This book takes Yan Fu as an example to investigate the complicated processes of cultural transformation in modern China. Yan had studied abroad and belonged to the first generation of “new intellectuals,” but he was also strongly influenced by traditional values and lifestyle, and his thought possessed some “anti-enlightenment” features. Huang Ko-wu argues that Yan, under the influences of both tradition and modernity, was to a certain extent contradictory and “Janus-faced,” yet he also remained consistent in combining his modernizing project with ultimate concerns derived from Buddhism and Daoism. This study indicates that Chinese intellectuals who favored modernization could utilize Western ideas while not completely rejecting Chinese tradition. In addition, Huang uses new materials to describe the challenges faced by Yan and his struggle to cope with them, thereby illuminating new aspects of the modern history of cultural transformation in China.