Fan Wenlan's Former Residence

Fan Wenlan (November 15, 1893 - July 29, 1969), styled Yuntai, later changed his style to Zhongyun (some say Zhongtan), pen names Wubo and Wubei, was from Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. A Chinese historian, he was one of the pioneers of Marxist historiography and was hailed as the 'Master of New Historiography'. He was born at Fanjia Tai Gate, Jinlin Bridge, Shanyin County, Shaoxing, and spent his childhood and adolescence there. In the second year of the Republic of China (1913), he was admitted to the preparatory course for literature at the National Peking University. He graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Peking University in the sixth year of the Republic of China (1917). In the following 20 years, he served as a professor at Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Henan University, and other institutions. In the twenty-eighth year of the Republic of China (1939), he joined the Chinese Communist Party. The following year, he went to Yan'an, served as the director of the History Research Office of the CPC Central Committee's Marx-Lenin Institute, and wrote 'A Brief Compilation of Chinese General History' and 'Modern Chinese History'. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Fan Wenlan held various positions including the director of the Institute of Modern Chinese History at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, vice president of the Chinese Historical Society, standing committee member of the Philosophy and Social Sciences Division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, standing committee member of the CPPCC, and member of the 9th Central Committee of the CPC. Fan Wenlan was the chief editor of 'A Brief Compilation of Chinese General History', and was engaged in the revision of this book for a long time. He also authored 'Modern Chinese History' (Volume I), 'Annotations on Wenxin Diaolong', 'Fan Wenlan's Collection of Historical Essays', and others. 'A Brief Compilation of Chinese General History' and 'Modern Chinese History' are the first works to systematically narrate the general history of China from a Marxist perspective. Fan Wenlan not only understood Marxism but was also well-versed in China's traditional culture, and he managed to combine Marxism with the national characteristics of China, forming the unique style of his works.