Tan Chung (born 18 April 1929, in Matubahar,

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

) is an authority on

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

, Sino-Indian relations and cultural exchange. He has been a doyen of Chinese cultural studies in India for nearly half a century.

Early life

After initial education in China came to

Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendra ...

in 1955. On completing his Ph D from Visva Bharati University, taught in NDA, Khadakvasla, then joined

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

as professor of Chinese and became head of the department of Chinese and Japanese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His wife, Huang I-Shu, taught Chinese at Delhi University.

Career

Tan Chung taught at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

(JNU) and the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

for many years. His father, Tan Yun-Shan (1898-1983), was the founder of '' Cheena Bhavana'' at Santiniketan and a key figure driving Nationalist China's interactions with the Indian freedom movement during the 1930s and 1940s. After Tan Chung's retirement from JNU in 1994, he worked as a research professor at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and currently lives in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States. He has been Honorary Director of the ICS/Institute of Chinese Studies,

. A conference in his honor, at the occasion of his 80th birthday, was held in

in December 2008.

Awards

In 2010, he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, the third highest civilian honour by the Govt. of India and the China-India Friendship Award by the Chinese Premier

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao ( zh, s=温家宝, p=Wēn Jiābǎo; born 15 September 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the 6th premier of China from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behin ...

in the same year. In June 2013, Yunnan Academy of Social Science conferred upon him the honorary Fellowship of the academy. In December 2013, Visva-Bharati University conferred Deshikhottama (D.Litt. and the highest honor of the university) upon Professor Tan Chung. In August 2018, Sage Published his book on understanding China, ''China: A 5,000-year Odyssey'' and has received excellent reviews from leading scholars in the world.

References

Indian sinologists Academic staff of Delhi University 1929 births Living people People associated with Santiniketan Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education {{India-academic-bio-stub