Tsou Tang (; 18 December 1918 – 7 August 1999) was a China-born American political scientist, best known for his book ''America's Failure in China'' (1963) and studies of contemporary Chinese politics. He was on the faculty of
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
from 1959 until his retirement in 1988.
Career
Tsou Tang was born in
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
on 18 December 1918. His father was the academic and follower of
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
. Tsou worked for the
Central Bank of China
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
a year after graduation from
Southwest Associated University.
In 1941, Tsou began graduate study at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, earning his doctorate in 1951. Tsou joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1959. He was named the Homer J. Livingston Professor in Political Science, and retired in 1988.
He later lectured at the
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...
and the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
.
Tsou also taught 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 ...
as an honorary professor, starting in 1986.
He was one of the first foreign academics to be granted membership into 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 ...
, bestowed in 1997.
Scholarly contribution
In the 1950s, Tsou was approached by political scientist
Hans Morgenthau
Hans Joachim Morgenthau (February 17, 1904 – July 19, 1980) was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations. Morgenthau's works belong to the tradition o ...
, chair of the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
’s Center for the Study of American Foreign and Military Policy, to explore the Sino-American relationship using both English- and Chinese-language materials. Tsou’s 1963 book, ''America’s Failure in China, 1941-50'', drew upon his research at the Center. Its success would establish his reputation as a China scholar, and Tsou would go on to become a leader in the field of
'China Studies.'
The first of Tsou's six books, ''America's Failure in China'', won attention from news media and his contemporaries. In it, Tsou described the question of,
“who lost China?” as mistaken: “No one can lose something which he has never possessed.” Tsou asserted that the main reason for the ubiquitous American “failure in China” was the combination of high expectations and low commitment. Throughout the war, Tsou explained, the American government only provided diplomatic support to the
Nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, rather than military support. Tsou also accused
Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
of being both unable and unwilling to “undertake long overdue reforms”, the absence of which drove many Chinese to support the Communists. During the
war in China, Tsou found, most Americans completely misunderstood
Chinese communism
The ideology of the Chinese Communist Party has undergone dramatic changes throughout the years, especially during Deng Xiaoping's leadership and the contemporary leadership of Xi Jinping.
Ideology
In the early days of this party, the pre ...
, and none of them had suggested giving direct military support to the Nationalists.
Morgenthau stated that it was "both history in the grand style and political science at its best."
Henry R. Lieberman wrote for ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'', "This is a balanced, scholarly and sobering work that helps set the record clear on United States relations with China from the time of Pearl Harbor to General MacArthur's ill-fated advance to the Yalu in Korea."
Dali Yang
Dali L. Yang is an American political scientist and sinologist. He is the William Claude Reavis Professor in the Department of Political Science and Senior Advisor to the President and Provost on Global Initiatives at The University of Chicago. ...
summarized Tsou's beliefs thus: "His position in ''America’s Failure in China: 1941-1950'' was that the Nationalist government lost to the communists in the Chinese Civil War because the Nationalist government was corrupt and riven by infighting."
The historian
Mary C. Wright
Mary Clabaugh Wright (born Mary Oliver Clabaugh; Chinese name Ruì Mǎlì; September 25, 1917 – June 18, 1970) was an American historian and sinologist who specialized in the study of late Qing dynasty and early twentieth century China. She w ...
praised it as "thoroughly documented, well written, and dispassionate", but said that the analysis "combines acute specific insights with apodictic general conclusions that do not necessaarily follow from the evidence so admirably presented." She questioned whether the evidence in Tsou's book showed that either the minority parties or regional military leaders was capable of governing China, and she added that massive American intervention Tsou envisoned would have created a "tidal wave of anti-Americanism."
His final writings, a collection of essays, were posthumously published in the journal ''
Modern China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...
'' in 2000.
Throughout his career, Tsou emphasized the importance of objectivity, both in sinology and in general. He also held that intellectual and academic exchange between China and the West was the only way for both parties to come to a greater understanding of one another. However, some scholars such as
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
's Professor Qing Liu questioned the motives of this reputation, arguing that it was not merely professional courtesy, but a self-defensive reaction to the developing racial and political dilemmas of early
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
America.
Tsou died of heart failure at the age of 80 on 7 August 1999, at the
University of Chicago Medical Center
The University of Chicago Medical Center (UChicago Medicine) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago. It is the flagship campus for The University of Chicago Medicine system and was establis ...
.
Selected publications
*Tang Tsou, "A Study of the Development of the Scientific Approach in Political Studies in the United States : With Particular Emphasis on the Methodological Aspects of the Works of Charles E. Merriam and Harold D. Lasswell," (Ph.D. Thesis, Political Science University of Chicago 1951).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsou, Tang
1918 births
1999 deaths
Republic of China (1912–1949) emigrants to the United States
American writers of Chinese descent
Historians from Guangdong
Republic of China historians
American sinologists
Chinese sinologists
National Southwestern Associated University alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Chinese Civil War refugees
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Chinese political scientists
American political scientists
University of Chicago faculty
University of Utah faculty
Peking University faculty
Illinois Institute of Technology faculty
Educators from Guangdong
Writers from Guangzhou
20th-century American male writers
20th-century political scientists