Yang Shoujing
Yang Shoujing | |||||||||
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楊守敬 | |||||||||
Yang Shoujing at age 75 | |||||||||
| Born | June 2, 1839 | ||||||||
| Died | January 9, 1915 (aged 75) | ||||||||
| Occupations | Antiquarian, bibliophile, calligrapher, diplomat, geographer, and historian | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 楊守敬 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杨守敬 | ||||||||
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| Yang Kaike | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 楊開科 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杨开科 | ||||||||
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| Yang Kai | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 楊凱 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 杨凯 | ||||||||
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| Xingwu | |||||||||
| Chinese | 惺吾 | ||||||||
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| Lingsu Laoren | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄰蘇老人 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 邻苏老人 | ||||||||
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Yang Shoujing (Chinese: 楊守敬; pinyin: Yáng Shǒujìng; Wade–Giles: Yang Shou-ching; 1839 – 9 January 1915) was a Chinese antiquarian, bibliophile, calligrapher, diplomat, geographer, and historian. He is best known for the historical atlas Lidai yudi tu, commonly called the Yangtu ("Yang's atlas"), the most complete and scholarly historical atlas of China produced during the Qing dynasty. He devoted most of his life to the annotation of the 6th-century geographic work Shui jing zhu, which was completed by his disciple Xiong Huizhen and published as the Shui jing zhu shu.
As a Qing diplomat posted in Japan, Yang purchased tens of thousands of ancient Chinese books from Japanese libraries and archives, many of which had become rare or lost in China. After his death, the government of the Republic of China purchased his collection and preserved most of the books in the National Palace Museum.
Yang was an accomplished calligrapher of the Stele School and became highly influential in Japan. The introduction of his art was said to have "offered virtually an unprecedented aesthetic style" to Japan and "revolutionized" Japanese calligraphy. Yang's former residence and tomb in Yidu, Hubei are now protected as a Major National Historical and Cultural Site of China.