Li Zehou facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Li Zehou
Born	(1930-06-13)13 June 1930 Daolin, Ningxiang County, Hunan, China
Died	2 November 2021(2021-11-02) (aged 91) Boulder, Colorado, United States
Other names	Z.H. Li
Alma mater	Hunan First Normal University Peking University
Occupation	Historian, writer
Years active	1954–2021
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	李澤厚
Simplified Chinese	李泽厚
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Zéhòu

Li Zehou (Chinese: 李泽厚) was a very important Chinese thinker. He was born on June 13, 1930, and passed away on November 2, 2021. He studied philosophy and the history of ideas. For some time, he lived in the United States. Many people see him as a key scholar who helped shape modern Chinese thought. His work was especially important during a period in the 1980s called the Chinese Enlightenment.

Li Zehou's Early Life

Li Zehou was born in Daolin, a place in Ningxiang County, Hunan, China. This was on June 13, 1930. Some say he was born in Hankou city, but his family moved to Changsha when he was four. His grandfather, Li Chaobin, was a general. He served in the Xiang Army under Zeng Guofan. Li Zehou's father worked for the post office and died when Li was young. His mother, Tao Maolan, was a teacher in their hometown.

He went to Ningxiang No. 4 High School for elementary studies. Later, he studied at Hunan First Normal University. In 1954, he finished his studies at Peking University. After that, he started working at the Institute of Philosophy. This institute is part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 1992, Li Zehou moved to Boulder, Colorado, in the United States.

His Impact on Chinese Culture

Li Zehou had a big influence on Chinese culture. Yu Ying-shih, a scholar from Princeton University, said that Li's books helped a whole generation of young Chinese thinkers. They were freed from old Communist ideas. Li Zehou himself wrote that young people wanted to help philosophy grow. They were looking for new ways to modernize China. They also wanted to understand where the world was going.

Understanding Humans: Li Zehou's Philosophy

A main goal for Li Zehou was to create a philosophy about human beings. He wanted it to be based on real-world facts and history. These ideas came from Karl Marx. But he also wanted to include the ideas of Immanuel Kant. Kant believed in people's ability to think, make moral choices, and appreciate beauty. Li Zehou also added ideas from great Chinese philosophers. This mix of ideas gave a hopeful view of people. It was a different way of thinking after the difficult time of the Cultural Revolution.

Li Zehou looked closely at Marxist philosophy and political ideas. He came up with some important concepts:

Practical Philosophy of Subjectivity

This idea looks at human beings in two main ways. Each way has two parts.

• First, it looks at humankind as a whole. This includes how technology and society are built. It also includes how culture and minds are formed.
• Second, it looks at each individual person. Each person is part of a society, a group, or an ethnicity. But each person also has their own unique body and mind.

These four parts work together and are connected. The most basic part is how technology and society are set up. Li Zehou said, "Human beings first need to ensure their bodily existence before they can occupy themselves with other matters." But culture, rituals, community, and language make humans different from animals.

Motor Thinking and Language

Motor Thinking is about how we consciously use tools. It's not something we are born knowing how to do. Instead, we learn it over a long time by practicing. When we focus on making tools, this process helps us become more aware of ourselves. When people shared how to use tools using early language, it led to "semantic thinking." This means thinking with words and meanings.

Li Zehou believed that using tools and early language helped people form a "vague, common consciousness of being a community." This then led to "symbolic tools" like shamanic rites and ceremonies. These helped create early human societies. These societies were very different from animal groups.

Chinese Art, Music, and Freedom

Li Zehou pointed out four main things about Chinese art and beauty.

• First, the idea of Music/Joy (乐: Yue/Le) is very important in Chinese culture. "Music is joy." Music helps people become more civilized. It stops emotions from becoming wild. Music helps people get along and creates harmony in society. Music flows over time and shows feelings.
• Second, because music flows, lines are very important in Chinese art. Li Zehou noted that Immanuel Kant also thought lines were a great way to show beauty. Chinese art also focuses on showing feelings and pays attention to rhythm and flavor.
• Third, Chinese art mixes feelings and reason. Li Zehou said, "imaginative reality is more significant than sensible reality." This means what we imagine can be more important than what we just see.
• Finally, he talked about the "union of heaven and humankind." He called this the "fundamental spirit of Chinese philosophy." It's about how people relate to each other and to nature. Li Zehou believed that "to roam with the arts" is key to becoming free. He said freedom is not something we are born with. Instead, humans create freedom. For Li, art and beauty were very important!

New Ideas for Chinese Thought

Li Zehou also wrote about Chinese thinking in the late 1980s. In his 1987 essay, "The Western is the Substance, and the Chinese is for Application," he challenged common ideas. He said that Western knowledge includes technology, ideas, and philosophies, even Marxism. He saw this as the diverse base for modern China. Li Zehou believed that China should adapt Western learning with its own traditions. This would influence the outcome, but not completely control it. He suggested that this mix should keep the Chinese value of putting others first. It should also keep the value of intuition in thinking. And it should preserve the rich Chinese culture in how people relate to each other.

In another essay, "Dual Variation of Enlightenment and Nationalism," Li Zehou argued that all modern ideas, like freedom and human rights, should be looked at again. He also said that Chinese traditions should be studied. He thought that after a long time of peace and growth, China could learn from the West's "centuries of experience in political-legal theory and practice." He mentioned ideas like the separation of powers in government. He believed that freedom, limited by law, would protect weaker people. It would also stop Party officials from being above the law.

Selected Works

• History of Chinese Aesthetics (中国美学史), with Liu Gangji, China Social Sciences Press, 1984 (volume 1) and 1987 (volume 2)
• The Path of Beauty: A Study of Chinese Aesthetics, Oxford University Press, 1988
• Four Essays on Aesthetics: Toward a Global Perspective, with Jane Cauvel, Lexington Books, 2006
• The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition, with Maija Bell Samei, University of Hawai'i Press, 2010