Abstract

During recent decades China has been visited by various "heats": the "Culture Heat" in the mid-1980s, the "Cultural Criticism Heat" in the late 1980s, the "Mao Zedong Heat" in the early 1990s, the "Chinese Traditional Studies Heat" in the late 1990s, and the "Old Three Classes Culture Heat" also in this decade, to name only the most prevalent. It is not always clear when and how a hot topic turns into a "heat," precisely what is burning, and how to handle it. "Heats" are cultural movements, difficult to grasp and controversial among intellectuals: To some they are a hearth to turn to, to others a disaster to flee