Introduction
Hsi-mei Yang (courtesy name Zhengyao, 1916–1993), originally from Beijing, joined the IHP after graduating from the Department of Biology Department at Wuhan University, first as a research assistant to Ting-liang Wu and then as a research fellow in the Anthropology Department, where he largely engaged in ethnographic research and oversaw the study of the skulls excavated from the Yinxu archaeological site. In addition to his interests in ethnology and anthropology, Yang specialized in pre-Qin history as well as the history of naming and clan systems and of familial relationships. Following his retirement from the IHP in 1980, Yang returned to Beijing to live and continued his academic career with a position in the Institute of History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The Archives has acquired Yang’s archival materials from two sources: the first portion was transferred over from the underground stacks of the IHP, contents of which mostly included his personal collection of research materials, offprints, and manuscripts, with various letters and other documents interspersed. The second was transferred from the Fu Ssu-nien Library, containing reading notes, manuscripts, correspondences, and surveys on the forms of address and naming conventions of indigenous peoples in Taiwan, the majority of which are from the 1950s onwards. Representatives of Yang’s family signed an authorization agreement with the Archives in 2023.
The Archives has acquired Yang’s archival materials from two sources: the first portion was transferred over from the underground stacks of the IHP, contents of which mostly included his personal collection of research materials, offprints, and manuscripts, with various letters and other documents interspersed. The second was transferred from the Fu Ssu-nien Library, containing reading notes, manuscripts, correspondences, and surveys on the forms of address and naming conventions of indigenous peoples in Taiwan, the majority of which are from the 1950s onwards. Representatives of Yang’s family signed an authorization agreement with the Archives in 2023.