Lin Biao and the Gang of Four: Contra-Confucianism in Historical and Intellectual Perspective

This is the first book to treat the intellectual developments that accompanied the "Crit­icizing Lin Biao and Confucius Movement" and the campaign against the "Gang of Four," separating the political issues from the academic issues in both campaigns and reporting the genuine advances to come from the campaigns in archaeology, history, philosophy, sociology, and literature.

Following a discussion of the "Campaign Against Lin Biao" Professor Wu treats those topics examined by Chinese scholars un­der its impetus: "Slave Society in Ancient China," "Historical Critics and Criticisms of Confucius," "Confucius and His Communist Critics," "The Struggle Between the Confu­cian and Legalist Schools: From the Late Spring and Autumn Period to Quin," "Crit­icism of Literature and the Arts: The Shui-hu zhuan Campaign," and then shows how in some cases the "Criticisms of the Gang of Four" further modified and corrected these areas of study. His carefully structured pre­sentation and evaluation of this politically encouraged research makes clear the need for scholars to approach such polemics as they would any new data, for there were discoveries of enduring significance that re­sulted from both movements. Indeed, Pro­fessor Wu approaches this recent scholar­ship with such subtle discernment that his work approaches an intellectual history of China.

Completing this remarkable volume are documentary notes and a "Selected Bibli­ography," divided into nine parts that roughly follow the organization of the text, which together offer invaluable sources for further study and research.