“From Babbitt to "Bai Bide" : interpretations of new humanism in 'Xueheng'” (Publication, 2008)

Wu Mi returned to China, kept in touch with Irving Babbitt through correspondence and by regularly sending him copies of Xue heng.
Wu Mi was fascinated by Babbitt's ideas, which were known as the New Humanism, and by Babbitt's respect for ancient Eastern philosophy, including Buddhism and Confucianism. According to Wu Mi, the New Cultural Movement's one-sided promotion of naturalism was introducing into China a system of thought that Babbitt and other distinguished scholars had already shown to have been the source of calamities in the West. Babbitt adhered to the old tradition of dualism with respect to human nature. Inspired by Babbitt, Wu Mi also assumed a dualistic standpoint on this subject. He refused those who regarded human nature as solely evil or solely good. Wu Mi shared Babbitt's view that 'in the long run democracy will be judged, no less than other forms of government, by the quality of its leaders, a quality that will depend in turn on the quality of their vision'.

[Babbitt, Irving]. Baibide zhong xi ren wen jiao yu tan. Hu Xiansu yi. [ID D28798].
In the editor's preface, Wu Mi tried to make Babbitt (known to his Chinese readers as Baibide) relevant to 1920s China. He ignored Babbitt's role in the American debate on higher education ; instead, he depicted him as a foreign expert who had answers to Chinese questions. First, he stressed that despite Babbitt's inability to read Chinese, he was well informed regarding the recent development in China. He told his readers, that Mr. Baibide 'is particularly concerned with the affairs of our country, and he reads all the published works on our country'. Second he pointed out that as 'a leading literary critic in America', Mr. Baibide offered a vision of society fundamentally different from that of other Western thinkers. While other Western thinkers stressed the benefits of scientism and materialism in producing more consumer goods, Mr. Baibide focused on the role of religion and morality in shaping an individual's spiritual life. As other Western thinkers saw modern Europe as the apex of human development, Mr. Baibide combined the learning of 'East and West, and past and present'.
Wu told his readers that from Babbitt's perspective, there was an oneness in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle in the West, and those of Siddhartha Guatama and Confucius in the East.

Mei, Guangdi. Xian jin xi yang ren wen zhu yi [ID D28806].
Mei Guangdi discussed New Humanism as a 'valuable doctrine' with direct relevance to contemporary China. He praised Irving Babbitt for his attempt to counter populism by stressing the need for discipline, restraint, and leadership. Mei turned Babbitt into 'Baibide', a foreign expert who offered answers to Chinese questions. Inspired by a reading of Babbitt's writings, Mei found that although political discussions in China often claimed to include the masses into the political process, few people had paid attention to the danger of equating quantity with quality. While he admitted that populism was indeed part of 'the global current' (shi jie chao liu), he remained his traders that only the well-educated elites could appreciate the 'permanent truth' (jiu yuan zhi zhen li) of humanity.