"In the first two-thirds of Yü’s book, he reflects on what he learned during the war of resistance, the civil war years, and the post-war era before landing at Harvard in 1956. Like Qian Mu, he writes of teachers whose lasting influence mattered in greater or lesser ways not only for his scholarship but also for his life choices and, ultimately, for his self-knowledge. ... The final third of the book, focusing on Yü’s experience at Harvard, tells the story of when and how each of these fields, and the scholars who introduced them to Yü, came to influence his scholarship. Once the reader begins to probe and reflect on them, the details increasingly provide insights into the history of the scholarship and its significance for Chinese studies and for comparative history more broadly. ... This memoir is both a narrative history of modern Chinese 'learning' (xuewen) from the perspective of a learned scholar, and a point of reference for younger seekers of knowledge. Translated into English, it should serve non-Chinese readers as well. ... in the broad field of humanistic historical studies, it may serve as a point of personal and professional reference for others. ... Surely, the field of Chinese studies is populated by very many who have experienced 'learning' in the spirit of the Chinese humanists that Yü Ying-shih wants us all, and especially the younger generation, not to forget." —Journal of Chinese History
“An immense contribution to scholarship, this book is much more than the memoir of someone considered by many to be the most important Chinese historian of our times. In addition to tracing Professor Yü’s intellectual pursuits and providing a window into his lifelong effort of understanding, revitalizing, and redefining the Chinese cultural and intellectual tradition, this book is an essential record of the history of our times, bearing witness to the cultural, political, and social transformations of what Professor Yü notes as the period of the most violent turmoil and social upheaval in modern Chinese history.” —Professor Chin-shing Huang, Academia Sinica
"With this commendable contribution to the field, English-language readers now have access to the mature reflections of Professor Yü Ying-shih, the leading Chinese historian and humanities scholar, who was the first Asian to be awarded the John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity by the Library of Congress and the first humanities scholar ever chosen for the Tang Prize by Academia Sinica. Yü’s reflections tell us much about the history of twentieth-century China as well as the lives of ordinary people, and they illuminate the views and experiences of many major Chinese scholars of the last hundred years. The organization is brilliant. For example, after a chapter about his background, Yü discusses perspectives on the May Fourth Movement and how it’s been viewed in relation to the European Renaissance and the Enlightenment; in the process, he shows how such projections of equivalence were flawed and provides his own views. The book traces and analyzes different generations of Chinese scholars who came to study at Harvard during various periods of time over the twentieth century. Yü shows how myriad personal and international factors interacted for these scholars, telling us what determined who was selected as well as when, or if, they returned to China. Readers will learn how Chinese scholars dealt with cultural and practical issues as well as national and international matters. This book provides rare insights on Chinese scholars in America and abroad, which will be valuable for both scholars and general readers." —Professor Hoyt Tillman, Yuelu Academy (Hunan University) and Arizona State University
