Cui Zhiyuan
Cui also published an paper on Zhang Pengchun’s role in drafting United Nations’ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Zhang Pengchun (1892-1957) studied with John Dewey and got his Ph.D. from Columbia University and was the first Provost of Tsinghua University in 1923. He was the only Vice Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights (with Eleanor Roosevelt as the Chairman) in drafting the Universal Declaration, especially in inserting the Chinese concept “Ren” (, two men). Zhang initially translated “Ren” as two men mindedness, because “two men mindedness” is considered as too awkward, thus “conscience” was used in the final text of the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Cui's article discusses the important implications of this discovery in the UN archive about Zhang's key role for the current Chinese political and cultural debates—transcending the dichotomy of “Western Centralism” and “Cultural Particularism”— and has been translated into French and published (, Multitudes 2013/3)
International Year of Human Rights
1968 was declared the International Year of Human Rights by UNESCO, with the principal goal of bringing attention to the state of human rights throughout the world. On its XX session on March 17-18, 1964 United Nations Commission on Human Rights considered United Nations General Assembly Eighteenth session decision to proclaim International Year of Human Rights and recommended the establishment of the committee for preparation of celebration of 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and organisation of an international conference on human rights.