Chung-Chang Shen (13 July 190519 March 1987) was a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

, and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

best known for rescuing the Juyan Han wooden slips during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

Early life

Chung-Chang Shen was born in

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

with ancestral roots in

Wuxing Wuxing may refer to: Places in China Counties and districts *Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China *Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou Subdistricts (五星街道) * Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an Distr ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He studied at the Tangshan Jiaotong University (now

Southwest Jiaotong University Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU; ) is a national public science and engineering university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It is a national key university co-sponsored by the Minis ...

) and at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, where he received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He fostered connections with scholars in many different academic fields. Among them were foreign scholars including

Alexander von Staël-Holstein Alexander Wilhelm Freiherr Staël von Holstein (, 1 January 1877 in Testama manor, Livonia, Russian Empire16 March 1937 in Beiping, China) was a Baltic German aristocrat, Russian and Estonian orientalist, sinologist, and Sanskritologist spe ...

, Richard Wilhelm, Vincenz Hundhausen, and

Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...

, as well as Chinese scholars such as

Chen Yinke Chen Yinke, or Chen Yinque (3 July 18907 October 1969), was a Chinese historian, linguist, orientalist, politician, and writer. He was a fellow of Academia Sinica, considered one of the most original and creative historians in 20th century Chin ...

Hu Shih Hu Shih ( zh, t=胡適; 17 December 189124 February 1962) was a Chinese academic, writer, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform, and was a leading advocate for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He part ...

Liu Tianhua Liu Tianhua (; 1895–1932) was a Chinese musician and composer best known for his innovative work for the ''erhu''. Liu's students, such as Jiang Fengzhi and Chen Zhenduo, continued to contribute to the development of the ''erhu''. He was the ...

Liu Bannong Liu Bannong (; May 29, 1891 – July 14, 1934) or Liu Fu () was a Chinese poet and linguist. He was a leader in the May Fourth Movement. He made great contributions to modern Chinese literature, phonology and photography. Life A son of the edu ...

Jin Kemu Jin Kemu (; 1912–2000) was a Chinese poet, scholar, translator and essay writer, professor of Beijing University. In 1935 he started to write poems and novels. In his early years he had different careers as a librarian, newspaper editor and En ...

Fu Ssu-nien Fu Ssu-nien (; 26 March 1896 – 20 December 1950) was a Chinese historian, linguist, and writer. He was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. He was also one of the creators of the Academia Sinica, and was named director of the ...

Yuen Ren Chao Yuen Ren Chao (Chinese: 趙元任; 3 November 189225 February 1982), also known as Zhao Yuanren, was a Chinese-American linguist, educator, scholar, poet, and composer, who contributed to the modern study of Chinese phonology and grammar. Chao ...

, and

Xu Zhimo Xu Zhimo (, , Mandarin: , 15 January 1897 – 19 November 1931) was a Chinese poet. Best known for his work in modern Chinese poetry, he strove to loosen Chinese poetry from its traditional forms and to reshape it under the influences of Weste ...

Juyan Han wooden slips

From 1933 to 1937, Chung-Chang Shen served as an assistant researcher at the Institute of Liberal Arts of Peking University and as the administrative officer for the Council of the Sino-Swedish Expedition. In 1937, after the Second Sino-Japanese War began, Chung-Chang Shen rescued 10,200 wooden slips dating from the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, initially excavated in the Juyan Lake Basin during the Sino-Swedish Expedition. In order to protect them from potential damage by Japanese troops, he transported the Juyan Han wooden slips from Beijing to

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

and then to the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

. He stayed in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

afterwards for four years and photographed the wood slips utilizing

infrared technology Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those of ...

Later life

In 1938, the

National Southwestern Associated University The National Southwestern Associated University was a national public university from 1938 to 1946 based in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It was formed by the wartime incorporation of National Peking University, National Tsinghua University, and Nat ...

appointed Chung-Chang Shen assistant to the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and kept the position open for him until 1945 while he was doing underground work for the Wartime Cultural Relics Preservation Committee and the

Rare Book Preservation Society The Rare Book Preservation Society (文献保存同志会) was founded in 1940 by Zheng Zhenduo (郑振铎), Zhang Shouyong (张寿镛), He Bingsong (何炳松), Zhang Yuanji (张元济), Zhang Dinghuang, Zhang Fengju (张凤举), and Chung-Chang ...

. In 1945, he was offered the position of director of the Inventory and Recovery Committee of Cultural Relics and Books of the Republic of China's Canton-Hong Kong District, but he instead served as a special committee member of the Inventory and Recovery Committee of Cultural Relics and Books of the Nanking-Shanghai District from 1945 to 1947. From 1946 to 1948, he was also a member of the Taiwan Provincial Mandarin Promotion Committee headed by Wei Jiangong and He Rong. From 1950 until the end of his life, Chung-Chang Shen was a member of the Chinese Musicians' Association. From 1953 onward, he was a researcher at the National Music Research Institute of the

Central Conservatory of Music The Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM; ) is the national music academy of China, located in Beijing. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. The academy is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction. Overview Fo ...

. In 1980, he also became a special researcher at the Music Research Institute of the

Shanghai Conservatory of Music The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the Double First-Class Construction. The college was founded on November 27, 1927. The Sh ...

. Starting in 1982, he served as an editor for the Shanghai Cultural Relics Management Committee. German

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

and librarian Dr. Hartmut Walravens in his book review called C. C. Shen an "unsung hero".

Notes

References

External links

* China Central Television (CCTV), 2022
''C. C. Shen and Juyan Han Wooden Slips: From Peking to Tientsin'' (in Chinese)
hongxi Book Company, 2023 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Chung-Chang 1905 births 1987 deaths Academic staff of Peking University Art and cultural repatriation after World War II Chinese antiquarians Chinese ethnomusicologists Chinese folklorists Chinese photographers Cultural history of World War II Erhu players Linguists from China Musicians from Suzhou Peking University alumni People from Suzhou People of the Second Sino-Japanese War