Abstract Xu Zhimo and Hu Shi ,who were good friends and both liberal intellectuals ,visited Moscow ,Xu in 1925 and Hu in 1926 . The journeys brought sharp reversals in their thoughts : with dreams of Soviet Russia disillusioned ,Xu Zhimo returned to liberalism ,while Hu Shi ,on the other hand ,applauded the″great newpolitical experiments″o f new Russia somuch so that he was caught in″new excitement″. Hence the dispute on Soviet Russia between Xu Zhimo and Hu Shi . Xu's feelings of nostalgia of Russian culture was rooted in his being a poet . Hu's appreciation of the new experiments of new Russian politics was characteristic of a scholar-bureaucrat . Their divergence of opinions on Soviet Russia ws also a symbol of the deep conflict of thoughts among liberal intellectuals .During the debate ,Xu Zhimo the poet became the guardian of the principles of classical liberalism ,and Hu Shi the spiritual leader of China's liberal intellectuals became a sympathizer of Soviet Russian revolution .This dispute is a significant event in the history of 20th century Chinese philosophy .
