11 Facts About Chen Mengjia

Chen Mengjia was a Chinese scholar, poet, paleographer and archaeologist.

Chen Mengjia was considered the foremost authority on oracle bones and was Professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Chen Mengjia was married to the poet and translator Zhao Luorui.

Chen Mengjia was a member of the Crescent Moon Society in Shanghai, a group of romantic poets during the early 20th century.

In 1936, Chen Mengjia published an influential article on the religion and magic of the Shang dynasty, in which he compared the list of the kings of the Xia dynasty with that of the Shang dynasty that followed it, and argued that the Xia were just a "duplication" of the Shang.

Chen Mengjia argued that the Yellow Emperor and Yu the Great were originally the same personage.

Chen Mengjia traveled around the United States, as well as making trips to Canada and Europe studying both private and public collections of ancient Chinese bronzes.

In 1947 Chen Mengjia returned to China, and he sent the manuscript to Harvard University before.

Chen Mengjia himself did not choose the title, and indeed his name is not written on the cover.

Chen Mengjia's work has long been well known to Shang scholars worldwide.

Wang Shixiang's magisterial book Classic Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties is dedicated to Chen Mengjia, who was his good friend, and a fellow collector of Chinese classical furniture.