Liu Wendian
Liu Wendian was a Chinese philologist and educator.
Life and work
Liu Wendian was born in Hefei, Anhui, with family origins from Huaining, Anhui. Like Liu Shipei and Zhang Taiyan, he followed Sun Yat-sen and participated in the Second Revolution. On Chen Duxiu's recommendation, he became a professor of Chinese culture at Peking University in 1917. In 1927, he led the founding of Anhui University. Later, he taught at Tsinghua University, the National Southwestern Associated University, and Yunnan University. After the Liberation, he became a national-level professor and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.Liu Wendian made significant contributions to the study of several early Chinese texts, especially the Zhuangzi and the Huainanzi. His Zhuangzi buzheng 庄子补正 / 莊子補正, for example, served as the basis for Burton Watson's translation.
During his presidency at Anhui University, he once referred to Chiang Kai-shek as a "new warlord".