Leo Ou-fan Lee (; born 10 October 1942) is a Taiwanese commentator and author who was elected Fellow 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 2002. Lee also was a professor at

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 ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

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 ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) is a National university, national comprehensive university in Taipei and New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university enrolls approximately 17,000 students each year. Approximately 1,600 students are Intern ...

. Lee has served as columnist of several publications, such as the ''

Yazhou Zhoukan ''Yazhou Zhoukan'' () is a Chinese-language international affairs newsweekly. It was launched in 1987 by Michael O'Niell as a sister magazine to '' Asiaweek''. It is published by Yazhou Zhoukan Limited (a subsidiary of Media Chinese Internatio ...

'', ''

Hong Kong Economic Journal The ''Hong Kong Economic Journal'' (HKEJ) is a Chinese-language daily newspaper published in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Economic Journal Co., Ltd.. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and oth ...

'', ''

Ming Pao ''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and coll ...

'', and ''

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

''.

Biography

Lee was born in a wealthy and highly educated family in Taikang County,

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

in 1942. Both his father Li Yonggang () and mother Zhou Yuan () were musicians and educators. His given name "Ou-fan" is the Chinese version of

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

, the Greek god of music. Lee graduated from National Hsinchu Senior High School and

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

. He first took a master's degree from

, where he was inspired by T.H. Tsien to study Chinese literature. He then went on to study at

, where his mentors included Benjamin I. Schwartz and

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 ...

. He received his Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1970, majoring in history and East Asian languages. After graduating he taught at

Chung Chi College The Chung Chi College is one of the constituent colleges of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a public university in New Territories, Hong Kong. The college is one of the three original colleges that joined to form the CUHK in 1963. F ...

of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Princeton University, Indiana University, University of Chicago, University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard University, and National Taiwan Normal University. In 2002, Lee was elected Fellow of

Personal life

Lee was first wed to dancer Wang Xiaolan (), the daughter of

Hualing Nieh Engle Hualing Nieh Engle (11 January 1925 – 21 October 2024), née Nieh Hua-ling (), was a Chinese novelist, fiction writer, and poet. She was a professor emerita at the University of Iowa. Early life and education Nieh Hua-ling was born on 11 Janu ...

and poet Paul Engle. After a turbulent divorce, he remarried in September 2000. Li Yuying (), his second wife, who was the former wife of Deng Wenzheng (). The couple was divorced, and Lee has since remarried.

Selected works

Books and edited volumes

* ''My Harvard University Years'' * ''The Romantic Generation of Modern Chinese Writers'' Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1973. * ''Voices from the Iron House: A Study of Lu Xun'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. * ''Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930–1945'' 1999, Harvard University Press, * ''City Between Worlds: My Hong Kong''. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press. 2008 * ''An Intellectual History of Modern China'', Merle Goldman and Leo Ou-fan Lee, Ed, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2002. * ''Land Without Ghosts: Chinese Impressions of America From the Mid-Nineteenth Century to the Present''. translated and edited by R. David Arkush and Leo O. Lee. Berkeley : University of California Press,1989. * ''The Lyrical and the Epic: Studies of Modern Chinese Literature'', Author: Jaroslav Průšek; edited by Leo Ou-fan Lee. Bloomington, Ind. : Indiana University Press, 1980. * ''The Appropriation of Cultural Capital: China's May Fourth Project'' Milena Doleželová-Velingerová, Oldrich Kral, and Graham Sanders Ed, Harvard University Asia Center, 2002. * ''Musings: Reading Hong Kong, China and the World'', Leo Lee Ou-fan, Muse Books/East Slope Publishing : Hong Kong, 2011.

Essays, articles, and chapters

References

External links

Leo Ou-fan Lee on Kafka in China
Goethe-Institut China, Online Magazine, October 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Leo Ou-fan 1942 births People from Taikang County National Taiwan University alumni Harvard University alumni Living people Chinese University of Hong Kong people Chinese literary critics Taiwanese people from Henan Members of Academia Sinica