Hu Shih

Hu Shih (Chinese: 胡適; pinyin: Hú Shì; Wade–Giles: Hu² Shih⁴; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a famous thinker, Chinese philosopher, essayist and diplomat. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He was influential in the May Fourth Movement, one of the leaders of China's New Culture Movement, was a president of Peking University, and in 1939 was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature. He had a wide range of interests such as literature, philosophy, history, textual criticism, and pedagogy. He was also an influential redology scholar and held the famous Jiaxu manuscript (甲戌本; Jiǎxū běn) for many years until his death.