Cho-yun Hsu


Cho-yun Hsu was a Taiwanese-American historian and sinologist.

Early life and education

Hsu was born in Xiamen, [Republic of Republic of China (1912–1949)|China (1912–1949)|China], in 1930 to a family whose ancestral home was in Wuxi. Fleeing the Chinese Civil War, Hsu moved with his parents to Taiwan during the Great Retreat in 1948. He graduated from National Taiwan University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in history in 1953 and 1956, respectively. In 1957, Hsu migrated to the United States to study for a doctorate at the University of Chicago, where he resided at the Chicago Theological Seminary and earned his Ph.D. in 1962. His dissertation, "Ancient China in Transition," was later published as a book.

Academic career

After receiving his doctorate, Hsu held academic positions in Academia Sinica in Taiwan then moved to University of Pittsburgh in 1970. He was elected as a Member of the Academica Sinica in 1980. In 2024 he received the Tang Prize in the field of Sinology.
Hsu's scholarly works have been largely on Chinese history, emphasizing on cultural history, socio-economic history and ancient Chinese history. He was noted for his utilization of scientific methods and theories from social sciences. His major works include Western Chou Civilization, Ancient China in Transition, and Han Agriculture. His work in Chinese Wangu jianghe, translated into English as China: A New Cultural History, narrates the full course of development of Chinese culture in the perspective of globalization.
Hsu was also known for his advocacy and advisory work during the democratic transition in Taiwan. After earning his doctorate, Hsu returned to start his academic career, fulfilling a promise to his mother, his alma mater National Taiwan University, and the Academia Sinica. While working in Taiwan, Hsu and recruited many humanities and social science scholars to train Taiwanese academics. He was an Emeritus Professor of History and Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh where he taught from 1970 until his retirement in 1998, and served in honorary positions in several universities including Duke University, Nanjing University, and Chinese University of Hong Kong. Hsu was a contributing columnist for Chinese newspapers including China Times, United Daily News in Taiwan and Southern City News System in China．
Hsu was one of the founding members of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and served as chair of its North American Committee beginning in 1989. During the 1990s, he was instrumental in providing funding to a number of universities and colleges to establish teaching positions on Chinese studies. He oversaw a gradual shift in the Foundation's grants from established scholars to young scholars. Hsu recommended CCK Foundation grants to libraries to catalog rare Chinese books and to digitize historic maps of East Asia.

Death

Hsu died 3 August 2025, at the age of 94.

Books

Hsu authored or coauthored numerous publications:
  • Sir Herbert Butterfield, Cho Yun Hsu and William H. McNeill on Chinese and World History, ed. with introd. and three essays by *Noah Edward Fehl
  • Han Agriculture: the Formation of Early Chinese Agrarian Economy, 206 B.C.–A.D. 220, ed. Jack L. Dull
  • Bibliographic Notes on Studies of Early China
  • Western Chou Civilization, co-authored with Katheryn M. Linduff
  • Exploring Interpretation in Chinese History
  • China: A New Cultural History