Abstract: 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.

Key words: WANG Yuan-hua, thought, academics, reflections on the May 4^th Movement, personality