Yang Kuan

Yang Kuan (1914 − September 1, 2005), styled Kuanzheng (寬正), was a Chinese historian specializing in pre-Qin Dynasty Chinese history. He is considered an authority of the Warring States period, and his History of the Warring States, first published in 1955, remains the most authoritative treatment of the subject. Early life and education Yang Kuan was born in Qingpu County, Jiangsu Province (now Qingpu District of Shanghai) in 1914. He attended the prestigious Suzhou High School, whose teachers included famous scholars Lü Shuxiang and Ch'ien Mu, one of the greatest historians of modern China. After high school Yang attended Kwang Hua University in Shanghai − a predecessor of today's East China Normal University − and graduated in 1936 with a degree in Chinese. At Kwang Hua he also studied history under the prominent historian Lü Simian. Doubting Antiquity School Yang Kuan gained fame at a young age. In 1933, aged 19, he published his first essay Probing the Legend of Pangu. In 1939, just three years after graduating from college, Yang was invited by Gu Jiegang, founder of the Doubting Antiquity School, to contribute to Gu's influential compilation Debates on Ancient History (古史辨). In 1941, Yang's book-size Introduction to China's High Antiquity was published as part of the seventh and last volume of the Debates on Ancient History.