Hou Wailu

Hou Wailu (1903–1987), originally named Zhaolin and a native of Pingyao, Shanxi, was a Chinese Marxist historian, intellectual historian, and educator, and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He served as president of Northwest University and director of the Institute of History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and edited works including the General History of Chinese Thought and the History of Modern Chinese Philosophy. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Marxist scholarship on Chinese intellectual history. Two of his works are included here: The History of Ancient Chinese Society and On the History of Ancient Chinese Society, both commonly classified as history readings. His writing is distinguished by combining social history with intellectual history, examining the evolution of thought through the lens of socioeconomic structure, and has had a lasting influence in the field.