Zhang Shouyong

Zhāng Shòuyōng, statue, Liulin Campus, University of Economics and Finance, Chengdu

Zhang Shouyong , ( Chinese  张寿 镛 , Pinyin Zhāng Shòuyōng ; * July 8, 1875 , † 1945 ) was a Chinese scholar, bibliophile, educator and economist during the republic of China. He became famous in China for the founding of the Kwang Hua University ( Chinese  光华 大学 , Pinyin Guānghuá Dàxué ) in Shanghai in 1925. Today the university is located in Chengdu , Sichuan , and is called the University of Economics and Finance of Southwest China .

Life

After the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, Zhang Shouyong served for over a decade as a finance officer for warlords in northern China and for the National People's Party of China (KMT; Chinese  中國 國民黨  /  中国 国民党 , Pinyin Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng ) before he was disappointed by the retired from political work and turned to study and science.

In the first years of his work for the Beiyang government , he worked for the tax office in Shanghai for a few months . However, he then moved very quickly to Zhejiang to take over the management of the provincial financial authority under Military Governor Zhu Jia from 1912 to 1915 . From 1915 to 1918 he was the director of the financial authorities of Hubei Province under the warlord Wang Zhanyuan , whose policies resulted in the looting of the state treasury. Zhang Shouyong finally left Hubei Province in 1918 after constant arguments with and in opposition to the corrupt provincial government. In 1920 Zhang Shouyong was appointed Finance Minister of Jiangsu Province by the Beiyang government , but he resigned after a few days due to financial disputes.

The Beiyang government then sent Zhang Shouyong to the treasury in Beijing , where he quickly dealt with the organization of the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank , but by then he was already tired of his career and devoted himself to studying, literature and science.

In 1925, as a result of the May 30th Movement , Zhang Shouyong founded Kwang Hua University together with over 550 academics and students from St. John's University in Shanghai. In 1938, however, because of the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, it had to move to Chengdu, where it is still located today under the name of the University of Economics and Finance of Southwest China .

During his years in Shanghai and beyond, Zhang Shouyong and his followers collected books and saved many very rare and valuable copies from destruction. By his death, more than 40,000 works had been collected, which his descendants donated to the Beijing Library in 1949 after the founding of the People's Republic of China .

The Siming series

Zhang Shouyong's “Siming Series” ( Chinese  《四 明 丛书》 , Pinyin Sìmíng Cóngshū ) achieved great fame . During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Siming was the name of the region in Zhejiang Province in and around Ningbo , from which Zhang Shouyong comes. Between 1931 and 1945 he put together a considerable compilation of ancient literary works from this time and region in several volumes.

Works

Siming series ( Chinese  《四 明 丛书》 , Pinyin Sìmíng Cóngshū ), 8 volumes Poems and prose ( Chinese  《诗文 初稿》 , Pinyin Shīwén Chūgǎo ), over 1000 drafts Handbook of Economics ( Chinese  《经 学 大纲》 , Pinyin Jīngxué Dàgāng ) Manual of Philosophy ( Chinese  《诸子 大纲》 , Pinyin Zhūzi Dàgāng ) Manual of literature ( Chinese  《文学 大纲》 , Pinyin Wénxué Dàgāng ) History manual ( Chinese  《史学 大纲》 , Pinyin Shǐxué Dàgāng )

Encounters in the park ( Chinese  《约 园 杂 著》 , Pinyin Yuē Yuán Zá Zhù ) Four classics ( Chinese  《四 明 经 籍 目》 , Pinyin Sìmíng Jīngjímù ) Out into the grasslands ( Chinese  《游 蜀 草》 , Pinyin Yóu Shǔ Cǎo ) Rhapsodies ( Chinese  《史诗 初稿》 , Pinyin Shǐshī Chūgǎo ) Talking in the garden ( Chinese  《约 园 演讲 集》 , Pinyin Yuē Yuán Yǎnjiǎng Jí ) Two Zhejiang studies ( Chinese  《两浙 学术 考》 , Pinyin Liǎng Zhè Xuéshù Kǎo )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Li, Yu'an; Huang, Zhengyu (Ed.): Chinas Bibliophilenlexikon ( 中国 藏书 家 通典) . China's International Cultural Publishing House (中国 国际 文化 出版社), 2005.
2. ^ Ming, Haifeng (ed.): Southwestern University of Finance and Economics . Xi Cai University Press , Chengdu 2015 ( bookcj.com ).
3. ^ Ming, Haifeng (ed.): Southwestern University of Finance and Economics . Xi Cai University Press , Chengdu 2015 ( bookcj.com ).