David H. Li (7 December 1928 – 12 July 2018) was a Chinese-American accountant, chess player, sinologist, translator, and writer.

Biography and bibliography

He wrote several books and also translated several

Chinese classics The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...

to English. He was born in 1928 in Ningbo,

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 ...

, and moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1949, and lived for many years in Bethesda,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He was an accountant and accounting teacher. His academic career included lectures at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, Seattle, and as a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Visiting Professor at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

. Later he joined the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

. After retirement, Li published a number of books in English on the culture of China, including translations of the '' Analects of Confucius'', ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compos ...

'', and ''

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' () or ''Laozi'' is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship and date of composition and compilation are debated. The oldest excavated por ...

'', as well as several books on

xiangqi Xiangqi (; ), commonly known as Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. Xiangqi is in the same family of games as shogi, janggi, chess, Western ches ...

or Chinese

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

. He died after a brief illness, on July 12, 2018 in Silver Spring, Maryland, at the age of 89.

Hypothesis

In his book ''The

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

of Chess'' (which won the 'Book of the Year' 1998 award from the editors of '' GAMES Magazine''), Li surveys evidence regarding the origins of chess and concludes that an early version of chess called

was invented in

in 203 BC, by General Han Xin, who supposedly drew on the earlier game '' liubo'' as well as on the teachings of ''The Art of War''. Li suggests that this game had spread via the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

, to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

(becoming various forms of shatranj) and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(becoming various forms of

chaturanga Chaturanga (, , ) is an Traditional games of India, ancient Indian Strategy game, strategy board game. It is first known from India around the seventh century AD. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is t ...

), as well as to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(becoming shogi) and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

(becoming

janggi Janggi (, also Romanization of Korean, romanized as ''changgi'' or ''jangki''), sometimes called Korean chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game popular on the Korean Peninsula. The game was derived from xiangqi (Chinese chess), and is v ...

).Li's idea has been contested.Banaschak: A story well told is not necessarily true - being a critical assessment of David H. Li's "The Genealogy of Chess"

References

External links and references

*The Washington Post, January 28, 2000, by Chris Redgate - Review of book (translation): "The Analects of Confucius" *Wisconsin Bookwatch, June 1, 2005 - Review of book: “Xiangqi Syllabus On Horse” * ChessBase interview, 2005 �
Part I
an
Part II
by Peter Banaschak {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, David H. 1928 births 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians American accountants American chess writers American male non-fiction writers American sinologists American sportspeople of Chinese descent American translators Chess historians Chess players from Zhejiang Chinese emigrants to the United States Educators from Ningbo Historians from Zhejiang Chinese historians Sportspeople from Ningbo Writers from Ningbo 2018 deaths

Biography and bibliography

Hypothesis

See also

References

External links and references