Yu Ying-shih | |
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Born |
Tianjin, Republic of China |
22 January 1930
Institutions |
University of Michigan Harvard University New Asia College Yale University Princeton University Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Alma mater |
Yenching University New Asia College Harvard University |
Doctoral advisor | Yang Lien-sheng |
Doctoral students | Ray Huang |
Influences | Ch'ien Mu |
Notable awards | 2006 Kluge Prize |
Yu Ying-shih | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 余英時 | ||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 余英时 | ||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Yú Yīngshí |
Wade–Giles | Yü2 Ying1-shih2 |
IPA | [y̌ íŋʂɨ̌] |
Yu Ying-shih (Chinese: 余英時; born January 22, 1930) is a Chinese American historian and Sinologist known for his mastery of sources for Chinese history and philosophy, his ability to synthesize them on a wide range of topics, and for his advocacy for a new Confucianism. He was a tenured professor at Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University, and is an Emeritus Professor of East Asian Studies and History, Princeton University.
He is the elder brother of philosopher and educator Paul Yu.
On November 15, 2006, Yu Ying-shih was named the third recipient of the John W. Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity. He shared the 2006 prize with John Hope Franklin. He is the inaugural winner of the Tang Prize in Sinology, which recognizes scholars conducting "revolutionary research" and is selected by the Academia Sinica. Yu used his Tang Prize winnings of NT$10 million to establish the Yu Ying-shih Fellowship for the Humanities.
Yu's father, who had studied at Harvard, taught history in Tianjin, and at the start of the second Sino-Japanese War sent him to live with his aunt from 1937 through 1946 in rural Anhui province, where they would be safe from Japanese invasion. He later recalled that “although rujia 儒家 [Confucian] culture was in a degenerate state, it nevertheless controlled the activities of daily life: by and large, all interpersonal relationships—from marriage and funeral customs to seasonal festivals—adhered to the rujia norms, supplemented by Buddhist and Daoist beliefs and practices.” Wartime shortages meant that sometimes the family had no money for rice, forcing them to eat potatoes. "I hate potatoes," he later told an interviewer. The situation was too chaotic for him to attend school, so he read whatever material he could find, for instance, his aunt's popular novels.