Li Zehou

In this Chinese name, the family name is Li.
Li Zehou
Born(1930-06-13)13 June 1930
Daolin, Ningxiang County, Hunan, China
Died2 November 2021(2021-11-02) (aged 91)
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Other namesZ.H. Li
Alma materHunan First Normal University
Peking University
Occupation(s)Historian, writer
Years active1954–2021
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese李澤厚
Simplified Chinese李泽厚
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLǐ Zéhòu

Li Zehou (Chinese: 李泽厚; 13 June 1930 – 2 November 2021) was a Chinese scholar of philosophy and intellectual history.[1][2][3] He is considered an influential modern scholar of Chinese history and culture whose work was central to the period known as the Chinese "New Enlightenment" in the 1980s.[1][4][5]

Li served as a long-term vice president of the Chinese Society for Aesthetics (1980–1998).[6] His works on aesthetics, such as The Path of Beauty: A Study of Chinese Aesthetics, triggered an "aesthetics fever (美学热)" in mainland China in the 1980s.[1][7] Soon after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, Li was severely criticized by the Chinese authorities for "poisoning a whole young generation" and his works were forbidden for several years.[8] In 1992, he emigrated to the United States and held visiting or chair professorships at numerous universities, including Colorado College, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Swarthmore College, and University of Colorado Boulder.[1][9][10]

  1. ^ a b c d Ma, Josephine (4 November 2021). "Obituary | Star of 1980s 'Chinese enlightenment' dies in the US at 91". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  2. ^ Xu Yuedong (徐悦东) (3 November 2021). 著名哲学家李泽厚逝世，享年91周岁 [Noted philosopher Li Zehou dies at 91] (in Chinese). The Beijing News. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  3. ^ Anthony Blencowe Li Zehou, Confucius and Continuity with the Past in Contemporary China Archived 24 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Centre for Asian Studies. University of Adelaide 1993
  4. ^ Ames, Roger T.; Hershock, Peter D., eds. (2018). Li Zehou and Confucian Philosophy. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-7289-2.
  5. ^ "The Transformative Power of Art: LI Zehou's Aesthetic Theory", Jane Cauvel; Philosophy East & West, Vol. 49, 1999
  6. ^ "中华美学学会" [The Chinese Society for Aesthetics]. Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023.
  7. ^ Ames, Roger T. (1997). "The Path of Beauty: A Study of Chinese Aesthetics by Li Zehou, Gong Lizeng". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 55 (1): 77–79. doi:10.2307/431616.
  8. ^ Rošker, Jana S. (January 2019). "Chapter 1 Li Zehou and His Time". Following His Own Path: Li Zehou and Contemporary Chinese Philosophy. SUNY Press. p. 9. ISBN 9781438472478.
  9. ^ Xing, Wen (3 April 2023). "Introduction: "Proper Measure"—In Memoriam of Li Zehou". Chinese Literature and Thought Today. 54 (1–2): 99–101. doi:10.1080/27683524.2023.2206304. ISSN 2768-3524.
  10. ^ "Li Zehou, The Confucian World". Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link). coloradocollege.edu