Rafe de Crespigny
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Dr. Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny |
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|---|---|
| Born | 1936 (age 80–81) Adelaide, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Sinologist, adjunct professor |
| Awards | Centenary Medal (2001) |
| Academic background | |
| Education |
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| Alma mater |
University of Cambridge Australian National University |
| Thesis title | The Development of the Chinese Empire in the South; a discussion of the origins of the state of Wu of the Three Kingdoms |
| Thesis year | 1968 |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sinology |
| Sub discipline | History, geography and literature of the Han dynasty |
| Notable works |
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Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (born 1936), better known as Rafe de Crespigny, is an Australian sinologist and an adjunct professor in the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He specialises in the history, geography and literature of the Han dynasty and has been acknowledged internationally as a pioneer in the translation and historiography of material concerning the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.
De Crespigny received his tertiary education at the University of Cambridge (B.A. Honours History 1957; M.A. History 1961) and the Australian National University (B.A. ANU Honours Chinese 1962; M.A. Oriental Studies Honours 1964; Ph.D. Far Eastern History 1968).
During his early years as a scholar and academic, he benefited from the guidance of Geoffrey Elton and sinologists such as Hans Bielenstein, Otto van der Sprenkel, Fang Chao-ying, Liu Ts'un-yan and Göran Malmqvist, and he developed an interest in the late Han dynasty through the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The title of his doctoral dissertation in 1968 was The Development of the Chinese Empire in the South; a discussion of the origins of the state of Wu of the Three Kingdoms, and this provided the basis for much of his later work.
Some of de Crespigny's other publications include China: The Land and its People (Melbourne, 1971); China This Century (Melbourne 1975; 2nd Edition Hong Kong 1992), both discussions of modern China. However, undoubtedly, his most significant works are those in relation to politics in the late Han dynasty. Among these are Northern Frontier: The Policies and Strategy of the Later Han Empire (Canberra, 1984); and, To Establish Peace (Canberra, 1996), a partial translation of Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian. He has also written more than a dozen articles, published in such journals as Papers on Far Eastern History and Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia.
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