The Construction of Wu Mi’s Literary Philosophy: The Integration of Humanism into Chinese Confucianism

Abstract

Wu Mi, a believer in humanism, and student of Irving Babbitt, loved traditional Eastern and Western cultures and advocated the “continuity and convergence” of literature. This is an ideology of fair and just treatment of the different cultures of the East and the West, externally opposing drastic cultural changes but internally pursuing the continuity of ancient and modern culture and the integration of Eastern and Western cultures. Due to its fierce criticism of “old literature” in the New Culture Movement, Wu Mi’s literary philosophy was considered old-fashioned and anachronistic at the beginning of the 20th century. On the contrary, Wu Mi had no bias toward the literature of the past and present, East and West, which is a significant step toward understanding in culture and its development, during turbulent and chaotic times.