Hsia Chih-tsing

Hsia Chih-tsing (also C. T. Hsia; February 18, 1921 – December 29, 2013) was a renowned Chinese literary critic and scholar. He was born in Pudong, Shanghai. Hsia graduated from the now-defunct University of Shanghai. In September 1946, he followed his brother to Peking University to accept the position of teaching assistant. During this time period, he continued to study Western literature. An outstanding thesis on William Blake won him a scholarship to attend Yale University. He moved to the United States in 1947, and was awarded a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1951. Hsia then went on to teach at the Huston-Tillotson College, Austin, Texas, 1956–57, the State University of New York, Potsdam, New York 1957-61, and the University of Pittsburgh 1961-62. At Columbia University, he was a professor of Chinese Literature until his retirement in 1991, and thereafter a Professor Emeritus of Chinese.

A History of Modern Chinese Fiction

Chih-tsing's ground-breaking seminal work, A History of Modern Chinese Fiction, (Yale University Press, 1961), is credited with introducing the West to the literary movements of mainland China of the 1930s and 1940s . Due to the Cold War, there was very little information about Chinese literature at that time. Hsia was thus considered a pioneer in this aspect, and his work remains one of the major textbooks for the study of modern Chinese literature.

In A History Of Modern Chinese Fiction Hsia praised the works of several lesser-known Chinese writers of that time. These included Qian Zhongshu, Eileen Chang and Shen Congwen. Hsia's work drew attention to these writers, thus enabling their works to become more widely recognized.

Although A History Of Modern Chinese Fiction has been widely recognized and praised, it has also provoked some criticism. For example, the Czech critic Jaroslav Prusek denounced Hsia's research and writing as "unscientific" due to Hsia's unfavorable review of the renowned Lu Xun in A History Of Modern Chinese Fiction.

Characteristics of Hsia's Criticism

The introduction to the third edition of Hsia's A History of Modern Chinese Fiction by David Der-Wei Wang^[1] offers several suggestions for interpreting Hsia's approach to literary criticism. In the case of A History of Modern Chinese Fiction, Wang argues that this voluminous work remains relevant although it is much less theory-laden than its counterparts for Western literary texts.^[2] Wang observes that Hsia's literary history was controversial in Mainland China due to its perceived hostility to leftist literature.^[3] Nevertheless, Hsia's work, according to Wang, avoids being "reflectionist" or "moralist."^[4]

Later years

In 2006, Hsia was inducted into the Academia Sinica at the age of 85, rendering him the oldest person ever to receive this appointment. Hsia joked about this experience, saying that he felt like "a new bride".^[5][6]

Hsia died in New York City on December 29, 2013 at the age of 92.^[7][8]

A funeral service for him took place on Jan. 18, 2014.^[9][10]

References