David S. Nivison

David Shepherd Nivison (born 1923) is a sinologist in the United States. His Chinese name is Ni Dewei (倪德卫).

Biography

Nivison received his Ph.D. in Chinese from Harvard University. Although less known, his first Chinese teachers were Lien-sheng Yang (楊聯陞) and Hong Ye (洪業). Nivison learnt most of the subjects from them during his days at Harvard. He was originally a professor of Chinese at Stanford University, and later held a joint appointment at Stanford in three departments: Philosophy, Religious Studies and Chinese and Japanese. He is currently a professor emeritus at Stanford.

In the field of philosophy, his major contribution is the application of the techniques of analytic philosophy to the study of Chinese thought. In Sinology, one of his most important contributions has been the effort to precisely date the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, based on archaeoastronomy. The traditional date was 1122 B.C., but Nivison initially argued that the likely date was 1045, and then later suggested that it was 1040 B.C.

Major works

• 竹書紀年解謎 Chu shu chi nien jie mi - The Riddle of the Bamboo Annals, Taipei: Airiti Press, 2009. ISBN 978-9-86-85182-1-6, for the content Click Sanmin.com.tw, Airiti Press, Amazon or ebook, a Summary from Nivison here.
• Key to the Chronology of the Three Dynasties: The "Modern Text" Bamboo Annals, Philadelphia: Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 1999. ASIN B0006R6NXK
• The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Bryan W. Van Norden, ed. Chicago: Open Court Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8126-9340-X
• The Life and Thought of Chang Hsüeh-ch'eng. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966.

References

• Chinese Language, Thought and Culture: Nivison and His Critics. Philip J. Ivanhoe, ed. Chicago: Open Court Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8126-9318-3.

See also

• Chang Hsüeh-ch'eng