An Zuozhang (; 10 January 1927 – 20 February 2019) was a Chinese historian who specialized in ancient Chinese history and the regional history of

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. A lifelong professor of

Shandong Normal University Shandong Normal University (, English acronym SDNU) is a university in Jinan City, Shandong Province, China. It is one of the earliest institutions of higher learning established in Shandong Province since the founding of the People's Republic of ...

, he was considered in China as a leading expert in the history of

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

and

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

dynasties.

Biography

An was born on 10 January 1927 in

Cao County Cao County or Caoxian () is a county in Heze City in southwestern Shandong Province, China. It borders Henan Province to the west. History Bo, one of the capitals of the Shang dynasty, lay in what is now Cao . Prior to the Boxer Rebellion, C ...

, Republic of China. After graduating from the Department of History of

Cheeloo University Cheeloo University (, alternatively known as ''Shantung Christian College'') was a university in China, established by Hunter Corbett American Presbyterian, and other English Baptist, Anglican, and Canadian Presbyterian mission agencies in earl ...

in 1951, he served as a faculty member in the history department of

until his death. From 1985 to 1989 he also served as director of the university's Research Institute of Ancient Documents. In 1954, two of his papers, on the military colonies and agricultural officials of the

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

dynasty, respectively, were published in the influential national newspaper '' Guangming Daily'', a rare feat for a 27-year-old historian. An published more than 100 academic papers and more than 30 books. A number of them, including ''A Draft History of Qin and Han Officialdom'' (), ''Biography of Liu Bang'' (), ''A Cultural History of Canals in China'' (), ''General History of Shandong'' (), ''General Cultural History of Shandong'' (), and ''General History of Chinese Acrobatic Art'' (), were awarded the Shandong Provincial Social Science Research Prize (First Class). An was considered in China as a leading expert in the history of the

and

dynasties. In his view, the governing principle of the

(or Xi Han) dynasty was "doing nothing against nature" and ensuring "a peaceful environment to develop the economy". He was recognized by the Government of Shandong as a "top provincial expert", and was awarded a special pension by the

State Council of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

. He was elected a delegate to the

13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party The 13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing from 25 October to 1 November 1987. It was preceded by the 12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. It was succeeded by ...

. On 20 February 2019, An died of a heart attack at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:An, Zuozhang 1927 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Chinese historians 21st-century Chinese historians Historians of China Cheeloo University alumni Academic staff of Shandong Normal University Writers from Heze Historians from Shandong History of Shandong Educators from Shandong