Hu Shih (1891‒1962), Chinese philosopher, essayist and diplomat. Hu is widelyrecognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform inhis advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He was influential in the MayFourth Movement, one of the leaders of China’s New Culture Movement, and formerPresident of Peking University. He had a wide range of interests such as literature,history, textual criticism, and pedagogy.