“进步主义”在中国:芮恩施与欧美同学会的共享经历

一战前后,美国“进步主义”跨越太平洋,在中国大行其道。这既是由于一战所造成的特殊的国际情境使然,还与美国驻华公使芮恩施、欧美同学会及其姊妹团体中国社会政治学会的努力提倡有关。进步主义的两大思想流派,即实验主义与威尔逊主义对“五四”时期的中国文化、政治、外交等方面都造成了不同程度的影响。胡适将实验主义引入学术研究,开创了现代中国学术研究的新典范,使得进步主义对现代中国的学术发展产生了持久性影响;威尔逊主义不仅激发了“五四”知识分子参与政治的热情,还催生了1920年代初期的“好政府主义”与“好人内阁”。好政府主义固然具有中国的“圣王精神”传统,但是美国进步主义也是不应忽略的外来思想源流。美国驻华公使芮恩施既是外交官,又是著名学者,他的知名学者身份使其成为欧美留学生的“精神导师”。作为留学生的“精神导师”,芮恩施利用他的学术威望鼓励欧美同学会和中国社会政治学会传播美国的进步主义,推动中国的进步主义改革运动。但是,在四分五裂的北洋军阀时代,芮恩施与欧美留学生的进步主义改革尝试,由于缺乏坚实的社会基础,其在政治上的失败固在情理之中。
Abstract：Around the First World War, American progressivism was introduced to and became popular in China. The reasons were partly due to the international situation of the world war, and partly to the activism on the part of Paul S. Reinsch, the then American minister in China, Western Returned Students Association, and its sorority organization—Chinese Social and Political Science Association. The two components of progressivism, namely pragmatism and Wilsonism, had a profound impact upon the May Fourth China in terms of culture, politics, and international relations. Hu Shi introduced empiricism into his scholarly research, creating a new paradigm for academic studies in China, paving the way for progressivism to have a sustainable influence on the academic development. Wilsonism not only ignited the political passions of the May Fourth intellectuals, but contributed to the proposals of “good governance” and “the Good Men's Cabinet” in the early 1920s. Good governance bordered on the Chinese traditions of sagacious kingship, as well as on American progressivism the external influence. Paul S. Reinsch was more than a diplomat. He was also an established scholar, thus made to become the mentor for many Chinese students pursuing studies overseas. As a mentor for these students, Reinsch with the aid of his scholarly reputation encouraged Western Returned Students Association and Chinese Social and Political Science Association to propagate the ideas of American progressivism. This in its turn fed into the progressive reforms in China. Nevertheless, in the age of a divided China with warlordism, the progressive reforms attempted by Reinsch and his followers lacked substantial support from the wider Chinese society. For this reason their political failure was almost a doomed one from the very beginning.