Sha Wenhan (; 1908–1964), was a Chinese historian, revolutionary, educator and politician. He served as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Zhejiang Province and President of

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the n ...

Biography

Sha was born 1908 in Yin County (now

Yinzhou District, Ningbo Yinzhou () is a district of the major city of Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China. History In 220 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, established three counties called Yin (), Mao () and Gouzhang (). Later they were merged ...

), Zhejiang Province. Sha's original name was Sha Wenyuan (), his

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

was Wenshu (), and used aliases like Chen Yuanyang () and Zhang Deng (). One of Sha's brothers, Sha Menghai, was a famous Chinese calligraphy master. Sha studied at Zhejiang Provincial 4th Normal School () in Ningbo. Then he transferred to a financial school. In April 1925, Sha joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

(CCP). In summer 1925 in Ningbo, Sha participated in the activity which supported the

May Thirtieth Movement The May Thirtieth Movement () was a major labor and anti-imperialist movement during the middle-period of the Republic of China era. It began when the Shanghai Municipal Police opened fire on Chinese protesters in Shanghai's International Settl ...

in Shanghai. In 1926, Sha graduated from the financial school, went back to Yin County, and led some local peasants movements. In November 1927, Sha became the CCP party chief of Fenghua City. In January 1928, Sha went to study in Shanghai. In July 1929, Sha went to Moscow and studied at the

Communist University of the Toilers of the East The Communist University of the Toilers of the East (KUTV) (russian: link=no, Коммунистический университет трудящихся Востока; also known as the Far East University) was a revolutionary training scho ...

, where he studied

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Marxism-Leninism and met his future wife Chen Xiuliang (). In February 1932, Sha went to Tokyo, Japan, and studied at the

Imperial University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and Japan Railway School (). In 1934, Sha went back to Shanghai but soon to Tokyo again. In 1940, Sha was the acting CCP party chief (

Secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

) of Jiangsu Province. After 1949, Sha was appointed as the President of Zhejiang University in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

. In December 1954, Sha became the Governor of Zhejiang Province. In 1957, Sha was dismissed from the party in the

Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...

; Sha was the highest-ranked victim in the early phase of this political movement. On 2 January 1964, Sha died in Hangzhou. Sha wrote many articles and one monograph about Chinese history. He was an accomplished writer.

Work

* 《沙文汉诗文选集》(''Poetic and Literal Collections of Sha Wenhan''); ; Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (a branch of the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

) Press; 1998; 44 Chapters, 435 Pages.

References

*《沙文汉陈修良年谱》(''Chronicle of Sha Wenhan and Chen Xiuliang''); / 7807451122; Nov 2007; Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press.沙文汉陈修良年谱 (''Chronicle of Sha Wenhan and Chen Xiuliang'') book information
/ref> {{DEFAULTSORT:Sha, Wenhan 1908 births 1964 deaths University of Tokyo alumni People's Republic of China historians Educators from Ningbo Chinese expatriates in Japan Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Writers from Ningbo Presidents of Zhejiang University Governors of Zhejiang Politicians from Ningbo 20th-century Chinese historians Historians from Zhejiang Communist University of the Toilers of the East alumni Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign