Jonathan D. Spence Explained

Jonathan D. Spence should not be confused with Jonathan Spencer.

Birth Date:	11 August 1936
Birth Place:	Surrey, England
Death Place:	West Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Nationality:	British and American
Fields:	Chinese history
Workplaces:	Yale University
Education:	Clare College, Cambridge (MA) Yale University (PhD)
Doctoral Advisor:	Mary C. Wright
Academic Advisors:	Fang Chao-ying (Chinese: 房兆楹)^[1]
Doctoral Students:	Sherman Cochran,^[2] Robert Oxnam Pamela Kyle Crossley, Kenneth Pomeranz, Joanna Waley-Cohen Mark C. Elliott
Spouse:	Annping Chin
Module:	Child: yes S: 史景迁 T: 史景遷 P: Shǐ Jǐngqiān

Jonathan Dermot Spence (11 August 1936 – 25 December 2021) was a British-American historian, sinologist, and author specialised in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most widely read book is The Search for Modern China, a survey of the last several hundred years of Chinese history based on his popular course at Yale. A prolific author, reviewer, and essayist, he published over a dozen books on China. Spence's major interest was modern China, especially the Qing dynasty, and relations between China and the West.^[3] Spence frequently used biographies to examine cultural and political history. Another common theme is the efforts of both Westerners and Chinese "to change China",^[4] and how such efforts were frustrated.^[3]

Early life and education

Spence was born on 11 August 1936 to Muriel (Crailsham) and Dermot Spence in Surrey in England. His mother was a French researcher while his father worked at an art gallery and a publishing house.

Spence was educated at Winchester College until 1954. He then spent two years in the British Army and was deployed to Germany. He read history at Clare College, Cambridge and received his bachelor's degree in 1959.^[5] While at Cambridge he was the editor of the campus magazine and was also the co-editor of British literary magazine Granta.^[5] He went to Yale University on a Clare-Mellon Fellowship to study the history and culture of China, receiving an MA and then a PhD in 1965, when he won the John Addison Porter Prize. As part of his graduate training, he spent a year in Australia to study under Fang Chao-ying and Tu Lien-che, scholars of the Qing dynasty.^[6]

Academic career

Spence taught a popular undergraduate course at Yale University on the history of modern China, which formed the basis for his book The Search for Modern China (1990).^[7] He taught at Yale for more than 40 years. During this time he wrote many books on China that furthered the understanding of the country and its culture with Western audiences. Some of his books during this period included The Search for Modern China (1990), which was published on the back of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, and God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan (1996).

Spence was president of the American Historical Association between 2004 and 2005. While his primary focus was on Qing dynasty China, he also wrote a biography of Mao Zedong^[8] and The Gate of Heavenly Peace, a study of twentieth-century intellectuals and their relation to revolution.^{[9] [10]} He retired from Yale in 2008.^[11]

His book The Search for Modern China was a New York Times best seller and documented the evolution of China starting from the decline of the Ming dynasty in the early 1600s to the pro-democracy movement of 1989, while his book Treason by the Book (2001) documented the story of a scholar who took on the third Manchu Emperor in the 1700s.

Honors

Spence received eight honorary degrees in the United States as well as from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and (in 2003) from Oxford University. He was invited to become a visiting professor at Peking University^[12] and an honorary professor at Nanjing University.^[6] He was named Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 2001,^[13] and in 2006, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.^[14]

He received the William C. DeVane Medal of the Yale Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (1952); a Guggenheim Fellowship (1979); the Los Angeles Times History Prize (1982), and the Vursel Prize of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1983). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985), named a MacArthur Fellow (1988), appointed to the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress (1988), elected a member of the American Philosophical Society (1993), and named a corresponding fellow of the British Academy (1997).^[6]

In May and June 2008, he gave the 60th anniversary Reith Lectures, which were broadcast on BBC Radio 4.^{[15] [16]}

In 2010, Spence was appointed to deliver the annual Jefferson Lecture at the Library of Congress, the US federal government's highest honour for achievement in the humanities.^[17]

Personal life

Spence's name in Chinese, Chinese: 史景遷 (pinyin: Shǐ Jǐngqiān), was given to him by Fang Chao-ying to reflect his love of history and admiration for the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian. He chose the surname 史 (Shǐ; literally "history") and personal name Chinese: 景遷 (Jǐngqiān), where Chinese: 景 (jǐng) means admire (as in Chinese: [[wikt:景仰|景仰]]) and Chinese: 遷 (qiān) was taken from the personal name of Sima Qian (Chinese: 司馬遷).^{[18] [19]} Spence became a U.S. citizen in 2000.^[20]

Spence's wife Annping Chin was a senior lecturer in history at Yale with a PhD in Chinese thought from Columbia.^[21] He had two sons from a previous marriage (1962–1993) to Helen Alexander, Colin and Ian Spence, two stepchildren, Yar Woo and Mei Chin, a grandchild as well as two step-grandchildren. Spence died from complications of Parkinson's disease on 25 December 2021, at the age of 85 at his residence in West Haven, Connecticut.^{[22] [23]}

