A New Concept of the Universe and Life Based on a New Belief
From John Power’s Page
These excerpts are from a long essay by Wu Chih-hui ( 1865-1953), which
Hu Shih hailed as "the most significant event" in the controversy over science and metaphysics. "With one stroke of the pen he ruled out God, banished the soul, and punctured the metaphysical idea that man is the most spiritual o£ all things." Wu, an iconoclast who had a reputation as something of a wit and satirist, is remembered £or his declaration, which became a virtual battle- cry among the anti-Confucianists: " All thread-bound [ old-style ] books should be dumped in the lavatory."
A£ter taking the first steps up the old civil service ladder under the Manchus, Wu had become involved in the re£orm movement, and then had studied for many years in Japan, England and France, where he espoused anarchism. Acquaintance with Sun Yat-sen led him eventually into the revolutionary movement. He became a confidant of Sun and Chiang Kai-shek, and in his later years a sort of elder statesman among the Nationalists.
 [1]
Chang Chiin-mai has mobilized his soldiers of science to protect his specter of metaphysics and engage in warfare with Ting Wen-chiang. Liang Ch’i-ch’ao has formulated £or them "laws of the war of words" in preparation £or stepped up mobilization on both sides and £or a pro-
[ I78 ]
longed struggle. ...To some extent I feel that even if the struggle lasted for a hundred years, there would be no conclusion. [2]
What philosophy of life have you, oldster? Well, friends, let me tell you. ...
We need only say that "the universe is a greater life." Its substance involves energy at the same time. To use another term, it may also be called power. From this power the will is produced. ...When the will comes into contact with the external world, sensations ensue, and when these sensations are welcomed or resisted, feelings arise. To make sure that the feelings are correct, thought arises to constitute the intellect. When the intellect examines again and again a certain feeling to see to it that it is natural and proper or to correct the intellect’s own ignorance, this is intuition. [3]
What is the need of any spiritual element or the so-called soul, which never meets any real need anyway ? [4]
I strongly believe 1) that the spirit cannot be separated from matter. ...2) that the universe is a temporary thing. ...3) that people today are superior to people in the past and that people in the future will be superior to people today. ...4) that they are so in both good and evil. ...5) that the more advanced material civilization becomes, the more plentiful will material goods be, the human race will tend more and more to unity, and complicated problems will be more and more easily solved. ...6) that morality is the crystallization of civilization and that there has never been a low morality when civilization reached a higher state. ...and 7) that all things in the universe can be explained by science. [5]