Huang Xianfan

Huang Xianfan
Huang Xianfan graduation photo
Born
Gan Jinying (甘錦英/甘锦英)

(1899-11-13)13 November 1899
Fusui, China
Died18 January 1982(1982-01-18) (aged 82)
Guilin, China
Resting placeGuangxi Government Cemetery
NationalityPeople's Republic of China
EducationBeijing Normal University(1926–1935) and Tokyo Imperial University (1935–1937)
Occupation(s)Representatives of the National People's Congress (NPC), Members of the CPPCC National Committee
Years active1954–1958, 1980–1982
Known forThe father of Zhuang studies (壮学之父) and The leaders of Bagui and Wunu School (八桂学派和无奴学派领袖)
Political partyChinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party
SpouseLiu Lihua (刘丽华, Teacher)
Children9
WebsiteChina University Humanities and Social Sciences Information Network
In this Chinese name, the family name is Huang.

Huang Xianfan (zhuang: Vangz Yenfanh; simplified Chinese: 黄现璠; traditional Chinese: 黄現璠; pinyin: Huáng Xiànfán; Wade–Giles: Huáng Hsiènfán) (November 13, 1899 – January 18, 1982) was a Zhuang Chinese historian, ethnologist and educator. Huang is considered one of the founders of modern Chinese ethnology.[1][2][3]

He dedicated five decades of his life to the study of history and ethnology, his research encompassing a vast range of fields, including Chinese general history, pre-Qin history,medieval history, social and living history, cultural history, ethnology, linguistics, and Zhuang studies.His magnum opus, "A General Outline of Tang Dynasty Society," is widely hailed as the first comprehensive study of Tang dynasty social history in the 20th century. Similarly, his "National Salvation Movement of the Students of the Imperial Academy during the Song Dynasty" is recognized as the pioneering monograph on the history of student movements in China.[4][5] His works,"A Brief History of the Zhuang Ethnic Group in Guangxi" and"A General History of the Zhuang Ethnic Group "are widely regarded as groundbreaking contributions to the historical and cultural studies of the Zhuang people.[6][7][8] His seminal work, "China's History Did Not Have a Slave Society," stands as a landmark challenge within 20th-century Chinese academia to the notion of a slave society in Chinese history. Furthermore, his essay, "On the Construction of 'Chinese Life Studies,'" provides a crucial framework for establishing this new academic discipline. His pioneering theories, including the "Indigenous Origin of the Zhuang People in Guangxi" and "The Justification of Nong Zhigao's Rebellion Against the Song Dynasty," have become cornerstones for subsequent scholars and are now widely accepted as definitive interpretations.[9][10][11][12]

His commitment to education spanned almost fifty years at the university. In his later years, he established the Lijiang Adult University, fostering a vast network of students and leaving an enduring mark on the field and The "Bagui School" he created is the first school of ethnic studies in China.[13][14]

  1. ^ "A Huang Xianfan". China Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences/中国人类学民族学研究会. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
  2. ^ Inscription on the bronze statue of Huang Xianfan was erected in his hometown.
  3. ^ "one of the founders of modern Chinese ethnology".in Zuojiang Daily, November 19, 2010
  4. ^ https://www.sinoss.net/c/2010-10-20/510647.shtml China University Humanities and Social Sciences Information Network（简称社科网）
  5. ^ Preface 1 to "A Commentary Biography of Wei Baqun", Posthumous Work by Huang Xianfan．Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008.pp.4-5.
  6. ^ Zhuangzu Baike Cidian(Encyclopedia of the Zhuang Nationality), p.127. Nanning: Guangxi People’s Publishing House,1993
  7. ^ 2,300 Chinese Celebrities That Every Chinese Should Know.Li Ke、Zhou Xiaomeng、Shen Zhi(ed.). Wànjuàn Publishing Company，2009.p. 209.
  8. ^ "Huang Xianfan: The Guangxi Academic Giant," in Biographies of Cultural Scholars of Ethnic Minorities in the People's Republic of China, edited by Jin Xinghua; compiled by Qiao Jitang and Cui Zhanhua, Guiyang: Guizhou Nationalities Press, 2013,p.52.
  9. ^ China Classics Collection Network
  10. ^ "A Brief Biography of Huang Xianfan". In A Commentary Biography of Wei Baqun. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008.
  11. ^ In Scholarship, Self-Pioneering is Precious-Remembering the Guangxi Academic Giant Huang Xianfan," included in "treat each other with utmost sincerity" edited and printed by the Literature and History Data Committee of Guilin Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,2007.pp. 232-270
  12. ^ Wu, Guo (2019), "Collaboration and Resistance of Minority Elite: Huang Xianfan's Struggle", Narrating Southern Chinese Minority Nationalities, New Directions in East Asian History, Springer Singapore, pp. 147、150, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-6022-0_6, ISBN 9789811360213, S2CID 159059064
  13. ^ Wang Huicun, "Entry on Huang Xianfan", in "Biographical Records of Ethnic Minority Figures in Guangxi",p.480.Guangxi nationalities publishing house, 1998.
  14. ^ Chen Jisheng. On Bagui School of Chinese Ethnology. Nanning: Guangxi Social Sciences, Issue 7-11, 2008. ISSN 1004-6917