User:Hzhang17/subpagePreparotaryAssignment

Legitimacy of Chinese philosophy
The Wikipedia entry Legitimacy of Chinese philosophy examines the nature of Chinese philosophy and touches upon its relationship with western philosophy. The introduction sentence of this entry limits the scope of the discussion to "whether the ancient Chinese masters can be counted as philosophy ". The entry cites secondary sources on modern Chinese philosophers such as Hu Shi and Feng Youlan, but leaves out the subject of modern Chinese philosophy from the legitimacy question. I find the content of the entry links well with our recent class discussion on the establishment of the philosophy department in the Chinese higher education system and the influence of Japanese thinkers like Nishi Amane on Chinese philosophy. The entry also includes both the arguments for and against the legitimacy question. Contributors even challenge the legitimacy of the question itself to provide more balanced viewpoints in the section of the "Legitimacy of the 'Legitimacy' of 'Chinese Philosophy'". However, this entry looks more like a philosophy paper than an encyclopedia entry to me. The references are mostly drawn from repeating articles by the same Chinese scholars. As the entry suggests, the problem may be caused by a lack of western scholars studying the legitimacy problem and a lack of contributors to the entry due to a lack of public interest to the problem.

Liang Shuming
The Wikipedia entry Liang Shuming provides a brief introduction into the life and the thoughts of this famous modern Chinese philosopher. The scope of the philosophical work by Liang is limited to their brief summary and lacks the use of direct quotation from Liang or the kind of in-depth analysis of Liang's theory like that of the Wikipedia entry of Immanuel Kant on the work of Kant. I enjoyed reading the paragraphs on Liang's work on Eastern and Western cultures, which relate well with my personal knowledge of Liang. Similar to the critique of the Wikipedia entry Legitimacy of Chinese philosophy, there lacks diversity within the references that the entry includes. I hope to see a more balanced perspective on Liang's other philosophical theories other than his cultural views. Besides philosophy, I hope that the entry may include Liang's interaction with the larger social context, his relationship with his contemporary thinkers and politicians, such as Mao Zedong, and how Liang has influenced the younger generation.

Chinese Cultural Revolution
The Wikipedia entry Chinese Cultural Revolution gives a thorough account of the historical development of the sociopolitical movement and a critical reflection from a modern point of view. The sidebars of the entry include useful links to the history of the People's Republic of China and a Wikipedia series on revolutions, which helps the readers to understand the position of Chinese Cultural Revolution in Chinese history and to study this movement in the larger context of the world history. The scope of the entry extends from a breakdown of the different historical stages of the movement separated by time as well as leadership to the revolution's effects to the broader society (including its influence on education, arts and literature, and relics) to how the domestic and the foreign groups perceive the event. Both the Chinese webpage(文化大革命)and the English webpage aim for a balanced account of the revolution. I particularly like the inclusion of related artworks on the Chinese webpage that does not appear on the English page. Compared to Baidu Baike (Baidu Encyclopedia), Wikipedia's Chinese counterpart, the Wikipedia entry on the Chinese Cultural Revolution is much more informative and organized.

Writing in Wikipedia
Wikipedia has revolutionized how people gain and spread knowledge. First-time engaging in the writing gives me a sense of the larger online intellectual community. When I looked up the word "modern Chinese philosophy" in the search column, I encountered the entry Legitimacy of Chinese philosophy, which I did not expect it to exist as a Wikipedia entry. If other viewers share a somewhat similar searching experience, they may have found out the entry of "legitimacy of Chinese philosophy" as well and start to contemplate on this question, which is less commonly addressed by the non-academic society. To me, the biggest opportunity of writing in Wikipedia is making formal knowledge more easily accessible to the general public. In order to achieve this mission, Wikipedia authors need to overcome the challenge of rephrasing the words and sentences from an academic paper in a plain language that carries an engaging tone without sacrificing the accuracy of depiction. It is also challenging to keep the neutrality principle as writing about a complex subject like modern Chinese philosophy requires the writer to have a background in Chinese, English, and philosophy but not bring in their bias into the discussion. At the same time, however, individual biases are mitigated by the fact that Wikipedia is a big platform, whose numerous viewers are able to verify the sources and correct possible mistakes.