Yang Kuan

Yang Kuan (1914–2005), courtesy name Kuanzheng, was a native of Qingpu, Jiangsu (now Qingpu, Shanghai), and a renowned expert in pre-Qin history. He served as director of the Shanghai Museum, professor in the Department of History at Fudan University, and deputy director of the Institute of History at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and was one of the pioneers of China's museum cause. A rigorous scholar, Yang devoted himself to the history of the pre-Qin period and the history of ancient technology. His representative works include History of the Warring States, History of the Western Zhou, and An Introduction to Ancient Chinese History. His writings combine close textual criticism with archaeological findings and are noted for their clarity and solidity, exerting an important influence on dynastic and thematic history. This library holds 19 of his works, covering pre-Qin history, Western Zhou history, Warring States history, and the history of ancient Chinese iron smelting, along with several collected editions. In 2018 he was selected among the first group of "Shanghai Masters of Social Sciences."