Leader of the New Culture Movement whose 1917 essay in 新青年 called for writing in everyday speech, 白话文, instead of classical Chinese. He later was ambassador to the US and head of Academia Sinica in Taiwan.
He studied under the philosopher John Dewey at Columbia. The 1917 essay was 《文学改良刍议》, 'humble suggestions on literary reform': 刍议 (刍 is fodder grass) is a self-deprecating word for your own proposal.
culture
Under Mao he became a target: the 1954–55 campaign of 胡适思想批判, 'criticism of Hu Shi thought', filled volumes with state-sponsored attacks. Since the 1980s his reputation on the mainland has been restored, and he is taught in schools again.
