Introduction
Academician Ping-ti Ho (1917–2012, ancestral hometown of Jinhua, Zhejiang), a title which he earned in 1966, was born in Tianjin. A renowned scholar who mostly worked and lived in the United States, Ho graduated from the Department of History at Tsinghua University in 1938, and in 1944, began studying British history at Columbia University on government funding. After receiving his doctorate, his research interests shifted towards the field of Chinese history and he held positions at the University of British Columbia, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Irvine, where he largely focused on Ming and Qing historical demography, including the study of guilds and social mobility. His interests later once again shifted as he began researching agricultural history and pre-Qin history. Remarkably, Ho has authored notable monographs in each of these fields.
In 2015, with the authorization of family representatives, Ho’s research materials and personal documents were donated to the Archives, contents of which include correspondences, reading and research notes, manuscripts, offprints, and newspaper clippings, among others. Totaling sixteen boxes, the archival materials were originally held by the Fu Ssu-nien Library and then transferred to the Archives in March 2017. The collection is full of important letters and original historical materials which are often mentioned in his memoirs, both reflecting his academic career and serving as an important source for the study of social networks in Sinology during the twentieth century.
In 2015, with the authorization of family representatives, Ho’s research materials and personal documents were donated to the Archives, contents of which include correspondences, reading and research notes, manuscripts, offprints, and newspaper clippings, among others. Totaling sixteen boxes, the archival materials were originally held by the Fu Ssu-nien Library and then transferred to the Archives in March 2017. The collection is full of important letters and original historical materials which are often mentioned in his memoirs, both reflecting his academic career and serving as an important source for the study of social networks in Sinology during the twentieth century.