Hu Hsu

Bio

Hu Hsu is a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously trained as a historian at National Taiwan University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hu has a comprehensive interest in Chinese thought and religion from the early to modern period. He also pays attention to political theory and comparative intellectual history. His current research focuses on how the Neo-Confucian scholar Wang Yangming’s (1472-1529) thought was received and reconstructed in late-Qing and Republican China. This ongoing project explores how pre-modern resources contributed to the formation of “Chinese modernity,” in particular the religiosity of Confucianism in the twentieth century. Despite its engagement in philosophical issues, this project is also a cultural history about the Neo-Confucian ideas in modern societies, which aims to explore how Wang Yangming became the cultural symbol of the invented “Chinese tradition” in an era of nationalism. Hu has published multiple journal articles (in Chinese) on the topic of Neo-Confucianism and Chinese intellectual history.

Awards and Fellowships

R.O.C. East Asian Fellowships, Berkeley Center for Chinese Studies (2023)

Mini-Grant for Graduate Students, Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies (2022)                      

New Directions in Theology Grants for Graduate Students, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion (2021)

David N. Keightley Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley (2021)

Excellent Essay Award for Young Scholars, Zhejiang Normal University (2019)

Ministry of Education Fellowship, Republic of China (2017)

Hsing-tian Kong Fellowship (2017)

Fu Ssu-nian Fellowship, College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University (2017)

Huang Chang-chien Memorial Fellowship, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica (2016)

Zhao Qi-na Memorial Fellowship, Department of History, National Taiwan University (2014)

Excellent Undergraduate Research Paper Award, Department of History, National Taiwan University (2011)

Presidential Award, National Taiwan University (2011, 2010, 2009) 

Journal Articles

“The Learning of Ti-yong: Zhu Xi’ Neo-Confucianism in the Intellectual Transition from Tang to Song 從「内外異觀」到「全體大用」： 朱子所面對的時代困境與聖人之學的構成方式” New Song Learning 新宋學 9 (October 2020): 326-365.  

“Intellectual Foundations and Characteristics of Zhu Xi’s Employment of Ti-Yong 朱子體用思維之淵源、性質與理路.” Chinese Studies 漢學研究 35, no. 3 (September 2017): 137-172. (THCI core)

“Mind‐with‐Ti‐Yong: The Structure of Zhu Xi’s Learning of Mind‐Heart 心有體用：朱子心學的構成與運作方式.” Humanitas Taiwanica 臺大文史哲學報 86 (May 2017): 1-43. (THCI core)

“Intellectual Foundations and the Modern Transformation of Liu Shi-pei’s Discourse on Human Nature 劉師培人性論之淵源及其現代轉型.” Bulletin of Historical Research 臺灣師大歷史學報 51 (June 2014): 1-50. (THCI core)

Book Reviews

“Review: The Sage and the People: The Confucian Revival in China,” Bulletin of the Institute of Modern History 109 (September 2020: 149-156)

Presentations

“Training Confucain Citizens: Wang Yangming's Neo-Confucianism in the Nationalist Mobilization.” Forum of Young Scholars, Beihang University, 20 June, 2023.  

“Zhang Taiyan’s Dilemma between Particularity and Universality: A Case Study of Chinese Modernity.” China and the World: Language, Culture, Politics, the University of Sofia, 10-14 December, 2019.

“Progressive Humanity as Chinese Modernity: How Did Liang Shuming Reshape the Wang Yangming School in Modern China?” 68^th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, Michigan State University, 4-6 October, 2019.

“The School of Quan-ti Da-yong in Southern Song China: A Comparative Analysis of the Thought of Zhang Shi, Lu Zuqian, Lu Jiuyuan, and Zhu Xi.” The Zhe-School Forum, Zhejiang Normal University, 31 May-2nd June, 2019.

“Rethinking Chinese Modernity and the Wang Yangming School: A Case Study of Liang Shuming.” The Wang Ming School and Modern China, College of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, 29-31 March, 2019.

“The School of Quan-ti Da-yong in Southern Song China: An Analysis of Zhi Xi’s First-Generation Disciples.” 2018 Forum on Song History, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 30 June, 2018.

“The School of Quan-ti Da-yong in Southern Song China: Zhedong Scholars’ Challenge against the Orthodox Neo-Confucianism.” The Academic Conference in Commemoration of the 888^th Birthday of Zhu Xi. Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, 19 May, 2018.

“Confucianism in the Era of Science: An Analysis of Liang Qichao’s Reinvention of Confucianism.” New Orders in Global Politics and Economics: The Challenges and Opportunities of China Studies (The 5th Young Scholars Conference on China Studies), Hong Kong Baptist University, 18-19 December, 2017.

“The Formation of the Intellectual Structure of Zhu Xi’s Learning of Sage in Tang-Song Transition.” The Forum on the Scholarship of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, 2 August, 2015.

“Intellectual Foundations and Characteristics of Zhu Xi’s Deployment of Ti-and-Yong.” The Graduate Research Symposium on the Culture and the Political-and-Economical Developments in East Asia, Department of East Asian Studies, National Taiwan Normal University, 23 May, 2015.

“From ‘Quiescence’ to ‘Benevolence’: An Analysis of the Thought of Luo Nian-an’s Late Years.” The Fifth Graduate Research Symposium on the Historical and Cultural Transition after the Sixteenth Century in East Asia, Institute of History, National Central University, 16 May, 2014.