Wen Yuan-ning ( 1900-1984), also known as Oon Guan-neng, was a Chinese professor, writer, and diplomat. Wen Yuan-ning was born in Bangka off

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, formerly of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

and now of Indonesia, to an immigrant Chinese Hakka family. He grew up in Bangka and Singapore and went on to study in England where he registered under the Hakka name of Oon Guan-neng at King's College, Cambridge. After receiving his B.A. Hons. and LLB degrees, Wen moved to China and took the Mandarin transliteration of his name Wen Yuan-ning. Wen became a professor of English language and literature in 1925, teaching at various institutions including

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 ...

, Tsinghua University, Peking Women’s College of Education in 1920s Peking and Kwang Hua University in 1930s Shanghai. Some of his notable students were Liang Yuchun, Qian Zhongshu,

Cao Yu Cao Yu (, September 24, 1910 — December 13, 1996) was a Chinese playwright, often regarded as one of China's most important of the 20th century. His best-known works are ''Thunderstorm'' (1933), ''Sunrise'' (1936) and ''Peking Man'' (1940). ...

Li Jianwu Li Jianwu (; 17 August 1906 - 24 November 1982) was a Chinese author, dramatist and translator who was the president of French Literature Research Council. Li was an officer of the Chinese State Council and a member of National Committee of the C ...

. He became a contributing editor of the English-language weekl
The China Critic
(1928–1940, 1946)url=http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/features.php?searchterm=030_fan.inc&issue=030 , and editor-in-chief of the English

T'ien Hsia Monthly ''T'ien Hsia Monthly'' (; "T'ien Hsia" meaning "everything under heaven") was a monthly English-language magazine published in Shanghai from August 1935 to 1937 and in Hong Kong from 1937 to 1941. The editors of the magazine were ethnic Chinese, i ...

(1935–1941). Since 1936, he served as a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

. In 1937, he was appointed as the representative of the Publicity Department of Kuomintang in Hong Kong. In 1946, he was elected National Assembly representative and the same year, he was appointed as the Chinese Ambassador to Greece, a role he served until his recall to Taiwan in 1968. After his retirement from the government, he taught English literature at National Taiwan University,

Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and Lin ...

and the Chinese Culture University. Wen Yuan-ning was the author o
Imperfect Understanding
( Kelly and Walsh, Shanghai, 1935), a collection of seventeen profiles of prominent Chinese intellectuals. The essays in the book were excerpted from fifty essays that appeared in his column in The China Critic in 1934 called "Unedited Biographies" (later "Intimate Portraits"). His subjects included Hu Shih, Wu Mi, Xu Zhimo, Zhou Zuoren, Wellington Koo,

Gu Hongming Gu Hongming in his time known as Ku Hung-ming (; Wade-Giles: Ku Hung-ming; Pinyin: Gū Hóngmíng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko͘ Hông-bêng; courtesy name: Hongming; ordinary name: 湯生 in Chinese or Tomson in English) (18 July 185730 April 1928) was a ...

Han Fuju Han Fuju or Han Fu-chü (; 1890 – 24 January 1938) was a Kuomintang general in the early 20th century. He rose up the ranks of the Guominjun clique in the Warlord era but then went over to the Kuomintang, and held the position of military go ...

, Ma Junwu, Mei Lanfang, George T. Yeh,

Y.R. Chao Yuen Ren Chao (; 3 November 1892 – 25 February 1982), also known as Zhao Yuanren, was a Chinese-American linguist, educator, scholar, poet, and composer, who contributed to the modern study of Chinese phonology and grammar. Chao was born an ...

, Emperor Puyi, Feng Yuxiang, Lim Boon Keng,

Ling Shuhua Ling Shuhua (; March 25, 1900–1990), also known as Su-hua Ling Chen after her marriage, was a Chinese modernist writer and painter whose short stories became popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Her work is characterized by her use of symbolism a ...

Wang Delin Wang Delin (, 1875－1938) was a bandit, soldier, and leader of the National Salvation Army resisting the Japanese pacification of Manchukuo. Early life Wang Delin was born in October 1875. He became a bandit in Manchuria after the Russian inva ...

, Lao She, Wu Zhihui,

Feng Youlan Feng Youlan (; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung ...

, and Liu E.Wen Yuan-ning, and others. Imperfect Understanding: Intimate Portraits of Modern Chinese Celebrities. Edited by Christopher Rea (Amherst, MA: Cambria Press, 2018).

References

{{authority control Ambassadors of China to Greece Peking University faculty Alumni of the University of Cambridge 1900 births 1984 deaths Hakka politicians Hakka writers People from Sumatra Politicians of the Republic of China Indonesian emigrants to China Indonesian people of Chinese descent Chinese literary theorists