Peng Chun Chang | |
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張彭春 | |
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| Born | (1892-04-22)April 22, 1892[1] Tianjin, China |
| Died | July 19, 1957(1957-07-19) (aged 65) Nutley, New Jersey, United States[1] |
| Other names | P. C. Chang |
| Education | Clark University (BA) Columbia University (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | academic,philosopher,playwright, activist, and diplomat |
Peng Chun Chang, commonly known asP. C. Chang (simplified Chinese:张彭春;traditional Chinese:張彭春;pinyin:Zhāng Péngchūn;Wade–Giles:Chang1 P'eng2-ch'un1; 1892–1957), was aChinese academic,philosopher,playwright, human rights activist, and diplomat. He was born inTianjin, China, and died at his home inNutley, New Jersey.[2]
Born inTianjin, China in April 1892, he was the younger brother ofChang Po-ling, the founder ofNankai University. Peng Chun earned his Bachelor of Arts atClark University,Worcester, Massachusetts in 1913, and a PhD fromColumbia University, where he studied with the eminent philosopher and educator,John Dewey.[3] During his time as a student, Chang studied literature and theater. He produced multiple plays, including the original version ofHua Mulan. After graduating, he returned to China and became a professor teaching and performing theater atNankai University inTianjin, where he also taught philosophy and became a notable scholar of Chinese traditional drama. Many of his students became famous playwrights.[4][1] He became a member of the circle ofMei Lanfang, foremost interpreter ofPeking Opera.[5] In 1930, he directed a tour of Chinese Classical Theater to North America, and in 1935 to the Soviet Union.[6]
After the invasion of China byJapan in 1937, Chang joined the anti-Japanese resistance at Nankai. When the Japanese arrived there, he fled by disguising himself as a woman. He was engaged by the Chinese government to assist in promoting awareness in Europe and America of theNanking Massacre.[5] Chang later taught at theUniversity of Chicago.
Chang became a full-time diplomat in 1942, serving as China's representative inTurkey. He was an enthusiastic promoter of Chinese culture. While in Turkey he delivered lectures on the reciprocal influences and commonalities between the Islamic and Chinese cultures, and on the relationship betweenConfucianism andIslam.[5] Following the war, Chang was a Chinese representative to the conference which produced theUniversal Declaration on Human Rights. Chang resigned from the UN in 1952 because of a worsening heart condition and died in 1957.[7]
Chang has been described as arenaissance man. He was a playwright, musician, diplomat; a lover of traditional Chinese literature and music and someone who knew bothWestern andIslamic culture. His philosophy was strongly based on the teachings ofConfucius.[8] At the first meeting ofUnited Nations Economic and Social Council he quotedMencius stating that ECOSOC's highest aim should be to "nourish people with goodness" so that the world can be subdued.[9] He also argued that many influential western thinkers on rights were guided by Chinese ideas. "In the 18th century, when progressive ideas with respect to human rights had been first put forward in Europe, translations of Chinese philosophers had been known to, and had inspired, such thinkers as Voltaire, Quesnay and Diderot in their humanistic revolt against feudalism," he told theUN General Assembly in 1948.[10]
On the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafting committee, he served both as an effective Asian delegate and also as a mediator when the negotiations reached a stalemate. He served as Vice-Chairman of the originalUNCommission on Human Rights, meaning he was next in position to the chairmanEleanor Roosevelt, and was also theRepublic of China delegate to its committee, playing a pivotal role in the drafting of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.[11]
Fellow delegateCharles Malik, theLebanese philosopher-diplomat, who was the rapporteur compared to Vice-Chairman Chang, did not share the same ideals of universal human rights, which to him was more Western than universal, and instead he heatedly debated what they were and how they could be described in an international document. Another member of the committee confided to his diary that Chang and Malik "hate[d] each other."[12] Yet by most accounts, Chang and Malik were the philosophical leaders of the deliberations. Malik argued for conservative Christian views, while Chang argued that the modern world should pay heed to international views, and frequently brought up Chinese philosophers such asMencius not because they were Chinese, but because their ideas had universal validity.[13] In a speech, Malik stated that there were too many people to thank, but singled out Chang, who was considered a renaissance man for his work in directing plays, diplomacy, philosophy, and other intellectual pursuits, and acknowledged Chang's ideas as the philosophical backbone of the declaration.[14][15]
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