Chen Mengjia
Chen Mengjia (simplified Chinese: 陈梦家; traditional Chinese: 陳夢家; pinyin: Chén Mèngjiā; Wade–Giles: Ch’en Meng-chia; 20 April 1911, Nanjing – 3 September 1966, Beijing) was a Chinese scholar, poet, paleographer and archaeologist. He was considered the foremost authority on oracle bones and was Professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He was married to the poet and translator Zhao Luorui (aka Lucy Chao, 1912–1998). Chen died in 1966, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution after being labeled a “capitalist intellectual” and Rightist and being persecuted by officials.[1]
Chen was born and raised in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. His father was a Presbyterian minister.
In his youth Chen had been a poet, under the pen name Wanderer,[clarification needed] his first poem was published when he was 18. He was a member of the Crescent Moon Society in Shanghai, a group of romantic poets during the early 20th century. In 1932 he joined the resistance against Japanese aggression in Shanghai during the January 28 Incident. At that time he also studied law in Nanjing, but in 1932 began to research classical Chinese literature and religion, before turning to the study of Chinese writing and archaeology at Yenching University in Beijing, where he specialised in the study of oracle bones and ancient Chinese bronzes.[1] Chen and his wife moved to Kunming in the mid 1930s, where had a position at the National Southwest Associated University.
In 1936, Chen published an influential article on the religion and magic of the Shang dynasty, in which he compared the list of the kings of the Xia dynasty (the first dynasty of China in the traditional recorded history, often thought to be legendary) with that of the Shang Dynasty that followed it, and argued that the (legendary) Xia were just a “duplication” of the (real) Shang. He also argued that the Yellow Emperor and Yu the Great were originally the same personage.[2]
In 1944 Chen and his wife Lucy Chao were both awarded humanities fellowships by the Rockefeller Foundation to study at the University of Chicago in the United States. Chen also received financial support from the Harvard-Yenching Institute.[1] Chen traveled around the USA, as well as making trips to Canada and Europe studying both private and public collections of ancient Chinese bronzes. He completed the project with the support of C. T. Loo, a famous art dealer. His study, with descriptions of over 850 bronze vessels, was turned into a draft for a book, possibly to be published in the USA. In 1947 Chen returned to China (his wife the following year), and he sent the manuscript to Harvard University before. After Korean War broke out, Chen was disconnected with Harvard. However, the book remained unpublished in USA. According to Edward L. Shaughnessy, Chen’s manuscript left in Harvard has been found.[citation needed]
The book was eventually published in China in 1962 under the title Our country’s Shang and Zhou Bronzes Looted by American Imperialists, edited by the Chinese Institute of Archaeology.[1] Chen himself, however, did not choose the title, and indeed his name is not written on the cover. The book had been considered important to publish, even though its author was a “Rightist”, who were not allowed to publish. Among the “American imperialists” listed in the book are the Saint Louis Art Museum, Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt of New York, Miss Doris Duke of New York, Avery Brundage of Chicago, and Alfred F. Pillsbury of Minneapolis. The book is going to be republished under its original title signed with the name of Chen in China in 2016.
