Wu Bing'an (; 3 November 1928 – 11 July 2018) was a Chinese

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

and an expert on

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and popular culture. He was a professor of

Liaoning University Liaoning University () is a provincial public university founded in 1948 at Shenyang, Liaoning, China. It is among the universities listed in the nation's Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211 affirmed by the Ministry of Ed ...

and served as President of the Chinese Folklore Society.

Biography

Wu was born on 3 November 1928 in

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

. After university, he became a graduate student at

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU, ), colloquially known as Beishida (), is a public research university located in Beijing, China, with a strong emphasis on humanities and sciences. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China ...

in 1953, specializing in folk literature. From 1955, he taught at

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

for 45 years. Although he officially retired in 1998, he continued teaching and researching for another 20 years, and taught as an adjunct or visiting professor at 18 universities in China and abroad. He devoted much of his life to field research. Even in his eighties, he explored and studied remote villages in mountainous regions with poor living conditions. In a 2017 poll organized by the '' Guangming Daily'', Wu received the most votes as one of the "10 most important people" for China's

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

. In 2018, the

China Federation of Literary and Art Circles China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (''CFLAC'' ), established in July 1949, is a Chinese people's organization composed of nationwide associations of writers and artists. CFLAC is one of the founders of CPPCC ( Chinese People's Political Co ...

honoured him, together with

Feng Jicai Feng Jicai () is a contemporary Chinese author, artist and cultural scholar. Biography Born in Tianjin in 1942 to a family originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang province, Feng rose to prominence as a pioneer of the Scar Literature movement that emerg ...

, with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Folk Art and Literature. Wu fell ill in April 2018, and sought treatment in Germany. He died of cancer in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

on 11 July 2018, at the age of 89.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Bingan 1928 births 2018 deaths People from Hohhot Chinese ethnographers Chinese folklorists Beijing Normal University alumni Deaths from cancer in Germany Academic staff of Liaoning University Educators from Inner Mongolia