Shi and Modern Public Intelecturals

Abstract: There is a famous thought in Yu Yingshi’s Shi and Chinese Culture（《士与中国文化》）, that Shi (“士”) is the class of modern public intellectuals in Chinese ancient society, and that it is the distinctive characteristic of Chinese culture. However, even if Shi is concerned about the public values of society like modern public intellectuals, it does not follow that Shi is the class of modern public intellectuals. The emergence of modern public intellectuals as a social class independent of social public power is the product of highly differentiated social functions in modern society. Yu Yingshi’s tried to argue for the distinctive characteristic of Chinese culture through giving to Shi the cultural role of modern public intellectuals. But in this case, he made some mistakes both on the identification of the social role of Shi and on the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures.