This Qingpu native is still a pinnacle in Shanghai history, even after nearly 20 years.
Yang Kuan, a native of Baihejiang Town, Qingpu, Jiangsu Province, graduated from the Chinese Literature Department of Guanghua University in 1936. He studied under the historians Lu Simian, Jiang Weiqiao and Qian Jibo. He is a representative of the "Ancient History School" after Gu Jiegang and a collection of "Doubt the Ancients" A person who has achieved great success in ancient history.
Yang Kuan wrote extensively throughout his life, and his research scope covers ancient Chinese history, ancient Chinese science and technology history, history of weights and measures, ancient history periodization, ancient peasant wars, important historical figures, historical geography, cultural relics and archaeology, academic culture, mausoleum and capital systems, etc., and has made great achievements in many fields. All of them have made groundbreaking contributions and have become a peak in the field of Shanghai history. He is one of the first batch of doctoral supervisors in the History Department of Fudan University, along with Zhou Gucheng and Tan Qixiang. He is an important founder and first director of the Shanghai Museum and the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. He is also a rare Chinese history scholar praised by first-class Japanese scholars. scientist.
The "symposium to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Yang Kuan and the publication of Yang Kuan's collected works" was recently held at the Shanghai Social Science Museum, marking the release of all 15 volumes of "Yang Kuan's collected works" published by Shanghai People's Publishing House in 13 categories, covering Yang Kuan's collection of works. The main achievements of Kuan's academic career of more than 70 years.
In 2018, the Shanghai Federation of Social Sciences selected the first batch of "Shanghai Social Science Masters", and 68 late famous scholars in the social science field, including Yang Kuan, were elected. Their common characteristic is that they are "tongren". They are not only Confucian masters and scholars who have an important position in academic history, but they are also the guardians of Chinese civilization and the narrators of historical memory. Wang Weisong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Full-time Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Social Social Sciences, believes that “the commemoration of the master is more about promoting his scholarly spirit and allowing more people to read the master’s works and understand their academic deeds and scholarly spirit.” Yang Kuan Mr. Yang Kuan’s works are not only academic monographs, but also landmark works in history, which fully reflect Mr. Yang Kuan’s academic height and feelings about his family and country.”
Shanghai People's Publishing House has had a half-century-long relationship with Mr. Yang Kuan. Since "History of the Warring States" in 1955, almost all of Mr. Yang Kuan's major works have been published by Shanghai People's Publishing House. At the beginning of the 21st century, Yang Kuan expressed his desire to publish the complete works in Shanghai People's Publishing House and formulated the catalog of "Yang Kuan Academic Series". Sun Yu, deputy editor-in-chief of Shanghai People's Publishing House, said that holding this symposium is not only to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Yang Kuan, but also to look forward to the publication of the "Collection of Yang Kuan's Works" to make Mr. Yang Kuan's historian in Shanghai and even the country The peak can exert a greater impact.
"My father devoted his whole life to the academic career of historical research. In his early years, he participated in the academic activities of the 'Ancient History Discrimination School' and got rid of the influence of the trend of doubting the past. He was rated by the academic community as the 'Explanation of the Ancient' school besides the 'Doubt the Ancient' school. . In the early days of the founding of New China, he published the "History of the Warring States", which was carefully researched for many years, and was widely praised by the academic community. During his life, he completed two chronological histories, "The Western Zhou Dynasty" and "The Warring States Period", and also wrote the history of iron smelting and the mausoleum system. and several special histories such as the Capital System, as well as booklets such as "An Examination of the Measures of Chinese Dynasties", "Mo Jing Philosophy", "Introduction to Ancient Chinese History" and more than 200 academic papers." Yang Kuan, researcher at the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. The eldest son Yang Shanqun mentioned Yang Kuan’s academic attitude of striving for excellence, “His masterpiece "History of the Warring States" was only 200,000 words when it was first published in the 1950s, and expanded to 400,000 words when it was reprinted in the 1980s, almost doubling the number; At the time of publication, many adjustments and revisions were made, and the length was expanded to 560,000 words. "
Shanghai People's Publishing House and Yang Kuanzhesi signed a long-term licensing agreement for Yang Kuan's works
Yang Kuan's contribution to academic undertakings is multi-faceted. In addition to his historical research works, he also served as the director of a museum, committed to protecting cultural relics and preventing the outflow of cultural relics. At the university forum, he often gave lectures to train young people to become He is a talent in historical research; he also serves as the chief editor of the ancient Chinese history section of the new edition of "Cihai" and works hard to improve the quality of the new edition of "Cihai".
"It has been fifty years since I first came into contact with Mr. Yang Kuan's name. A few days ago, I found a booklet "Shang Yang's Reform" from the bookshelf. It has been printed to 700,000 copies. Looking at it today It is definitely a best-seller," said Yu Yunguo, a professor at Shanghai Normal University.
"I study world history. Jaspers called the era of human cultural breakthroughs that occurred in China, the West, and India around 500 BC at the same time the 'Axial Age.' In order to better understand the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period During the era, I read Mr. Yang Kuan's "History of the Development of Iron Smelting Technology in Ancient China" and gained a deeper understanding of the spread between different civilizations. "Guo Changgang, director of the Institute of History of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that Mr. Yang Kuan's Research, especially his unique research on the history of iron smelting in ancient China, is very enlightening to the present.
"Mr. Yang Kuan's "History of the Warring States" is still current when read today, mainly because he is not dogmatic and explains history based on comprehensive and in-depth excavation of historical materials. This spirit of using historical facts to speak is particularly worthy of our study and admiration." Huang Yang, head of the history department at Fudan University, said.
"Mr. Yang Kuan's birthplace is Qingpu Baihe, and its predecessor is the historically famous Qinglong Town. The people in Qingpu's hometown have always missed Mr. Yang Kuan. There is an exhibition space for Qingpu celebrities' writings in the Qingpu Library, with special shelves displaying them. "Collection of Yang Kuan's works." Zhou Siqin, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of Qingpu District Party Committee, said, "Although Mr. Yang Kuan has left us for nearly 20 years, his spirit has been integrated into his works, and his scholarly spirit and academic character will be forever remembered by future generations. Remember.”
Wen Zeyuan, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Shanghai People's Publishing House, said that in the future, he will better protect the copyright of Mr. Yang Kuan's works, edit, publish and promote Mr. Yang Kuan's series of books, try his best to promote the further development of academic research, and cooperate with the city society Together, we will continue to spread and demonstrate Yang Kuan’s academic social science master’s deeds, historical thoughts, academic achievements and scholarly spirit.
The Shanghai Social Science Museum, where the conference was held, is the country's first comprehensive social science venue open to the public, displaying the life experiences and academic achievements of Shanghai's social science masters. In recent years, the Municipal Federation of Social Science and Technology, relying on the Shanghai Social Science Museum, has actively created a Shanghai cultural brand of "Praise for Social Science Masters" and commemorated and promoted social science masters through exhibitions, forums, lectures, documentaries, newspapers, broadcasts, performances, etc. With the ambition to serve the country, dedication to learning, ability to innovate and virtue of educating people, we will create a new social science space that is the best place to practice Xi Jinping’s cultural thoughts.
