Academia Sinica fellow and famed Taiwanese-American historian Hsu Cho-yun (許倬雲) died on Sunday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at age 95.
Hsu played a vital role in founding the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange.
After receiving the Tang Prize in Sinology last year, Hsu donated the cash prize of NT$50 million (US$1.67 million) to the foundation.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
He also founded the Hsu-Sun Scholarship, together with his wife of 55 years, Sun Man-li (孫曼麗), to encourage young people to study Sinology.
Hsu was born in Xiamen, China, in 1930 and moved to Taiwan in 1948, where he studied history at National Taiwan University before moving to the US in 1957 to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Chicago. He integrated social science methods into historical research, opening new directions in Sinology.
After the age of 81, he began a decade of prolific historical writing, working tirelessly to bring historical scholarship into public discourse and publishing the book China: A New Cultural History in 2012.
He continued to develop systematic historical narratives on China’s expansion from the Yellow and Yangtze river regions to the southeastern coast and into Southeast Asia.
His writings reflect a deep concern for nation and people, and his research retained a rational dimension within its pro-China leanings.
Hsu often wrote to Taiwanese media to express his opinions on current affairs and advocated for openness when chatting with former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
Over the past five years, Hsu often shared his outlook on life and history on Chinese media platforms, which was well-received by Chinese people.
Last year, in a pre-recorded speech delivered at the National Central Library, Hsu voiced concern over Western political trends. For example, when US President Donald Trump spoke about charging allies for protection, Hsu said it reminded him of the thugs who once roamed the foreign concessions in Shanghai.
Despite being born with congenital muscular atrophy that left his limbs bent, and later becoming paralyzed in old age, Hsu continued to read, study and pursue scholarship diligently every day.
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