Agnes Hsin Mei Hsu-Tang () is a
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
-born American archaeologist and art historian. On October 19, 2021, she became the first person of Asian heritage to be elected board chair of one of the oldest historical institutions in America, the
New-York Historical Society
The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...
, founded in 1804. She is chairwoman of the
New-York Historical Society
The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...
board of trustees
and Co-chair of The
Met Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
's Objects Conservation Visiting Committee. She is a distinguished consulting scholar at the
. Hsu-Tang works in
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...
protection and rescue and has advised
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
and the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee during the
Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...
Administration. Hsu-Tang received
IIE's Centennial Medal in 2019 for her longtime work in cultural protection and rescue. She co-founded the Hsu-Tang Library for Classical Chinese Literature at
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, the Tang Center for Silk Road Studies at
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
*George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer to ...
, and the Tang Center for Early China at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
Early life and education
Hsu-Tang was born in
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country ...
and educated in the US and England.
Press in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and France have reported on her family's ancestry to two historical lineages of
scholar-official
The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class.
Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...
s, the late
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
imperial Catholic minister
Hsu Kuang-ch'i and the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
Minister of War
Chi Yun.
Her paternal ancestor
Hsu Kuang-ch'i, known by his baptismal name Paolo in the West, was the late 16th-century Catholic Ming Dynasty imperial minister and statesman who, with
Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci (; ; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. In 2022, the Apostolic See decl ...
, engaged in the first cross-cultural exchanges and translations of scientific and philosophical texts in classical Chinese and Latin, for which he has been
beatified
Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...
by the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
.
Hsu-Tang studied classical archaeology and English literature at
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
and has an M.A. in Asian and Middle Eastern studies from
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. In 2003, she received a pre-doctoral
Mellon Fellowship
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as the Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger ...
to study the
history of science
The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...
at the
Needham Research Institute
The Needham Research Institute (NRI; zh , t = 李約瑟研究所 ), located on the grounds of Robinson College, in Cambridge, England, is a centre for research into the history of science, technology and medicine in East Asia. The institute is ...
at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, where she conducted
GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...
-based analysis of a set of ancient maps and published "An Emic Perspective on the Mapmaker's Art in Western Han China" in the ''
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
The ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' is an academic journal which publishes articles on the history, archaeology, literature, language, religion and art of South Asia, the Middle East (together with North Africa and Ethiopia), Central Asia ...
''. She received a Ph.D. in Chinese art and Archaeology from
the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of founder and first pr ...
in 2004; her dissertation was titled "Pictorial Eulogies in Three Eastern Han Tombs."
Career
Hsu taught Silk Road art and archaeology at
Brown University
Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
from 2004 to 2007.
From 2007 to 2008, she received a second Mellon Fellowship as a
postdoctoral researcher
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...
in Classics at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
.
and published "Structured Perceptions of Real and Imagined Landscapes in Early China" in Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies, edited by the Swiss historian
Kurt Raaflaub
Kurt Arnold Raaflaub (15 February 1941 – 12 September 2023) was a Swiss historian and Emeritus Professor of Classics and History at Brown University, where he taught Greek and Roman history. He was the brother of conductor Beat Raaflaub.
Life ...
and English classicist R
ichard J. A. Talbert.
From 2006 to 2013, Hsu served on
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
scientific committees for
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
s during which she conducted three missions to
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg
, image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg
, symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem
, national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
,
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
, and
Western China
Western China ( zh, s=中国西部, l=, labels=no or zh, s=华西, l=, labels=no) is the west of China. It consists of Southwestern China and Northwestern China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces ...
, and published a white paper "The Exceptional Universal Value of the Road Systems in Ancient Empires: A Comparative Study of the Chinese Oasis Route of the Early Silk Road and the Qhapag Ñan"
Hsu worked in the
Taklamakan Desert
The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the ...
.
Hsu was active in film projects from 2008 to 2015.
Hsu was the host of the archaeology series ''Mysteries of China'' on the
History
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
channel, and a contemporary Chinese art series for
Discovery Channel Asia
Discovery Channel Southeast Asia (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, often referred to as simply Discovery) is the Southeast Asian version of Discovery Channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific, a division of Warner B ...
, in which she interviewed artists
Xu Bing
Xu Bing (; born 1955) is a Chinese artist who served as vice-president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is known for his printmaking skills and installation art, as well as his creative artistic use of language, words, and text and how ...
