China’s
youth after Wang’s untimely death at age 45.
Articles available online and more works.
Yang Xiaokai 杨小凯: 1948-2004; outstanding economist
teaching at Monash University, Melbourne. Yang became known
throughout China by a critical
article he published in 1968 under his original name, Yang
Xiguang 杨曦光 (1968). Emigrating in the 1980s to the U.S. and
later to Australia, he worked on economic theory but continued
to comment frequently on economic developments in China. He
died of cancer in 2004.
Articles available online and more works.
Huang Wanli 黄万里: 1911-2001; hydrologist at
Qinghua university. Huang has become known for his frank criticism
of politically motivated engineering mega projects. In the 1950s
he was branded a rightist for voicing doubts about the design
of the Sanmenxia 三门峡 dam on the Yellow river – it later turned
out that he had correctly predicted exactly the kind of problems
the dam encountered upon completion. In the 1990s, Huang was
among the most outspoken critics of the Three Gorges Dam.
Articles available online and more works.
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