The power of position : Beijing University, intellectuals, and Chinese political culture, 1898-1929 / / Timothy B. Weston

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910783003303321
• Autore: Weston Timothy B. <1964->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berkeley : , : University of California Press, , 2004; ©2004
• ISBN: 9786612357077; 1-282-35707-7; 0-520-92990-X; 1-59734-828-7
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xiii, 325 pages)
• Collana: Berkeley series in interdisciplinary studies of China ; ; 3
• Disciplina: 379.51
• Soggetti: Higher education and state - China - History; Political culture - China - History
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Schools, politics, and reform in the nineteenth century -- The imperial university and late-Qing Beijing -- Instability and redefinition : the national university in the wake of the 1911 revolution -- Between the old culture and the new -- The insistent pull of politics -- Tensions within the May Fourth Movement -- National university under siege -- Epilogue : upholding the "Beida spirit".
• Sommario/riassunto: Throughout the twentieth century, Beijing University (or Beida) has been at the center of China's greatest political and cultural upheavals-from the May Fourth Movement of 1919 to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's to the tragic events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Why this should be-how Beida's historical importance has come to transcend that of a mere institution of higher learning--is a question at the heart of this book. A study of intellectuals and political culture during the past century's tumultuous early decades, The Power of Position is the first to focus on Beida, China's oldest and best-known national university. Timothy B. Weston portrays the university as a key locus used by intellectuals to increase their influence in society. Weston analyzes the links between intellectuals' political and cultural ; commitments and their specific manner of living. He also compares Beijing's intellectual culture with that of the rising metropolis of Shanghai. What emerges is a remarkably nuanced and complex picture of life at China's leading university, especially in the decades leading up to the May Fourth Movement.