John K. Fairbank

John King Fairbank ( born May 24, 1907 in Huron, South Dakota, † September 14, 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American historian and an important Sinologist whose research focus was on the recent history of China.

His work had a great influence on the recent U.S. and European China research. His dissertation is titled: Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast and was the beginning of his studies on the history of the Qing Dynasty and the interactions between the Chinese world and the West. Fairbank taught from 1936 at Harvard University, where he established the Center for Modern East Asia Research on, which is now named after him. He put an emphasis on demographic and institutional analysis and is seen by many as an outspoken pessimist.

His last work China. A new History provides a summary of his lifelong studies dar. Two days after completion of the manuscript, John King Fairbank, died at the age of 84 years to a heart attack.

His view, to explain the recent history of China as a pure response to influences of Western powers is provided by current research in question.

Works

• Merle Goldman: China. A new history. Enlarged edition, 6th printing. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 1998, ISBN 0-674-11672-0.
• History of modern China. 1800-1995 ( dtv = 4497 ). 2nd edition, 9th - 12th Thousand. German Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-423-04497-7.