Xu Xusheng, also known by his

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Xu Bingchang, (1888 – January 4, 1976) was a Chinese archaeologist, historian, and explorer born in Tanghe, Henan Province. Best known for his discovery of the

Erlitou culture The Erlitou culture () was an early Bronze Age society and archaeological culture. It existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. A 2007 study using radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750–15 ...

in 1959, he was one of China's most important and respected archaeologists and historians of the twentieth century, providing a model of archaeological methodology for future Chinese archaeologists. He also was president of Beijing Normal University.

Biography

In 1921, Xu was appointed professor in the department of philosophy,

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 ...

, teaching History of Western Philosophy. In 1926, he served as provost of Peking University, and in the following year he led an expedition to northwest China to conduct archaeological investigations. In 1929, Xu served as dean of National Peking University Women's Teachers College. He also was president of Beijing Normal University from February 1931 to May 1932. He traveled to

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

in 1933, where he established the Shaanxi Archaeological Society. From 1934 to 1937 he investigated the

Early Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wi ...

culture in

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

, discovered by his team of archaeologists who carried out excavations at the Doujitai site in the middle Yellow River Valley, where his approach was said to have served as a model for archaeological methodology. He became director of the Institute for Historical Studies in 1936. Xu was instrumental in conducting the first modern study of China's early "myths" based on the reports of antiquaries findings by archaeologists. He also worked on the ''Historical Gazetteer of Beiping''. He was elected to the Chinese National Assembly in 1947. Xu became a research fellow of the Institute of Archaeology of the

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 ...

, and surveyed Gaocheng in 1959. The

was discovered by him that year. He joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in 1957, and was elected to the Third National People's Congress in 1964. Persecuted during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, Xu died during January 1976.

Research

As a historian, Xu authored the 1943 book, ''Zhongguo gushi de chuanshuo shidai'' ("The legendary times in early Chinese history"), where he comments that the name of Five Emperors was not mentioned until the Warring States era and cannot be found in earlier works such as the Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu, Lunyu, Mozi or

Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...

. This was the first book to provide detailed facts concerning ancient Chinese history and archaeological finds and present a comprehensive history of China's

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

period.

References

External links

Hudong Encyclopedia entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Xusheng 1888 births 1976 deaths Academic staff of Peking University Presidents of Beijing Normal University Historians from Henan Writers from Nanyang, Henan Educators from Henan Scientists from Henan 20th-century Chinese historians 20th-century Chinese archaeologists