Tsiang Tingfu 蔣廷黻 | |
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 Tsiang Tingfu as pictured inThe Most Recent Biographies of Chinese Dignitaries | |
| Ambassador of the Republic of China to the United States | |
| In office 18 November 1961 – 29 May 1965 | |
| Preceded by | George Yeh |
| Succeeded by | Chow Shu-Kai [zh] |
| Permanent Representative of the Republic of China to the United Nations | |
| In office 13 November 1947 – 29 July 1962 | |
| Preceded by | Guo Taiqi |
| Succeeded by | Liu Chieh |
| Ambassador of the Republic of China to the Soviet Union | |
| In office 26 August 1936 – 1 January 1938 | |
| Preceded by | Wu Nanru [zh] (Chargé d'affaires ad interim) |
| Succeeded by | Yu Ming |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1895-12-07)7 December 1895 |
| Died | 9 October 1965(1965-10-09) (aged 69) |
| Nationality | Republic of China |
| Education | Oberlin College (BA) Columbia University (PhD) |
| Known for | Qing, Modern Chinese history |
| Tsiang Tingfu | |||||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 蔣廷黻 | ||||||||||||||
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Tsiang Tingfu (Chinese:蔣廷黻;pinyin:Jiǎng Tíngfú; 17 February 1895 – 9 October 1965), was ahistorian anddiplomat of theRepublic of China who published in English under the nameT.F. Tsiang.
Tsiang was born inShaoyang,Hunan. Tsiang's education from his teenage years had been Western and largely Christian, and he converted to Christianity at 11. Having been urged to study in the US by his teacher from a missionary school, he was sent in 1911 to study in the United States, where he attended the Park Academy,Oberlin College andColumbia University. His dissertation, "Labor and Empire: A Study of the Reaction of British Labor, Mainly as Represented in Parliament, to British Imperialism Since 1880," led him into issues in the relation of foreign relations and domestic politics, which would structure his scholarship after he returned to China. After obtaining a Ph.D., he returned to China in 1923, where he took up a position atNankai University and then atTsinghua University.[1]
At Tsinghua, Tsiang became the head of the History Department, where he edited and published a number of works on Chinese history and edited the English-language journalChinese Social and Political Science Review. Using newly openedQing dynasty archives and diplomatic publications, Tsiang argued that China should adopt Western approaches if it wanted to score diplomatic victories. Tsiang blamed China's unequal treatment by Western powers after theFirst Opium War (1839–42) on Chinese unequal treatment of Western powers before the war. During his tenure at Tsinghua, he mentored a number of historians in the study ofQing history, includingJohn K. Fairbank.[2]
Following mounting tensions in China's relations withimperial Japan, Tsiang left academia in 1935 and joined theChinese Nationalist government, which he served in many different capacities throughout theSino-Japanese War. Between 1947 and 1962, Tsiang served as thePermanent Representative of China to the United Nations.[3] Following the establishment of thePeople's Republic of China on the Chinese mainland, Tsiang defended the exclusive right of theTaipei-basedRepublic of China to representChina in the United Nations and in theUN Security Council. In 1955 Tsingfu made use of China'sveto power in the security council and placed the sole vote againstPeople's Republic of Mongolia joining the UN, following which Mongolia did not become a member of the UN.[3] It would be the only time, the ROC made use of its veto power.[3] He also served as the ambassador of China to the United States. He died of cancer inNew York City on 9 October 1965, at 69.[4]
In 1938, Tsiang advocated for centralized authority which should override popular will when necessary.[5] He argued that China had to modernize quickly given the multiple threats it faced.[5] To Tsiang, the "iron rule of modern history" was that countries which used modernization to preserve national territory survived, while countries that did not were exterminated.[5] In his view, natural science and mechanized agriculture were the essential elements of modernization.[5] He wrote that such a focus for modernization was supported by the "left-wing, right-wing, imperialist, anti-imperialist, man, woman, white, yellow, old, young."[5]
During theSecond Sino-Japanese War, Tsiang advocated that China develop a "total defense state" along the lines of what Japan itself had.[6] Tsiang viewed such a commitment as a necessity of the historical era, not solely one required by the current war.[6] Consistent with the general views of the Nationalist Party, Tsiang believed that the war should be used to create a state based on principles of order rather than political liberties.[7]
After spending time in the United States under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt'sNew Deal, Tingfu's views on political freedom and modernization changed.[7]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Permanent Representative and Ambassador of China to the United Nations 1947–1962 | Succeeded by |
 Republic of China(1946–1971) |  | |
|---|---|---|
 People's Republic of China(1971–present) | ||
