or Hu Shi
born Dec. 17, 1891, Shanghai, China
died Feb. 24, 1962, Taiwan
Chinese Nationalist scholar and diplomat who helped establish the vernacular as the official written language.
Hu studied under John Dewey at Columbia University and was profoundly influenced by Dewey's philosophy and pragmatic methodology. Back in China, he began writing in vernacular Chinese, the use of which spread rapidly. Because he eschewed dogmas such as Marxism and anarchism as solutions for China's problems, he found himself opposed by the communists but also distrusted by the Nationalists. In 1937, when war broke out with Japan, he and the Nationalists were reconciled, and Hu became ambassador to the U.S. He finished his life as president of Taiwan's Academia Sinica.