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Harold Zvi Schiffrin (born September 26, 1922) is professor of East Asian Studies and Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the founder of East Asian studies in Israel. [1]
Harold Zvi Schiffrin was born in 1922 in Rochester, NY. In 1943, as a college student, he was conscripted into the US Army and stationed at the Pacific front. During his service, he was stationed at Camp Ritchie and is considered to be part of the Ritchie Boys. The army sent him to University of California, Berkeley, to study Chinese language and culture (1943–44); upon graduating, he was stationed in Manila, where there was at the time a large community of Chinese immigrants. In 1948, he immigrated to Israel in the framework of MACHAL (overseas volunteers). Between 1955 and 1957, he returned to Berkeley and completed his M.A. in Chinese Studies under the supervision of Robert A. Scalapino. He returned to Israel to pursue his PhD under S.N. Eisenstadt. In 1961, he received his PhD from the Department of Sociology, the Hebrew University and continued with postdoctoral research at Harvard University.
On his return, he joined the Hebrew University's academic staff. By 1958, he was offering courses in Chinese history, that were attracting large crowds of students. Throughout the 1960s, when history and languages of China and Japan were still considered an esoteric academic pursuit in Israel, he insisted on the centrality of East Asia in general, and China in particular, to the political and economic international arena. In 1968, his efforts culminated in the foundation of the Department of East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University. (then known as the Department of Chinese and Japanese Studies, the first of its kind in Israel. Japanese studies was represented at the time by Avraham Altman) Schiffrin laid the foundations for the research and teaching of Chinese Studies in Israel. He assembled to the department top researchers in the field and trained the next generations of East Asia researchers in Israel. He retired in 1990, and continued to research and participate in the department's life.
Schiffrin was also dean of the School for Overseas Students (1968–70), headed the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace (1979–87), and chaired the US-Israel Educational Foundation (Fulbright Program; 1980–87). His activities on both national and international level for the aliyah of Jews from the Soviet Union and the release of Prisoners of Zion won worldwide recognition.[ citation needed ] He also held research and teaching positions at Harvard (1962–63) and Berkeley (1988–89), and was a guest of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing long before China and Israel established diplomatic relations. In 2010, he was chosen by the National Library of China as one of "the hundred greatest Sinologists of all times." [ citation needed ]
Schiffrin is an expert on the 1911 Republican Revolution in China and on Sun Yat-Sen (孙中山1866–1925), the father of the Chinese republic and founder of modern China. He specializes in the social and intellectual history of modern China, and in particular the transition from Imperial China to the Republic (ca. 1840–1949).
a. Sun Yat-Sen and the Origins of the Chinese Revolution (1968) In this book, Schiffrin reconstructs the life and times of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), the founding father of the Chinese revolution. The book follows Sun's early activities, up to 1905, when he established the Tongmenghui (同盟會 United Alliance) and developed the political philosophy known as the "Three Principles of the People" (sanminzhuyi 三民主義). Schiffrin presents Sun – a peasants' offspring, who received western rather than classical Chinese education – as an instrumental leader whose vigor, dedication, and insistence that only through adopting an advanced republican government China would succeed in catching up and eventually overtaking the West, managed to gain him the sympathy of Chinese intellectuals. The book reconstructs the complex world of China at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, including the dying dynasty, the variety of local Chinese forces, and the foreign influence in southern China. It presents Sun's activities in China, Europe, Japan, and among the Overseas Chinese in their political, social and intellectual contexts. Schiffrin was the first Western researcher to use newspapers issued by Chinese students and exiles in Japan as an important source for his research. The book received the American Historical Association's John King Fairbank Prize for East Asian Studies in 1969. It was published in Chinese in both Mainland China and Taiwan and was reprinted – in the US and China – in 2010.
b. Sun Yat-sen, Reluctant Revolutionary (1980)
This sequel is a full biography of Sun Yat-sen. Analyzing his role in the 1911 Revolution, and his subsequent career as a founder of the Nation's Party, the Guomindang (國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT), the book also reviews Sun's legacy in the PRC and Republic of China or Taiwan. Schiffrin explores Sun's activities in a wide range of contexts, highlighting the turning points in early 20th century Chinese history. This book remained the standard biography of Sun for several decades, and was reprinted in China in 2010.
c. The 1911 Revolution in China (1984, 1995)
The two volumes co-edited by Schiffrin and the Japanese scholar Eto Shinkichi (1923–2007), assemble Eastern and Western scholars, whose work sheds new light on the transitional period from Imperial to Republican China. Studies in these volumes discuss ideological, constitutional, ethnic, economic, political and biographical aspects, as well as the influence of Chinese Republican Revolution and its leaders in different parts of the world.
d. Military and State in Modern Asia (1976)
This collection of essays edited by Schiffrin examines the role of the army in the nation-states established in Asia in the 20th century, from East Asia to the Middle East. It presents case studies from Indonesia, Japan, China, Burma, Egypt and Syria, as well as a theoretical comparative discussion. The book integrates essays by leading historians and sociologists from Israel and worldwide. Schiffrin's own essay deals with the warlords during the Republican Period (1911–1949).
