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In the early twentieth century, China was on the brink of change. Different ideologies - those of radicalism, conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy - were much debated in political and intellectual circles. Whereas previous works have analyzed these trends in isolation, Edmund S. K. Fung shows how they related to one another and how intellectuals in China engaged according to their cultural and political persuasions. The author argues that it is this interrelatedness and interplay between different schools of thought that are central to the understanding of Chinese modernity, for many of the debates that began in the Republican era still resonate in China today. The book charts the development of these ideologies and explores the work and influence of the intellectuals who were associated with them. In its challenge to previous scholarship and the breadth of its approach, the book makes a major contribution to the study of Chinese political philosophy and intellectual history.

"I have written this book with the profound conviction that it is profitable to keep the field of psychology distinct from theology and the philosophy of religion. While I am not ignorant of theology and the philosophy of religion, I have studiously sought to keep such knowledge as I have of those subjects entirely in the background. The book is written as a study of certain forms of human behavior, and for me a study of behavior must include the conscious accompaniments. It should not, however, be looked upon as anything more than a study of behavior. There is in it no intentional brief for any form of religious faith nor for any form of anti-religious doctrine. There is no reason, of course, why the material here presented should not be utilized by theologians and philosophers of religion for its larger significances, if they find anything which seems of possible service to them. But my aim has been the more humble one of seeking merely to bring together facts and psychological interpretations of religious conduct, and to consider them in the light of contemporary psychological thought. I am confident that this procedure has greatly clarified my own thinking on these subjects. I hope it may do as much for others"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).