The Meaning of Freedom

Download or read book The Meaning of Freedom written by Max Ko-wu Huang and published by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. This book was released on 2008-03-15 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about how one of the leading intellectual architects of Chinese modernization, Yan Fu (1854 - 1921), introduced the Chinese intellectual world to the liberalism of John Stuart Mill partly by grasping Mill's ideas, but also by misunderstanding and projecting them onto indigenous Chinese values, which in turn led to criticism and resistance. Rather than bending Western liberalism to the purposes of Chinese nationalism, Yan initiated a distinctively Chinese liberal tradition that became a major component of China's modern political culture.