Yang Kuan (1914 − September 1, 2005) was a Chinese historian specializing in pre-
Qin Dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
Chinese history. He is considered an authority of the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
, and his ''History of the Warring States'', first published in 1955, remains the most authoritative treatment of the subject.
Early life and education
Yang Kuan was born in Qingpu County,
Jiangsu Province
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its c ...
(now
Qingpu District
Qingpu District, is a suburban district of Shanghai Municipality. Lake Dianshan is located in Qingpu.
The population of Qingpu was counted at 1,081,000 people in the 2010 Census. It has an area of .
Qingpu District is the westernmost distr ...
of
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
) in 1914. He attended the prestigious
Suzhou High School
Suzhou High School, officially the Suzhou High School of Jiangsu Province (), is a Chinese public high school of one-millennium rich history, located in Suzhou, Jiangsu. In AD 1035, the Northern Song politician and writer Fan Zhongyan founded the ...
, whose teachers included famous scholars
Lü Shuxiang
Lü Shuxiang (, 1904–1998) was a Chinese linguist, lexicographer and educator, and founder of Modern Chinese linguistic studies.
Overview
Lü Shuxiang was born in Danyang, Jiangsu Province. He studied Foreign Languages and Literature in the ...
and
Ch'ien Mu
Ch'ien Mu or Qian Mu (; 30 July 1895 – 30 August 1990) was a Chinese historian, philosopher and writer. He is considered to be one of the greatest historians and philosophers of 20th-century China. Ch'ien, together with Lü Simian, Chen Yink ...
, one of the greatest historians of modern China.
After high school Yang attended Kwang Hua University in Shanghai − a predecessor of today's
East China Normal University
East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and originated from the St. ...
− and graduated in 1936 with a degree in Chinese. At Kwang Hua he also studied history under the prominent historian
Lü Simian
Lü Simian (; February 27, 1884 – October 9, 1957) was a Chinese historian. He was a former professor and history department head at Kwang Hua University, a predecessor of the East China Normal University in Shanghai. Lü took the courte ...
.
Doubting Antiquity School
Yang Kuan gained fame at a young age. In 1933, aged 19, he published his first essay ''Probing the Legend of
Pangu
Pangu (, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology who separated heaven and earth and became geographic features such as mountains and rivers.
Legends
The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during t ...
''. In 1939, just three years after graduating from college, Yang was invited by
Gu Jiegang
Gu Jiegang (8 May 189325 December 1980) was a Chinese historian best known for his seven-volume work '' Gushi Bian'' (, or ''Debates on Ancient History''). He was a co-founder and the leading force of the Doubting Antiquity School, and was hig ...
, founder of the
Doubting Antiquity School
The Doubting Antiquity School or Yigupai ( Wilkinson, Endymion (2000). ''Chinese History: A Manual''. Harvard Univ Asia Center. . Page 345, see/ref>Loewe, Michael and Edward L. Shaughnessy (1999). ''The Cambridge History of Ancient China'' Cambridg ...
, to contribute to Gu's influential compilation ''Debates on Ancient History'' (古史辨).
In 1941, Yang's book-size ''Introduction to China's High Antiquity'' was published as part of the seventh and last volume of the ''Debates on Ancient History''.
Yang is generally considered a member of the Doubting Antiquity School, as he argued that the pre-
Xia Dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...
history recorded in ancient texts was "historization" of prehistoric mythology, a position that is widely accepted by today's historians. However, he disagreed with Gu Jiegang and
Kang Youwei
Kang Youwei (; Cantonese: ''Hōng Yáuh-wàih''; 19March 185831March 1927) was a prominent political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty. His increasing closeness to and influence over the young Guangxu Emperor spar ...
's view that ancient scholars such as
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
and
Liu Xin deliberately introduced falsehoods into historical texts, and held the opinion that it was a long process of natural evolution of ancient mythology. Gu later changed his position and accepted Yang's view. Yang further differed from Gu in that he also believed that the extant history of the
Xia Dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...
was pure mythology.
Career
In 1946 Yang Kuan was appointed
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
of
Shanghai Museum
The Shanghai Museum is a museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, China. Rebuilt at its current location in 1996, it is considered one of China's first world-class modern museums and fa ...
, a position he continued to hold after the Communist
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
replaced the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...
in 1949. In 1953 he joined the faculty of Shanghai's
Fudan University
Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...
as a history professor. In 1960 he was made the deputy head of the history department of the
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS; ) was founded in 1958 and is China's oldest think tank for the humanities and social sciences. It is the country's second largest such institution, after the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CAS ...
, but returned to Fudan University in 1970.
Publications
Yang Kuan published his most influential work, ''History of the Warring States'', in 1955. In 1980, a greatly expanded second edition was completed, with major revisions based on new archaeological discoveries made during the intervening decades. He made further revisions in the third edition of 1985. This work is widely considered the most authoritative treatment of the subject, and was included in the official ''China Chronology Series'' (中国断代史系列). Another work by Yang, ''History of the Western Zhou'', was also included in the series.
In total Yang Kuan published more than a dozen books and 225 essays.
Later life
In 1984 Yang Kuan moved to the United States, settling in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
. He continued to write in the US, and published an autobiography. He died in Miami on September 1, 2005, aged 91.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Kuan
1914 births
2005 deaths
Educators from Shanghai
Historians from Shanghai
Republic of China historians
People's Republic of China historians
East China Normal University alumni
Academic staff of Fudan University
Historians of China
20th-century Chinese historians
21st-century Chinese historians
Chinese emigrants to the United States