Li Anzhai餾 Academic Growth and Political Struggle

Wang Hongliang

Abstract：

In recent years，I have done a lot of research on the academic life of Li Anzhai.My interest here is to explore the life history of Li Anzhai，and to understand the academic choices and political struggles of scholars during a certain era.Concerning his broad academic interests and remarkable academic research，it is not possible for me to explore more.In fact，I do not have to paraphrase most of the ideas in his academic works.If you want to know his academic ideas，the best way is to read his original works.What I hope to do is to put Li Anzhai into the political，and academic context of the 20th century，and explore how scholars adjusted the relationship between the individual and society，and politics and academics in such a changing age.In other words，what I want to write about is the age during which Li Anzhai lived.In addition to a few articles，there is not much literature related to Li Anzhai.This makes our research of Li Anzhai difficult.He wrote five autobiographies，and some other materials related to his personal history，which have not yet been fully utilized by the academic world.The first autobiography，only four pages，was written on July 3，1951.The second one，consisting of 20 pages，was written on July 11，1951.The third one，21 pages，was written on September 3，1961.The fourth one，consisting of nine pages，was written in 1966，and the fifth one，consisting of 10 pages，was written in 1967.The first four are collected in the archive of Sichuan Normal University，and the last one I obtained by other means.Due to the limitation of space，this article only focuses on a comparison between the 1951 version and 1961 version.It does so in order to reveal differences in content，and minor changes of Li Anzhai； analyze the influence of Li Anzhais early life with those in his later life，and his academic choices and political struggles.

I.The Differences Between the Two Versions of His Autobiography

We first will make a strict comparative study on the content of the two autobiographies.Seen from the content，the life experiences recorded in both autobiographies include those up to the date of writing.General speaking，the differences between the two versions are quite large.The 1951 version paid attention to his personal life，and was more about experiences，while the 1961 version focused more on the public sphere，and was more reflective.

The first big difference between the two versions is the description of Li Anzhais family history，family members，and family affairs.In the 1961 version，Li Anzhai only wrote a short description （around 1200 words） concerning “My Family before and after Liberation”.However，in the 1951 version，he wrote around 4000 words describing the occupations and life of each member of his large family.The second big difference is that the 1961 version included a separate list of Li Anzhais relations with the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang，and the beginning part of the autobiography inevitably mentioned political activities when talking about study and work.Because the time described in the 1951 version is not as long as the 1961 version，it used an obvious narrative style，and included a lot of detail.The third big difference is the evaluation of Li Anzhais life experiences and work.The 1951 version is just a record of his life and works，and rarely gave an evaluation.However，in the 1961 version，after writing down his life experiences or work during a specific period，they were always followed by a few negative or reflective comments.

II.Li Anzhais Early Life and Academic Growth

Compared with many scholars during that time，Li Anzhai was，indeed，a late bloomer.He received his college teachers certificate when he was around 30 years old，and he produced no academic works before that time.He started his school education at the age of 5，but why did he only graduate from the middle school at the age of 21，and then step out from his small mountain village onto an academic road？ Through reading the 1951 version of his autobiography，together with related materials，we can find the answer from experiences in his early life.

He wrote，“Foreign aggression and the feudal tradition left a deep imprint on my life”.The deep imprint on Li Anzhais life and his academic course mainly came from the aggression of the Japanese.Li Anzhai already had made great achievements in sociology and anthropology，and especially after he translated and compiled various works，he made a certain impact on the academic world.However，due to the Japanese aggression，he had to leave for northwest China，and，then，southwest China.During this time，his academic research transformed into anthropology based on fieldwork，especially the anthropological study of Tibetan religion and the sociological study of frontier society.

There are several key figures linked with Li Anzhais academic growth.The first one is his third uncle who brought him to Zunhua to get a middle school education and provided a chance for him to leave the confines of his family.The second one is the American missionary R.M.Hogan，who guided him into the field of sociology and social work.The third one is Yu Daoquan who Li Anzhai followed to learn foreign languages.The fourth one is I.A.Richards，a professor at Oxford University who always discussed science and philosophy with Li Anzhai，and persuaded him to save the country through academic knowledge.The fifth one is his wife，Yu Shiyu； the sixth is Luo Zhongsu and the seventh is Gu Xiegang.

III.Li Anzhais Political Struggle

As a scholar，Li Anzhai kept a distance from politics，but he was also never far away from politics.He was not only a member of communist party in early times，but he also joined the Kuomintang and the Sanqingtuan.So，after 1949，when there were so many successive political movements，he was unable to avoid politics.However，this was similar to the experience of other intellectuals of his time.His relationships with the political parties，and with people from different circles were also relatively complex.Very early on， he had a lot of contact with Christians，and joined the Presbyterian church from which he isolated his relationship later on.Before 1949，he studied and taught in a Christian university.He also served as a frontier service consultant of the Council of the Church of Christ in China，and conducted fieldwork in his the area where he was providing services.

IV.Conclusion

While Li Anzhai engaged in professional academic research，he was also concerned about，and made comments on，the time in which he was living.This helps us understand his perspectives about that period，and also provides us with a mirror to understand him during that time.He has written five autobiographies.As a way of constructing personal history，autobiography also expresses an understanding of past experience and the current situation.Li Anzhais autobiography has no poetic expression，and does not show the glory and dreams.Mostly，it is a standard action required within the context of “making clear personnel history”.Of course，during the course of writing the autobiography，there is also a system of selection.It is impossible to include all of lifes experiences，so the author must make selections，or even make some subjective creations.Since 1949，there is also a kind of autobiography in China that is an autobiography with a special requirement on its content selection.For instance，the 1962 version of Li Anzhais autobiography included an outline for the autobiography.From his autobiography，we notice that he paid great attention to it，and tried to record all of the things he knew，but，there was also a consciousness of self-protection.What I want to discuss here is that Li Anzhais academic growth and political struggle is not only a limitation that he cannot choose，but also is a result from his active pursuits during that dramatically changing period.Walking between politics and academics is a theme throughout most of Li Anzhais life.This brought fame to his academic affairs during the time he was young and middle-aged， but it also was resulted in his silence in the academic world due to constantly “making his personal history clear”.

Key Words： Li Anzhai； autobiography； academics； politics

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