Jonathan D. Spence

Jonathan D. Spence
CMG
Jonathan D. Spence CMG
Born	11 August 1936; Surrey, England
Died	25 December 2021 (aged 85); West Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Nationality	British and American
Education	Clare College, Cambridge (MA); Yale University (PhD)
Spouse	Annping Chin
	Scientific career
Fields	Chinese history
Institutions	Yale University
Doctoral advisor	Mary C. Wright
Other academic advisors	Fang Chao-ying (房兆楹)
Doctoral students	Sherman Cochran, Robert Oxnam Pamela Kyle Crossley, Kenneth Pomeranz, Joanna Waley-Cohen Mark C. Elliott
	Jonathan Spence's voice Recorded June 2008 from the BBC Radio 4 programme the Reith Lectures
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	史景遷
Simplified Chinese	史景迁
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Shǐ Jǐngqiān

Jonathan Dermot Spence CMG (11 August 1936 – 25 December 2021) was a British-American historian, sinologist, and author who specialised in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most widely read book is The Search for Modern China, a survey of the last several hundred years of Chinese history based on his popular course at Yale. A prolific author, reviewer, and essayist, he published more than a dozen books on China. Spence's major interest was modern China, especially the Qing dynasty, and relations between China and the West.^[4] Spence frequently used biographies to examine cultural and political history. Another common theme is the efforts of both Westerners and Chinese "to change China",^[5] and how such efforts were frustrated.^[4]

^ Jonathan D. Spence, Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-Hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966), p. xv. [1]
^ ^a ^b Kapp, Robert A. (1 July 2009). "History, Generations, and China Stories". The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012. DigitalCommons @ University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022. Happily, several of Spence's Ph.D. students decided to throw their efforts into a conference and celebration in his honor, on the Yale Campus, in early May.... Four attendees in particular – Robert Oxnam, Roger DesForges, Sherman Cochran, and I – represented the original tranche of doctoral candidates who finished their degrees under Jonathan's benign and helpful guidance...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ Center_on_U.S._China_Relations (2022).
^ ^a ^b Roberts, Priscilla "Spence, Jonathan D." pages 1136–1137 from The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing edited by Kelly Boyd, Volume 2, London:Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999 page 1136.
^ Jonathan D. Spence To Change China; Western Advisers in China, 1620–1960. Boston: Little Brown, 1969

[1] Jonathan D. Spence, Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-Hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966), p. xv. [1]

[RAKapp2009-2] Kapp, Robert A. (1 July 2009). "History, Generations, and China Stories". The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012. DigitalCommons @ University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022. Happily, several of Spence's Ph.D. students decided to throw their efforts into a conference and celebration in his honor, on the Yale Campus, in early May.... Four attendees in particular – Robert Oxnam, Roger DesForges, Sherman Cochran, and I – represented the original tranche of doctoral candidates who finished their degrees under Jonathan's benign and helpful guidance...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[FOOTNOTECenter_on_U.S._China_Relations2022-3] Center_on_U.S._China_Relations (2022).

[Roberts-4] Roberts, Priscilla "Spence, Jonathan D." pages 1136–1137 from The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing edited by Kelly Boyd, Volume 2, London:Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999 page 1136.

[5] Jonathan D. Spence To Change China; Western Advisers in China, 1620–1960. Boston: Little Brown, 1969

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