Intellectuals in Revolutionary China, 1921–1949 In Intellectuals in Revolutionary China, 1921–1949 Hung-yok Ip examines how Part IV intellectuals in China during the revolutionary period (1921–1949) constructed and presented identities for themselves. She looks at how they narrated their place in the revolution and how these identities later allowed them to claim to be the deserving elite of a revolution that sought to liberate the oppressed and bring about a better society. Not only does this book make a contribution to the history of the Chinese revolution, it also contributes to an understanding of the culture that was to be built in China after 1949. Using memoirs, recollections and literary works that have only recently become available, Ip analyses Communist intellectuals’ self-construction from the functional, emotional and aesthetic perspectives, and expands on how these historical agents fashioned the themes of Communist intellectuals as leaders, heroes and sophisticates. Hung-yok Ip is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Oregon State University. Chinese Worlds Chinese Worlds publishes high-quality scholarship, research monographs, and source collections on Chinese history and society. “Worlds” signals the diversity of China, the cycles of unity and division through which China’s modern history has passed, and recent research trends toward regional studies and local issues. It also signals that Chineseness is not contained within borders—ethnic migrant communities overseas are also “Chinese worlds.” The series editors are Gregor Benton, Flemming Christiansen, Delia Davin, Terence Gomez and Frank Pieke. The Literary Fields of Twentieth-Century China Edited by Michel Hockx Chinese Business in Malaysia Accumulation, ascendance, accommodation Edmund Terence Gomez Internal and International Migration Chinese perspectives Edited by Frank N.Pieke and Hein Mallee Village Inc. 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No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-00993-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-35165-0 (Print Edition) To the protagonists of this study Contents Acknowledgments xi List of abbreviations xiii 1 PART I Introduction 1 Perspectives 3 20 PART II Leaders: self-construction from the functional perspective 2 Radical intellectuals as the guiding force of change: the beginning of the 22 political odyssey 3 Manufacturing political leadership I: the Yaqian intellectuals and Peng Pai 40 4 Manufacturing political leadership II: Mao Zedong 63 82 PART III Heroes: self-construction from the emotional perspective 5 Narrating politicized subjectivity 84 6 The nobility of ambivalence and devotion 104 137 PART IV Sophisticates: self-construction from the aesthetic perspective 7 Clinging to refinement in the revolution 139