He met many people during this time and made friends with Wang Jingzhi (汪静之), Liu Zhaoyang (刘朝阳), and Cui Zhenwu (崔真吾).

The school was famous for its English education, and many big-name writers such as Yu Dafu (郁达夫) and Lu Li (陆蠡) had also studied there.

[9] By having access to education in Hangzhou, Hu was provided opportunities to develop his talent in literature, and therefore marked a turning point in his life.

[18] Following his escape to Japan after World War II, Hu Lancheng married the widow of a Shanghai political collaborator, She Aizhen, but not before characteristically having a three-year affair with the wife of his then-landlord.

[19] Hu Lancheng began his career by working as a clerk in the University of Yen-ching, located in Beijing, which eventually exposed him to the western intellectual thought that inspired much of his writing and political beliefs, Marxism being one example.

Hu Lancheng's acclaimed literary career began in Guangxi province in 1932 with the publishing of various essays in local in journals and newspapers.

[25] In April 1950, Hu Lancheng managed to escape to Japan by cruise with the help of Xiong Jiandong (熊剑东) after staying at Hong Kong for five months.

[27] In 1951, Hu settled down in Tokyo where he attended several political party meetings and composed articles to offer strategies for Japan in the Korean War.

[29] During his exile in Japan, Hu Lancheng kept in touch with mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with his friend Tang Chun-i (唐君毅) as the intermediary.

Other academics and intellectuals had exposed Hu as a collaborationist from the Sino-Japanese War via essays in public journals and newspapers, ultimately ending his time as a formal teacher in Taiwan.

[36] Although involved with the GMD, Hu Lancheng's political stance was largely inspired by the concept of xing, a term which can be simply explained as the fabrication of some force that stirs and encourages others.

[37] When applied to the makings of history, xing could be understood as the catalyst of revolution, and the belief that modern China was in desperate need of this was the foundation to Hu Lancheng's political stance.

[38] It was these values that could lead to Hu's controversial political values, including this quotation on his thoughts on human life in the making of a revolution, “Even if… [they] have killed millions of people, I won’t blink my eyes for a moment… it is the Way of heaven to kill the innocent.”[39] Revolution ... is the completion of humanity; it is its own end... We are fighting a war but we are not fighting for any goal.

[42] It is important to note that his time in the Wang regime was not marked without scandal, however, as he was caught publicly critiquing the collaborationist government and was once again jailed.

Hu Lancheng “was a strong writer in his own right; as critics have observed, his style is so exquisite that it exerts an enchanting power over readers even to date.”[49] His life as a whole, on the other hand, has been succinctly summarized as such: “Caikexi, renyingfei 才可惜，人应废” (His talent should be cherished, he himself should be punished).

Instead, he eloquently defended his deeds in terms of intellectual necessity as well as effective imperative…[clarification needed]Hu Lancheng still remains an infamous name in China.”.