C. Martin Wilbur
Encyclopedia
C. Martin Wilbur was the George Sansom Professor of Chinese History at Columbia University
from 1947 to 1976.
, Wilbur went at an early age with his parents to China, where they worked with the YMCA
. He returned to Ohio for college, graduating from Oberlin College
in 1931. His first job after receiving his PhD from Columbia University
in 1941 was with the Field Museum, in Chicago, where he prepared for publication a study of plant migration left by Berthold Laufer
after his death and developed a monograph on slavery in the Han Dynasty
.
After moving to Columbia University in 1947, he was instrumental in turning the graduate program into one of the nation's leading programs and supervised many influential graduate students. His focus of research was Republican China, especially the career of Sun Yatsen and the rise of the Nationalist Party
. He was also a central figure in organizing the Columbia Oral History Project. Upon his retirement in 1976, his students presented him with Perspectives on a Changing China: Essays in Honor of Professor C. Martin Wilbur on the Occasion of His Retirement ed. by Joshua Fogel and William Rowe, Westview Press (1979) ISBN 0891580913
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
from 1947 to 1976.
Life
Born in Dayton, OhioDayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, Wilbur went at an early age with his parents to China, where they worked with the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
. He returned to Ohio for college, graduating from Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
in 1931. His first job after receiving his PhD from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1941 was with the Field Museum, in Chicago, where he prepared for publication a study of plant migration left by Berthold Laufer
Berthold Laufer
Berthold Laufer was a German-American anthropologist and orientalist.Laufer was born in Cologne to a Jewish family. He attended the Friedrich Wilhelms Gymnasium from 1884-1893. He continued his studies in Berlin and completed his doctorate degree at the University of Leipzig in 1897...
after his death and developed a monograph on slavery in the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
.
After moving to Columbia University in 1947, he was instrumental in turning the graduate program into one of the nation's leading programs and supervised many influential graduate students. His focus of research was Republican China, especially the career of Sun Yatsen and the rise of the Nationalist Party
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
. He was also a central figure in organizing the Columbia Oral History Project. Upon his retirement in 1976, his students presented him with Perspectives on a Changing China: Essays in Honor of Professor C. Martin Wilbur on the Occasion of His Retirement ed. by Joshua Fogel and William Rowe, Westview Press (1979) ISBN 0891580913
Major publications
- Berthold Laufer, C. Martin Wilbur, The American Plant Migration (Chicago, 1938. Anthropological Series. Field Museum of Natural History, V. 28, No. 1 Publication 418). ISBN 39005394 .
- C. Martin Wilbur, Slavery in China During the Former Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.-A.D. 25 ([Chicago,, 1943. Field Museum of Natural History. Publication, 525). 490p. ISBN 43006393; reprinted, New York: Russell & Russell, 1967 ISBN 66027181 .
- C. Martin Wilbur, Sun Yat-Sen, Frustrated Patriot, Columbia University Press (1976) ISBN 0231040369.
- C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984). ISBN 84009588. First published 1983 as chapter 11 of John K. Fairbank, ed., The Cambridge History of China, volume 12.
- C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927, Harvard University Press (1989) ISBN 0674576527
- China in My Life: An Historian's Own History, (edited by Anita M. O'Brien) M.E. Sharpe (1996) ISBN 1563247631