Fu Ssu-nien

Fu Ssu-nien (; 26 March 1896 – 20 December 1950) was a Chinese historian, linguist, and writer. He was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. He was also one of the creators of the Academia Sinica, and was named director of the Institute of History and Philology upon its founding in 1928.

Early years Fu was born on 26 March 1896 in Shandong, immediately after the First Sino-Japanese War,

In 1916, Fu went on to the Chinese Department of Peking University to pursue his bachelor's degree. During his time at the university, Fu gradually changed from a conservative to a radical.

In 1920, Fu went to Europe to continue his education. His first stop was University of Edinburgh, but then went on to University College London. Fu registered in the department of Psychology and took most courses at undergraduate level.

In December 1950, Fu died in the Taiwan Representative Council at the age of 55 due to hypertension.

Legacy

The Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan was named in his honor.

Fu was known for saying, "There are only 21 hours available per day because the remaining three hours are reserved for self-reflection."

Scholar Hu Shih said that Fu Ssu-nien is one of the best educators and charismatic leaders of his time.

Selected articles written by Fu 《歷史語言研究所工作之旨趣》(The Life of Working in the Institute of History and Philology) (1928) 《周頌說》(Zhou Song)(1928) 《大東小東說》(The Story of Da Dong and Xiao Dong) (1930) 《論所謂「五等爵」》(Discussion of the Social Stratification) (1930) 《姜原》(Jiang Yuan) (1930) 《明清史料發刊例言》(The History of Ming and Qing Dynasty) (1930) 《夷夏東西說》(East Yi West Xia) (1933) 《周東封與殷遺民》(Zhou-Dongfeng and Yin-Yimin) (1934) 《自由與平等》(Freedom and Equality) (between 1948 and 1950) 《蘇聯究竟是一個什麼國家？》(What is the Soviet Union really like?) (between 1948 and 1950) 《我們為什麼要反共？》(Why Are We Anti-communist?) (between 1948 and 1950) 《共產黨的吸引力》(The Attraction of the Communist Party) (between 1948 and 1950)