Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China

Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China explores Chinese intellectual life and cultural practices in the New Culture era of modern China by examining an influential newspaper supplement published in Beijing during 1918-1928, as well as other contemporary sources. Xu highlights a key intellectual-moral paradox in Chinese discourses between cosmopolitanism as an idealistic aspiration and nationalism as a practical imperative, both in complex relationship to...
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Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China explores Chinese intellectual life and cultural practices in the New Culture era of modern China by examining an influential newspaper supplement published in Beijing during 1918-1928, as well as other contemporary sources. Xu highlights a key intellectual-moral paradox in Chinese discourses between cosmopolitanism as an idealistic aspiration and nationalism as a practical imperative, both in complex relationship to individualism, and in constant negotiations between Chinese tradition and Western culture in the making of Chinese modernity. These issues remain vitally relevant today.