王元化先生晚年在组织和推动传统学术研究的同时，以个人在思想领域的艰苦探索，引领了20世纪90年代以来时代风尚的转变。其中，最有影响力的是他在关于"五四反思"或"启蒙反思"中发表的一系列著述，这些著述表明他既不会"局限于陈词滥调之中"，又坚持"以传播真知为指归，而不愿以豪言惑众，取媚流俗"。更深入的观察可以发现，这种忠实于真理的态度与他在学术活动与思想探索之间的长期追求是一致的，那就是"独立之个性，自由之精神"。

As he organized and promoted the traditional academic research in his late years, Mr. WANG Yuan-hua led the change of the trend of the time in the 1990s by his striving hard in the intellectual field. His most influential works are his series of “reflections on the May 4^th Movement” or “reflections on enlightenment”. They demonstrate that he was not “confined in hackneyed and stereotyped expressions”; rather, he persisted in “spreading genuine knowledge as his tenet, instead of deluding people with brave words or meeting the need of the vulgar custom”. Furthermore, his attitude of being faithful to truth is consistent with his life-long pursuit for “independent personality and free spirit” in academic activities and intellectual exploration.