Yu-chien Kuan

Yu-chien Kuan (2009)

Yu-chien Kuan ( Chinese 關愚謙 / 关愚谦 , Pinyin Guān Yúqiān , W.-G. Kuan ¹ Yü ² -ch'ien ¹ , Jyutping Gwaan ¹ Jyu ⁴ him ¹ , born February 18, 1931 in Guangzhou , China ; † 22. November 2018 in Berlin ) was a German writer of Chinese origin.

Life

During his childhood, Kuan experienced the Pacific War and the occupation of his homeland by the Japanese in 1938-45 when his family was driven from Beijing to Shanghai . During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, he fled with a Japanese man's passport via Cairo , where he was held in protective custody for a year and a half , and ended up in Germany by chance through a mediation by the German Red Cross . He has lived in Hamburg since 1969 , where he received his doctorate in history in 1974 and there he also met his second wife, Petra Häring-Kuan . Since then, Kuan has taught Sinology at the university there in the Asia-Africa Institute .

He was also the author of several books on Chinese culture and history and his life.

The Admiral Guan Tianpei of Guangdong is a historical ancestor in the clan family of Yu-chien Kuan.

personal data
SURNAME	Kuan, Yu-chien
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	關愚謙 (Chinese - traditional characters); 关愚谦 (Chinese - abbreviated form); Guan Yuqian (pinyin); Kuan Yü-ch'ien (Wade-Giles); Gwaan Jyuhim (Jyutping)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Chinese writer
DATE OF BIRTH	February 18, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH	Guangzhou
DATE OF DEATH	22nd November 2018
Place of death	Berlin