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Kwang-chih Chang (15 April, 1931 – January 3, 2001), commonly known as K. C. Chang, was a Chinese / Taiwanese-American archaeologist and
sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
. He was the John E. Hudson Professor of archaeology at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, Vice-President of the
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...
, and a curator at the
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, with ...
. He helped to bring modern, western methods of archaeology to the study of ancient Chinese history. He also introduced new discoveries in Chinese archaeology to western audiences by translating works from Chinese to English. He pioneered the study of Taiwanese archaeology, encouraged multi-disciplinal anthropological archaeological research, and urged archaeologists to conceive of East Asian prehistory (
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
) as a pluralistic whole.


Early life

Chang's paternal grandfather was a farmer in Taiwan. His father, Chang Wo-chün ( 張我軍), moved to
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
in 1921 to pursue his education, where he met and married Chang's mother. His father later became a professor of
Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...
and
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
at
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
and also established some fame as a leading literary figure. Born in Beijing as the second son of a family of four children, he moved to Taiwan with his family in 1946; the family's eldest son remained in mainland China. Because of that association, the 17-year-old Chang spent a year in prison during Taiwan's
White Terror White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...
period. He enrolled in
National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
in 1950, where he studied anthropology and archaeology. He chose archaeology because "it is fun". He graduated in 1954 and moved to the United States to pursue his graduate studies at Harvard University. He earned his Ph.D in 1960; his dissertation was entitled ''Prehistoric Settlements in China: A Study in Archaeological Method and Theory''.


Career

Chang began his teaching career in the Anthropology Department at
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
and later became the chair of the department. In 1977, he returned to Harvard to chair its Department of Anthropology. He became a member of the
United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
in 1979 and the John E. Hudson Professor of Archaeology at Harvard in 1984. He was a Vice-President of Taiwan's
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...
from 1994 to 1996. He trained many students over the years including distinguished archaeologists such as
Bruce Trigger Bruce Graham Trigger (June 18, 1937 – December 1, 2006) was a Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist, and ethnohistorian. He was appointed the James McGill Professor at McGill University in 2001. Life Born in Preston, Ontario (now part of Cam ...
,
Richard J. Pearson Richard Joseph Pearson (born May 2, 1938) is a Canadian archaeology, archaeologist. He grew up in Toronto and Oakville, Ontario, and graduated with a bachelor's degree at the University of Toronto in 1960. Richard Pearson studied at the Univers ...
, and
Choi Mong-lyong Choi Mong-lyong (born 1946) is an archaeologist and professor in the Department of Archaeology and Art History at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. Choi was born in Seoul and received his PhD degree in anthropology in 1984 from Harv ...
. Chang's main research interests included Chinese prehistory, archaeological theory,
settlement archaeology Settlement archaeology (German:''Siedlungsarchäologie'') is a branch of modern archaeology. It investigates former settlements and deserted areas, forms of housing and settlements, and the prehistoric settlement of entire regions. For this purpose ...
, shamanism, Bronze Age society, and the development of and interaction between regional archaeological cultures in China. He died in 2001 from complications due to
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. Most of his books of personal research are preserved in the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History,
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
.


Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Chang,
OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...
/
WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...
encompasses more than 100 works in more than 200 publications in 9 languages and more than 9000 library holdings. * ''The Archaeology of Ancient China'' (1963)
2nd ed. (1968)
3rd ed. (1977), 4th ed. (1986) * * ''Rethinking Archaeology'' (1967) * ''Settlement Archaeology'' (1968) * ''Fengpitou, Tapenkeng, and the Prehistory of Taiwan'' (1969) * * ''Early Chinese Civilization: Anthropological Perspectives'' (1976) * ''Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives'' (1977) * ''Shang Civilization'' (1980) * ''The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC'' (1999) * "The Chinese Bronze Age: A Modern Synthesis", in * ''Art, Myth and Ritual: the Path to Political Authority in Ancient China'' (1983) * "The Rise of Kings and the Formation of City-states", in


Honors

*
Association for Asian Studies The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) is a scholarly, non-political and non-profit professional association focusing on Asia and the study of Asia. It is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The Association provides members with an Annua ...
(AAS), 1996 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies


Notes


References

* * * *


External links


Short Biography with a link to K.C. Chang's complete bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Kwang-chih 1931 births 2001 deaths Chinese archaeologists Chinese sinologists Harvard University faculty Taiwanese educators National Taiwan University alumni Educators from Beijing Members of Academia Sinica Scientists from Beijing Harvard University alumni Taiwanese people from Beijing American sinologists Chinese emigrants to the United States Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Neurological disease deaths in the United States Deaths from Parkinson's disease Yale University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American archaeologists