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Ping-ti Ho or Bingdi He (; 1917–2012), who also wrote under the name P.T. Ho, was a
Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...
historian. He wrote widely on China's history, including works on demography, plant history, ancient archaeology, and contemporary events. He taught at
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
for most of his career, and was president of the
Association for Asian Studies The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) is a scholarly, non-political and non-profit professional association focusing on Asia and the study of Asia. It is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The Association provides members with an Ann ...
in 1975, the first scholar of East Asian descent to have that honor.


Biography

Ho's
ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...
town is
Jinhua Jinhua is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province in eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxin ...
,
Zhejiang Province ) , 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 ...
, and was born in
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 ...
in 1917. In 1934, Ho studied at the Department of History of
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...
in Beijing, then he went to Shanghai studying at Kwang Hua University temporarily due to 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 ...
, and graduated in Tsinghua with a BA in 1938. After graduation, Ho went to
Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
in southwestern China 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 ...
, and became a
teaching assistant A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...
at the Department of History of the National Southwestern Associated University (a university temporarily jointed by the
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 ...
, Tsinghua University and
Nankai University Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Nankai University was establ ...
, during the war). In 1944, Ho won and obtained financial support from the Sixth Boxer Indemnity Scholarship, and went to study in the United States in 1945. Ho entered
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 ...
in New York City, and graduated with a PhD in history in 1952. His doctoral dissertation concerned British history in the 19th century. Ho had already taught at the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, British Columbia of Canada. In 1963, Ho went to teach at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
. In 1965, Ho was promoted to the ''James Westfall Thompson Professor of History'' at the University of Chicago. Ho retired from Chicago in 1987, but he soon became the Visiting Distinguished Professor of History and Social Sciences at the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
, where he retired for the second time in 1990. Ho was elected as an academician of
Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...
in 1966, a member of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1979, and an honorary member of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and c ...
in 1997. Ho was also "the first Asian-born scholar ever to have been elected as President of the Association for Asian Studies". Ho received several honorary doctorates, including the L.L.D. from 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 ...
in 1975, the L.H.D. from
Lawrence University Lawrence University is a Private college, private liberal arts college and Music school, conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second colle ...
in 1978, and the L.H.D. from
Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...
in 1988.


Historiographical debates

He forcefully attacked the school now known as the New Qing History in his exchange with Evelyn Rawski in 1996. He argued, following the Harvard school of
John King Fairbank John King Fairbank (May 24, 1907September 14, 1991) was an American historian of China and United States–China relations. He taught at Harvard University from 1936 until his retirement in 1977. He is credited with building the field of China ...
, that the Manchu rulers had become "sinicized" and did not have a distinctive non-Chinese approach. He said sinicization was not incompatible with the politics of a multiethnic empire, yet to reject sinicization is to deny a fundamental force in Chinese history. Xin Fan examines the intensity of Ho's passionate attacks on the New Qing History in the 1990s. He argues that Ho was a cultural exile in two ways. He taught far from his homeland and never fully Identified with the United States. That sort of exile intensified his nationalistic pride for China. He had terrible memories of the Sino-Japanese War. The new historiography was based on Manchu-language sources—Not Chinese language sources—and seemed to him to be an echo of the Japanese wartime imperialistic project of Manchuristic studies.Xin Fan, "The anger of Ping-Ti Ho: the Chinese nationalism of a double exile." ''Storia della storiografia'' 69.1 (2016): 147–160. His cousin Ho Ping-sung was also a famous historian in China.


Publications

; Major books * ''Studies on the Population of China, 1368–1953'' (1959) *
The Ladder of Success in Imperial China, Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368–1911
' (1962) * * ''The Cradle of the East: An Inquiry into the Indigenous Origins of Techniques and Ideas of Neolithic and Early Historic China, 5000–1000 B.C.'' (1975) * ; Major articles * * "Aspects of social mobility in China, 1368-1911." ''Comparative Studies in Society and History'' 1.4 (1959): 330-359
online
* *


References


Citations


Sources

* Fan, Xin. "The anger of Ping-Ti Ho: the Chinese nationalism of a double exile." ''Storia della storiografia'' 69.1 (2016): 147–160. *


External links


Ping-ti Ho, renowned scholar of China, 1917–2012
* Ping-ti Ho
我与胡适的交往 (My friendship with Hu Shih)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Ping-Ti Educators from Tianjin 1917 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American historians Academic staff of the National Southwestern Associated University Academic staff of the University of British Columbia American expatriate academics in Canada Boxer Indemnity Scholarship recipients Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Members of Academia Sinica Presidents of the Association for Asian Studies Chinese emigrants to the United States Tsinghua University alumni University of Chicago faculty University of California, Irvine faculty Historians from Tianjin