Bibliography

Books

• The Search for Modern China (1990; 2nd edition, 1999; 3rd edition 2013)^{[7] [24]}
• Tsʻao Yin and the Kʻang-hsi Emperor: bondservant and master (1966)^[25]
• To Change China: Western Advisers in China, 1620–1960 (Boston, Little Brown, 1969).^[26]
• Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi (1974)^[27]
• The Death of Woman Wang (1978). Story situated in 17th century Tancheng. ^[28]
• The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (1984)^[29]
• The Question of Hu (New York: Knopf, 1987). Biography of John Hu 胡若望, 18th-century Chinese who went to France with Jean-François Foucquet.^[30]
• Chinese Roundabout: Essays on History and Culture^[31]
• The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution 1895–1980 (1982)^[32]
• The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds^[33]
• God's Chinese Son (New York: Norton, 1996). Biography of Hong Xiuquan, leader of Taiping Rebellion.^[34]
• Book: Mao Zedong . Penguin Lives . 1999 . . New York . 978-0-670-88669-2 . 41641238 . registration.
  • News: John F. Burns . February 6, 2000 . Methods of the Great Leader . The New York Times. ^[35]
• Treason by the Book (2001) ^{[36] [37]}
• Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man (2007) Viking, 332 pages.

Book reviews

• "The Dream of Catholic China" The New York Review of Books 54/11 (28 June 2007) : 22–24 [reviews Liam Matthew Brockey, ''Journey to the East: the Jesuit Mission to China, 1579–1724'']^[38]

References

Sources

• Web site: Center on U.S. China Relations . Remembering Jonathan Spence . China File . Asia Society . 2 March 2022 . .
• Lu . Hanchao . [ftp://121.17.126.74/data1/ts01/english/novel/batch001/201005112059351417.pdf The Art of History: A Conversation with Jonathan Spence ]. The Chinese Historical Review . 11 . 2 . 133–154 . 2004 . 10.1080/1547402X.2004.11827201 . 151855607 . none .
• Bruce Mazlish, "The Question of the Question of Hu", History and Theory 11 (1992): 141–152
• Mirsky, Jonathan. Review of Chinese Roundabout The New York Review of Books, Volume 39, Issue No. 17 (5 November 1992): 51–55.
• Nathan, Andrew J. "A Culture of Cruelty: Review of The Search for Modern China" pages 30–34 from The New Republic, Volume 203 (30 July 1990): 50–54.
• Roberts, Priscilla. "Spence, Jonathan D.", The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing edited by Kelly Boyd, Volume 2, (London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999.): 1136–1137.