Schiffrin published many articles dealing with the political and intellectual history of China at the start of the 20th century and various aspects of modern Chinese history, such as foreign relations, the development of Chinese nationalism, China's military and economic policy, Chinese perceptions of the West, and intellectual life in contemporary China. He was an important contributor to the Biographical Dictionary of Republican China , ed. H. L. Boorman (Columbia University Press, 1967-1971) and also edited the China section of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica writing 50 different entries.
In Chinese:
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary statesman, physician, and political philosopher who served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang. He is called the "Father of the Nation" in the present-day Republic of China (Taiwan) and the "Forerunner of the Revolution" in the People's Republic of China for his instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the 1911 Revolution. Sun is unique among 20th-century Chinese leaders for being widely revered by both the Communist Party in Mainland China and the Nationalist Party in Taiwan.
Zhongshan is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 inhabitants. The city-core subdistricts used to be called Shiqi or Shekki.
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings. Its success marked the collapse of the Chinese monarchy, the end of 2,132 years of imperial rule in China and 276 years of the Qing dynasty, and the beginning of China's early republican era.
Cuiheng is a village of the town of Nanlang, Zhongshan, Guangdong province. Cuiheng is best known as the birthplace of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the "Father of the Nation" of the Republic of China. Cuiheng is 17.6 kilometres (10.9 mi) southeast of downtown Zhongshan, and 26 km (16 mi) north of Macau. The whole village is designated a special economic district, as Cuiheng New Area.
Dai Jitao or Tai Chi-t'ao was a Chinese journalist, an early Kuomintang member, and the first head of the Examination Yuan of the Republic of China. He is often referred to as Dai Chuanxian or by his other courtesy name, Dai Xuantang.
Sun Yat-sen University is a public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education, SASTIND, and Guangdong Provincial Government. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University Plan.
The Hsing Chung Hui, translated as the Revive China Society (興中會), the Society for Regenerating China, or the Proper China Society was founded by Sun Yat-sen on 24 November 1894 to forward the goal of establishing prosperity for China and as a platform for future revolutionary activities. It was formed during the First Sino-Japanese War, after a string of Chinese military defeats exposed corruption and incompetence within the imperial government of the Qing dynasty. The Revive China Society went through several political re-organizations in later years and eventually became the party known as the Kuomintang. As such, the contemporary Kuomintang considers its founding date to be the establishment of Revive China Society.
The Nanjing Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen, established in 1929, became the first national botanical garden in China. The original name, 'Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen', commemorated Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the pioneer of Chinese democratic revolution. In 1954, it was renamed as Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is one of four major botanical gardens in China. The botanical garden is also known as Zhongshan Botanical Garden after the spelling of its name in pinyin.
Zhongshan (中山市) is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China.
National Sun Yat-sen University is a public research university located in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. NSYSU is listed as one of six national research universities, and one of four universities that make up the Taiwan Comprehensive University System, a research-led university alliance in Taiwan. With AACSB and CFA accredited and the number one maritime management program in Asia, the NSYSU College of Management is among the best in East Asia, and the College of Marine Sciences is the oldest and highest ranked in Taiwan.
Like many Chinese, Sun Yat-sen used different names at different points in his life and he is known in Chinese under several of them. Names are not taken lightly in Chinese culture. This reverence goes as far back as Confucius and his insistence on "rectification of names."
Sun Yat-sen House is located in the South Garden of Gulou Campus of Nanjing University in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It's said that Sun Yat-sen, the first president of the Republic of China, lived there in 1910s.
SS Zhongshan, formerly romanized as Chung Shan, was a Chinese gunboat built in Japan in 1913. It was originally known as SS Yongfeng, before being renamed in 1925 in honor of Sun Yat-sen. Zhongshan was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second Sino-Japanese War, but was later raised and restored as a museum ship in Wuhan.
中山 is an East Asian name composed of two characters which individually mean "middle" or "centre" and "mountain" or "hill".
Zhongshan Square is a city square in the Zhongshan District of Dalian, Liaoning, China named for Sun Yat-sen ; originally designed and built by the Russians in the 19th century. Several classical buildings are located on the square, which were built during the first half of the 20th century by the Japanese.
Kaoru Otsuki was a Japanese woman known for being the second wife of Sun Yat-sen, the founder and first president of the Republic of China.
Tōten Miyazaki or Torazō Miyazaki was a Japanese philosopher who aided and supported Sun Yat-sen during the Xinhai Revolution. While Sun was in Japan, he assisted Sun in his travels as he was wanted by Qing dynasty authorities.
The Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen, located at 7 Xiangshan Road in the French Concession area of Shanghai, China, near Fuxing Park to the east, was the residence of the Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925)
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Secondary School, was established in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China and the Premier of the Kuomintang in 1934. The school is located in Cuiheng Village, Zhongshan, Guangdong, China. Cuiheng Village is Sun Yat-sen's hometown. It is next to the former residence of Sun Yat-sen. There are 120 home classes in the full boarding school with more than 7000 students.
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