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Wang Gungwu (labels=yes; born 1930), also written Wang Gung Wu, is a Chinese Australian historian, sinologist, and writer specialising in the history of China and Southeast Asia. He has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora. An expert on the Chinese tianxia ("all under heaven") concept, he was the first to suggest its application to the contemporary world as an American Tianxia. He is the recipient of many honours and awards, including the Singapore Literature Prize at age 91.
Wang completed his secondary education in Anderson School, an English medium school in Ipoh, learning Chinese classics and history at home from his father.
At the end of the Japanese occupation of Malaya in 1946, the family returned to China. Wang enrolled at the National Central University in Nanjing, but did not complete a degree there, after his parents had returned to Ipoh in March 1948 because his father and Wang followed later in the year because of the political chaos in China.
From October 1949 he studied history at the newly-opened University of Malaya (Singapore campus), where he received his bachelor's (1953) and master's (1955) degrees, majoring in history. He was a founding member of the University Socialist Club and its founding president in 1953. He was also editor of the student newspaper and president of the Students' Union, and published a collection of his poetry during this time.
He used a British Council scholarship to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, earning a PhD (1957) for his thesis "The structure of power in North China during the Five Dynasties", under Denis C. Twitchett, published as a book in 1963.
In 1968 he went to Canberra, Australia, to become head of far eastern history in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) at the Australian National University (ANU), a position he held until 1975, and then again from 1980 until 1986. For five years between 1975 and 1980, he was director of RSPAS.
Wang left Australia in 1986 to becomes vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, until 1995. In 1996, he returned to Singapore to become the director the Institute of East Asian Political Economy, later known as the East Asian Institute. He stepped down as director in 2007, but remained chairman of the EAI until 2019.
He was the founding chair of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS.
In 1965, he chaired a committee to review the curriculum of Nanyang University. The committee reported in May 1965. Meanwhile, in August 1965, Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia as an independent republic. In September 1965, the committee was released and the university accepted the recommendations, triggering student protests, petitions, and boycotts of classes and examinations.
Wang was a key figure in the establishment of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in 1976 and served as president.
He served as president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities from 1980 to 1983.
Wang was a Distinguished Professorial Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, where he was chairman of the board of trustees from 1 November 2002 to 31 October 2019.
Since at least 2020 and Wang was chairman of the International Advisory Council at the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (in Kampar, Malaysia).
In 2022, Wang was senior fellow at the Diplomatic Academy at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an adviser to the Ministry of Education's (MOE) Social Science Research Council.
In 2018, Wang published the memoir of his early life (ending in 1949), called Home Is Not Here. Home Is Where We Are is the second part of his memoirs, and spans 20 years, beginning with Wang's time at the University of Malaya.
Wang became an Australian citizen in 1977, after 18 years of teaching in Australia, although he said in 2013 that he did not consider himself Australian because "both his understanding of Australia and the understanding of Australians about him had been superficial".
The annual Wang Gungwu Lecture was established by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The lecture series celebrates "the substantial and longstanding contributions of Chinese Australians to Australia's national story". The inaugural lecture was held in June 2022 at ABC Studios, delivered by renowned paediatrician 1996 Australian of the Year and designated National Living Treasure, John Yu. Others who have delivered the lecture include:
He also addresses the topic of US-China Relations during China's century of humiliation in a 2021 MOOC entitled US-China Relations: Past, Present and Future., 17 June 2021. "An excerpt from Wang Gungwu's interview with Kishore Mahbubani in US-China Relations: Past, Present and Future, a MOOC on the edX platform. In this excerpt, Wang Gungwu talks about the role that America played during China’s Century of Humiliation from 1842-1949." Published by the Asian Peace Programme.
Career
Wang taught at the University of Malaya as a lecturer in history, first in Singapore and then at the Kuala Lumpur campus from 1959. He was appointed dean of the Arts Faculty in 1962, but in 1963 but stepped down to instead become head of the history department, a position he held until 1968. He was one of the youngest ever professors ever appointed at the university.
Writing
Wang has written extensively in the history of China and Southeast Asia, and has also studied and written about the Chinese diaspora. He has objected to the use of the word diaspora to describe the emigration of Chinese from China because both it mistakenly implies that all overseas Chinese are the same and has been used to perpetuate fears of a "Sinophobia", under the control of the Chinese government.
Other activities
Wang helped with the founding of the Malaysian political party Gerakan, but he was not personally directly involved in the party's activities. He later said that he was not interested in a political career, but helped his friend and co-founder of the party, Tan Chee Khoon, to help draft the party's constitution.
Recognition and awards
According to ISEAS, Wang "is considered a pioneer in overseas Chinese studies and a prominent historian of China". He is a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Personal life
Wang married Margaret Lim Ping Ting in 1955, and they had three children. She was co-writer of his memoir Home Is Where We Are (2020), but predeceased him.
Legacy
In 2010, Wang gave his collection of Southeast Asian books and private archives to ISEAS, as well as donating $150,000 to NUS to set up an academic award which bearing his name.
In film
Wang discussed the demise of the Qing dynasty in the 2011 film China's Century of Humiliation, directed by Mitch Anderson.
Selected bibliography
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1930 Births, Living People, 20th-century Australian Writers, 20th-century Singaporean Writers, 21st-century Australian Writers, 21st-century Singaporean Writers, Academic Staff Of The National University Of Singapore, Alumni Of Soas University Of London, Articles Containing Video Clips, Australian People Of Chinese Descent, Australian People Of Indonesian Descent, Australian Sinologists, Commanders Of The Order Of The British Empire, Fellows Of The Australian Academy Of The Humanities, Historians Of China, Indonesian Emigrants To Singapore, Indonesian People Of Chinese Descent, Indonesian Sinologists, Malaysian Political Party Founders, Members Of Academia Sinica, Members Of The Executive Council Of Hong Kong, Naturalised Citizens Of Australia, Officers Of The Order Of Australia, People From Surabaya, Recipients Of The Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang, Singaporean Emigrants To Australia, Singaporean People Of Chinese Descent, Singaporean Sinologists, Vice-chancellors Of The University Of Hong Kong
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