External links

• Spence archive from The New York Review of Books

Notes and References

1. Jonathan D. Spence, Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-Hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966), p. xv. https://books.google.com/books?id=rXiSxh1oGe0C&q=Fang+Chao-ying
2. Web site: Kapp . Robert A. . History, Generations, and China Stories . The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012 . 1 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220819195932/http://thechinabeat.org/ . 19 August 2022 . DigitalCommons @ University of Nebraska – Lincoln . 1 July 2009 . Happily, several of Spence's Ph.D. students decided to throw their efforts into a conference and celebration in his honor, on the Yale Campus, in early May.... Four attendees in particular – Robert Oxnam, Roger DesForges, Sherman Cochran, and I – represented the original tranche of doctoral candidates who finished their degrees under Jonathan's benign and helpful guidance... . bot: unknown .
3. Roberts, Priscilla "Spence, Jonathan D." pages 1136–1137 from The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing edited by Kelly Boyd, Volume 2, London:Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999 page 1136.
4. Jonathan D. Spence To Change China; Western Advisers in China, 1620–1960. Boston: Little Brown, 1969
5. News: Genzlinger. Neil. 27 December 2021. Jonathan Spence, Noted China Scholar, Dies at 85. en-US. The New York Times. 1 January 2022. 0362-4331.
6. Frederic E. Wakeman Jr., Jonathan D. Spence at American Historical Association website (retrieved 10 March 2010).
7. News: Schwarcz. Vera. Bruckner. D.J.R.. 13 May 1990. CHINA: THE HARD ROAD TO NOW. The New York Times. 1 January 2022.
8. Book: Spence . Jonathan D. . Mao Zedong . 1999 . Viking . 978-0-670-88669-2 . en.
9. Web site: Lattimore . David . The Long Revolution . . 28 December 2021 . 18 October 1981.
10. Pye . Lucian W. . The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and their Revolution, 1895–1980. By Jonathan D. Spence. [New York: The Viking Press1981. 465 pp. $19.95; London: Faber, 1982. £11·50.] ]. The China Quarterly . June 1982 . 90 . 302–304 . 10.1017/S0305741000000382 . 154391752 . 28 December 2021 . en . 1468-2648.
11. News: Italie . Hillel . Jonathan D. Spence, popular China scholar, dead at age 85 . 28 December 2021 . AP NEWS . 27 December 2021 . en.
12. Web site: Remembering Jonathan D. Spence . newsen.pku.edu.cn . Peking University . 1 January 2022 . 29 December 2021.
13. Web site: Queen's Birthday Honors List Distinguishes Yale Professor Jonathan Spence . YaleNews . Yale University . 1 January 2022 . en . 20 June 2001.
14. Web site: Professor Jonathan Spence . www.clare.cam.ac.uk . Clare College, Cambridge . 28 December 2021.
15. Earnshaw . Graham. Reith Lecture: English Lessons. The China Beat . 2008 . none.
16. Hayford . Charles W. . Jonathan Spence's Third Reith Lecture: Dreams, Paradoxes, and the Uses of History . The China Beat . 2008 . none.
17. Jill Laster, "Eminent China Scholar Will Deliver 2010 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities", Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 March 2010.
18. Book: Spence, Johnathan D.. 天安门：知识分子与中国革命. 1998. 中央编译出版社. Beijing. 1.
19. News: 藍孝威 . 李欣恬 . 美着名汉学家史景迁逝世 享寿85岁 - 两岸要闻 . 1 January 2022 . . 28 December 2021 . zh-Hant-TW . 史景遷的博士論文指導教授、中國史專家房兆楹為他取的中文名字「史景遷」，寓意「學史者當景仰司馬遷」。.
20. [David Skinner (journalist)|Skinner, David]
21. Web site: Annping Chin, Senior Lecturer Emeritus . history.yale.edu . Department of History, Yale University . 28 December 2021 . en.
22. News: Genzlinger. Neil. 27 December 2021. Jonathan Spence, Noted China Scholar, Dies at 85. en-US. The New York Times. 28 December 2021. 0362-4331.
23. News: Hua . Sha . China Scholar Jonathan Spence Dies at Age 85 . 28 December 2021 . Wall Street Journal . 28 December 2021.
24. Book: Spence . Jonathan D. . The Search for Modern China . 2013 . Wiley . New York . 978-0-393-93451-9 . Third . en-au.
25. Book: Tsʻao Yin and the Kʻang-hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master – Jonathan D. Spence – Google Boeken . 15 February 2013. 978-0-300-04277-1 . 1988 . Spence . Jonathan D. . Yale University Press .
26. Goodrich . L. Carrington . To Change China: Western advisers in China 1620–1960. By Spence Jonathan. [Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1969. 335 pp. $7.95.] ]. The China Quarterly . January 1970 . 41 . 146–148 . 10.1017/S0305741000034834 . 153767635 . 1 January 2022 . en . 1468-2648.
27. Book: Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi – Jonathan D. Spence – Google Boeken . 25 July 2012 . 15 February 2013. 978-0-307-82306-9 . Spence . Jonathan D. . Knopf Doubleday Publishing .
28. Book: Spence . Jonathan D. . The Death of Woman Wang . 1979 . Penguin Books . New York . 014005121X.
29. News: Robinson . Paul . Ming Mnemonics . 1 January 2022 . Book Review Desk . The New York Times . 25 November 1984.
30. Web site: The Faith Yes, Europe No : THE QUESTION OF HU by Jonathan D. Spence (Alfred A. Knopf: $18.95;187 pp.; 0-394-57190-8). Los Angeles Times. 20 November 1988.
31. Chinese Roundabout: Essays in History and Culture (Review). 10.1353/cri.1994.0071. 1994. Lee. Lily Xiao Hong. China Review International. 1. 2. 262–266. 144067305 .
32. The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and their Revolution, 1895–1980. By Jonathan D. Spence. [New York: The Viking Press1981. 465 pp. $19.95; London: Faber, 1982. £11·50.]. 10.1017/S0305741000000382. 1982. Pye. Lucian W.. The China Quarterly. 90. 302–304. 154391752.
33. Web site: Nonfiction Book Review: The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds by Jonathan D. Spence, Author W. W. Norton & Company $27.5 (279p) ISBN 978-0-393-02747-1. September 1998.
34. Reviewed work: God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan, Jonathan D. Spence. 20719667. Wu. Qingyun. Utopian Studies. 1997. 8. 1. 234–236.
35. Mao: A Life; Mao Zedong . Foreign Affairs . 28 January 2009. Pyemay/June 2000. Lucian W..
36. Book: Spence . Jonathan D. . Treason by the Book . 2006 . Penguin Books . London . 0-14-102779-7 .
37. News: Bernstein . Richard . BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Envy, Imperialism and Intrigue in 18th-Century China . 1 January 2022 . The New York Times . 9 March 2001.
38. Spence . Jonathan D. . The Dream of Catholic China . The New York Review of Books . 1 January 2022 . en . 28 June 2007.