Tang Yongtong (; 4 August 1893 – 1 May 1964) was a Chinese educator, philosopher and scholar best known for studying

Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...

. Tang was proficient in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

, English and Japanese. Tang attended the

Tsinghua School Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211 ...

and Shuntian School before he pursued advanced studies in 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 ...

. While studying at

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 ...

, he became known as "one of the three Outstanding Persons of Harvard" along with

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 ...

and

Wu Mi Wu Mi () (August 20, 1894 – January 17, 1978) (once using the name Wu Yuheng () was one of the founders of Chinese comparative literature, a literary critic, critic, redologist (one who studies the Chinese classic book ''Dream of the Red Chambe ...

. He was an academician of the

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 ...

. He was a member of the 1st National Committee of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

. He was also a delegate to the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

and

3rd National People's Congress The 3rd National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1964 to 1975. It held only one session in the ten years due to the disruption caused by the ongoing Cultural Revolution launched by Chairman Mao Zedong after 1966. Seat distribution ...

Biography

Tang was born in Weiyuan County,

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

on August 4, 1893, while his

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 ...

Huangmei County Huangmei County () falls under the administration of Huanggang City in eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and borders Anhui to the east and Jiangxi to the south across the Yangtze. It also administers Shanjia Islet () in the Yang ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

. His father Tang Lin () was a scholar in the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. In 1908 he attended the Shuntian School. In 1911, he enrolled at the

, where he graduated in 1916. Tang arrived in the

in 1918 at the age of 25 to begin his education at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He returned to China after graduation in 1922 and that same year became professor of National Southeast University. After a short period of teaching students in

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 ...

, he returned to

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, where he was a professor at

National Central University National Central University (; abbreviated NCU; ) is a public research university based in Taiwan. It was founded in 1902 in Nanjing; initially located in Miaoli after moving to Taiwan, it relocated to Zhongli in 1962 and developed into a com ...

. In 1931, he moved to

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 ...

as a professor at the Department of Philosophy, where he was promoted to dean of College of Liberal Arts in 1946. In the following 1947 he went to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he lectured the History of Chinese Buddhism. In 1948 he was elected a fellow of the

. In December 1948 he refused to go to

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, while Chiang Kai-shek invited him to follow the Nationalists. In January 1949 he was proposed as the new chairman of Peking University. In 1949, the year of the defeat of the Communists over the Nationalists in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, Tang stayed on Peking University in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He was appointed vice-president of Peking University in 1951. Two years later, he was elected a member of the newly established

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

. In 1954, he was diagnosed with

intracerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into Intraparenchymal hemorrhage, the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its Intraventricular hemorrhage, ventricles, or into both. An ICH is ...

and then stayed in bed for a long time. Tang died in Beijing on May 1, 1964.

Personal life

Tang married Zhang Jingping (). The couple had two sons and two daughters, in order of birth: Tang Yimei (; died young), Tang Yijie (), Tang Yixuan () and Tang Yiping (). Their elder son, Tang Yijie (1927–2014), was a Peking University professor, who had been described as China's top scholar on philosophy and Chinese studies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Yongtong 1893 births People from Dingxi 1964 deaths Beijing No. 4 High School alumni Harvard University alumni Academic staff of Peking University Academic staff of Nankai University Educators from Gansu Writers from Gansu Philosophers from Gansu Members of Academia Sinica 20th-century Chinese philosophers Delegates to the 1st National People's Congress Delegates to the 2nd National People's Congress Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress Members of the 1st Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery