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

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

and an expert on

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and popular culture. He was a professor of

Liaoning University Liaoning University (LNU; ) is a public university founded in 1948 in Shenyang, Shenyang, Liaoning, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Liaoning, and co-funded by the Liaoning Provincial People's Government and the Ministry of Education ...

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 (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. After university, he became a graduate student at

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU) () is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the B ...

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

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

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 The ''Guangming Daily'', also known as the ''Enlightenment Daily'', is a national Chinese-language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1949 as the official paper of the China Democratic League. S ...

'', 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. In ...

. In 2018, the

China Federation of Literary and Art Circles The 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 ...

honoured him, together with Feng Jicai, 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 of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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