Chang Hsin-hai (; June 25, 1898 – December 6, 1972), also known as H. H. Chang, was an early 20th century Chinese scholar and writer.

Early life and academic training

Chang Hsin‐hai was born June 25, 1898, in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China. After studying at Songhua College in

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

from 1916 to 1918, he relocated to the United States to complete his higher education. He received an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

in 1919, an A.M., and a Ph. D. in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

(under the supervision of

Irving Babbitt Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative tho ...

) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1920 and 1923, respectively. While completing his doctoral work, Chang served as an attache to the Chinese Delegation at the Washington Disarmament Conference in 1921.

Chinese professorship and governmental work

Chang returned to China and was appointed professor and chairman of English Literature at

Peking National University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

in 1926. From the years 1928 to 1937 Chang's occupation was governmental rather than academic: he served as the Director of the European and American Department (a subdivision of the

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China () is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led b ...

) from 1928 to 1933 and was the Chinese Minister Plenipotentiary to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

from 1933 to 1937. He entered the Chinese academic world once more, serving as Professor of

Western Literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, a ...

University of Nanjing Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University Plan, Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJ ...

, from 1937 to 1940.

Return to the United States and death

Chang came back to the United States in 1941 to serve as a lecturer on the Chinese war effort. This was his occupation until 1945. Despite his return to academics, Chang maintained ties to the diplomatic sphere. He was a special assistant to the Foreign Minister

T. V. Soong Soong Tse-vung, more commonly romanized as Soong Tse-ven or Soong Tzu-wen (; 4 December 1894 – 25 April 1971), was a prominent businessman and politician in the early 20th-century Republic of China, who served as Premier. His father was Char ...

in 1943, and was the director of the Chinese United Nations Association from 1947 to 1948. He held a position briefly as a

research professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LI ...

from 1951 to 1953 before joining the faculty of

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

(

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

) as a professor of the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...

and

East Asian History The History of East Asia generally encompasses the histories of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan from prehistoric times to the present. East Asia is not a uniform term and each of its countries has a different national history, b ...

. This professorship was his last position, one that he held until 1969. Chang died in December 1972 at the age of 74. He passed while in Shanghai on an official visit to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

Personal life

Chang married Sang-mi Han in 1927. They remained together until the time of his death. He had two children, a son David, and a daughter, Yi-an. While holding his American professorships, Chang lived at 220 Schenck Avenue, Great Neck, Long Island, New York.

Works

*''Chiang Kai-shek : Asia's man of destiny'' (1944), Doubleday,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

*''Letters From a Chinese Diplomat'' (1948), Shanghai, Chinese American Pub, China *''The Fabulous Concubine'' (1956),

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

, Oxford University Press (1987) *''Within Four Seas'' (1958),

*''America and China: a new approach to Asia'' (1966),

Biographical Note., Register of the Chang Hsin-Hai Papers, 1936-1976., Stanford University http://findingaids.stanford.edu/xtf/view?docId=ead/hoover/reg_326.xml;chunk.id=bioghist-1.7.4;brand=default

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Hsin-hai 1898 births 1972 deaths Chinese scholars Chinese literature Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Writers from Shanghai Academic staff of Peking University Academic staff of Nanjing University Long Island University faculty Fairleigh Dickinson University faculty Chinese expatriates in the United States