本文主要希望透過研究文化保守主義者吳宓（1894－1978）在抗戰時期的政治與文化思考，來說明知識分子思維的多面性，以補學界對於抗戰時期學人愛國熱情的大敘述之不足。吳宓因其本身學衡派的影響，使他一直以來堅持中西貫通的文化主張與兼容中庸的態度，進而影響他在政治立場上無法全然附和於抗戰時期國民政府所推廣的三民主義，並刻意強調集體主義至上的愛國主張。另一方面，在文化觀上，吳宓與西南聯大內的新文化派教授如聞一多更是壁壘分明、勢如水火，甚至頻頻動了欲離開聯大之念。值得注意的是，即使身處文化保守主義群體之內，吳宓也因不願自發性地將文化作為抗日的工具，而顯得貌合神離。以上問題關乎知識分子面對國家斷續與否的救亡問題、民族主義、國共兩黨相爭相持等政治時事的反應，以及學術領域上與新文化派的齟齬、與文化保守主義同道間的相處，特別是同陣營中相互歧異處的表現，對於現代中國思想在抗戰史脈絡裡的變動抑或延續性問題，當可有所啟示。藉著吳宓這位學術立場上傾向保守、政治立場上無黨無派的學人之眼，觀察在國難當頭的非常時期，知識分子的抗戰經驗及其抉擇，揭示其間更接近人性本真的學者面貌。

This paper intends to demonstrate the versatility of intellectuals' minds by through a case study of the cultural conservative/conservatist Wu Mi's political and cultural reflections during the Anti-Japanese War, with a view to complementing the insufficiency of grand narrative often found in the accounts of intellectuals' patriotic zeal during the period. Being a staunch adherent of the Xue Heng school ideology, Wu advocated a good command of both the eastern and oriental cultures and an open and happy medium. As a result, he could not persuade himself to fully accept the National Government's patriotic proposals, such as the Three Principles of the People and the collectivism supremacy, even during the anti-Japanese War. As to his cultural view, however, Wu persistently rejected the new literature movement proposals at the Southwest Associated University where he taught, making him deviate far from the professors like Wen Yiduo, who spoke for the movement. For several times, he even decided but failed somehow to leave the university. Noticeably, as an active cultural conservative, Wu showed reluctance to make culture a weapon to fight against the Japanese invaders, which led to some gap between him and his group. The abovementioned questions concern an intellectual's reaction to issues like China's survival, Chinese nationalism, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the one hand, and the conflicts between his academic faith and the new literature movement's proposals, his relationship with the colleagues within the cultural conservatism circle, especially his responses to division of opinions in his group on the other. These are likely to provide some insights into the understanding of the changes or consistency of modern Chinese intellectual thinking in the Anti-Japanese War context. By observing these intellectuals' experiences in the Anti-Japanese War and their decisions when their country was suffering calamity from Wu's specific perspective, a perspective which tends to be conservative academically and stands free from any affiliated influences politically, this paper strives to reveal more humane or homely truths about the intellectuals' characteristics during this critical period.