,
Zhang Huan
Zhang Huan (; born 1965) is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York City.
He began his career as a painter and then transitioned to performance art before making a comeback to painting. He is primarily known for his performance work, but ...
,
Li Zhen, and
Chihung Yang, and the series premiered during
Art Basel Hong Kong
Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, and ...
in 2014 at the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Her other TV credits include "The Giant Buddha at Leshan" (2009) and "Xi'an: China's Forgotten City" (2010) on
Discovery USA, "China's Terracotta Warriors" on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
(2011), and
Mankind: The Story of All of Us series on
History Channel
History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
(2012).
In 2015, Hsu-Tang joined
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
as an adjunct senior research scholar.
In 2018, Hsu-Tang was appointed distinguished consulting scholar at the
.
Philanthropy, activism and honors
Hsu-Tang is known to be actively engaged in social justice projects, including providing leadership support for New-York Historical Society's exhibitions: Chinese in America: Exclusion/Inclusion (2014-2015) and Dreaming Together (2020-2021),
Opera Saint Louis's
An American Soldier,
Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...
's
Dr. Sun Yat-sen and
M. Butterfly
''M. Butterfly'' is a play by David Henry Hwang. The story, while entwined with that of the opera '' Madama Butterfly'', is based most directly on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a Beijing opera sin ...
.
Hsu-Tang leads New-York Historical Society's capital project to build a 70,000 square foot annex designed by
Robert A. M. Stern Architects, with one floor dedicated to collaborative efforts with the
American LGBTQ+ Museum and state-of-the art classrooms for N-YHS's Tang Academy for American Democracy.
She also developed and supports the New-York Historical Society–CUNY Museum Studies program. The Tang Academy for American Democracy, a program that teaches democracy to fifth and sixth grade students in New York City public schools, is among the many projects that Hsu-Tang has supported at the New-York Historical Society.
Hsu-Tang was a managing director on the board of the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
from 2014 to July 2021 and is known to support new works and contemporary productions such as
Exterminating Angel,
L'amour de loin, and
Akhanaten. In October 2021, Hsu-Tang became chair of the
New-York Historical Society
The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It ...
board of trustees.
In 2018, Hsu-Tang and her husband
Oscar Tang
Oscar Liu-Chien Tang ( zh, t=唐騮千, p=Táng Liúqiān; born 1938) is a Chinese-born American businessman, financier, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known for being the co-founder of Reich & Tang, an asset management firm. Tang was el ...
were listed among
Town and Country's 50 most influential American families in media, art, and culture.
During the
COVID pandemic
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fev ...
, she co-founded The Yellow Whistle campaign to combat anti-Asian violence and historical discrimination against Americans of Asian descent. The campaign distributed 500,000 free customized yellow whistles emblazoned with the slogan "WE BELONG" at rallies and through a national alliance of activist organizations and has received extensive national press coverage to raise awareness.
In December 2021, Hsu-Tang and her husband donated $125 million towards renovations at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
.
On March 15, 2023, Hsu-Tang received The Met Museum's Women Leaders Award, with New York Governor
Kathy Hochul
Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female ...
, Congresswoman
Nydia Valesquez, and curator
Jasmine Wahi. Hsu-Tang received the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Award on May 25, 2023, at the historical great hall on Ellis Island, with Grammy-winning American record executive
Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
and Liberty Mutual's CEO and Chairman
David H. Long.
Personal life
Hsu married philanthropist and financier
Oscar Tang
Oscar Liu-Chien Tang ( zh, t=唐騮千, p=Táng Liúqiān; born 1938) is a Chinese-born American businessman, financier, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known for being the co-founder of Reich & Tang, an asset management firm. Tang was el ...
in a private ceremony at the 17th-century
Historic Christ Church with celebrations at the Tides Inn Resort in
Lancaster County, Virginia on May 18, 2013.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu-Tang, Agnes
Living people
Writers from Taipei
Bryn Mawr College alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
21st-century American archaeologists
American women archaeologists
21st-century American historians
American art historians
American women art historians
Taiwanese emigrants to the United States
People from Washington, D.C.
Academics from Washington, D.C.
21st-century American philanthropists
American women philanthropists
Taiwanese philanthropists
21st-century women philanthropists
1972 births