Hu Shih, Jiang Menglin, and the Rise of Wilsonianism in China at the End of WWI

Past scholarship has attributed the rise of pro-Wilsonianism in China to the Committee on Public Information (CPI), a wartime propaganda organization led by George Creel (1876-1953) and his Shanghai office. This article shifts the<br>focus to the optimistic pro-Wilsonian views held by American-trained Chinese intellectuals in New York. It foregrounds the neglected role of transnational individuals in this transmission of ideas and knowledge across the Pacific, and argues that American-trained Chinese intellectuals such as Hu Shih 胡適 (1891-1962) and Jiang Menglin 蔣夢麟 (1886-1964) and their interpretations of American political ideals for a Chinese audience ultimately contributed to the enthusiasm for and eventual disillusionment with the “Wilsonian Moment” in China. The Chinese Exclusion Act, however, enforced legislative measures that restricted Chinese immigration and reinforced racial exclusion policies in the United States. Meanwhile, the American-trained Chinese intellectuals who embraced Wilsonian politics remained curiously silent towards the racist aspects of Wilsonian democracy, and their vision towards the Wilsonian postwar international order later introduced to China continued to contribute to the expectations for Woodrow Wilson by the end of WWI. When it became clear that Woodrow Wilson had a limited intention of extending anti-colonial promises to non-white audiences, the Chinese intellectuals’ faith in Wilsonian principles was shattered.