Yang Tianshi

Yang Tianshi, born in 1936 in Dongtai, Jiangsu, graduated from the Department of Chinese at Peking University in 1960 and has long engaged in the study of Chinese cultural history and modern Chinese history. His scholarship spans both classical and modern fields: he examines modern schools of thought and their representative figures while also exploring traditional intellectual topics such as Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming, and he writes in an essayistic style about literary and historical observations and reading. Four of his works are included here, covering modern thought, classical literature, intellectual history, and prose essays. The range reflects his ability to move between academic research and literary appreciation. His writing emphasizes the analysis of historical sources and the tracing of figures and contexts, in plain and measured language, and will appeal to readers interested in modern thought and traditional culture.